Hello to all
I visited Dubbo in mid-western NSW at Easter. The primary reason was a
visit to the Western Plains zoo with my family, but David Geering pointed me
at a couple of other useful places too (thanks David). We visited the zoo
twice on 10 & 11 April, the latter from about 6:30 when we participated in
an "early morning walk", which I can strongly recommend. The zoo is a
productive site for birds - about 65-70 species all up I think in the 2
visits, producing a good selection of western plains type birds. Best for
me were the 2 Babblers (Grey Crowned made a fleeting appearance but White
Browed everywhere!), Little Friarbirds, Spiny Cheeked, Brown Headed and
Striped Honeyeaters, good view of Cockatiels, a small group of mixed
Thornbills that included Chestnut Rumpeds (pale eyes), heard a Diamond
Firetail, and a Little Eagle passed over. Lots of "fun" trying to sort the
wrens out, as all the males are in eclipse - presume a mix of Superbs and
Variegateds. There seemed to be a few Red Wattlebirds about - which must be
on the western edge of their range. There was a single Emu in the paddocks
across the main road from the part of the zoo where the Koalas are.
I also have a "strong possibility" of budgies - on the 11/4 morning walk at
the zoo, I saw a flock of about 20/25 small fast flying parrots pass through
(about 100 yards away). They looked too small to be Cockatiels and had no
white wing flash and flew with a quick twist/turn action, which I wouldn't
associate with red rumps. I couldn't get the bins on them in time
unfortunately.
We went to Terramungamine Reserve in the late afternoon of 11/4 - which is
about 8km N of Dubbo on the banks of the Macquarie River. There were lots
of Little Corellas in the river cutting, and we strolled gently along the
banks of the river in an easterly direction from the reserve car park to a
fence line and saw some good birds in the margins of a wooded area - lots of
Double Barred Finches and Yellow Rumped Thornbills, a Red Capped Robin,
Common Bronzewing & Peaceful Doves, a couple of Whistling Kites circling for
much of the time over the river and a Square Tailed Kite passed over and,
just as we were leaving, a small group of Dusky Woodswallows (6 or 7) flew
around over the river.
We dropped into the Bald Hill reserve at Geurie (30kms SE of Dubbo) very
briefly on the way home to Sydney - in the 10 minutes allocated before my
kids went totally feral, saw
Common Bronzewing, lots of Brown Treecreepers and a Restless Flycatcher.
(Definitely a spot to mark down for another visit.)
Other species seen in transit included some Brown Falcons, another Square
Tailed Kite (about 10 km south of Dubbo) and quite a few parties of YT Black
Cockatoos as we passed through the Blue Mountains.
Anyone interested in the zoo list, I will send one along, but it may take a
while as my PC is just about to go into "hospital".
Cheers
Tom Wilson
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