Revisited Bowra Station, Cunnamulla for 5 nights last month after a 3 year
absence.Goal was to see again some quality dry country birds, and despite
dipping on Little Button-quail (my one hoped-for tick) I was well pleased with
the results.Leaving Maleny early we had morning tea at Cooyar where a flock of
40+ Red-rumped Parrot swung into the creekside trees, and lunch at Lake
Broadwater.Although it had even less water than in 2006, the trip list
accelerated with the addition of common waterbirds incl hundreds of Plumed
Whistling-Duck and a few Magpie Geese.Red-winged Parrot were easily seen from
the moving car as were many Wedgies.We stayed o'nite in St George where I did
the river walk from town to the weir up Little Grassbird, Dusky Woodswallow,
many Cockateil, but no cormorants as expected.Many parties of Emu were seen
between St George and Cunnamulla.
After settling into the cottage at Bowra we set out in the
late arvo to the Sawpits Waterhole, geting Red-capped Robin,Spotted
Bowerbird,Zebra Finch still within sight of the cottage.At the waterhole we saw
Common Bronzewing, Brown Treecreeper,Double-barred Finch, Hooded
Robin,Black-faced Woodswallow,Budgerigar,seven stately Brolga, whilst three
Major Mitchell Cockatoos afforded great perched views over the water. On the
return trip across the open paddock we spied a raptor perched in a dead tree
close to the track ahead.This turned out to be a Grey Falcon so we savoured our
views from the car as we slowly approached.It eventually took flight and slowly
flew about 200m to a larger tree where we again got great views.By the time we
finished birding we'd got 40 species.
Over the next three days we birded most parts of the property,
starting with before breakfast walks through the grassy sheep paddock searching
for the button-quail. After breakfast we'd drive and bird until lunch,then rest
begore going out again mid to late afternoon. Around the homestead waterhole
there were Chestnut-crowned Babbler, Tree Martin, White-breasted Woodswallow,
Red-backed Kingfisher,Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, White-winged Fairy-wren,
Black-fronted Dotterel, Masked Lapwing, Royal & Yellow-billed Spoonbills,
Pacific Black and Wood ducks, Peaceful & Diamond Doves and Red-winged &
Ringneck Parrots.We only encountered one party of Hall's Babbler but were able
to follow them for some time, getting good extended views. There was one
sighting of a Peregrine Falcon, and I saw both Chirruping Wedgebill and
Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush at the Stony Lookout site (down from the gravel
extraction area).Splendid Fairy-Wren were seen every day, as were Jacky Winter,
White-plumed Honeyeater,Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, Rufous Whistler and
White-winged Chough.Honeyeater species were relatively scarce,only five seen,
with just a brief glimpse of a pair of either Grey- headed or Grey fronted.
White-browed and Black-faced Woodswallow were most common, with fewer Dusky and
only two Little seen.We saw eight raptors, incl both Brown Goshawk and Collared
Sparrowhawk, and a second sighting of the Grey Falcon flying low over some
trees making a loud cackling call.We only saw one pair of Mulga Parrot and
failed to see Bourke's at all. Our one nightime sojourn resulted in sightings
of three Spotted Nightjar-- one flying, one flushed by the car,and one frozen
by headlights in middle of track. No owls or cuckoos were heard or seen on the
property, and the only quail seen was a single Brown Quail flushed from beide a
bore drain.
On one morning we drove to Eulo, stopping at the bore( for little
result) and driving the Billabong Nature Reserve west of town and just over the
Paroo River, which was not flowing over the weir.Nothing unusual was seen but
we did see the only Black Kite of the trip.The trip home to Maleny was
uneventful, a lunch stop at the Beardmore Dam north of St George disappointing
with only a pair of Pacific Black Duck on the water.
We saw 88 species on Bowra alone, two more than 3 years ago.We also
logged 88 species on the trip out and back (about 1650km return) for total of
125 species all-up. A wonderful place to visit with some excellent birds and
birding.
Russ Lamb, Maleny,SEQ
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