Lake Cargellico and Round Hill – Nombinnie

Dear Chris,

I read on Birding-Aus that you have offered to redraft the bird list for the Lake Cargellico area, and I read also some of the supplementary posts. Many of the birds listed in those posts are quite rare and unlikely to be seen by a casual birdwatcher to the area , so I think it would be wise to list them as such. If the existing list, which I haven’t seen, is something the local Shire have produced in the hope that it will attract more tourists to the town, is simply an unannotated list, it would be wise to expand it to give people an idea just where each species is likely to occur. My only experiences with birding around the town itself are the two poorly positioned and inadequate hides that have been built, obviously on a shoestring budget. I assume you are helping the council to devise a brochure of local bird routes such as exist for several other shires in NSW, so I hope you can convince them to do a proper job of it.

More importantly, I want to address the issue of Round Hill and Nombinnie Nature Reserves which will undoubtedly figure in any birding routes you eventually draft and let’s face it, are the main reason birdwatchers go to the Lake Cargellico area. However, birdwatchers are not welcome to these reserves any more, except for entry on foot along the main roads.

Some time ago, management of these two reserves by NPWLS passed from their Griffith office to Cobar with a consequent change in personnel. The manager of Cobar region has decided to strictly enforce the long existing rule that entry by the general public is by permit only, and that vehicles (other than their own) are strictly prohibited. So camping, EVEN ENTRY, is definitely not on – they say “go and stay at Lake Cargellico” – they might as well say go home. Only last long weekend when I was out there, a ranger came around to our camp, which is positioned just outside the reserve, and took down the number plates of those present.

This change is one that is of great disappointment to me. I have been visiting Round Hill since 1959, when Nombinnie didn’t even exist and have made many bird lists over the years. I helped organise the 1968 campout of the RAOU to Round HIll, where everybody camped, and incidentally resulted in the discovery of Red-lored Whistlers for the first time in that area. I’m not a twitcher, so most of my lists don’t contain anything unusual, but if you send me a copy of your final, I’ll be glad to comment.

To be fair and on the side of National Parks they have done a great job in administering these reserves. The regular aerial fox baiting has resulted in the return of the Mallee Fowl. They were the original reason that Round Hill Reserve was dedicated back in the 1950s and when wheat paddocks were established nearby in the early 1960s, the Mallee Fowl all but disappeared, but now there are quite a few active mounds in the reserve. Aerial baiting using a helicopter is not cheap, so full marks to Cobar for getting the funds to do that. The area around the famous “wheat paddock” where rather too many people have gone to look for Red-lored Whistlers (even tour groups camped there) is now looking better with no sign of camping. Unfortunately, the track into the Round Hill itself is in a dreadful state (really 4WD only) no doubt mainly a result of all the recent wet weather although I doubt whether it has been graded in many years, probably a result of shortage of funds. Still, they get their priorities right – Nombinnie has just been expanded yet again, making it the biggest Nature Reserve in NSW. Their real problem in future will be having sufficient staff to oversee the place.

On that score, NPWLS have been lumbered with a “Strategic repositioning” by the new O’Farrell government in NSW = voluntary redundancies and no doubt a corresponding reduction in funds. Let’s hope it doesn’t affect the aerial baiting programme – shooters certainly won’t have any impact on foxes.

Happy Birding

Graeme Chapman ===============================

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