Hi all,
Yesterday, Raja and I paid a quick visit to Lakes Bathurst and George in NSW. We arrived relatively late at Lake Bathurst and the only area where we actually could see the water was along the south shore. We saw good numbers of Gray Teal and Black Swan, a few Pacific Black Duck but no definite Freckled Duck. However, the distance, the haze and the bad light made viewing difficult. Best “bird” there was a large Eastern Tiger Snake! At Lake George we had a similar experience. The water was far away from any point along Lake Road. Again the best things seen were reptiles: Two Shinglebacks.Birds of note were a few Australian Shelduck and a pale morph Little Eagle.
Could anyone give advice, where exactly the best viewing points are at these two lakes?
Cheers,
Nikolas
I bet it looks better than the current Google Earth images. They are a real contrast to the last time I drove along the Federal Hwy., the water was nearly up to the road in parts then.
Carl Clifford
Thanks Rosemary and Carl,
Rosemary, after all these rains the situation has changed and there is some water in both lakes now. Others have seen some good stuff there (up to 8 Freckled Duck at Lake Bathurst; an Autralian Pratincole and up to 30 Red-capped Plovers at Lake George). The issues is – as Carl indicates – that you need to be allowed by the land owners to enter their property.
Nikolas
Thanks Rosemary and Carl,
Rosemary, after all these rains the situation has changed and there is some water in both lakes now. Others have seen some good stuff there (up to 8 Freckled Duck at Lake Bathurst; an Autralian Pratincole and up to 30 Red-capped Plovers at Lake George). The issues is – as Carl indicates – that you need to be allowed by the land owners to enter their property.
Nikolas
When we were in Aus in 2006 we looked in vain for these two lakes – all we could see were fields containing dry grass with fences between them – it did not even look remotely damp!
Rosemary
Hi Nikolas,
Lake Bathurst and The Morass are pretty much surrounded by private property , as is Lake George. In fact many of the properties, particularly at Lake George, extend out into the lake beds. . You could try asking the various landholders, but it would take a lot of driving around to track down the owners. A bit of research on Google Earth may help.
Lakes George and Bathurst and The Morass are what you might say, slightly variable. A times it is possible to walk across Lake George. I am glad to hear that there is some water in both at the moment, it has been some 10 years since there has been water in L. George. If there are good rainfalls in the catchment during this La Niña, water may even come up near the Federal Hwy, though I have only seen that happen about 4 times in some 50 years.
Good luck and pray for rain,
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
Hi all,
Yesterday, Raja and I paid a quick visit to Lakes Bathurst and George in NSW. We arrived relatively late at Lake Bathurst and the only area where we actually could see the water was along the south shore. We saw good numbers of Gray Teal and Black Swan, a few Pacific Black Duck but no definite Freckled Duck. However, the distance, the haze and the bad light made viewing difficult. Best “bird” there was a large Eastern Tiger Snake! At Lake George we had a similar experience. The water was far away from any point along Lake Road. Again the best things seen were reptiles: Two Shinglebacks.Birds of note were a few Australian Shelduck and a pale morph Little Eagle.
Could anyone give advice, where exactly the best viewing points are at these two lakes?
Cheers,
Nikolas