Lucy and I travelled to the Leeton / Griffith area
for the labour-day long weekend to explore an area new for the both of us.
We travelled out there through Junee and Narrandera, finishing the day in
Leeton. The next day was spent exploring the Griffith area, and on Monday
we drove home via Temora. Overall, the country is lush and green east of
Temora and Junee, and very dry to the west. Bird numbers were
disappointingly low, especially in the honeyeaters, though strong winds over all
three days probably didn't help detection. 102 species were seen during the
trip.
Saturday:
Left Canberra early, identifying the
odd Brown Songlark, Rufous Songlark and Richard's Pipit along the road.
The first White-fronted Chats were observed just before Junee, with a group of 8
Superb Parrots by the roadside not much further. We reached Junee in the
late morning, where urban wetlands didn't appear to hold anything, so we drove
onto the STW with the hope of finding whistling ducks. We drove into the
STW though were a bit off-put by all the no trespassing signs (anyone know what
the rules are here?), but luckily found the 150+ Plumed Whistling-ducks chose to
spend the day in a small dam just across the road from the entrance. On
the STW ponds were Australian Shovelers, Pink-eared Ducks, Pacific Black Ducks,
Hardheads and other.
Driving on, we reached Narrandera just before
lunch, seeing numerous Cockatiels flying along the road. Previous reports
of magpie-geese and the likes from Lake Talbot brought us to Narrandera Common
(across the canal from town), which was the most productive spot for the entire
trip. The first species identified upon exiting the car wasn't even a
bird, but a Koala in a nearby tree. Soon, the birds calling all around us
began showing themselves, with Varied Sitellas, Striped Honeyeater, Blue-faced
Honeyeater, White-plumed Honeyeater, Clamorous Reed-warblers (in the canal) all
busily flying about us. A group of White-winged Choughs nearby was seen
arguing over who gets to brood the nest.
Next stop found us at Fivebough swamp, where a pair
of White-fronted Chats greeted us, along with some Variegated Fairy-wrens.
At the first hide (in the centre of the swamp) we had some Australian Shelducks,
Black-winged Stilts and Grey Teals. Further along where the reeds opened
up towards the flooded fields we could see a number of Black-winged Stilts,
Red-necked Avocet, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Red-kneed Dotterels, plenty of Glossy
Ibis and Swans. Heading south on the main pond were many Grey Teals, a
single Australian Pelican, a Swamp Harrier and a pair of Whistling Kites.
At the southern hide we had our first Singing Honeyeater, a few more Variegated
Fairy-wrens, 8 Black-tailed Native-hens and a vocal group of House
Sparrows. Walking back to the car we got a male Collared Sparrowhawk flying
past, whilst a drive around the swamp yielded 34 Brolgas in a nearby field. We
spent the rest of the afternoon around Leeton, finding a
single Brown Songlark, Blue-faced Honeyeaters, Little and Noisy Friarbirds, and
the usual suburban suspects (Blackbirds, Crested Pigeons, etc..).
The next morning we made our way towards Griffith
via some back roads which had plenty of raptors including Brown Falcons,
Whistling Kites and a pair of Spotted Harriers. The trees behind the golf
course only had Apostlebirds, Yellow-throated Miners, breeding Magpies, however
a drive around the area produced a single Major-mitchell's Cockatoo.
Driving on to Campbell's Swamp we were disappointed to find it, and Nerico
Swamp, to be dry, though a pair of Mistletoebirds chased by Singing Honeyeaters
at the entrance gave some brief excitment as the red flashed passed in the gusty
winds.
Lake Wyanegan had plenty of water, and the southern
lake had Whiskered Terns fishing, White-bellied Sea-eagles, White-breasted
Woodswallows, many Red-rumped Parrots investigating hollows, Clamorous
Reed-warblers, and more Black-tailed Native-hens. From here, we proceeded
towards Binya State Forest via Scenic Drive (now overlooking a number of new
suburban developments). Along the south-western corner of the reserve we
found Chestnut-rumped Thornbills and a few Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, but
overall it was very quiet. Driving along Pine Drive, we saw numerous
Red-capped Robins (which appeared very common in many places) and plenty of
Rufous Whistlers, though again, little else.
We then entered the northern part of the forest,
first driving towards the Mt Brogden Walk. Here we found plenty of birds,
with Southern Whitefaces and Chestnut-rumped Thornbills both common and with
dependent young. Splendid Fairy-wrens were elusively present, with a male
just coming into breeding plumage. Whilst I was following some
White-browed Babblers, Lucy saw a very striated treecreeper, which she thought
was a white-browed. At Oak Dam, we found few birds, possibly due to the
Peewees and Australian Ravens which were both nesting.
A visit to Spring Hill Picnic Area saw a Jacky
Winter, numerous Brown Treecreepers, a single White-plumed Honeyeater along the
road as well as a large group of Rufous Whistlers. We then visited Wattle
Dam where numerous Emus were seen wandering about and a Speckled Warbler in some
thick scrub. The rest of the evening was spent near the dam, observing
numerous species coming in to drink or around the dam, including Common
Bronzewing (doing some
displaying), Peaceful Doves (also displaying), Red-rumped Parrots, 10 Turquoise
Parrots (in ones and twos), two Mulga Parrots, White-plumed Honeyeaters, Brown
Treecreepers, Rainbow Bee-eaters, a single Dusky Woodswallow, a pair of Jacky
Winters, Emus, and a few Eastern Grey Kangaroos.
Monday morning was splendid, and hanging around the
golf course in Griffith we added Blue Bonnets, Mallee Ringecks, as well as a
great flock of 14 Major-mitchell Cockatoos. We then returned to Binya SF
and this time had great views of the White-browed Treecreeper on the road to the
Mt Brogden Walk, though it again flew off into the distance after giving initial
views. Other parts of the SF had the same species as the day before,
though finding birds was becoming tough with increasing winds and building dust
storms.
At lunch we headed off back towards Canberra,
spending a few hours at Ingalba NR (west of Temora) on the way, though the
strong winds made finding birds very difficult, and only treecreepers,
Variegated Fairy-wrens, Rufous Whistlers, Grey Fantails, Willie Wagtails,
Rufous Songlark, Jacky
Winter and Red-capped Robin were seen or heard. The driving through the
Harden district yielded 3 different groups of Superb Parrots, ranging from 2 to
6 individuals.
Thanks to everyone who provided information, I hope
this report will help compile some of it for others visiting the area.
Damien
Farine and Lucy Aplin
Canberra
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