Barraba/Manilla trip report

[David Taylor <>]

October 8th 2002

I've just spent four days at Barraba and Manilla in Central Northern New

South Wales. One of the key reasons was to see a Regent Honeyeater. But alas,

not a one to be seen! Sadly the drought (one of the driest years on record) has had

its affect, and the Mugga Ironbarks have not flowered as yet. Though we

searched at a number of the proven sites we coud find no sign of a Regent.

The locals had also told us that no sightings have been reported.

Though dissapointed in not seeing a Regent Honeyeater this was well and

truly compensated by some splendid birding in the this marvellous region,

and perhaps the most memorable birding moment I can ever recall! A total of

104 species were seen in total, and this included excellent views of a

Black-eared Cuckoo (a new bird for me), just north of Barraba on one of the

Bird routes. Waterbirds were scarce, again due to the dry conditions and so

a number of the usuals on a trip were'nt recorded. Raptors were also hard to find.

However the magical moment was three hours spent at Borah Creek Reserve near Upper

Manilla. The dry conditions have shrunk the creek that flows here to just a

few pools of water, and as a result many birds are coming in to drink.

Never in my birding experience have I seen such an array of species in one

spot! This included seven different species of honeyeater. For one brief

time I had five species of honeyeaters in my Bino field of view - all side

by side drinking from the pool - Fuscous Honeyeater, White-plumed

Honeyeater, Brown-headed Honeyeater, White-naped Honeyeater and a Striped

Honeyeater! And very close by were Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater and Yellow-faced

Honeyeater!

As we just sat and waited for the birds a total of thirty two species either

came to drink or visited the tree opposite us. They were Peaceful Dove,

Crested Pigeon, Musk Lorikeet, Little Lorikeet, Eastern Rosella, Torquoise

Parrot (three in total - what a brilliant bird!), Sacred Kingfisher, Rainbow

Bee eater, Noisy Friarbird, Fuscous Honeyeater, White-plumed Honeyeater,

Brown-headed Honeyeater, White-naped Honeyeater, Striped Honeyeater,

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Rufous Whistler, Grey

Shrike-thrush, Willy Wagtail, Restless Flycatcher, Grey Fantail, Black-faced

Cuckoo-shrike, Double-barred Finch, Red-browed Finch, Diamond Firetail

Finch, Welcome Swallow, Striated Pardalote, Buff-rumped Thornbill, Mistletoe

bird, Superb Fairy Wren and Silvereye. A Brown Goshawk flew over at one

point.

At such close range toi see such a variety of birds was a moment I shall always remember!

One fascinating aspect of it was that we saw the birds in the morning period, with the peak activity at around 10.00 am.

At points there were anything

up to 25 birds of varying species, and they almost seemed to come and go in

surges. We returned to the same spot at about 4.00 pm on the same day

thinking that this would be a good time to see further activity. Yet in the

very same spot there was hardly a bird to be seen!

We visited other spots in the district and some of the other species seen

included Brown Treecreeper, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Crested Shrike-tit,

White-browed Woodswallow, Dusky Woodswallow, Hooded Robin, Southern

Whiteface, Red-winged Parrot, Red-rumped Parrot, White-bellied Cuckoo

Shrike, Brown Goshawk, Brown Falcon, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Great-crested Grebe

and Nankeen Night Heron.

So my search for a Regent Honeyeater will continue! A great reason to visit

this excellent birding area another time!

David Taylor

Footnote - has anyone seen Regent Honeyeayers in the area yet?

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