Hello all,
Had the pleasure of visiting ONP on the weekend. A shortish visit, I headed
out to conduct the current round of Plains-wanderer monitoring arriving
shortly after dark on Friday night and travelled home to Deniliquin Sat
night after the montoring was finished.
Recent rains across the Riverina have brought a tinge of green to the
country. This round has been much more drawn out than typical with rain
often putting halt to plans. All told this part of the Riverina has
typically had between 2 - 3 inches of rainfall over the last month and a
bit.
The grasslands of ONP are Pipit city at present, with birds calling wherever
you open the car door. Stubble Quail, Banded Lapwing and also Little
Button-quail (unusually abundant for this time of year) were all
encountered, as too were Fat-tailed Dunnarts. No Plains-wanderers though.
Habitat structure is ideal. Could this still be a result of the poor
seasonal conditions, paucity of food resources? Shall have a better picture
of things once all the sites across the region have been surveyed. Results
from monitoring in the Terricks (Vic.) picked up wanderers.
Birding otherwise across ONP was limited. After a late night of spotlighting
- also had a look for owls, I rose out of bed at 11:00am. It's amazing the
feeling you get when out on the plains. No-one (almost) to bother you, no
phone ringing, just a brilliant isolation in a beautiful part of the world.
Observed Yellow-rumped Thornbill and Brown Goshawk carrying nesting
material. The Yellow-rumped was carting a downy-like material, flew into a
nearby Boree (Acacia pendula) and in four moves worked its way to the nest
hidden in a clump of mistletoe. The Brown Goshawk carried a large stick for
some distance, but later dropped it.
Also observed during the visit included Red-capped Robin, White-winged and
Superb Fairy-wren, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Brown and Black Falcon,
Wedge-tailed Eagle, Aust. Ringneck, Blue Bonnet, Peaceful Dove and
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters.
No unexpected surprises, just a pleasure of being in such beautiful
surroundings.
Cheers
David Parker
Deniliquin - NSW
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