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