Hey all,
Well, I just go back from my trip out to Bowra Station. That place is amazing!
The trip ended up being a huge success and I got almost all of my target birds.
Overall I ended up with 69 lifers (including some on the drive there and back,
also 1 Aussie bird, Barn Owl) and 129 species seen at Bowra Station. I am now
at 299 for Australia. What will #300 be? I?m guessing Powerful Owl. Anyways,
thanks to Ian and Julie for putting up with me and thanks to everyone who gave
me info on Bowra. Especially Rob Morris who provided me with heaps of info. A
few general observations, ramblings, locations, and such follow for anyone who
is interested.
General Observations
-Diamond Dove, Budgies, Masked Woodswallow, Crimson Chat, and Zebra Finch were
by far the most common birds
-Painted Snipe, a total of six birds were seen. 4 females and 2 males. A huge
surprise, not a bird I was expecting to get
-Masked Woodswallow (over 1000), White-browed Woodswallow (250ish), Little
Woodswallow (25), Masked Woodswallow (15), Black-faced Woodswallow (10-15).
Interesting was that BF Woodswallow wasn?t present at Bowra the first two days
(trust me, i checked ALOT of woodswallows looking for them), but by the last
day they were easy to find.
-Ian hadn?t seen Grey Falcon for ?a few weeks? but the first day I was there
(13th) he saw one over the homestead while i was out and about
-Bourke?s Parrot don?t exist
-White-plumed Honeyeater was by far the most numerous (and aggressive)
honeyeater. 11 species of honeyeater seen
-Overall there were a lot of recently fledged young. Notable babies included
Bellbird, Quail Thrush, and Little Button Quail
-It was quite hot and windy at times, but I was really surprised by the amount
of bird activity all day. There was usually a little lull between 1-3, but
spending this time near a water source solved that problem
-all the roads were easily accessible by my 2WD with horrible clearance. The
only problem spot encountered was near the back end of #2.
Wednesday 12th of November
I left the Gold Coast around 10:00 a.m. and started west. My first lifer of the
trip was also my only Squatter Pigeon of the trip. I took my first break around
an hour outside of St. George. Walking around for 15 min. I picked up a few
lifers like Red-rumped Parrot, White-plumed Honeyeater, Rufous Songlark. About
150 km outside of Cunnamulla, it started to get dark and my game of dodge the
kangaroo began. Luckily I was pretty good at it. Interesting sightings included
2 Barn Owls, 1 Spotted Nightjar, and a Short-beaked Echidna. I got to
Cunnamulla around 8:30 p.m. I drove around for a bit, got lost, and eventually
found the road out to Bowra. Along the way I found 2 more Barn Owls. I spent
the night sleeping in the car at the little town park in Cunnamulla.
Thursday 13th of November
Up at dawn with about 50 Little Corellas, waking up above me. The paved section
of the road going towards Bowra produced a pair of Australian Bustards. I made
my first real stops along the main access track, with the most notable bird
being a Crested Bellbird. As I got near the homestead, I saw a little pool on
the right side of the road. As I made a quick scan to see what had come down to
drink, I was amazed to see a pair of Painted Snipe 40 meters in front of me.
Not a bird I was expecting to find! From there I headed to birding spot #4 to
start looking for quail thrush and babblers. The drive there produced a pair of
Mulga Parrots sitting on the side of the road near site #3 and a fly-over group
of 5 Pink Cockatoos. The Mulgas ended up being the only two of the species I
saw sitting during the trip. As I walked around #4, I found my first Inland
and Yellow-rumped Thornbills, Splendid Fairy-wren, and Red-backed Kingfisher. I
also flushed an Owlet Nightjar that had seen roo
sting
on a stump. It flew up into a nearby tree and allowed me to get great views.
Heading back to the car, I decided to try spot #6 for the babblers and quail
thrush. I parked at the bottom of the steep hill, walked to the north edge of
the property and worked my way back. I flushed a few Little Button Quail near
the car and also saw 2 White-browed Babblers (the only white-brows i saw at
Bowra). I finally located a nice male Chestnut-breasted Quail Thrush at the
back end of the large field on your right at the top of the hill. As I walked
back towards the car, I also ran into a group of 6 Hall?s Babblers. From there
I did the loop around spot #5 looking for Bourke?s Parrot. I dipped on the
parrot (something that seemed to be a developing trend), but did pick up a lot
more lifers. The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent around spot #2
looking for White-browed Treecreeper. After walking around for a few hours
(seeing about a bajillion Brown Treecreepers) I finally found one
. Anot
her bird of interest was a male Pied Honeyeater that came into drink at the
waterhole at the back end of #2.
Friday 14th of November
The game plan for today was to spend the first two hours of the morning looking
for honeyeaters and then spend the rest of the day searching for Bourke?s
Parrot. I walked the woods on the south side of #3 and had tons of honeyeaters.
The problem was that 95% of them were White-plumed Honeyeaters. Luckily, I did
find one flock that contained 5 Pied and 3 Black Honeyeaters. I also found a
Little Button Quail with a single chick, which offered my great views before
they snuck away into the grass. I then drove to the beginning of #5 loop and
walked around for a few hours. Along the river I found my first Restless
Flycatchers, a few Pink-eared Ducks, and I flushed a Nankeen Night Heron.
Towards to end of #5 loop, I found my first Pink Cockatoo on the ground. After
watching it for awhile I ran into Ian and told him I was still Bourke-less. He
told me to follow him and we drove back over to site #2. He showed me the best
areas to search for the Bourke?s Parrot. I searched the area f
or abo
ut an hour, but it was hot and not much was around. I did manage to find a
Painted Honeyeater, though I only got a brief view of it. Hot and tired, I
headed into town to grab a bit to eat. Near the Bowra barrel, at the beginning
of the road, I saw my first Black-breasted Buzzard. Heading back to the
station, I saw the Painted Snipe again and a pair of Plum-headed Finches near
the homestead. I spent the next two hours birding the water canal and series of
little ponds that can be found by taking the road south of the homestead past
the sheer?s quarters. Good birds for the walk included an adult Black-breasted
Buzzard, a male White-winged Fairy-wren, a pair of Red-rumped Parrots, and a
Latham?s Snipe. The biggest highlight though was finding an additional 3 female
and 1 male Painted Snipe! Making a total of 6 Painted Snipe for the trip. I
spent the last 1 ½ hours of daylight wandering around spot #2 again helplessly
searching for Bourke?s Parrot. I nice consolation prize is tha
t the
Budgies stage in that area right before they go to roost. It was amazing to see
a flock of over 2000 Budgies swirl back and forth in front of me.
Saturday 15th of November
Since my trip had been going ridiculously well, I needed to sabotage it in some
way. My best idea for such a feat was to go look for wedgebills and flock
bronzewings. First I drove out to Eulo and birded my way back. I stopped often
looking for wedgebills, but came up empty. I did see my first Black-faced
Woodswallow of the trip though. It was quite a relief getting it because I no
longer had to look at every freaking woodswallow I saw to make sure it wasn?t a
Black-faced. I then drove around 40 km north of Cunnamulla looking for Flock
Bronzewings. I know they haven?t been seen in a while, but I figured I needed
to see for myself. Well, I concur, they?re gone. J. Arriving back at Bowra
Station around noon, I decided to drive the western paddock loop because I
hadn?t yet. And since Bourke?s Parrot seemed to have fallen of the face of the
earth, I thought maybe they had just fallen to the western part of the
property. Being midday, it was brutally hot and nothing was about. Tow
ards t
he back end of the loop I flushed a Black Falcon which offered some pretty
sweet views. I also found a little watering hole that was amazing. I spend
about an hour sitting in the heat watching a flock of about 1,000 Zebra Finches
coming into drink. By far the largest single group of Zebra Finches I saw
during the trip (though overall there at 1000?s on the property). Also coming
into drink was a family group of 5 Grey-headed Honeyeaters. These were my first
and only GH Honeyeaters of the trip. After another search of the so called
?Bourke?s Parrot? spots at #2, I headed once again for the watering holes south
of the homestead. Much of the same as the day before with the Painted Snipe and
presumably the same pair of Red-rumped Parrots. Once again back out to #2. I
tracked down the Painted Honeyeater again, this time getting great views. Then
I wandered around pretending every damn Diamond Dove and Budgie was a Bourke?s
Parrot.
Sunday 16th of November
Spent dawn birding spot #2 (what a surprise, eh?) Once again seeing the Painted
Honeyeater and once again dipping on Bourke?s Parrot. I did manage to flush
another Little Button Quail though. I then decided to head over to spot #4 to
give that area a try for the Bourke?s and also because I hadn?t really birded
that habitat much during the trip except for the first morning. Well it was a
nice decision. I saw much of the same I had seen in the area on my first visit
on the 13th, but I also easily found 3 more Chestnut-breasted Quail Thrushes
(an adult with a juvenile and then a male singing on a stump) and also a group
of Hall?s Babblers. I wish these two buggers would have been that cooperative
the first time I checked #4. It would have save my the not so pleasant long
walk around #6. I also picked up my first lifer for the day, Brown-headed
Honeyeater. Finally admitting that I wasn?t going to see Bourke?s Parrot (after
all how could I find a made up species?) I decided to hea
d towa
rds home. I had to make one last stop though on the drive out the access road
because a juvenile Black-breasted Buzzard flew over the car. Heading home I
found a flock of 5 Australian Pratincoles about 15 km east of Goondiwindi. I
also stopped along the highway in a patch of forest 6 km east of Karara. Tom
Tarrant had told me about the spot and had said it was good for honeyeaters.
Apparently there is a waterhole there that stuff comes to drink at. I was
unable to find the waterhole but I was able to pick up my last three lifers of
the trip, Crested Shrike Tit (a total surprise), Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, and
Fuscous Honeyeater. I also had great looks at a group of 8 White-browed
Babblers which was nice because the 2 I had seen at Bowra didn?t give the great
looks. Oh, and 2 Little Lorikeets flew over.
Key Species Locations:
Painted Snipe- access road and ponds south of homestead
Little Button Quail- south of #3, #2, #6
Mulga Parrot- near #3, beginning of #5 loop
Pink Cockatoo- surprisingly common; ponds south of homestead, near main gate,
#2, #5, biggest group seen was 6
Bourke?s Parrot- fictious
Black Falcon- #5 and back end of #8
Grey Falcon- Homestead (seen by Ian, sadly not by me)
Black-breasted Buzzard- near entrance to Bowra, ponds south of Homestead
White-browed Treecreeper- #2
Painted Honeyeater- #2
Black Honeyeater- south of #3
Pied Honeyeater- south of #3, #2
Grey-headed Honeyeater- #8
Chestnut-crowned Babbler- 5 groups, ponds south of homestead, #2, #5, beginning
of #6, #4
Hall?s Babbler- #6, #4
Crested Bellbird- surprisingly common, 8 seen, access road, canal south of
homestead (3), #4 (2), #2(2 including young that still couldn?t fly), south of
#3
Good Birding,
Ross Gallardy
Robina, QLD
p.s. I?m not proof reading this so there are probably a fair number of typos.
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