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G'day
Last week Paul Hacket and I went for a 4 day trip
to Gluepot. On the way up we stopped at Hattay NP, where it did not take us
long to find several Mallee Emu-wrens. The secret is to go a
little further in to the grass then stand there waiting for the almost not
notable high pitched song, a single "zit" every 2 or 3 minutes. We had pretty
good views of the Mallee emu-wren which is one of the most
impressive birds I ever saw, I'm pretty sure it is my favorite bird (all the
Emu-wrens).
Arriving in Glue pot our first bird was a couple of
Blue Bonnets followed by 2 Mulga Parrots,
Chestnut Quail Thrush, inland Thornbill, White-fronted HE, Yellow-plumed
HE, chestnut-rumped thornbill, Crested-bellbird, Superb and
Variegated Fairy-wren, Ringneck, Black-eared Myna (hybrid),
Bee-eater, White-browed and Chestnut-crowned Bubblers, Red-caped and
hoodeds, Jacky, Weebill, Pardalotes (both) and others, plus after a search we
were able to find the Striated Grasswren, not really good
views but good enough to tell what it was. In the next day the highlights were
2 Southern Scrub
Robins (one almost stepped on my toe). Both birds had rings on
both legs, the rings were white purple and blue, (I'm wondering what the purple
and blue stand for, maybe female and male). We also were able to see a
Fuscous and a Brown headed HE, Southern White
Faces and others.
Another highlight was on the way back to Waikere
when we spotted right in the middle of the road, just a few meters away from us,
a Spotted Nightjar. It stayed still for a few minutes then
flew to the bushes revealing its white band in the wings. If that isn't
enough we also saw a Frogmouth in a tree on
the side of the road. The next day we went back along the same road
(just before the second Gate outside Gluepot Reserve) and we saw not one but
2 Spotted Nightjars. It is the first time that I saw this
bird.
We also found what I believe to be a
White-browed Treecreeper, however I can't be sure. Paul did take a few photos of
the bird and I can send it to anyone that will be able to help us with the id,
if you reckon you can identify it please let me know.
Back in Victoria, just after Mildurra following the
train line in Murray Sunset National Park, Paul Hacket Spotted a
Kingfisher, that turned out to be a Red Backed
Kingfisher. Just crossing the Highway I was able to find 2
White Backed-Swallow flying low enough to see details of it face. We
stopped again in Hattay NP in the same place but this time there weren't any
Emu-wrens around ( I guess we just didn't have the time to find it) but it
didn't take to long to find several Striated Grasswrens (with
good views this time) and also my first Victorian Variegated
Fairywren. Hattay NP is a great place for birders, especially during
the weekdays. Gluepot is a excellent place to visit, the Ranger told us the most
of the birds have disappeared since the rains arrived in NSW, still with
the "lack" of local birds (we weren't able to find any apostle birds or gray
currawong for example) we saw more than 84 birds in Gluepot and
Waikere.
Looking forward to next week where I am trying for
a Ground parrot in Barren Grounds (I have 4 failed
attempts there) and other rainforest birds in Wollongong. If any
birder from Wollongong can help me with some target birds (especially
the Brush Turkey) I will be very happy.
Other "interesting" records on the
highway.
Ringneck (4) before way before Oyen.
Black Kite total of 23.
Whistling Kites
Brown Falcon (7)
17 Black-tailed Native Han (Wichproof)
5 whiskered Terns in the Murray at
Mildurra
3 Caspian Terns also in the Murray
100 + Little Corellas (Wichproof)
3 Wedged-tail eagle
Kind Regards
Alex Farias
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