Hello Birdos,
I attempted to ignore the rain yesterday and today and did a bit of audio
recording and birdwatching in the Lake Cargelligo district. I stopped off
at the Lake Cargelligo Sewerage Works just as the rain was about to start.
Here I was treated to some spirited singing by very Clamorous
Reed-warblers. Other birds present here included 12 Black-tailed
Native-hens, Pink-eared Ducks, Mountain Shelducks, Whiskered Tern,
White-fronted Chat (with young), Red-necked Avocet (30), Black-winged
Stilt, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Red-kneed and Red-capped
Dotterels and White-winged Fairy-wren.
I then took my chances and headed for Nombinnie Nature Reserve. Despite, or
perhaps because of fairly constant drizzling rain I located Red-lored
Whistlers in a couple of spots, they were very vocal. I managed to pick up
15 minutes of recordings which were only spoiled by the pitter patter of
rain in the background and on the mike. I also managed to get a good ten
minutes of Gilbert's Whistler singing. Both species seemed to be happy with
the rain! Apart from the rain and the cooler temperatures the big
difference between this visit and my previous one a few weeks ago was the
big drop-off in numbers of Rufous Whistlers. I suspect that on my previous
visit I clashed with the holiday season Rufous Whistler traffic all heading
back to Victoria on breeding duties. Shy Heathwrens were also calling well
at most spots that I stopped while Southern Scrub-robins were a little
quieter than on my previous visits.
I finally gave up any hope of the rain ceasing by about 900 am and headed
back towards Griffith. Where I stopped in Yelkin SF (about 20 km South of
Lake Cargelligo) Painted Honeyeaters were in good numbers and singing
constantly. Unfortunately by this stage the wind had picked up considerably
and made recording difficult. An attempt at a 20 minute point count here
was met with another solid shower of rain. I figured I'd used up my luck by
this stage and so headed home.
Cheers,
Mick Todd
Griffith, NSW
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
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