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| Black Honeyeater, Whoey Tank. |
I have just spent part of the spring break (Oct 2011) visiting Lake Cargelligo and Round Hill Nature Reserve. With me were my son Rhys, brother Nic, and nephew Zac.
Round Hill Nature Reserve, and the adjacent Nombinnie Nature Reserve, are hotspots for Mallee birds, and include isolated populations of Red-lored Whistler and Malleefowl. Both reserves are 50 km north of Lake Cargelligo, 560 km west of Sydney, and for me the drive up from Melbourne was about 650 km.On the way up we stopped in to have a look at Cocoparra National Park, just east of Griffith.
Accommodation and Roads
Although there are no formal camping facilities at Round Hill Nature Reserve, we bushed camped near the Whoey Tank. It's located on the Whoey Tank Track, accessed via Euabalong–Mt Hope Rd about three and a half kilometres east of the intersection with Lake Cargelligo–Mt Hope Rd. The camping area's about 500 m down the Whoey Tank Track. If you are looking, other accommodation in the area include the caravan park at Lake Cargelligo, and apparently the Mt Hope pub is pretty good, in a simple sort of way. It's worth noting that nature reserves in NSW, generally speaking, are not open to the public - so if you plan to visit, it's worth contacting National Parks and Wildlife Service office in Cobar.
At Cocoparra National Park we camped at the excellent Woolshed Flat Campground, located off the Whitton Stock Route. Here there are picnic tables, and gas barbecues. Despite school holidays, we had both campgrounds to ourselves.
The roads at Round Hill, Nombinnie and Cocoparra are mostly dirt, however under normal condition they're pretty much accessible via 2WD. After rain however you'd need 4WD. It's also worth noting that the names of some of the roads in the area are confusing. For example, Google maps names the Lake Cargelligo–Mt Hope Rd as 'Murrin Bridge', and I have also seen it called 'Round Hill Rd'. Also many of the road names in the area have long hyphenated names (some weird NSW thing I assume); frustrating when you are trying to write up a trip report.
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| The woodlands around Whoey Tank, in the north-east section of the Round Hill Nature Reserve. |
Whoey Tank (Round Hill)
One of the best areas for birding is around the Whoey Tank, in the northern section of Round Hill.
The habitat type here is known as White Cypress Pine (Callitris glaucophylla) woodlands. Aside from the pines, the main plants here are Rosewood (Alectryon oleifolius), Belah (Casuarina cristata), Wilga (Geijera parviflora), Red Box (Eucalyptus intertexta), Bimble Box (E. populneum), Kurrajong (Brachychiton populneus), Mulga (Acacia aneura), and Yarran (A. homalophylla). In terms of shrubs, there was plenty of flowering Eremophila, including Long-leafed Emu-bush (Eremophila longifolia), Budda (E. mitchellii), and Turpentine (E. sturtii), and other shrubs such as Hopbush (Dodonea viscosa) and Broombush (Melaleuca uncinata). The most common grass species is Variable Spear Grass (Stipa variabilis).
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| Striped Honeyeater |
Waking up on the first morning at Whoey Tank was simply superb! At dawn the open woodlands were shrouded in a sunny morning mist. One of the first birds seen was Black-eared Cuckoo, hanging around a family of Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater. Other Honeyeaters included large numbers of Black, Striped and White-fronted, attracted to the area by the flowering Eremophila, as well as Singer and Blue-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Noisy and Little Friarbird, and the place was teeming with parrots such as Mallee Ringneck, Mulga Parrot, and Blue Bonnet. Every few minutes I'd hear the wonderful cascading call of Western Gerygone. Other small passerines around the Tank included Speckled Warbler, Chestnut-rumped, Inland, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Southern Whiteface. A few White-backed Swallow made an appearance - surely, in terms of its grace and style, one of the most under-estimated birds in Australia. Around the Tank there were several families of Variegated and Splendid Fairy-wren, with the males Splendids looking splendiferous in their full-breeding plumage.
Sitting down for a cup of tea, I noticed a male Spotted Bowerbird,doing a type of wing display under the closest tree to my tent! The tree was Wilga (Geijera parviflora), a drooping tree that looks a much like a European Willow; it seemed to be the preferred habitat for Spotted Bowerbird. Just on dusk a Spotted Nightjar flew past the campsite. Its call (for want of a better word) was a very distinctive and comical accelerating laugh - we heard it calling throughout the early part of the night. Other birds around Whoey Tank included Emu, Collared Sparrowhawk, Peaceful and Bar-shouldered Dove, Common Bronzewing, Crested Pigeon, mallee parrots such as Major Mitchell's Cockatoo, Mallee Ringneck, Mulga Parrot, Blue Bonnet, a few Cockatiel flew through, Fan-tailed and Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo, Grey and Pied Butcherbird, Grey-crowed and White-browed Babbler, Grey Shrike-thrush, and Restless Flycatcher.
It's also worth birdwatching along the Whoey Tank Track. It leads west for about 2 km from the camping area and joins up with the Lake Cargelligo–Mt Hope Rd. Although I didn't stop to look, Red-lored Whistler have been seen in the Mallee along this track.
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| Nombinnie Nature Reserve: the north-west corner of the old wheat paddock. |
The Old Wheat Paddock
For Mallee birding, perhaps the best area is around the north-west corner of an old wheat paddock, now regenerating, but still relatively young and open. Not actually in Round Hill Nature Reserve, the old wheat paddock is located in the north-east section of Nombinnie Nature Reserve. The Cactus Track leads to the paddock, accessed via Lake Cargelligo–Mt Hope Rd, 1 km south of the T-section with the Euabalong-Mt Hope R - a Nombinnie Nature Reserve park sign marks its entrance.
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| Red-lored Whistler |
The Mallee here consist of Red Mallee (Eucalyptus socialis), White Mallee (E. dumosa), Yorrell (E. gracilis), and is intermixed with scattered Mallee Pine (Callitris preissii var. verrucosa), Broombush (Melaleuca uncinata) with a Spinifex (Triodia scariosa) ground cover. Perfect habitat for Red-lored Whistler.
During the course of our visit to the corner of the wheat paddock we got on to three, possibly four, Red-lored Whistler - with good views of two of them. The first birds was seen down the short 150 metre track that leads west off Cactus Track, in the north-west corner of the old wheat paddock. While another bird was seen in the actual corner of paddock, and two more were heard south down the Cactus Track. I was pretty happy about seeing Red-lored Whistler here; I'd now seen them in every states that they occur.
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| Nombinnie Nature Reserve: Cactus Track, the access track to old wheat paddock. |
Shy Heathwren (isolated race macrorhyncha) were anything but shy down the small 150 track, and Southern Scrub-robin and Chestnut Quail-thrush - again both isolated populations - both calling loudly, walking around the more open areas in the wheat paddock. Honeyeaters here included White-eared, White-fronted and Brown-headed, Yellow-plumed, and Grey-fronted, and there were mixed flocks of White-browed and Masked Woodswallow hunting for insects overhead, occasionally roosting in trees nearby. Other birds seen included Gilbert's Whistler, Crested Bellbird, Red-capped and Hooded Robin, Inland and Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, Western Gerygone, and Mistletoebird.
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| Southern Scrub Robin |
Lake Cargelligo–Mt Hope Rd
Keep your eyes open while driving along Lake Cargelligo–Mt Hope Rd. Along here we saw a Malleefowl (2 km north of the Broken Hill railway line), Emu, Chestnut Quail-thrush, and a few reptiles including Sand Goanna, Central Beard Dragon and Shingleback. Although I didn't see any, Red-lored Whistler have been recorded along Lake Cargelligo–Mt Hope Rd - with the best spot meant to be between 5 to 7 km south of the Euabalong-Mt Hope Rd T-section.
[It is worth noting that Red-lored Whistler has also been recorded along the Nombinnie Track, in the western section of the reserve. To get there, from the Kidman Hwy, head west along the Marooba Fire Trail - the track is 12 km south of Mt Hope. Drive west approximately 11 km until you come to the Nombinnie Track heading north. Search for Red-lored Whistler in the mallee around the intersection, and north along the Nombinnie Track for about 3 km.]
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| Chat Alley: a good site for Orange Chat & White-winged Fairy-wren. |
Chat Alley
On route to Round Hill from Lake Cargelligo we stopped at a site known colloquially as Chat Alley, a roadside shallow surface drain surrounded by saltbush. Here we saw a small party of Orange Chat, as well as White-winged Fairy-wren, Brown Songlark, Zebra Finch, Banded Lapwing, and a pair of Black Falcon hunted overhead. Chat Alley is located on Wallenthery Rd, a linkage road to Lake Cargelligo–Mt Hope Rd. To get there turn north off Lake Cargelligo–Euabalong Rd, 13 km east of Lake Cargelligo. Travel north 3 km, then turn west at the T-section, and Chat Alley is another 200 m.
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| Spotless Crake: one of three crake species at Lake Cargelligo Treatment Works. |
Lake Cargelligo Sewage Treatment Works
For local waterbirds, we visited the superb Lake Cargelligo treatment works - birdwise, one of Australia's best treatment plants. To get there from the centre of town, travel south down Condobolin Road, past the showground, and then after 500 m, turn south down Showground Road. After a further kilometre you will find an access gate to the south-west side of the ponds - it is located just before the railway crossing. Along the edges of the reeds nearest the bird hide there were large numbers of the "BIG THREE" (I mean "small three") southern Australian crake - Baillon's, Australian Spotted, and Spotless Crake. Other birds here included Buff-banded Rail, Glossy Ibis, Black-tailed Native-hen, Whiskered Tern, White-fronted Chat, White-winged Fairy-wren, White-breasted Woodswallow, and Little Grassbird.
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| A superb wetland: Lake Cargelligo Treatment Works |
Ephemeral Wetlands on Condobolin Road
While in Lake Cargelligo, we stopped at the small ephemeral roadside wetland where Australian Painted Snipe had recently been seen. It's located on Condobolin Road, 1 km east of Lake Cargelligo. The birds were seen in the second of the small swamps, just past the Showground Rd (the road to the treatment plant). Although we dipped on the snipe, the pond was full of Baillon's and Australian Spotted Crake, as well as Glossy Ibis, Black-winged Stilt, Black-fronted and Red-kneed Dotterel, Grey Teal, and Purple Swamphen.
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| Black Falcon, Chat Alley |
Cocoparra National Park
On the trip up to Round Hill we visited Cocoparra National Park, camping at Woolshed Flat. It's about 20 km east of Griffith, and 130 km south of Lake Cargelligo. I'd been here several times previously, and there are some excellent birding spots - it's a seriously under-estimated birding destination. Along the Store Creek Track we saw Shy Heathwren, Black-eared Cuckoo, Crested Bellbird, Speckled Warbler, Striped Honeyeater, Western Gerygone, Inland, Chestnut-rumped and Yellow Thornbill, Mask and White-browed Woodswallow, Splendid Fairy-wren and Diamond Firetail. Along Binya Forest Drive there were Turquoise Parrot and Bar-shouldered Dove.
Painted Honeyeater and White-browed Treecreeper feed along the roadside trees near the intersection of Burley Griffith Way and Stock Route Rd (part of Binya State Forest). Spotted Harrier hunted alongside the roads into the Woolshed Flat, and around the Woolshed Flat campsite there were Emu, Mulga Parrot, Mallee Ringneck, Blue Bonnet, Spotted Nightjar, Spiny-cheeked, Striped, and Blue-faced Honeyeater, Speckled Warbler, Chestnut-rumped, Yellow, and Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Southern Whiteface, Western Gerygone, Restless Flycatcher, and Rufous Songlark.
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| Zac and Rhys, both texting at Cocoparra NP. |
Cocoparra National Park also supports an endangered westerly population of Glossy Black-Cockatoo - the best chance of seeing them is feeding in the Dropping She-oak along the Mt Brogden Track.
Black Swamp
On the way back to Melbourne, via Hay, we stopped for a look at Black Swamp - an extensive wetland on the west side of Cobb Highway, about 15 km north of Wanganella. It was full of water, and teeming with waterbirds. There were literally hundreds of Black-tailed Native-hen scurrying about the paddock between the viewing area and the swamp. On, or near, the water were Musk and Pink-eared Duck, Australasian Shoveler, Hardhead, White-necked Heron (in large numbers - as they were everywhere), Great and Intermediate Egret, Swamp Harrier, Australian Spotted and Baillon's Crake, Red-kneed and Black-fronted Dotterel, and Horsfield's Bushlark.
Ostrich in New South Wales!
Our final stop on the return trip home to Melbourne, was to see the Ostrich, just north of the Murray River on the Moama-Barham Rd. In total we saw six Ostrich, three along Moama-Barham Rd, and another three on the east side of Lashbrooks Rd. Aside from being Ostriches and very big birds, the most obvious aspect about them and their behaviour was how flighty they were (for a flightless bird). As soon as we got out of the car, they would ran fast and direct, in the opposite direction - covering a distance of a kilometre or so.
Quick Summary of Western New South Wales
Like much of inland Australia, western New South Wales has had a lot of rain. The whole area, including the Mallee, is looking absolutely superb! Water lies everywhere, all the trees and shrubs are flowering, and the dry open woodlands, once quiet, are teeming with large numbers of birds.
Put simply, if you plan to do any birding over the next twelve months or so, head inland, to the more arid parts of Australia. You simply have to head to the open woodlands around Whoey Tank in Round Hill Nature Reserve to see what I mean.
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| Whoey Tank Track, Round Hill Nature Reserve |
Tim Dolby
