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| Plains Wanderer, found in the Terrick Terrick National Park grasslands. |
Terrick Terrick National Park is a fantastic Victorian birding site approximately 230 km north of Melbourne - 70 km north of Bendigo. It is dominated by White Cypress-pine, Grey Box, Yellow Box and an array of native grasses. An indication of how good the site is, in a dawn chorus (heard before getting out of my tent) at the campground at the base of Mt Terrick Terrick I heard Gilbert's and Rufous Whistler, Mistletoebird, Brown Treecreeper, White-browed Babbler, Mallee Ringneck, and White-winged Chough; and there was also nesting Tree Martin in the tree next to the tent, and nearby Diamond Firetail and Southern Whiteface moved around on the ground. Wonderful stuff.
The best time to visit the park in is late August to late October if you want to catch peak flowering and bird activity. Although other times of the year, aside from mid-summer also also very pleasant and excellent birding.
Aside from being an excellent open woodland site, the Terricks is the only reliable site in Victoria to find the rare and endangered Plains Wanderer. The best place to see these is in the grassland areas of the park, to the north-east of Mt Terrick Terrick.
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| Mt Terrick Terrick Picnic Area |
Terricks is also one of the only places in Australia where you can see 3 species of babbler in one area: White-browed Babbler are quite common, there is a small party of Chestnut-crowned Babbler in the area north-west of Riegals Rock, and there are several groups of Grey-crowned Babbler along Bendigo Creek (such as where Bendigo Creek intersects Wasons Road). The flora of Mt Terrick Terrick is like that of Mt Wycheproof and Mt Kooyoora further to the west, and the Warby Ranges in north-east Victoria.
In 2007 large numbers of Australian Pratincole and Banded Lapwing, and several Inland Dotterel, were recorded at the Patho plains section of the park near the intersection of Clee Road and Tomara Road.
Terrick Terrick is also a great place to see birds of prey. On a two day survey for Birds Australia I recorded 13 species of raptors, including Black Kite, Whistling Kite, Swamp Harrier, Spotted Harrier, Brown Goshawk, Collared Sparrowhawk, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Little Eagle, Nankeen Kestrel, Australian Hobby, Brown Falcon, Black Falcon and Peregrine Falcon.
Other interesting birds I've seen at the Terricks include Black-eared Cuckoo, Painted Honeyeated (nesting at the base of the Mt Terrick Terrick), White-backed Swallow, White-necked Heron, Jacky Winter, Peaceful Dove, White-browed Woodswallow, Black-faced, Dusky and Masked Woodswallow, Red-capped and Hooded Robin, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Restless Flycatcher, Rufous Songlark, White-winged Triller, Western Gerygone, Little Friarbird, Common Bronzewing, Little Corella. Black Honeyeater have also nested at the base of Mt Terrick Terrick.
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| Birding paparazzi spot-lighting Plains Wanderer. |
As mentioned one of the main attractions of the park is the grassland areas in the north-east near the 'Davies Ruins'. On a single spotlighting in the Spear Grass Paddock I've recorded Plains Wanderer, Stubble Quail, Brown Songlark, Little Button-quail, Barn Owl and Australian Pipit and Red-chested Button-quail has also been recorded. The inclusion of the grassland areas into the national park was a major reason for the resent inclusion of Terrick Terrick National Park as an international Important Birding Area (IBA). The grasslands were farmed by the Davies family on a low-input basis, grazing stock at conservative levels, from the early 1900s for nearly 100 years. Fortunately for animals such as the Plains Wanderer and the Hooded Scaley-foot, and plants such as Plains Leek-orchid and Annual Buttons, the owners felt no need to use fertilisers or chemicals. Nor did they plough the land.
Some of the good birding sites at Terricks are:
Mitiamo Cemetery
The area around the cemetery is typical of Pine-Box Grassy Woodland, with a nice mix of Slender and White Cypress Pine, Yellow and Grey Box and the odd patch of Buloke. This is a good site for Gilbert's Whistler, particularly on the east side of the Cemetery.
Mt Terrick Terrick Picnic Area
Around the picnic area and northward around the base of the rock.Around picnic area I have recorded Diamond Firetail, Gilbert's Whistler, Ducky Woodswallow, Rufous Songlark, Red-capped Robin, Mistletoebird, Yellow and Chestnut-rumped Thornbill. Moving north around the base of the rock look for Painted Honeyeater ( in spring they have nested here), Gilbert's Whistler, Southern Whiteface and Mallee Ringneck.
Climbing Mt Terrick Terrick and the top.
From the top you command broad views across the Northern Plains. Most of the vegetation has been cleared and what remains is fragmented into small islands in a sea of farmland. On the way up to the rock, in the crevices I have found nesting Western Gerygone. Little Thornbill, Southern Whiteface and Chestnut-rumped Thornbill also are seen in and around the rock areas.
Regals Road
On the nth side of the park - specifically around Plantations Track. Along the fringe habitat of Regal Rd you can find moving flock of small passerines such as Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Southern Whiteface and Red-caped and Hooded Robin. In spring and summer this is also a reliable site for Black-eared Cuckoo. If you enter the park near Plantation Track the bird life can sometimes be prolific, with good numbers of Dusky and sometimes White-browed and Masked Woodswallow, Diamond Firetail, Eastern Rosella, Mallee Ringneck, Peaceful Dove, Hooded and Red-capped Robin, Gilbert's Whistler and White-winged Chough. This is also the only area where you can see Chestnut-crowned Babbler.
Grassland area near Davies Ruins
Famous for being one of the only sites in Victoria for Plains Wanderer, it also holds Stubble Quail,Little Button-quail, Rufous Songlark, Pipit, Banded Lapwing, and there are rare recordings of Australian Pratincole, Chestnut-breasted Button-quail and Inland Dotterel.
Bendigo Creek
Along Bendigo Creek north of Echuca Mitiamo Rd, up to the old homestead, look for Grey-crowned Babbler. Also look along Bendigo Creek, south of Jungaburra Rd, which when there is water, has superb birding.
The park is also home to a variety of native mammals and reptiles such as the Black Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor), Fat-tailed Dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicuadata), Striped Legless Lizard (Delma impar), Hooded Scaly Foot (Pygopus nigriceps) and Lace Monitor (Varanus varius). The grasslands support populations of the Leptorhynchos scabrus, Swainsona murrayna, Prauphyllum suaveolens and Panicum laevinode.
How to Get There
Terrick Terrick National Park is located 225 km north west of Melbourne. From Bendigo take the Loddon Valley Highway to Eaglehawk turning right to Mitiamo at the Bendigo-Pyramid Road. Mitiamo is 60 km north of Bendigo. The park is 4 km north of Mitiamo and can be entered at several points off Forest Road.
