Greetings;
We have just returned from a few days birding in
southern QLD. We went to see Mulga Parrot, Grey
Falcon, Bourke?s Parrot, Halls Babbler, Albert?s
Lyrebird, Marbled Frogmouth and Black-breasted
Button-quail.
The route taken was
Grafton-St-George-Eulo-Cunnamulla-Thargomindah-Yarraman-Lamington-Grafton.
I had originally planned to go further north but work
commitments over Easter stopped me doing so.
Day 1. We departed Grafton on day 1 and before
leaving town we saw Weebill and Double-Barred Finch.
Headed out on the Glenn Innes Road it did not take
long to see Black-shouldered Kite and between Grafton
and Glen Innes interesting birds were Wedge-tailed
Eagle, Crimson Rosella, Pheasant Coucal, Brush Turkey
and Australian Hobby. It had rained up until
Inverell, so there were not many opportunities to get
out and look for birds. After a swim in the Moree hot
mineral baths we headed up to St-George, just over the
QLD border. On the way to St-George, birds of
interest were Nankeen Kesktrel, Yellow-throated
Minor, Pale-headed Rosella, Yellow-rumped Thornbill,
Apostlebirds, Brown Falcon, Cockatiels, Little
Button-Quail, Blue-faced Honeyeater and Turquoise
Parrot.
Day 2. Departing St-George we headed west through the
mulga and across the mitchell grass plains to Eulo.
First stop was at the microwave tower about 40km west
of St-George where we had excellent views of several
Red-winged Parrot eating the melons under the tower.
Further on we saw Pink Cockatoo, Spotted Bowerbird and
Brolga. After refuelling at Cunnamulla we saw
Crested Bellbird, Diamond Dove, Cockatiel and
White-plumed H/E on the way to Eulo. The weather was
hot and sunny and we headed for the Paroo river for a
swim. After cooling down, a short walk along the
river bank revealed White-browed Treecreeper, Sacred
Kingfisher, Pacific Heron, Whistling Kite and a Noisy
Friarbird. That evening we drove out to Eulo Bore
which is about 16km east of town on the left side of
the road. Our target here was Mulga Parrot and
Bourke?s Parrot. Arriving at the Bore we saw
Chestnut-crowned Babblers, Blue Bonnet, Spotted
Bowerbird, Black-fronted Dotterel, White-winged
Fairy-wren and Mulga Parrot, but no Bourke?s Parrot.
Day 3. An early start and straight back to Eulo Bore
for the Bourke?s Parrot. Whilst there we saw Eastern
Ringneck, Blue Bonnet, Red-winged Parrot, Mulga
Parrot, Spotted Bowerbird, Striped H/E, White-winged
Fairy wren, Pink Cockatoo and Chestnut-crowned
Babblers. After the Bore we searched the mulga on
both sides of the road, east and west of the bore,
including the Thomas and Thomas sites for Halls
Babbler, but did not find any. All the Babblers
during the week we saw whilst west of Cunnamulla were
Chestnut Crowned. After lunch we hired a canoe from
Diane at the Eulo Caravan Park and paddled up the
Paroo for about 4hrs. The Paroo was still up about
1?2 metres and this made for a great and highly
recommended activity whilst in the area. That night
we returned to the bore to once again track down the
elusive Bourke?s Parrot. After staying until 7.15pm
we left, again failing.
Day 4. Day four stated with a drive out to the mud
springs which are just past the Hungerford turnoff,
west of Eulo. There was plenty of water about and
lots of birds. The only bird we saw here that we had
not already seen on the trip was Yellow-billed
Spoonbill. Just west of the mud springs we stopped at
a creek crossing and watched at very close range a
flock of 30+ Plum-headed Finch. Also at this site was
Red-capped Robin, Spiny-cheeked H/E, Zebra Finch,
Striated Pardalote, Crested Bellbird and Black Falcon.
After a short drive we arrived at Lake Bindegolly
National Park. The waters near the bridge were full
of displaying Great-crested Grebes, which did not
even appear to notice our presence. We set off on the
9.2km walk, which follows the lakes edge for about 6km
and then returns via a few sand hills back to the car
park. The track at the far end was covered by water,
making the walk about 8.5km. Interesting sightings
were Emu, White-winged Fairy wren, Zebra Finch (nest
building), Blue Bonnet, Brolga and Blue-billed Duck.
The edge of the lake was searched for 6km and there
where no Crimson or Orange Chats or Black-tailed
Native Hen present, which was disapointing. After all
the rain I had expected hundreds of Chats along the
edge of the lake. After the walk we headed off to
Thargomindah and a swim in the Bulloo river. I had
planned to travel further west along the Bulloo but
time stopped me doing this. On the return to Eulo
that afternoon we spotted Stubble Quail and Mallee
Ringnecks.
Day 5. Drove from Eulo to Yarraman, which is a
couple of hours north of Brisbane out near Kingaroy.
After travelling through hours of Mulga and Mitchell
Grass plains the only interesting birds we saw were
Emu, Pink Cockatoo, Spotted Bowerbird and hundreds of
Double-barred Finch. This was also the day that a
Kangaroo decided to tackle the car head on. They both
came out of it damaged, but the car lived to see
another day. Shortly after this a large black pig
wandered across the road centimeters in front of the
already dinted car. I was very tempted to increase
the size of the dint. We arrived at Yarraman to find
wind and rain.
Day 6. We met up with Tom and Marie Tarrant who
took us out to the local forest near Yarraman in
search of Black-breasted Button Quail. After visiting
a few locations we ended our time at Yarraman without
seeing any Quails. Tom and Marie showed us a few
locations which I will visit on my next trip to SEQLD.
After lunch it was off to Lamington National Park in
search of Marbled Frogmouth and Alberts Lyrebird.
This was my second trip to Lamington in 12months and I
was totally unsuccessful the last time. We arrived at
Lamington National Park Camping ground after dark in
the pouring rain and the camping ground was soaking
wet and muddy. After a few minutes of attempting to
erect the tent, both myself and tent were soaked. I
then lost interest in camping and we drove up to
O?Rielly?s Guest House and traded a wet tent for a hot
coffee, four course meal, queen size bed and buffet
breakfast. The following morning we did the Python
Rock walk, the Botanical Gardens and the Tree Tops
walk and I have still not seen a Marbled Frogmouth or
Alberts Lyrebird.
Day 7. Wet and Wild. Nil birds. In addition to
the birds I?ve already mentioned as not beeing seen
there were a few other birds conspicuous by their
absence. These were Freckled Duck, Ground
Cuckoo-Shrike, Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush and only
three types of Honeyeater were seen west of St-George.
Many thanks to those who responded to my RFI re the
Grey Grasswren and the conditions in the area. I was
not able to get to the Grey Grasswren sites due to
time and road conditions.
Regards
Richard Baxter
Newcastle
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