birding-aus

Trip report: Shepparton and Reedy Swamp

To: Tim Dolby <>
Subject: Trip report: Shepparton and Reedy Swamp
From: Bill Stent <>
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 17:34:56 +1100
Aaaaah!!

Thanks, Tim!  LFB is already in the list.

Bill

On 30/11/2014, at 3:20 PM, Tim Dolby <> wrote:

> Hey Bill,
> 
> Nice report. The call in question is a Little Friarbird - nice recording.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Tim
> ________________________________________
> From: Birding-Aus  on behalf of Bill 
> Stent 
> Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2014 11:41 AM
> To: 
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Trip report: Shepparton and Reedy Swamp
> 
> A couple of weeks ago I asked for some recommendations for birding around 
> Shepparton, and the consensus was that I should visit Reedy Swamp.
> 
> I ended up in Shepparton on Monday and Tuesday, and my work had me busy until 
> about 5pm on Monday, and starting again at 9 on Tuesday.
> 
> On Monday evening I walked along the bike path from the town up towards 
> Cudgee Park. There had been a huge downpour that afternoon (with rain coming 
> in through the roof of the electorate office) and the sky was very heavy. I 
> didn't have an umbrella or raincoat, but I thought I'd risk getting wet. The 
> path follows the Goulburn River downstream from Shepparton, and the river 
> flows through some nice forest areas.  There were quite a few birds, but in 
> the gathering darkness I wasn't able to get much, although the calls were 
> good.  Best bird there was the Little Friarbird, which, coming from 
> Melbourne, was a bit of a treat.  I turned for home when the rain started 
> again, and got home in time for a huge dinner at the local RSL.  Chicken 
> Parmigiana, and a pint of Bulmers, of course. Mmm-mmm.
> 
> On Tuesday morning, I got up at 5 and grabbed the fleet car (a nice brand-new 
> AWD Territory with immaculate brown metallic paint). I made it to the 
> northern end and worked my way back southwards. At the north end of the track 
> (which winds up the eastern side of the swamp) there were Bee-eaters, and 
> they appeared to be burrowing in the sand at the side of the road, which at 
> this point is along the crest of a sand ridge (would you call it a lunette?). 
> When I arrived they retired to a nearby tree, and posed nicely in the 
> sunrise. 
> https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=969029736445314&set=gm.10153270367029881&type=1
> 
> Further south, the road goes through some forest before getting closer to the 
> swamp itself. I stopped the car (which by now, after the rain the previous 
> day, was sporting quite a lot of mud, including some on the roof) and 
> approached the swamp. Rather than being wet, it was mainly silty mud, which I 
> didn't walk on for fear of getting stuck. Out in the middle a few stags 
> stand, and on one there was a juvenile Whistling Kite. An adult was cruising 
> up and down the swamp, being seen off by anything that was brave enough. 
> https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=969564323058522&set=p.969564323058522&type=1.
>  Around the edge, lots of smaller birds, like Superb Fairy Wrens and Red 
> Browed Finches were reasonably common.
> 
> I might be wrong here, but I think I got both Brown and White-Throated 
> Treecreepers here. The Brown TCs were investigating a stump out in the swamp, 
> while the White-Throateds were in the forest around the edge.  They were 
> pretty distant, but the calls separated them.
> 
> While on the subject of calls, I've put a snippet on the Birding-Aus Facebook 
> page of a call - I know I've heard this many times, ut I'm not amazing at 
> calls, and I just can't bring it to mind. Can anyone help me?  It's the 
> repeated "kwow, kwow".  
> https://www.facebook.com/download/813033198759829/ReedySwamp.wav
> 
> All in all, a nice way to spend the spare time while out with work. I had a 
> bit of explaining to do when returning the car, but the rest of the guys 
> thought it lent an air of "rural cred". Many thanks to those who made 
> suggestions!
> 
> The list for the two days is as follows:
> 
> Species Name
> Pacific Black Duck
> Brown Quail
> Australian White Ibis
> Black-shouldered Kite (Australian)
> Whistling Kite
> Masked Lapwing
> Spotted Dove
> Laughing Kookaburra
> Sacred Kingfisher
> Rainbow Bee-eater
> Dollarbird
> Galah
> Long-billed Corella
> Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
> Eastern Rosella
> Red-rumped Parrot
> White-throated Treecreeper
> Brown Treecreeper
> Superb Fairy-wren
> White-plumed Honeyeater
> Noisy Miner
> Red Wattlebird
> Little Friarbird
> Spotted Pardalote
> Striated Pardalote
> Australian Magpie
> Black-faced Cuckooshrike
> Rufous Whistler
> Willie Wagtail
> Grey Fantail
> Magpie-lark
> Australian Raven
> White-winged Chough
> Welcome Swallow
> Silvereye
> Common Blackbird
> Common Myna
> Common Starling
> House Sparrow
> Red-browed Finch
> 
> 
> 
> 
> <HR>
> <BR> Birding-Aus mailing list
> <BR> 
> <BR> To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
> <BR> http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
> </HR>
> This email, including any attachment, is intended solely for the use of the 
> intended recipient. It is confidential and may contain personal information 
> or be subject to legal professional privilege. If you are not the intended 
> recipient any use, disclosure, reproduction or storage of it is unauthorised. 
> If you have received this email in error, please advise the sender via return 
> email and delete it from your system immediately. Victoria University does 
> not warrant that this email is free from viruses or defects and accepts no 
> liability for any damage caused by such viruses or defects.

<HR>
<BR> Birding-Aus mailing list
<BR> 
<BR> To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
<BR> http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
</HR>

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU