Dear Birding Ausers,
Following up on Chris Sanderson?s report in July about a trip he made to
?Bowra Station?, 16km n/w of Cunnamulla, Qld., I would like to reiterate his
positive comments about the property and would thoroughly recommend a visit
to anyone -this is made all the more significant due to the property being
put on the market. Just recently I too spent a few days out on the property
and wondered how on earth it could have stayed unknown to me for so long.
?Bowra? is a magical place and I was fortunate enough to visit when there
was an enormous amount of avian activity and a good deal of breeding to go
with it. The area had received rain in previous months and was looking
fantastic, with pussytails Ptilotus sp. flowering along the roadsides
leading into the area and many acacias and boobiallas in flower also.
During the day and a half I spent birding at ?Bowra? I managed to record
over 90 species, which included:
Mistletoebird, Welcome Swallow, Fairy Martin, Tree Martin, Clamorous
Reed-warbler, Rufous Songlark, White-winged Triller, White-winged Chough,
Apostlebird, Australian Raven, Australian Magpie, Pied Butcherbird, Grey
Butcherbird, Little Woodswallow, Black-faced Woodswallow, White-browed
Woodswallow, White-breasted Woodswallow, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Spotted
Bowerbird, Magpie-lark, Restless Flycatcher, Willie Wagtail, Grey Fantail,
Rufous Whistler, Grey Shrike-thrush, Crested Bellbird, Jacky Winter, Hooded
Robin, Red-capped Robin, Hall?s Babbler, Chestnut-crowned Babbler,
Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush (3), Crimson Chat, Pied Honeyeater, Black
Honeyeater, Painted Honeyeater, Brown Honeyeater, White-plumed Honeyeater,
Singing Honeyeater, Yellow-throated Miner, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Little
Friarbird, Noisy Friarbird, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Southern Whiteface,
Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Chestnut-rumped Thornbill,
Slaty-backed Thornbill Inland Thornbill, Western Gerygone, Weebill,
Variegated Fairy-wren, Splendid Fairy-wren, Striated Pardalote, Red-browed
Pardalote, Brown Treecreeper, Rainbow Bee-eater, Sacred Kingfisher,
Red-backed Kingfisher, Horsefield?s Bronze-cuckoo, Pallid Cuckoo, Mulga
Parrot, Red-rumped Parrot, Blue Bonnet, Australian Ringneck, Cockatiel,
Red-winged Parrot, Galah, Little Corella, Pink Cockatoo, Crested Pigeon,
Diamond Dove, Peaceful Dove, Common Bronzewing, Nankeen Kestrel, Brown
Falcon, Whistling Kite, Brown Goshawk, Black-fronted Dotterel, Masked
Lapwing, Brolga, Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Great Egret, White-faced Heron,
White-necked Heron, Australian Wood Duck, Grey Teal, Pacific Black Duck and
Emu
*Unidentified wader ?possibly a wood sandpiper
#Richard?s Pipit were not seen but on a few occasions I suspect they were
heard.
Unfortunately, I missed out on the black-eared cuckoo, white-winged
fairy-wren, redthroat, breeding ground cuckoo-shrike, spotted nightjar and
orange chat, which some American tourists there at the time managed to snag
and, in Chris? case, the grey falcon.
One thing I did find unusual was that not a single zebra finch was seen or
heard at the property or on the entire trip from Toowoomba. I would have
lost a great deal of money if anyone took that bet. In fact, not a single
finch/firetail was recorded until I reached Goondiwindi on the return and
that was three Plum-headed Finch.
The next two days were spent at ?Eulo Bore?, or ?Paddabilla? as the signpost
leading into the site indicated -unusually, I had the place to myself
despite there being evidence of a great many visitors. Although nowhere near
as many bird species were recorded here as ?Bowra?, the quality was just as
good.
Extensive walks through the surrounding mulga, floodout country and
gibber-like habitat, as well as time spent by the bore accounted for:
Mistletoebird, Rufous Songlark, Apostlebird*, Australian Raven, Australian
Magpie, Grey Butcherbird, Pied Butcherbird, Little Woodswallow*,
White-browed Woodswallow, Masked Woodswallow, Black-faced Woodswallow*,
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, White-winged Triller, Spotted Bowerbird,
Magpie-lark, Willie Wagtail, Rufous Whistler, Grey Shrike-thrush, Crested
Bellbird, Hooded Robin, Jacky Winter, Red-capped Robin, Chestnut-crowned
Babbler, Chestnut-breasted quail-thrush (1 pair), Crimson Chat, Black
Honeyeater, Brown Honeyeater, Singing Honeyeater, Yellow-throated Miner,
Noisy Friarbird, Little Friarbird, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Southern
Whiteface, Inland Thornbill, Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, Western Gerygone,
Weebill, Red-browed Pardalote, Brown Treecreeper*, White-browed
Treecreeper*, Splendid Fairy-wren, Rainbow Bee-eater, Red-backed Kingfisher,
Horsefield?s Bronze-cuckoo, Pallid Cuckoo, Bourke?s Parrot (15+), Australian
Ringneck, Blue Bonnet, Mulga Parrot, Cockatiel, Red-winged Parrot, Pink
Cockatoo, Galah, Crested Pigeon, Peaceful Dove, Diamond Dove, Common
Bronzewing, Black-fronted Dotterel and Australian Wood Duck
*breeding
-At one stage I was chasing around what I swear was a black-eared cuckoo,
but I was unable to get between it and the sun.
Unusually, over the three or four days spent out west there were very few
raptors. Not only was the diversity in this group down but also the numbers
of each species also.
Finally, after brief stops at Goondiwindi and Coolmunda Dam, I decided to
drop into Durikai State Forest on the way home to try and locate the regent
honeyeaters. Whilst at the dam where they have reportedly been seen I saw
what I believe was an immature grey falcon biding its time high above a
group of white-browed woodswallows, as though it was checking the group for
weaknesses in individuals. It then banked and disappeared off to the
north-east (the bird had been seen by a well-known, reputable birder at
almost the exact same spot just a week or so earlier, which made me that
much more confident about the identity). This was one bird I did not expect
to see here -possibly anywhere for that matter- and had long since given up
on a few hundred kilometres back towards the west. What a magical few days!
Regards, Michael Wood
p.s. -Anyone wishing to know more information about actual spots,
particularly at Eulo, for I walked extensively through the surrounding
woodland just let me know. There should be plenty of people to assist at
?Bowra?.
_________________________________________________________________
Nothing but cars & over 100,000 of them at carsales.com.au
http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fsecure%2Dau%2Eimrworldwide%2Ecom%2Fcgi%2Dbin%2Fa%2Fci%5F450304%2Fet%5F2%2Fcg%5F801577%2Fpi%5F1005244%2Fai%5F836752&_t=12345&_r=emailtagline_tig_over100k&_m=EXT
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