Hi All,
This short report highlights some recent bird records from the ranges west of Grafton, and Wooli to the east, in the Northern Rivers, NSW.
Wednesday 3rd November started warm & sunny at home at Gibraltar Range, and a friend from the UK and I headed east until 6th November for a leisurely showcase of local birds & wildlife. We finished up at Wooli, after recording over 120 species of birds across mixed forest, wetland, heathland, farmland and anything in between. The weather was unusually wet, but we didn’t have to go far to find some local gems, with our accommodation being located adjacent to Yuragir National Park. Ok I admit, there was a stocked fridge, and it was really lazy birding, but it worked! More common species are not mentioned in the text, although they deserve just as much acknowledgement 😉
Brush, Fan-tailed, Channel-billed, & Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo all declaring their intentions loudly around the caravan at Gibraltar Range, with Brown-cuckoo Dove & Wonga Pigeon also heard. Pheasant Coucal, Lewin’s Rail, Brown & King Quail vocal in the grassland with Tawny Grassbirds and Golden-headed Cisticola.
Lewin’s, Yellow-faced & White-naped Honeyeaters, Cicadabird, Grey Shrike-thrush, White-throated Gerygone and Musk Lorikeet were also seen in the morning. We had visited the adjacent Washpool & Gibraltar Range NP’s the previous week, recording an extra 30+ species not listed for this trip, including Rufous-scrub-bird, Superb Lyrebird, Australian Hobby (audibly “whacking” a Welcome Swallow), Yellow-throated, Large Billed & White-browed Scrubwren and Noisy Pitta.
Wooli River Lodges made a relaxing, yet exciting base to be birding from, with Whimbrel, Greenshank, Eastern Curlew, Osprey, Pied Oystercatcher, Mangrove Honeyeater, Buff-banded Rail, Azure & Sacred Kingfisher, and Striated & Rufous Night Heron amongst the highlights seen from the cabin or riverbank. Also recorded were White-bellied Sea Eagle, Brown Goshawk, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Eastern Koel and Channel-billed Cuckoo.
A short walk away, Latham’s Snipe, Brahminy Kite, Mistletoebird, Tawny frogmouth and White-cheeked Honeyeater where seen around the very wet heath, with Ground Parrot heard.
The beach and river mouth provided distant views of a probable Humpback Whale and a pod of Dolphins were loafing in the surf. Beach Stone-curlew was seen locally, and Crested & Little Terns fed offshore, with a few Short-tailed Shearwaters. About a dozen beachwashed Shearwaters were found along a 2km stretch of beach.
Leaving Wooli, a pair of Emus was feeding by the side of the road. The Eastern coastal Emu population is perhaps as low as 100, maybe less, so this pair was reported to NPWS for their monitoring program.
Regards,
Simon Clayton
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
http://birding-aus.org ===============================
