Just spent 3.5 days helping with bird surveys in this new national park
just north of Eumungerie and Dubbo, NSW. It's a thickly wooded area
with mainly calitris, ironbark and Pillaga Box, logged in the past and
so a lot of regrowth. The Castlereagh River forms part of the northern
boundary. Owling at night produced Boobooks, and Owlet Nightjar called
each night over my tent. 3 Glossy Black Cockatoos visited a nearby jam
one evening, one on the other two evenings.
Birds were as expected - Red-cap Robins, Speckled Warblers, lots of
Brown-headed Honeyeaters, Striped Honeyeaters, Noisy and Little
Friarbirds - some of the box was in flower as well as mistletoe. Lots of
White-throated Treecreepers but only two Brown TCs heard. One
Chestnut-rumped Heathwren, and large parties of Grey-crowned Babblers in
most areas, and a very large party of White-browed Babblers at one site.
Another surveyor saw a male Turquoise Parrot. Few raptors and these in
the properties adjoining the park - Wedge-tailed Eagle, Black-shouldered
Kite, kestrel and presumed Brown Goshawk - looking into sun early morning.
The most unusual sighting was a flock of around 80 Eastern Rosellas on
the north-east boundary, feeding on a very over-grazed paddock adjoining
the park. It had just rained and the birds were flying from the
national park trees into the paddock, many settling on a wire fence
about 50m in from the park fence (counted 42 on this fence at one time),
and many more on the ground foraging and flying back and forth from the
trees.
Also nearby were about 60 White-Winged Chough.
Other groups were collecting plants and insects, and turning over logs
hoping to find reptiles, and setting mammal and bat traps etc, but
things were rather quiet in the reptile/mammal area mainly I guess due
to time of year. I think our bird total was about 64 species.
Would be good to spend time there in spring or when the ironbarks are
flowering. Nat.Parks staff are keen to encourage people to visit but
have yet to set up official camping area/s with toilets (we had two
portables) and shelters.
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