Day 19 11/5/21
One last look at the lake before packing up and having breakfast and headed through Quilpie. Turned off the Windora Road and headed along the Thargomindah Road, a road we had last travelled in August 2004, when it was unsealed. We had camped along the road and in the morning noticed some black clouds rolling in so we packed up fast and headed for Thargomindah. Unfortunately the rain came quickly and we found ourselves slipping all over the red dirt road, but made it to Thargomindah. Here we met lots of people trying to get to Birdsville for the races, but the roads were closed due to flooding. Meanwhile back to the present heading down the Thargomindah Road we thought about stopping at Toompine for a coffee, but it didn't look very exciting, so we travelled a short distance further until we found a suitable place to pull off. What an inspired choice of a place to stop as we had some good birds here, our first thornbills, Buff-rumped and also four Bourke’s Parrot flew in and landed in front of us for reasonable views. They hid in the low shrubs so it was difficult to get a good photo.
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| Bourke's Parrot |
Across the road from the Bourke's Parrot we could hear another bird calling so we investigated and found a Rufous Songlark.
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| Rufous Songlark |
Continued along the sealed road, which changed to a few stretches of gravel before going back to sealed road to join up with the Eulo road for the last 7km into Thargomindah. We went straight to the Spar shop for some vegetables, but the weekly delivery hadn't arrived yet so we just had to go without. Fueled up at the roadhouse, which looked the same as our 2004 visit. However, the price of fuel had changed as in 2004 it had just gone over $1 per litre! Drove down to the Explorers Caravan Park, but there was no powered sites available. However we were offered a site at the old caravan park, which did have power so we opted to go there. Set up camp on the dusty ground next to an old concrete slab only to find the power points were not working. Phoned up the Explorers Caravan Park, they said they would get an electrician to check it. After waiting a while nobody came so we packed up and changed sites, one with working power. So we plugged in all the devices and had lunch. Went for a walk along the river in the afternoon with thousands of White-browed and Masked Woodswallow filling the sky above.
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| White-browed Woodswallow |
Back to camp where it was cooling down so we decided to put up the tent and do away with the quick set up. Good move as it kept cooling down and we could retreat to the tent out of the chilly wind.
Day 20 12/5/21
Cold start to the morning 6ºC. Woken up at 4.00am by truck driver starting and leaving engine running for 10 mins. Managed to get back to sleep eventually. Packed up quickly and went to the Dump Point, where Lindsay directed me down a short cut and into a mud hole, which covered the undersides of the T-van and Prado. Emptied the Porta-Potti (portable toilet), but no water in the tap for refill, however luckily nearby was a great free truck wash-down pad. So we got some water from here and then spent 10 minutes hosing down the T-van and Prado with the high pressure hose – great facility. Then off to Lake Bindagolly National Park 45km away to have our breakfast. Found a spot in the Bush Camping area opposite the National Park and overlooking a lagoon. The lagoon had a few birds foraging in the shallow water, 128 Red-Kneed Dotterel were a highlight, 30+ Red-capped Dotterel and 11 Silver Gulls were trip ticks. Other waterbirds here included both Yellow-billed and Royal Spoonbill.
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| Red-kneed Dotterel |
After a cooked breakfast we headed out onto the Eulo Road following this until we turned off towards Currawinya National Park. Lindsay took over driving here along the dirt road on a section which had not been graded yet. We met the road crew grading the road heading north. From this point the road was good all the way into the Ourimperee waterhole bush camp, situated behind the Currawinya Woolshed. The road had recently been closed due to rain and was again closed after our visit.
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| Ourimperee Waterhole Camp |
We had pre-booked (a condition of camping in Queensland National Parks) so set up camp overlooking the Ourimperee Waterhole and had lunch. Afternoon coffee was sitting beside the waterhole at a pleasant 21ºc, but the birding was slow. After dinner listened to "A Birders Guide Podcast", interviewing Mike Potter, who was embarking on a big year to try and break the record for birds seen in South Australia in one year (2021). Did a quick spotlight around the camp in the evening and found this spider, which is a sub adult female Orb-Weaver, possibly genus Eriophora or perhaps Backobourkia. (thanks for this information Greg Anderson).
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| Orb-Weaver - sub adult female |
Day 21 13/5/21
Coldest night yet, down to 3ºC! so stayed in bed until 7.00am. After a warming coffee went for a walk along the Ourimperee waterhole and had Mulga Parrot and Mallee Ringneck, which was very nice. Mixed flocks of woodswallow were soaring overhead with a few coming down to feed on the eucalyptus blossom, mainly White-browed with a few Masked.
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| White-browed Woodswallow |
Back to camp for porridge to keep us warm. Then off to the Ranger Station, where we arrived in time to catch three rangers leaving the information centre, had a quick chat with them. We commented on the amount of water around and they said there had been two good years of over 200mm of rain. Then tried to find the Lakes Road, but lack of signage threw us for a while as well as the info map showing “you are here” in the wrong place, eventually found it. From the Rangers Station you have to go towards Hungerford for a few kilometers then take a right turn at the next information board, but still no signs say lakes this way. Continuing along this road we eventually saw signs to the lakes. Went to the freshwater Lake Numalla first and had a coffee at the picnic shelter along with several pairs of Zebra Finch who had nests with chicks in the roof. The nest is not exactly a work of art!
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| Zebra Finch - female |
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| Zebra Finch nest |
Walked about 100m to the lake shore, but most of the birds were too far away to identify. However, huge numbers of cormorants flew past at a distance, mainly Little Black (500+) and Little Pied or Pied (500+). Then headed off to the saltwater Lake Wyara 6km away, here a lookout allowed us to see some of the lake, which had plenty of birds on it. Eurasian Coot were the most numerous with 523 counted, also 78 Grey Teal and 51 Black Swan with 17 cygnets plus a few other waterbirds.
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| Eurasian Coot - some of the 523 counted |
Backtracked to Whip Dam and to have lunch, not many birds here. Stopped off at Lake Kaponyee but only had one White-necked Heron and 18 Australian Wood Duck. A dam at the junction of the Lakes and the Granites Road was more productive. Highlight here was two adult Pink-eared Duck with five chicks and two Grey Teal with four chicks, there were 14 more Grey Teal, 35 Australian Wood-Duck and 16 Hoary-headed Grebe plus a few bush birds. Back to camp to relax. The late afternoon began to cool off and by the time the sun went down it was 19ºC, looks like another cold night ahead.
Day 22 14/5/21
Positively warm this morning only down to 8ºC. Porridge to start the day before we drove to the Granite’s, a collection of large rounded rocks. We had been here before in 2019 and the birding was good, this time it was slow with none of the Crimson Chats we saw last time. However, good birds beat species numbers with a pair of White-backed Swallow flew over, always nice to see. Then as we were leaving we saw them again, this time perched in a dead tree for a few average photos.
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| White-backed Swallow |
Also here were three Hall’s Babbler along with the usual suspects Crested Pigeon and Yellow-throated Miner. Decided to go back to the dam at the Lakes Road junction for morning coffee, good move as we found a lone female Freckled Duck. Much the same birds as yesterday with fewer Hoary-headed Grebe and more Australian Wood Duck, a pair of Yellow-billed Spoonbill and a pair of Brown Treecreeper were new additions to our list for here. Back to camp for lunch overlooking the waterhole. The constant chatterer of woodswallows overhead had us wondering just how many there were! In the afternoon, as they started to move away, the flocks were joined by over 200 budgies who flew in a tighter flock.
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| Budgerigar |
It briefly hit 21ºC mid afternoon as we tidied up the camp and prepared to leave tomorrow. We do like this National Park, but like many other places we wish the smaller birds were more prominent as we saw no thornbills, gerygones or finches. We had to be content with the scratchy sounds of White-cheeked Honeyeater and the calls of the White-plumed Honeyeater, called Canaries by some locals, around the camp.
Day 23 15/5/21
Another trip record broken with the temperature going down to 1ºC this morning. Had porridge for breakfast to get us going. Packed up and got away at 7.42am heading to Hungerford only 20km away. Reached the NSW-QLD border gates at Hungerford, where Lindsay opened the gate to let us into NSW to continue south along the Dowling Track.
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| The Gates at Hungerford Border Crossing |
The road was sandy, a few corrugations, patches of bulldust and gravel, but not too bad if you kept to around 60-70kph. Stopped for coffee at a creek adjacent to Naree Station Reserve, a conservation property owned by Bush Heritage. Lindsay took over driving for the next half hour and was lucky to get a few patches of bitumen. There was as few new sections of bitumen as we neared Bourke, a relief from the sandy/gravel sections. Arrived in Bourke just before mid-day and stopped at the information centre, which did not have much to offer apart from Bourke information. Then headed to the Spar grocery store to stock up on supplies before booking into the Mitchell Caravan Park. Our site was right next to the main road, which had lots of noisy trucks passing. Few new trip ticks in the park included Bluebonnet, Little Crow and Common Blackbird! Cooling down for another cold night.
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| Little Crow |
Day 24 16/5/21
Only got down to 3ºC this morning. Noisy music was playing till well after 4.00am, but the frequency of trucks was much less. A few birds around the park including European Starling flying over and eight Bluebonnet foraging on the grass. Cooked breakfast, scrambled eggs and bacon on toast before finishing packing and heading out to fuel up at the BP ($1.40lt). Then off to the Bourke Water Treatment Works, no access and only a few Grey Teal and Hardhead and a Reed Warbler was heard in the reeds. The best birds were a few parties of White-winged Fairy-wren along the entrance road. Then set off south turning onto the Louth Road. Mainly gravel road with a few bits of bitumen. Saw some raptors overhead so we stopped to find Black-breasted Buzzard and two Little Eagle. These birds were undoubtedly attracted to a Kangaroo carcass on the road, which another person had stopped to remove from off the road as we arrived. Continued on and turned into the Yanda campground road in Gundabooka National Park, where we parked up for morning coffee. Then checked out the backwaters of the Darling River and found a couple of groups of Australian Wood Duck and Grey Teal along with a few other waterbirds plus a pair of Red-capped Robin.
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| Red-capped Robin - female |
Then made our way along the road to Rose Isle Station Farm Stay, passing lots of feral goats, some behind fences, where they were being harvested.
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| Old Bedford Truck |
We were greeted at the farm stay by Samantha and her two meet and greet miniature Dachshund. Set up camp and had lunch. Spent the afternoon talking to fellow travellers and birding. Good birds were Red-tailed Black-cockatoo, Striated Pardalote. Splendid Fairy-wren and Grey Fantail who were probably heading north. Also saw an Echidna along one of the muddy river channels. Had an evening meal in the cookshed and talked to a group of bikers, pleasant evening. Going cold again.
Day 25 17/5/21
Yes it was cold overnight 0.2ºC, another record cold morning. Managed to function after a restless night due to eating too much at last nights dinner! Had porridge for breakfast, which warmed us up enough to get our act together and set out for the day. We headed back to Gundabooka National Park and Bennetts Gorge picnic area for morning coffee.
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| Gundabooka National Park |
We took the 500m walking track to the gorge and saw four Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, but were unable to get any decent photos of them, just a record shot (sub standard image). They were very flighty so we did not pursue them any further.
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| Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush (record shot) |
A party of Southern Whiteface were also nearby. Then we headed out to Dry Tank Campground for lunch and had the place to ourselves. After lunch went for a short walk and found White-browed Treecreeper, Crested Bellbird, Hooded and Red-capped Robin along with an immature Rufous Whistler.
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| Rufous Whistler - immature |
From here we decided to take the Yanda Track back to the main road. The track was in good order with a grader working it’s way along it. Stopped at Yanda creek to do some birding, plenty of good birds here, but nothing new for us. Then back to our camp were we did a bit of birding. Promised Samantha some photos of the Splendid Fairy-wren. Both had showers before evening meal. Another cold night coming up as it was cooling down rapidly.
Day 26 18/5/21
Down to 2ºc this morning. Slow pack up due to frozen fingers! Eventually got away about 9.00am and headed to Louth, traveling through Goat country. Feral goats are harvested around here as extra income, they will never run out of them. We were told one station harvested 24,000 goats in two years! From Louth we took the Cobar Road, which is mainly unmade sand/gravel with a few bitumen sections in between. There is a long bitumen stretch, 5km + leading up to the Landsdowne Station entrance, where we stopped for morning coffee. Lindsay took over driving on what proved to be the better section of the road. Arrived in Cobar and parked up on the edge of the main shopping area opposite the Police Station. Had a quick look around before going to the recommended bakery for some rolls and custard tart. Had our lunch at Newey Reservoir and watched a few waterbirds. Coot were most numerous. Then onto the road to Nyngen, bitumen all the way for 130km passing by much cleared land for grain cropping and cotton growing. Booked into the Riverside Tourist Park and found an unpowered dusty site next to the Bogan River. Mainly Australian Pelican on the river with a few Pacific Black Duck, darters and cormorants.
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| Australian Pelican |
Phoned a friend, who was familiar with the area, in the late afternoon, for advice about Pillager or Warrumbungle for visiting and camping, Warrumbungle won out.
Day 27 19/5/21
3ºC morning. Few birds on the Bogan River and Riverside Caravan Park, 60 Australian Pelican, plus 21 Red-rumped Parrot foraging on the Caravan Park grass. Photos of these delayed our departure.
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| Red-rumped Parrot - male and female |
Left Nyngan on the Mitchell Highway south towards Dubbo and turned off at Neveretire onto the Oxley Highway to Warren. Lots of cleared land around here for grain cropping and cotton growing. Parked up beside the Macquarie River in Warren and went for a walk around town. Found a nice coffee shop for morning coffee and cake. Then off to the IGA supermarket to do some shopping. Was a good choice, good selection and a seniors discount! Booked into the Macquarie CP, set up, had lunch and a snooze. Then went over to the Warren Wetlands and Water Treatment Plant - Window on the Wetlands Centre, for some birding.
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| Warren Sewage Treatment Works |
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| How Refreshing! |
Good number of birds, lots of Pink-eared Duck and Grey Teal plus a few Chestnut Teal. Then back to camp to catch up with eBird surveys.
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| Pink-eared Duck and Grey Teal |
Day 28 20/5/21
No rush today as we were not traveling. Slightly warmer morning down to 4ºC. Checked the birds around the caravan park and found a couple of Grey-crowned Babbler and a group of 14 White-winged Fairy-Wren, which included two males.
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| Grey-crowned Babbler |
Lindsay did some washing before we went for a walk around Macquarie Park. Had four Spotted Bowerbirds, heard a Bar-shouldered Dove by the hospital and at last found a pair of Western Gerygone - 1st gerygone for the trip. Back for coffee and another walk, this time on the western side of the Warren Wetlands. Highlights were Superb Fairy-Wren, Brown Treecreeper and Restless Flycatcher.
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| Restless Flycatcher |
Then off to Kookaburra Kiosk for lunch, inside a converted church, had to wait too long for our meal, I had Chicken Pasta and Lindsay had Chicken Soup, which arrived 15 minutes after mine, anyway the meals were very good. Followed this up with coffee and cake and chats with the locals.
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| Kookaburra Kiosk and Interpretive Centre |
Back to camp to relax and have showers. Fixed a slight leak at a t-joint in the water pump plumbing, which was causing the pump not to operate properly. Did another bird survey of the park and had a party of White-winged Chough, along with a Straw-necked and Australian White Ibis. A few hundred Galah descended on the park to roost, but were sent on their way with a few shots from a scare gun.
Day 29 21/5/21
Warmer morning down to 6ºC. Packed up and had our usual cold morning porridge before going along the levee wall to check out the birds. A surprise was a pair of Black Falcon being chased by a group of Noisy Miner, who strangely could not keep up! Left at 9.10 and turned onto the Oxley Highway towards Gilgandra, where we stopped for morning coffee at a park in town then headed onto the Newell Highway. Roadworks along the highway held us up for a while and resulted in a long line of traffic. Once we got going a truck decided to try overtaking everyone so we pulled of at the next rest stop to let it go by along with the rest of the traffic. Continued along the highway until we took the Warrumbungle National Park turn off.
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| Warrumbungle Road |
Drove into the park and stopped at the Warrumbungle Visitor Centre.
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| Warrumbungle Visitor Centre |
We arrived two minutes late as the visitor centre closes for lunch between 12.00 and 1.00pm, so we headed off to our camp at Camp Blackman No 2.
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| Warrumbungle National Park Camp |
Set up and had lunch before returning to the visitor centre. Had Yellow-rumped Thornbill and Diamond Firetail in the grounds. Met another couple from South Australia who were birding, they had just seen a Crested Shrike-tit, but we could not find it. Then went down to Canyon Picnic Area for afternoon coffee and some birding – not much around.
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| Warrumbungle National Park |
Back to camp to do some more birding and met another couple from South Australia who were also birding. Getting dark early so had evening meal before 6.30pm – sausages, Broccoli and potatoes. Getting colder as the evening wore on, below the forecast 9ºC.
Day 30 22/5/21
Down to 8ºc this morning. Had a walk around the camping area before breakfast, scrambled egg and bacon on toast. Cleaned up and went for a walk along the Belougerie Flat Track, Lindsay did the first bit and returned to camp, I kept going and did the 5km Circuit. Quiet birdwise, but great scenery. Did have a very friendly party of eight Grey-crowned Babbler hop around my feet and a couple of Black-shouldered Kite. Back to camp for a break before heading out again onto the Blackman’s Track for about 3km round trip, did have a male Superb Fairy-wren and heard a Fan-tail Cuckoo. A male Australian King Parrot posed for a photo and a few Yellow-faced Honeyeater showed up. Lindsay had a good look at a Yellow-footed Antechinus, which was a nice surprise.
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| Australian King Parrot |
Back for lunch and a rest. A baby Echidna came walking by in the camp ground creating a bit of excitement for the afternoon.
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| Echidna |
Then headed off in the car to explore a few places, first up was the Old Woolshed for afternoon coffee, nothing much here apart from a party of Superb Fairy Wren. Then back to the Visitor Centre, where we had the best birding of the day. Stunning view of Spotted Pardalote and a new finch of the trip Double-barred!
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| Spotted Pardalote ssp xanthopyge |
Along the Gurianawa Track around the Visitor Centre we had Restless Flycatcher, two Common Bronzewing and a Nankeen Kestrel. Back to camp to write up the days adventures and eBird surveys. Had a cuppa soup to warm up as once again the temperature was dropping quickly.
Day 31 23/5/21
2ºC outside, 4ºC inside the T-van. Up for a coffee and a 2km round trip to the National Park Sewage Pond. Only two Grey Teal on the pond, but around the outside there was Buff-rumped Thornbill and Eastern Spinebill both new trip ticks. Back for breakfast and to pack up before we headed to Coonabarabran,
We stopped at the Whitegum car park to walk the 500m track to the lookout, well worth the effort.
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| Whitegum Lookout |
Birding along the track was excellent, Inland and Buff-rumped Thornbill, Spotted Pardalote and best of all a pair of Speckled Warbler.
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| Speckled Warbler |
Back at the car park there were several Weebill and a party of Superb Fairy-wren. Then onto Coonabarrabran, where we went to the information centre, which was pretty well stocked with brochures. From here we headed for Gunnedah stopping at Oxley’s Crossing for lunch. Another stop at Mullaley had us surrounded by over 100 House Sparrow with a few Zebra Finch and a lone Double-bar Finch. Arrived at Gunnedah and booked into the Gunnedah Tourist Caravan Park. Adjacent to the Caravan Park is a wetland park, which is quite run down, but held a few birds including Grey Teal and Australian Wood-Duck which were swimming around in the weedy water. Back for showers and to exchange a 3.7kg gas bottle for $28.00! Quick set up on the T-van tonight.
Day 32 24/5/21
Away by 8.00am, the advantage of using the quick set up for the night. From Gunnedah we travelled towards Tamworth, which is a big city compared to what we were used to, 60,000 people. Tried to stop at Victoria Park, but nowhere to park the car and T-van so we drove around until we could find a spot, which was behind the Woolworths shopping centre. Went into Woolworths café and grabbed a coffee and some raisin toast before topping up with a few food items. Left Tamworth for Armidale stopping at Uralla for a break. Here we noticed that there was a bird hide at nearby Dangars Lagoon so we headed off to have lunch there.
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| Dangars Lagoon |
It was quite windy, which made it very cold about 13º, but there were lots of birds to see on the Lagoon. Good birds included Musk Duck, Blue-billed Duck, Australian Shoveller and 123 Pink-eared Duck also plenty of Australasian Grebe.
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| Australasian Grebe |
From the lagoon it was a short drive to Armidale. Drove around the town before going out to our friend's house. Spent the rest of the day chatting before we had dinner – Salmon and vegies, very nice. Nice to retire to a bedroom instead of the T-van for a change!
Day 33 25/5/21
Lie in until 7.00am, too cold outside. Eventually up for a coffee and to sort out the T-van. Breakfast before going for a walk around the property with David and his two Labradors. Saw Brown-headed and White-naped Honeyeater, Rainbow Lorikeet was only heard flying over. Then we went back to Dangars Lagoon with our friend. This time lots of Hoary-headed Grebe, Pink-eared Duck numbers rose to 148, six Musk Duck, two Black Swan, Australasian Shoveler and Eurasian Coot.
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| Musk Duck - female |
Then back for lunch at a The Alternative Root café along the main street in Uralla.
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| The Alternative Root Café |
Then out to Inbota Nature Reserve, a small patch of remnant woodland, pretty quiet with Grey Fantail, Weebill. White-throated Treecreeper and Grey Butcherbird were heard only. From here we headed back into town for a quick tour of the city. Interesting blend of old and new buildings, plus a lot of small specialty shops. Then back to Armidale for showers and evening meal, roast lamb-yum.
Day 34 26/5/21
Another cold morning as usual. Put the tent up on the T-van to dry it out as it had dew on it from last pack up. After breakfast we headed out some 50km to the Gwydir Travelling Stock Reserve, where there is a good patch of woodland. Again very quiet, spent a few hours here, but not much to show for it, Eastern Yellow Robin was the best bird we saw.
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| Eastern Yellow Robin |
So went back to Armidale, where we had a toasted sandwich and coffee for lunch. Wandered around town ending up in the Coles shopping centre, where I got a well needed haircut and beard trim. Lindsay did a bit of food shopping to top up our supplies. Back at our friends place Lindsay cooked up a delicious chicken curry. Spent the evening dodging in and out watching an eclipse of the moon and checking a moth trap Freezing cold again, so to a nice warm bed in the house.
Day 35 27/5/21
-2º C in Armidale overnight, frost on the ground. Slow start to the day before breakfast and sorting the T-van and hooking it up. Nearly 11.00am before we said goodbye to our friend's, who we must thank for making us very welcome and looking after us. Best of all they kept us wimpy northerners nice and warm in their house. We headed out of town, making it to the Lions Park at Bundara by the Gwydir River, which is a good camp spot, but we were only here for lunch. Good birds here included Variegated Fairy-wren and Musk Lorikeet. Then continued on to free camp at Sunnyside Riverside Camp near Bingarra. Started out as another good campsite until a crazy neighbour arrived set on fishing from his kayak. He caught two Murray Cod and was yelling and shouting about with every second word the “F” word. More paperwork in the evening as it cooled down, had a few mice running around and an Eastern Barn Owl called.
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| Eastern Barn Owl - (file photo) |
Day 36 28/5/21
Crazy neighbour left the radio on until 1.30am, keeping us awake. About 5.00am he banged on the T-van asking for help as his radio had flattened his battery when he fell asleep in his chair. We were not impressed as it was near freezing outside. I got dressed and got our Jump Start Battery out as the Eastern Barn Owl called again. He said he had jumper leads, but they were no good as our car was hooked up to the T-van. He had not seen a Lithium jump start battery, why was I not surprised! Anyway got him started and went back to bed as the temperature dropped to 0ºC. No apology from him ,but he did go much to our relief. Went for a short walk to find the crazy neighbour had left his fire burning and fish guts on the river bank – say no more. Surveyed the waterbirds on the river. Had a cooked breakfast and packed up before going into Bingarra where we stopped to checked out the information Centre and have a good coffee in their café. Next stop Moree, where we booked into the Mehi River Van Park. Set up, had lunch and a snooze before going into the information Centre. Decided to go to the Tareelaroi Weir, which was a bit further than we thought (22km). Nothing special here with Crested Pigeon being the most obvious.
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| Crested Pigeon |
So we returned to the T-van for dinner. It was quite noisy with trucks and hoons on motorbikes and cars. Yet another cold night ahead.
Day 37 29/5/21
Managed to sleep OK as the traffic noise died down a little. Awoke to another cold start, 3ºC and the news that unfortunately three vehicles had been broken into during the night. The Police arrived to take the details. Porridge was the order for breakfast before we went of to try and find Whittakers Lagoon. Missed the Lagoon due to lousy map reader and kept going before we turned around and went to Combadello Weir for morning coffee. Turned out to be some of the best birding for a few days. Highlight was an Oriental Cuckoo (f) sitting low down on a small bush. Other good birds included a pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagle, 16 Eastern Rosella on the road feeding with Cockatiel and Galah, Yellow-rumped Thornbill and a pair of Striated Pardalote on the buildings as well as the barbed wire of the weir.
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| Striated Pardalote ssp substriatus |
Went back and found Whittakers Lagoon, but a quick look revealed no birds so we kept going ending up at the Moree Common. Highlight here was a Square-tailed Kite, which was being harassed by Noisy Miner and a Spotted Pardalote.
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| Square-tailed Kite |
By now it was lunch time so we decided to go to Yarraman Bridge on the River Gwydir.
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| Yarraman Bridge on the River Gwydir |
Found a spot by the river and had some new trip ticks, a pair of White-browed Scrubwren and a party of Plum-headed Finch. Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater were a tick for NSW this trip. Then back into town to try to swap a gas bottle, but no 3.7kg bottles in town, tried five garages. Back to camp for a relaxing afternoon and a shower as it was cooling down.
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