Birding near Orange, NSW

Hello everyone,

My name is Harry Nyström and I am from Finland. This is the first time I write to this e-mail list and I actually haven’t even been a member but only for a couple of days.

The reason I am approaching you is that I will be coming to Australia on a business trip during next weekend. We will be staying in the Orange region, and our “headquarters” is in Blayney. And when I say we, I mean me and my colleague, who is also a birder – although nowadays mostly focusing on bird photography. Unfortunately, due to the nature of our work, we only have a couple of days free, although we will stay there for 2 weeks. At the day of our arrival (Sat), we will visit some places in/near Orange (probably some or all of the latter: the Botanic Gardens, Lake Conobolas, Spring Creek Reserve and Gosling Creek Reserve). The day after it (Sun) we will head out to Gum Swamp, Forbes and maybe some other places, which we don’t have a clue yet. The Sunday next week is still open for ideas, but my initial thoughts were to make a trip to Capertee Valley. And that’s it; our free time during daylight. Naturally, we have a car in our use, but birding equipment is restricted to binoculars and a camera, so no telescope this time. It is also highly likely that this won’t be my last trip to the area, so everything I learn will be probably put to good use afterwards.

This is my first ever trip outside of Europe and naturally the first to Australia. This means I will be seeing all kinds of new things, mainly birds but hopefully also mammals, lizards(?) and insects. I am an enthusiastic birder here in Finland (for about 20 years now), but coming to Australia is like starting all over again, as I don’t know the birds – and foremost their sounds. I have been reading Simpson&Day for some time now, and I just got my hands on a Pizzey&Knight. I also managed to loan The Complete Guide to Finding Birds in Australia without forgetting a copy of The Big Twitch. They probably won’t help me a lot regarding the Orange area, but they will still be fun to read. Unfortunately I don’t have any CDs or MP3s of Australian bird sounds, which is a shame. At least here in Finland, most birds are found by their calls and songs.

Having said that, I have a few questions regarding my trip and the aforementioned places:

1. Could you give any hints on birding hotspots near Orange, Blayney and Forbes? Maybe special places for some specific species? 2. Any hints on maximizing the amount of birds to see in just a couple of days at that area? 3. Are there any restrictions regarding movement in the Orange-Forbes area (at least for the places I wrote down) that I should be aware of? 4. Is this a good time of the year to visit Capertee Valley? Has someone been there recently? What could we expect species-wise? Any Regents? Plum-headed Finches? 5. I have come to an understanding that Capertee Valley is just a road with as many stops as you like. Any tips on hotspots? Are there any blooming trees/plants that attract birds within the next 3 weeks? 6. Are there any Emus or Kangaroos to be expected in the aforementioned areas at this time of year? Any Black Cockatoos? 7. Any chance for nocturnal species at this time of year? Singing owls, frogmouths, nightjars etc? We do have some limited free time before/after work, but it is in the dark. 8. At the end of my trip, upon my departure from Sydney, I will probably have a couple of hours to go birding in Sydney. Any ideas where to go to for new species of birds? Royal Botanic Gardens? Centennial Park? Penrhyn? 9. Are bird sightings collected in a database in Australia in any way? Here in Finland we have a national database for sightings, which is a very handy way to check what is available and to make sure all data is saved and backed up. 10. And finally, a question from my wife (she is unfortunately not attending this trip): As it is still Winter(ish) down there, do we have to be careful for poisonous snakes/spiders?

I know it’s a lot of questions and our plane leaves in a week, but I will try to absorb as much information as I can get. I will appreciate any help you can give me. And let me know if I can return the favor regarding birding tips in Finland. I will naturally also write a small trip report of my journey for you to read once I return to Finland.

Best Regards, -Harry ===============================

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