birding-aus
Cheers,
Chris Padley.
The Old Bakehouse,
Little Walsingham,
Norfolk.
England.
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Padley <>
To: Birding-aus <>
Date: 25 March 1999 00:24
Subject: Lake Cargelligo & Round Hill NSW - 7th. & 8th. March '99
>Hi All,
> Well , here we are ,back in the UK feeling somewhat jaded after a
>fantastic time in your great country. I have already sent in a couple of
>reports so here is another - it is out of sequence but several birders have
>asked questions about this area so here goes.
>. We stayed at the Budget motel ,Lake Cargelligo,NSW. phone (03) 5881
>1820. - on the corner of Crispe & Wick Streets.
>We arrived in the early afternoon & then drove out on the Euabalong Road to
>try to get our bearings for Round Hill the following morning . After a few
>Kms. on sealed road we went over a bridge and after a few more Kms. the
road
>forked and to the left was signed Mt. Hope 68 Kms ( I may be a couple of
>kms. out). We did not take this fork but continued on the road to Euabalong
>stopping at regular intervals whenever we saw any birds. We saw Aus
Pelicans
>heading towards the lake, Black Kite, Black-shouldered Kite , Whistling
>Kite, Brown Falcons, Aus Kestrel, Common Bronzewing, Peaceful Dove, our
>first Bluebonnets and a flock of about 25 Budgerigars which was great,
>having only ever seen them in cages before!. Their green colour was
>stunning!. We also saw the other popular cage birds , Cockatiels & Zebra
>finches along the same road. Our first Rainbow Bee-eaters were also flying
>around and we had our first White-winged Fairy Wrens - magnificent!!!!!!!!
>We also saw several Brown Songlarks which caused confusion until we
realised
>the sexual dimorphism & that we did not have 2 separate species. We had
>plenty of other species such as White-winged Choughs, Galahs, Apostlebirds
>etc. but we had been seeing most of them in other habitats. We had a great
>couple of hours birding - despite the flies!!
>The next morning we set off for Round Hill at about 6.00am and took the
>left fork on the Euabalong Road towards Mt. Hope. Shortly after, the road
>(unsealed) forked again and we took the right fork and then drove for about
>40 minutes over several cattle grids and a railway track. Almost exactly 50
>kms. from the Motel we came across the entrance to Round Hill. It is not
>easy to find as the sign is partially hidden on the left hand side of the
>road and faces the other way so from about 48 kms one of you needs to look
>back the way you came in order to see the sign. You will know you are
>getting near when you can see a road sign (presumably to Mt. Hope) way
ahead
>of you at the junction a few kms ahead.
>Turn in to the left - the track was difficult in places due to deep
>puddles - after heavy rain it would be impassable to a 2-wheel drive
>vehicle. After a few hundred yards we turned off to what we assumed to be
>the camp site - old car wrecks & fridges dumped there. It was only just
>light and there were few birds about but we did meet a pair of Red-capped
>Robins there. We returned to the main track and kept on there for several
>kms stopping to bird along the way.
>We did not venture far along any of the side tracks as we were very aware
>that we could easily get lost. Shortly after passing a conveyor like piece
>of
>farm machinery the track became very dodgy and we turned back. Birds seen
>included Square-tailed & Whistling Kites,Wedgies, Brown Falcons & Kestrel ,
>Peaceful Doves and our only 2 Bar-shouldered Doves of the trip.
>Bluebonnets,Red-rumps and our first Mulga Parrots as well as 2 Major
>Mitchell's which flew straight over us & made the day. Splendid Fairy Wrens
>were fairly common and we saw several Brown Thornbills ?? ( could these be
>Inland Thornbills) We also came across a Shy Hylacola which eventually
gave
>good views and a couple of Gilbert's Whistlers, Rufous Whistlers but no
>Red-lored Whistlers. A juvenile Western Gerygone caused us a few problems
>with identification but we saw others later on with Phil Maher. A small
>clearing with dumped machinary lying around proved excellent for dozens of
>White-browed Woodswallows and we also saw our first Yellow-plumed
>Honeyeaters as well as Brown- headed He's. We had superb close views of a
>Crested Bellbird calling from a dead vertical branch and turning its head
>while calling. In the same area a flock of Tree Martins were seen both
>flying and perched which made identification easier.
>A bird I had not expected was Southern Scrub Robin. We heard it singing
>and after waiting quietly for about 10 minutes it came out in the open
>beside the track. We were hoping for these in W. Victoria but this was the
>only one of the whole trip. By 2.00 pm it was pretty hot so we headed back
>for the motel and as I mentioned in a previous note we has a male Crimson
>Chat drinking from a puddle along the Mt. Hope to Euabalong Road.
>The days highlight was at dusk when Barry banged on our room door calling '
>Major Mitchells' - I wandered out thinking that he meant Galahs ( of which
>we had seen dozens around the motel the night before) but he was right -
and
>we spent about 15 minutes having full 'scope views of at least 20 of these
>magnificent birds.
>After a break for a meal we drove back to Round Hill and spot-lighted a
>single Spotted Nightjar, that we picked up in our headlights, a couple of
>Kms. before the entrance on the Mt.Hope road.
>A great days birding.
>
>
> Cheers,
> Chris Padley.
>
>PS the entrance sign to Round Hill says you need permission to enter - we
>did not know about this so didn't get any - sorry!! Seriously though it
>makes sense to let someone know where you are going. We saw nobody all the
>time we were there & it is a pretty isolated place especially for Poms.!!
>
>The Old Bakehouse,
>Little Walsingham,
>Norfolk.
>England.
>
>
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