Hello All,
Myself, Carol Probets and David Geering spent the easter weekend
birdwatching in Yathong NR and Nombinnie NR. Both of these reserves are in
central western NSW- Yathong being NW of Mt Hope and Nombinnie being SW of
Mt Hope. Where is Mt Hope you might ask. Well, Mt Hope is about 90 km north
of the town of Hillston.
Yathong was very dry with only one dam holding water. Despite good rainfall
during the week at nearby Mt Hope little had fallen at Yathong. This and
mostly windy conditions weren't conducive to good birdwatching conditions
but we came up with just over 80 species. The highlights were Gilbert's
Whistler, Southern Scrub-robin, Shy Heathwren, Chestnut Quail-thrush,
White-backed Swallow, Pink Cockatoo, Ground Cuckoo-shrike, Brown
Treecreeper, Grey-crowned babbler and Hooded Robin. I was a little
surprised that we failed to see or hear any Western Gerygones. The Southern
Scrub-robin appears to have gone unrecorded at Yathong previously (based on
NPWS Wildlife Atlas). A considerable amount of effort was put into to
Striated Grasswren searching but without success. I think I can measure my
degree of effort by the number of spinifex punctures in my shins. I'm going
to have to find my gaiters. I have to thank Nella Smith for accompanying me
on the second fruitless morning of grasswren searching.
After Yathong we headed for Nombinnie NR where the birds were a little
livelier no doubt due to the rain a few days previous. Highlights here were
Red-lored Whistler, Gilbert's Whistler, Southern Scrub-robin, Shy
Heathwren, Chestnut Quail-thrush, Spotted Nightjar, Pink Cockatoo, Hooded
Robin and Grey-crowned Babbler. The most memorable moment for myself was a
very close encounter with Chestnut Quail-thrush. I could see the 2 CQT
walking away through the scrub ahead of me and began to give an absolutely
dreadful imitation of a CQT whistle in the vain hope that it might come
back. DG and CP can testify to how bad my imitation was. I'm afraid that I
am unable to whistle, except by accident. Anyway, to my amazement the male
turned around immediately and came back towards me with the female close
behind. The male came to within 2 metres at one stage. Unfortunately there
was nearly always vegetation between myself and him so I wasn't able to get
any photos but I consider myself blessed to have been able to whistle to a
Chestnut Quail-thrush and have him approach. I think he must have been
tone-deaf!
On the way home I stopped in at the Hillston and Griffith Sewage Works.
There wasn't much of interest at Hillston but the Griffith Sewage works was
playing host to quite a few thousand ducks, most of which were Grey Teal
and Pink-eared Duck. Apart from these there were Hardhead, Chestnut Teal,
Musk Duck, Black Duck, Black Swan, Aus. Grebe, Hoary-headed Grebe,
Blue-billed Duck, Aus Shoveler, and 78 Freckled Duck. For some reason the
Freckled Duck, Blue-billed Duck and Musk Duck only ever seem to be on the
pond closest to the road.
Cheers
Mick Todd
Griffith, NSW
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