A splendid encounter
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
Before leaving the Round Hill Nature Reserve we found another lovely spot for afternoon tea. I set up the folding chairs and we sat back enjoying the beautiful afternoon and the peaceful setting. We were almost ready to set off back to our cabin in the Lake Cargelligo Caravan Park when I heard the familiar call of a wren. I knew that the beautiful Splendid Fairy-wren was present in this park and hoped that this is what I had heard.
Splendid Wren (male)
For the next half hour the wrens played a game of hide and seek with me, flitting in and out and around the nearby bushes. Patience eventually paid off and I was able to not only identify the birds as Splendid Fairy-wrens, but also to get a few reasonable photos of the stunning male in full breeding plumage.
It was a splendid end to a splendid day.
Splendid Wren (male)
Around and around Round Hill
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
One of the target places to visit on this holiday was Round Hill Nature Reserve. I was keen to visit this spot after reading about the many birds that can be see in the reserve and surrounding areas. The reserve is about 60km north west of the town of Lake Cargelligo in central west New South Wales.
Round Hill Nature Reserve, central NSW
We arrived in time for lunch. Driving through the park-like eastern end of the reserve we soon found a lovely spot for a picnic lunch. The birds were calling all around but few came near to where we sat eating our lunch. It was a bright, sunny, cloudless day with a gentle cool breeze. The early chill in the air had long since disappeared and it was not long before we had discarded our jumpers.
Round Hill Nature Reserve, central NSW
After lunch we wandered around the general area where we had parked for lunch. My wife was busy identifying and photographing the plants she found while I occupied myself chasing up the local birds. I managed several good shots, including one of a Pallid Cuckoo, one species I didn’t expect to get a photo of without a lot of effort. Just proves that one can be wrong. This photo was taken leaning out the car window. The bird sort of posed just for me.
Pallid Cuckoo, Round Hill Nature Reserve
Later we drove through a part of the park before turning around and heading back to the main road. About an hour later we found an interesting track to take through the park. This led us right back to where we had turned around. We had come full circle! At least I didn’t get lost.
Red-capped Robin (male)
A lake and a small township
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
Lake Cargelligo Caravan Park, NSW
The third day of our holiday in New South Wales was spent in the small mid-west town of Lake Cargelligo. This lake acts as a storage dam for the surrounding farming districts. At the moment it is far from full but there is still enough water there to make it attractive to the native birds – and to birders like myself.
After breakfast we drove down to the local Tourist Information Centre which we found closed. We decided to take a short drive along the lake to see what water birds were around. In a very short time I added many species to my trip list. We checked the information centre again but it was still closed. We managed to obtain a detailed map of the area from the shire council.
Pied Butcherbird
We drove to the little town of Euabalong and then on to Euabalong West. Here we stopped for about a half hour to do some birding in a picnic area on the bank of one of the creeks in the district. We also had morning tea and my wife took some photos of wildflowers growing there.
Euabalong West, central New South Wales
A new town, a new park and a new bird
Cocoparra National Park, central New South Wales
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
Our destination on day two of our holiday was Lake Cargelligo. The quickest way would have been to go from Hay straight to Rankins Springs, but we had travelled that route several time before. We’d never been to Griffith so we took a slightly longer route. This route also took us past the Cocoparra National Park which we had missed on our previous trips in this area.
We stopped briefly in Griffith to refuel. The size of this large rural centre surprised me. It has a population of over 24,000 and looked interesting enough for a return visit in the future. With the Cocoparra NP only 25km to the NE it would be good to be based there for a few days. After refueling we headed out towards the national park. We had an enforced stop for five minutes at a red stop light in the middle of nowhere. Roadworks can do that to you.
On arrival at the Cocoparra National Park for the very first time we stopped to survey the map at the entrance and then we chose Jack’s Creek picnic ground. Unfortunately we only had time to visit one spot in the park. As we drove into the picnic area we were immediately greeted by a family of White-winged Choughs, a group of noisy Apostlebirds and a Peaceful Dove calling somewhere nearby. The Choughs were feeding young in a nest in the car park. The Apostlebirds objected to our visit and the Striated Pardalotes just kept on their incessant calling in the tree above.
Cocoparra National Park, central New South Wales
We went for a walk along a walking trail for about an hour. This took us through a rocky gully with sandstone rocks being the feature. There were enough plants flowering to keep my wife happy and enough birds singing and flying around to keep me happy. I was delighted to see a Speckled Warbler for the very first time. It is always good to add a new species to my life list (a list of all the birds I’ve ever seen).
After our walk we had afternoon tea and then headed off towards our destination for the night.
Wildflowers at Cocoparra National Park
A Birdcage with the birds on the outside
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
On day two of our holiday in New South Wales we drove from Balranald to Hay in the morning. When I say “to Hay” that is strictly not true. We actually drove “past” Hay not stopping at all. The main highway we were on skirts the southern edge of this large rural town on the Murrumbidgee River. We had no need to stop. This lovely town serves a vast tract of grazing and farming land in the western part of the state of New South Wales.
Birdcage Rest Area, east of Hay NSW
As we drove on from Hay the countryside started to change. We had driven across the saltbush covered Hay Plains earlier in the day where there are few trees and bushes. Now we were seeing taller trees, especially along water courses.For lunch we stopped at the oddly named Birdcage Rest Area, shown in the photo above. There were many birds in the trees all around, but I didn’t see any cage.
Yellow Rosella
For our picnic lunch we made some delicious sandwiches using the tailgate of the Mazda Bravo as a table. The folding chairs came out from the back and we enjoyed the birdlife all around us as we ate. My attention was divided between eating my lunch, watching the birds with the binoculars and taking photos of the birds. Somehow I managed to juggle all three tasks without spilling any food.
Some of the birds seen include Laughing Kookaburras, White-winged Choughs (feeding young in a mud nest (see photo below), Apostlebirds, Yellow Rosellas (see photo above), Willie Wagtails and Galahs.
It was another wonderful lunch break.
White-winged Choughs' nest