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Folks,
Spent ten days over the school holidays camping at
Swan Hill (on the Murray, north-west Victoria). My thanks to all those who
responded to my RFI prior to the trip - some great advice was received, as I
have always found to be the case through Birding-Aus. Chris Coleborn put
me in touch with John O'Bree, who kindly spent an afternoon with me at the Swan
Hill wastewater treatment works (very rich in birds) and Lake Woorinen North (my
first Orange Chats), and took us out the following day to a private property in
NSW, about 30 km north-east of Swan Hill, where an irrigation storage wetland
held many species of water-birds and also supported other species including
White-bellied Sea-Eagle and, in the surrounding woodland, lignum and slatbush,
things like White-winged Fairy-wren and Grey-crowned and Chestnut-crowned
Babblers.
Overall the country away from the river was very
dry, with next to nothing in flower and small to medium sized insectivorous and
nectivorous birds absent or at best inconspicuous; not much evidence of breeding
amongst those species. Still, I managed to visit some interesting mallee,
red gum and other woodland and wetland habitats and finished up with just on 150
species for the trip - still writing up at the moment. Other than the
Orange Chats, highlights included plenty of waders at the sewage works and other
shallow wetlands, 150+ Black Kites (at the Swan Hill tip), couple of sightings
of Black Falcons, and a very approachable Little Eagle at Goschen. Also a
fair few Woodswallows around, including a couple of sightings of Black-faced,
plus a Red-backed Kingfisher and several sightings of Hooded Robins. Happy
to provide more information to anyone who is interested - I should have a
properly annotated list completed within a week or so.
Regards,
Jack
Krohn
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