Hello everyone,
Thought I would give a report of my trip to the mallee. I went from Monday September 27 to Friday Oct 1.
First I should say upfront that I dipped on a lot of birds.
I had the ‘Where to See Birds in Victoria’ book and was expecting to find a lot more than I did. I’ve only been birding for a year so I think this was just a problem of technique, often I would enter a dry forest and just find it completely silent and I wasn’t sure if driving along tracks was better than going on foot.
That said I had a great trip, still saw quite a few new birds and the scenery was just incredible.
So here it goes:
Monday September 27
Set out from Melbourne early in the morning. Before the first destination, Lake Tyrrell, we stopped to take pictures of the amazing orange flowers that were popping up everywhere. I had heard that Central Australia was getting a lot of flowers and the Mallee didn’t disappoint in that regard.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5041885994_b5bea4c40f_o.jpg
After that, the first interesting sighting on the way was a Red-backed Kingfisher sitting on a power line in some town (sorry, completely forgotten the name but it was a small town on the Calder)
I thought this was a good omen since I love kingfisher but arriving in Lake Tyrrell midday it was completely dead. Very windy and couldn’t find any birds other than a Singing Honeyeater (new)
After that we went to check out Gama Reserve on the way to Ouyen. Lots of activity here, mostly from a family of Brown Treecreepers (new) that were making a ton of noise. Did see the first Mulga Parrots (new) of the trip, some Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, Singing Honeyeaters and caught a glimpse of a male Variegated Fairy-wren (new.)
Next we headed for Bronzewing Flora and Fauna Reserve…at least I hope that’s where we went. It was off Torneys Road and had a dam with water in it. Anyway saw a pair of Southern Whiteface (new,) a few Weebills as well as a beautiful male Splendid Fairy-wren (new). Got very close to him but unfortunately he was against an overcast sky.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/5042523381_3340e17420_o.jpg
Then it was off to Hattah-Kulkyne to set up camp. Saw this lizard strutting across the road; maybe someone can help me with an ID?
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/5041886022_043419f5d7_b.jpg
Setting up the tent at the Lake Hattah campsite I saw my first Apostlebirds (new.) The novelty wore off quickly, let me tell you!
That was the end of the first day since the afternoon was spent setting up the tent and camping gear.
Tuesday September 28
Tuesday morning we headed to the Nowingi track to look for Mallee Emu-wrens. This was a lot more difficult than I had originally thought. First I had only brought track pants with me and walking through the spinifex gave my legs a gentle stabbing every time. Next, although I enjoyed roaming the spinifex clumps, it was incredibly hard to find anything. Most of the sounds I heard was just loose bark scraping against the trees in the wind. Anyway didn’t see any Emu-wrens that time, over an hour spent there and the only birds I saw were a few Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters (new)
After a few nice panoramic views at Warepil Lookout we decided to try the track around Lake Mournpall. Not long after leaving the Lookout we saw a pair of Mulga Parrots fly into the woods. Aching to get some photos of one I headed out and managed a slightly blurry shot of the male
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/5041283929_22b71ceb50_o.jpg
Luckily enough I stumbled on a family of Red-capped Robins while looking for the parrots. I love these guys and even managed to witness two males fighting, looked like fat little fireballs colliding with each other. Took tons of pics and the male was pretty indifferent to me as he went about foraging for the youngster
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/5041264205_7b8208f853_b.jpg
On the way out I also saw a Ringneck Parrot (new) and a pair of Emu (new) from the car.
After that we arrived at Lake Mournpall and decided to do a bit of the track (wasn’t feeling up for doing the whole 9.5km lake loop.) There were lots of flowers around the track and they were covered in bees but I never got stung the entire trip.
Anyway on the brief walk I saw Chestnut-rumped Thornbill (new) Brown-headed Honeyeater (new) , Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Rufous Whistler, Red-capped Robin and spent the rest of the time chasing Splendid Fairy-wrens. No good photos of them from that walk, they sure are a lot more skittish than the Superbs back home.
On the way out we saw a pair of Mallee Ringnecks and I got my only good photo of them
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5041264199_c2fb82187a_z.jpg
I found it was pretty common to see pairs of parrots flying around the Mallee but they were all incredibly twitchy.
A brief rest at the campground where I saw a Great crested Grebe on the lake before we headed back to Nowingi to look for the emu-wrens again.
At Nowingi in the afternoon I again found Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters but this time also saw some friendly Jacky Winters. Caught a very blurry glimpse of a Chestnut Quail-Thrush (new) and I think I may have seen a Mallee Emu-wren:
It was a bird the size of a wren and it jumped/flew out of a spinifex clump in front of me into another one. It landed in the base of another patch and seemed to burrow through to the other side where it flew in to a larger clump. I stood staring at the spinifex for about 5 minutes when I realised it must have taken an exit I wasn’t watching and was long gone. I’m not too confident IDing stuff without a photo and I guess it could also have been a Striated Grasswren but i’m not sure.
Slightly cheered up after seeing something we headed back to the campground for the night. Tried a bit of spotlighting heading from Lake Hattah to Mournpall but only turned up a few Brushtail Possums.
Wednesday September 29
Wednesday morning we headed back to Nowingi for one last shot at the Mallee Emu-wren. Again I only got photos of some Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters but I also had 2 possible Emu-wren encounters. I heard a soft squeaking and saw a wren-sized bird up ahead of me. Of course it was sitting with the sun behind it and by the time my camera focused it had magically vanished, that’s how it goes I guess 😛
Back at the campground for a break I saw a few Yellow Rosellas around and also a pair of Black-Tailed Native Hens (new)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/5041886038_613e2141f2.jpg
and some Grey Teal in the water.
In the afternoon we headed for Pink Lakes in Murray-Sunset National Park.
Managed to avoid running over a Shingleback Lizard and got some nice photos as a reward 
Saw a pair of Blue Bonnets (new) by the lakes but couldn’t get a decent shot. I hadn’t heard much about these birds before the trip which is a shame because they are just beautiful. I wish I had gotten a nice picture but they got spooked so easily. Also in the Pink Lakes area was a pair of Red-rumped Parrots, A Black-shouldered Kite, some Masked Lapwings with chicks, Rufous Songlark (new), and a ton of newly hatched locusts by the lake!
Again I looked for Emu-wrens around the spinifex area around Pink Lakes but only found this lizard
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5041886028_2633c18631_o.jpg
anyone up for an ID?
On the way out I saw the only Major Mitchells Cockatoo (new) of the trip but just got a blurry photo.
Nearing sunset we went to Wymlet Tank to try to find some parrots. Saw a pair of Banded Lapwings (new) and managed to get some nice shots of them
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/5041886000_b5bea4c40f_o.jpg
Also in the area were more Brown Treecreepers, Red-rumped Parrots and a pair of Blue Bonnets that permitted me very distant shot.
I had decided the night before that I was sick of camping (this was my first time in almost ten years and the nostalgia didn’t last long) so we stayed at a motel in Mildura the last 2 nights.
Thursday September 30
Thursday morning we decided to try King’s Billabong near Mildura. The Vic Parks website said it had fairy-wrens along the walking track….all lies! Nothing there but some Miners and a few Yellow Rosellas.
After that we headed for Bronzewing again, this time trying the northern part from Merrett Rd. I was hoping for some Malleefowl or a shot at the Quail-thrush but didn’t get any luck. It was very quiet, had a few Splendid Fairy-wrens but i couldn’t get close with all the undergrowth but did get some decent shots of Chestnut-rumped Thornbills collecting nesting material.
On the way out I got some distant shots of a Pallid Cuckoo (new)
Next we went back to the south part of Bronzewing to get more shots of Splendid Fairy-wrens. They were infuriating to try to photograph; the Southern Whitefaces were a bit more accommodating. Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Brown Falcon, a flock of Varied Sitella, Rufous Whistler and an immature Red-capped Robin were also present.
After that we headed to Gama Reserve again, I wanted to try getting a picture of the Variegated Fairy-wren. Spiny-cheeked, White-plumed and Singing Honeyeaters were present a long with those noisy Brown Treecreepers. Located the Variegated Fairy-wren again but they rarely went out in to the open. This was the best shot I could get :/
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5041264211_60e9376ed5.jpg
Made one last trip to Bronzewing as the sun was going down. A few new things were there this time, Brown-headed Honeyeater, Striated Pardalote, Cockatiel (new) and a Little Eagle (new.) As the light was failing we went back to Mildura for the last night.
Friday October 1
Friday morning we went back to Lake Tyrrell to look for the White-winged Fairy-wren or some colourful chats (anything other than white-fronted). Driving very slowly along Lake Tyrrell road I think I saw a White-winged Fairy-wren standing on a shrub but by the time my camera was raised it had flown off. It was very distant so I’m not that sure. I did see some Australasian Pipits, White-winged Triller, White-fronted Chat, an immature Red-capped Robin and very happily, a Rufous Fieldwren (new)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5042533837_8b5093e4f4_b.jpg
After that we decided to make the last stop at Wyperfeld before heading back to Melbourne. On the way we stopped at Patchewollock to photograph some flowers and found some Variegated Fairywrens but couldn’t get close.
Eventually we entered northern Wyperfeld and it was just stunning. Yellow flowers everywhere, absolutely amazing. Birding was very good here as well. Just south of the Casuarina campgrounds, off the Meridian track I wandered around a bit and found a nice mixed feeding flock. Was happy to catch a female Mulga Parrot unawares and finally get some in-focus shots
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4128/5041886032_bf614f00a2_o.jpg
would you believe that it was actually too close this time? Got very close to some Southern Whitefaces, saw some Ringneck Parrots, White-browed Babblers, Splendid Fairy-wrens and Red-capped Robins. Last birds of the trip were a pair of Blue Bonnets but in keeping with tradition they refused to let themselves be photographed
After that we headed back to Melbourne, arriving Friday night.
All in all I had a good trip. I think I would see it in a much better light if I’d gotten a photo of the Emu-wren but it wasn’t to be. A few other disappointments like the lack of malleefowl, colourful chats, woodswallows and regent parrots were also pretty annoying.
Weather was not too bad, had about 30 minutes of rain the second day but other than that it was mostly fine if a bit cold at night. The overcast days were frustrating as a week earlier they had it forecast as sunny the entire week but it was only a thin layer of clouds and still bright enough for photography.
If I did it again I probably would have stayed at Wyperfeld or Pink Lakes instead of Hattah, found them to have a lot more birds and generally they seemed more scenic. Would probably have kept away from the Nowingi track but it’s easy to say with hindsight
I might have come off a bit negative about the experience but I always wish there was more I could see when out birding. I’m pretty happy with having seen around 20 new species (probably won’t count WW FW or Emu-wren.) Still had a blast and there’s an excuse to go back now! ============================== 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
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I wonder then what’s going on to have them sometimes neither appear nor call, yet other times carry on as though you weren’t even there.
We found photographing them challenging, but not impossible. We both have manual focus lenses, and manual focusing is probably advisable when they’re jumping in and out of vegetation. We just kept firing away till we got a reasonable picture. The male in the tree was a fairly easy but distant target. The female was very difficult, she stayed in cover much more, and scurried quickly from clump to clump, so even my sharpest shot has grass in the foreground.
Peter Shute ________________________________ Sent: Wednesday, 13 October 2010 4:31 PM Cc: Tim Dolby; Jeremy Weiss; birding-aus@vicnet.net.au
Hi Peter,
Glad to hear you had such success on your trip. Yes, your description of Mallee Emu-wren behaviour sounds quite typical of some of my better encounters with the species. I’ve never had huge amounts of luck with photographs as they are very good at keeping tufts of grass, branches and the like between you and them. However, sometimes you can be lucky and they emerge onto dead branches to sing. I would definitely say hearing their calls is critical to finding them. They are insectivorous so feeding in low shrubs is pretty common when they feel safe, and they maintain home territories of reasonable size, so 30m of movement would definitely not be unusual. I recall seeing birds move distances of over 100m before though it’s always hard to keep track of such things in the mallee. There was a girl doing banding studies of birds at Nowingi, I’ve lost track of her but perhaps someone on the forum knows the results she came up with? I know establishing territory size was one of the outcomes of the study.
Regards, Chris Sanderson
I thought I’d continue this thread now that I’m back from a trip to the Mallee with Bill Stent on the weekend. Not only did we see a Malleefowl at Bronzewing, and a Red-lored Whistler on Honeymoon Hut Track (see my Birdlines for 10/10/10), but we also did well with Mallee Emu-wren at Nowingi Track (see Bill’s Birdline for 7/10/10).
On previous trips we’ve not even heard any, this time we had a couple in sight for 30 minutes. I was under the impression that if you do see them, it’s usually brief, and that even with playback they won’t stay out long. But we had a male and a female sitting on triodia clumps, hopping around on the ground and on fallen branches, even sitting in a tree at head height a few times. Bill could hear others around us, but I found that I could only hear the loudest of their calls, so that might explain why I’ve never heard them before.
At the time we were under the impression that we’d come across them while they were out feeding, but now I’m wondering if we just happened to be standing right next to a nest, and that it was actually a distraction display. We didn’t use any playback while they were in sight, and had only played about 5 seconds on my phone, maybe a couple of minutes before we came across them, 50m away from the spot. The female was much more timid than the male, as we had great difficulty getting any photos, but it came much closer than the male, to within 4 or 5m. The male was staying much further away, sometimes 15m or more.
Has anyone else seen them behave like this? We did think at the time that they appeared to be feeding. What do they eat? Would they normally look for it in a tree 2m off the ground?
After we moved away, the birds were still visible, and there was one – not sure if it was one of the two, at the time I thought we’d found some more – moving ahead of us for quite a long way. I was under the impression that this species is very sedentary, not moving more than a few metres from its bush, but this one must have been moving over a distance of perhaps 30 or 40m. If they do often move this far then if think that anyone walking along behind could easily get the impression that they were seeing quite a few birds, not just one. Perhaps this is at least a partial explanation for the reports of “almost having to kick them out of the way”.
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Hi Peter,
Glad to hear you had such success on your trip. Yes, your description of Mallee Emu-wren behaviour sounds quite typical of some of my better encounters with the species. I’ve never had huge amounts of luck with photographs as they are very good at keeping tufts of grass, branches and the like between you and them. However, sometimes you can be lucky and they emerge onto dead branches to sing. I would definitely say hearing their calls is critical to finding them. They are insectivorous so feeding in low shrubs is pretty common when they feel safe, and they maintain home territories of reasonable size, so 30m of movement would definitely not be unusual. I recall seeing birds move distances of over 100m before though it’s always hard to keep track of such things in the mallee. There was a girl doing banding studies of birds at Nowingi, I’ve lost track of her but perhaps someone on the forum knows the results she came up with? I know establishing territory size was one of the outcomes of the study.
Regards, Chris Sanderson
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I thought I’d continue this thread now that I’m back from a trip to the Mallee with Bill Stent on the weekend. Not only did we see a Malleefowl at Bronzewing, and a Red-lored Whistler on Honeymoon Hut Track (see my Birdlines for 10/10/10), but we also did well with Mallee Emu-wren at Nowingi Track (see Bill’s Birdline for 7/10/10).
On previous trips we’ve not even heard any, this time we had a couple in sight for 30 minutes. I was under the impression that if you do see them, it’s usually brief, and that even with playback they won’t stay out long. But we had a male and a female sitting on triodia clumps, hopping around on the ground and on fallen branches, even sitting in a tree at head height a few times. Bill could hear others around us, but I found that I could only hear the loudest of their calls, so that might explain why I’ve never heard them before.
At the time we were under the impression that we’d come across them while they were out feeding, but now I’m wondering if we just happened to be standing right next to a nest, and that it was actually a distraction display. We didn’t use any playback while they were in sight, and had only played about 5 seconds on my phone, maybe a couple of minutes before we came across them, 50m away from the spot. The female was much more timid than the male, as we had great difficulty getting any photos, but it came much closer than the male, to within 4 or 5m. The male was staying much further away, sometimes 15m or more.
Has anyone else seen them behave like this? We did think at the time that they appeared to be feeding. What do they eat? Would they normally look for it in a tree 2m off the ground?
After we moved away, the birds were still visible, and there was one – not sure if it was one of the two, at the time I thought we’d found some more – moving ahead of us for quite a long way. I was under the impression that this species is very sedentary, not moving more than a few metres from its bush, but this one must have been moving over a distance of perhaps 30 or 40m. If they do often move this far then if think that anyone walking along behind could easily get the impression that they were seeing quite a few birds, not just one. Perhaps this is at least a partial explanation for the reports of “almost having to kick them out of the way”.
Peter Shute
________________________________ Sent: Monday, 4 October 2010 2:42 PM Cc: Tim Dolby; Jeremy Weiss; birding-aus@vicnet.net.au
Peter,
My experience of Mallee birding is that nothing quite beats getting out on foot and using your ears to track down birds. Some days you are unlucky and there just isn’t much about, but some days you have cracking success. I recall a particularly bad day at Wyperfeld where I think we saw a total of about 10 birds in 2 hours. As in 10 individuals, of about 4 species. Then I’ve had days when you practically have to kick Emu-wrens out of the way to see the Grasswrens at Nowingi. Perhaps a good hybrid of the two methods is on slow days drive til you see some activity and then get out and walk.
Regards, Chris Sanderson
Tim, you describe two ways of finding flocks on foot. Have you got any opinion on the technique of driving till you find one?
I’ve recently returned from a trip to Little Desert, where I’ve never been birding before. I was a little dismayed to find that walking in some places got me just a few very quick glimpses of birds darting across tracks, no matter how long I did it for. I resorted to slow driving, and at least the birds lingered a little longer.
Peter Shute
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Hi Jeremy,
My partner and I were up in the same area the week before, and had no luck finding Red Lore Whistler along Honeymoon Hut Tk. Our standout bird for Wimlett Tank was a Red-kneed Dotterel (!), which was in stark contrast to a BA trip to the area led by Tim a couple of years ago when the area around the Tank was teeming with parrots. Nicole has made some posts to our site about our birding experiences in the area.
I do a bit of sound recording and personally find the Mallee a bit of a challenge.
I’ve put up a few recordings from the area.
My favourite is a pied butcherbird calling from trees beside Lake Hattah.
http://www.urbanbirder.com.au/mallee/pied-butcherbird-lake-hattah
There are also couple of recordings from around Mopoke Hut in Murray Sunset. We had hired a 4wd for the trip and would not even contemplate trying to access this camping area without something without good ground clearance. Even the Prado we were driving was scraping the sump-guard on a few of the more rutted dune sections on Rocket Lake track.
Brown treecreepers were profuse around Mopoke Hut, as were White-browed Babblers, Southern Whiteface and Spiny-cheeked honeyeaters.
http://www.urbanbirder.com.au/mallee/brown-treecreepers-mopoke-hut
The following morning there were two robins, Hooded and Red-capped, calling predawn from a hill near the camping area, this is pretty repetitive but quite atmospheric…
http://www.urbanbirder.com.au/mallee/two-robins-mopoke-hut-murray-sunset-national-park
cheers Paul============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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I don’t know if it’s just me, but it seems that birds everywhere *hate* the sound of a car reversing. Back up, the bird flies off every time. Best, of course, is to spot it in enough time to slow down before you reach the bird, second best seems to be to pull around.
Does that match what other people experience? ===============================
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Hey Tim,
Thanks for your tips. I read your blog quite a bit before my trip and it was great for finding some sites like Gama Reserve and Bronzewing. Those mixed feeding flocks do seem great to find. When i went to Wyperfeld on the last day I found a flock of Southern Whitefaces, Splendid Fairywrens, White-browed Babblers, Mulga Parrots and Mallee Ringnecks all feeding around the same area. I was standing still for about 30 minutes just watching them all, it was incredible. My main problem is arriving in a forest and just finding it really quiet; I went to Greater Bendigo National Park and Bunyip State Park earlier this year and had the same experience, a couple of honeyeaters would be calling but I wouldn’t see anything uncommon. The drier forests just seem to be so daunting when there’s no activity and its tempting just to call it quits instead of searching for a bird call. (I don’t really know the calls either so I usually found myself tracking down some loud honeyeaters)
Also i agree about spotting stuff from the car. Most of the parrots I saw were while travelling between locations although they still seemed to fly off whenever I reversed or turned around. I remember seeing a pair of Blue Bonnets feeding by the roadside and just watched them take-off as I drove past :/
Regards, Jeremy
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Tim,
Perhaps there is a market for BOCA/BA to market a bumper sticker that says something like : “Warning : Bird- watchers Aboard !! Frequent Sudden Stopping And / Or Reversing”
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
To answer Pete’s question, in terms birding techniques from a car, I agree with Penny, cars do make good bird hides, and also with Peter and Chris about using some sort of hybrid-method (driving slowly and, when you hear activity, get out and walk). To add this I’ve found a good method for birding in the mallee is to stop every km or so i.e. far enough from your last stop to be considered a different site, and listen for unusual calls. In the Murray-Sunset (in appropriate habitat) this is a good way to find Red-lored Whistler, particularly on sunny windless Spring mornings.
In Africa much of the birding is done from a car in an open 4WD (on ‘Birdwatching Safari’). However, by contrast, anyone who gets out of the car gets eaten by a Lion or Hyenas, or some such thing. (I’m just being silly.)
A question that’s sometimes asked is “how many people have car accidents due to birding while driving?” I’ve certainly been in this situation several times (don’t tell anyone), and as a result I’ve got very good at identifying birds quickly, with a slight glance (a technique very useful in a Twitchathon). For instance I first identified the Regent Parrot I saw near Mildura from its silhouette cast on the ground while it flew over the car. (I’m just blowing my own trumpet now.) I’m sure many birders have had similar experiences.
I remember as a kid my father stopped in the middle of a road to look at a dead road-kill bird (I do the same thing). Mum, my two brothers, sister and I were all in the car. As my Dad identified the bird – “Yep, it’s a dead Barn Owl” – a car approached doing 100 km. It slammed on the breaks, did a complete 360, and then continued driving. When Dad got back into the car he said “What’s up?” My parents separated soon after that.
A couple of years ago I was leading a Birds Australia campout to the Victorian mallee and we were targeting Striated Grasswren (a new bird for most of the group). We weren’t having much luck; it was hot and windy. We’d moved from Hattah, across the Hwy to the Murray-Sunset, and then to the Triodia out the back of the Pink Lakes. We’d already got Red-lored Whistler – found when I’d stopped for a nature break. (I had to wait a minute before I could inform the other.) So we walked into the bush in search of the Grasswren. It’d been a long day, and a couple of birders decided to stay back at the car and drink beer. From memory it was Coopers Green, good beer to drink in the mallee. After a fruitless hour searching we returned to the car to find two semi- intoxicated birders (fortunately neither was driving) who said they’d just ticked Striated Grasswren from the back seat of the car. “What. You’re both drunk!” I said, clearly the correct thing to say under the circumstances. However sure enough, immediately beside the car was a couple of very confiding Striated Grasswren, so close that in order to photograph them you had to stand back.
Cheers,
Tim
________________________________________ Sent: Monday, October 04, 2010 2:07 PM href=”mailto:birding-aus@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus@vicnet.net.au
Tim, you describe two ways of finding flocks on foot. Have you got any opinion on the technique of driving till you find one?
I’ve recently returned from a trip to Little Desert, where I’ve never been birding before. I was a little dismayed to find that walking in some places got me just a few very quick glimpses of birds darting across tracks, no matter how long I did it for. I resorted to slow driving, and at least the birds lingered a little longer.
Peter Shute
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Tim,
Perhaps there is a market for BOCA/BA to market a bumper sticker that says something like : “Warning : Bird- watchers Aboard !! Frequent Sudden Stopping And / Or Reversing”
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
To answer Pete’s question, in terms birding techniques from a car, I agree with Penny, cars do make good bird hides, and also with Peter and Chris about using some sort of hybrid-method (driving slowly and, when you hear activity, get out and walk). To add this I’ve found a good method for birding in the mallee is to stop every km or so i.e. far enough from your last stop to be considered a different site, and listen for unusual calls. In the Murray-Sunset (in appropriate habitat) this is a good way to find Red-lored Whistler, particularly on sunny windless Spring mornings.
In Africa much of the birding is done from a car in an open 4WD (on ‘Birdwatching Safari’). However, by contrast, anyone who gets out of the car gets eaten by a Lion or Hyenas, or some such thing. (I’m just being silly.)
A question that’s sometimes asked is “how many people have car accidents due to birding while driving?” I’ve certainly been in this situation several times (don’t tell anyone), and as a result I’ve got very good at identifying birds quickly, with a slight glance (a technique very useful in a Twitchathon). For instance I first identified the Regent Parrot I saw near Mildura from its silhouette cast on the ground while it flew over the car. (I’m just blowing my own trumpet now.) I’m sure many birders have had similar experiences.
I remember as a kid my father stopped in the middle of a road to look at a dead road-kill bird (I do the same thing). Mum, my two brothers, sister and I were all in the car. As my Dad identified the bird – “Yep, it’s a dead Barn Owl” – a car approached doing 100 km. It slammed on the breaks, did a complete 360, and then continued driving. When Dad got back into the car he said “What’s up?” My parents separated soon after that.
A couple of years ago I was leading a Birds Australia campout to the Victorian mallee and we were targeting Striated Grasswren (a new bird for most of the group). We weren’t having much luck; it was hot and windy. We’d moved from Hattah, across the Hwy to the Murray-Sunset, and then to the Triodia out the back of the Pink Lakes. We’d already got Red-lored Whistler – found when I’d stopped for a nature break. (I had to wait a minute before I could inform the other.) So we walked into the bush in search of the Grasswren. It’d been a long day, and a couple of birders decided to stay back at the car and drink beer. From memory it was Coopers Green, good beer to drink in the mallee. After a fruitless hour searching we returned to the car to find two semi- intoxicated birders (fortunately neither was driving) who said they’d just ticked Striated Grasswren from the back seat of the car. “What. You’re both drunk!” I said, clearly the correct thing to say under the circumstances. However sure enough, immediately beside the car was a couple of very confiding Striated Grasswren, so close that in order to photograph them you had to stand back.
Cheers,
Tim
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Tim, you describe two ways of finding flocks on foot. Have you got any opinion on the technique of driving till you find one?
I’ve recently returned from a trip to Little Desert, where I’ve never been birding before. I was a little dismayed to find that walking in some places got me just a few very quick glimpses of birds darting across tracks, no matter how long I did it for. I resorted to slow driving, and at least the birds lingered a little longer.
Peter Shute
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A quiet car is the best tool you can have for effective bird watching..especially in the mallee. Driving slowly and listening for squeaks is a good way to find birds. I’ve found its even a good method for near-subsonic species like Mallee Emu-wren, since if they are close to the road side, they can often let out a slightly louder alarm call as you pass. If you’re in places like southern wyperfeld (like the dattuck track), the mallee can be seemingly homogenous for 10’s of kms, so its good to drive around with windows down and just listen for calls to find the hot spots. As Tim mentioned, mixed flock feeding is common in the mallee, so if you can isolate an area where there is a ‘noisy’ bird, you can search the area and might find some of the more cryptic species. Weebills and thornbills are good ones to listen out for, and you’ll usually find the quieter whistlers and robins in their presence. Fairywrens are good species to listen out for as other good indicators of healthy areas, and then search for quail thrush, grasswrens etc. Dont get caught out on stopping for every woodswallow call you hear though, since they’ll be circling above, and not the best indicator of what below. I find the mallee really difficult to bird in when the wind is up and you cant hear calls…Little Desert is a shocker for wind.
Tim, you describe two ways of finding flocks on foot. Have you got any opinion on the technique of driving till you find one?
I’ve recently returned from a trip to Little Desert, where I’ve never been birding before. I was a little dismayed to find that walking in some places got me just a few very quick glimpses of birds darting across tracks, no matter how long I did it for. I resorted to slow driving, and at least the birds lingered a little longer.
Peter Shute
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Peter,
My experience of Mallee birding is that nothing quite beats getting out on foot and using your ears to track down birds. Some days you are unlucky and there just isn’t much about, but some days you have cracking success. I recall a particularly bad day at Wyperfeld where I think we saw a total of about 10 birds in 2 hours. As in 10 individuals, of about 4 species. Then I’ve had days when you practically have to kick Emu-wrens out of the way to see the Grasswrens at Nowingi. Perhaps a good hybrid of the two methods is on slow days drive til you see some activity and then get out and walk.
Regards, Chris Sanderson
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Cars make very good bird hides !! href=”mailto:birding-aus-bounces@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-bounces@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-bounces@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-bounces@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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Tim, you describe two ways of finding flocks on foot. Have you got any opinion on the technique of driving till you find one?
I’ve recently returned from a trip to Little Desert, where I’ve never been birding before. I was a little dismayed to find that walking in some places got me just a few very quick glimpses of birds darting across tracks, no matter how long I did it for. I resorted to slow driving, and at least the birds lingered a little longer.
Peter Shute
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Sounds like a really interesting trip Jeremy. I wouldn’t be too concerned Jeremy about not seeing some of the rarer species in the mallee, particularly those linked to Triodia. I did a quick count and you saw 22 new species, not bad by anyones calculations! Dipping on species such as Mallee Emu-wren, Striated Grasswren and Malleefowl is not unusual at the best of times – especially not first time around. For example a bird tour guide recently missed them there at Nowingi, stating that it was very quiet.
When I was at Hattah and Wyperfeld last week the amount of water in the area was amazing. Lake Hattah was literally bursting its banks. This is probably one reason things are a little quiet, especially around the Lake Hattah area. With all the water around, bird such as Regent Parrot are no longer reliant upon the lake for drinking, and therefore can disperse more widely. For example last week I saw a Regent Parrot flying over a winery near Mildura.
Personally I find that a specific feature of Mallee birding is behaviour known as mixed-species flocking, even amongst some of the sedentary species such as Mallee Emu-wren and Striated Grasswren. Mix-species flocking is were flocks of usually insectivorous birds of different species join with each other and move together while foraging. Mix-flocks moves through the mallee at about 0.3 km an hour, with different species foraging in their preferred niches (on the ground, on trunks, in high or low foliage, and so on). Some species follow the flock all day, while others – such as Grasswren and Emu-wren, join it only as long as it crosses their own territories.
The key to seeing a range of species is to travel through the area in hope of finding one of these flocks. Personally I found there are two ways of doing this:
– Walk slowly and listen very carefully for bird calls and then follow it up straight away
FYI I’ve place some information of finding the rarer species of bird in the mallee on my report site. Hopefully it provide some assistance next time you visit, see:
http://tim-dolby.blogspot.com/search/label/Finding%20Rare%20and%20Uncommon%20Birds%20in%20Northern%20Victoria
Once you get used to the mallee you’ll find that it is one of the most rewarding birding habitats in Australia. The colour of plants, soil and the birds – such as parrots, chats and fairy-wren – adds to its beauty. As you say not seeing some species simply gives you an excuse to go back. To be quite honest I’m usually glad that I’ve dipped on not seeing some birds for this very reason!
Cheers,
Tim Dolby
________________________________________ href=”mailto:birding-aus-bounces@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-bounces@vicnet.net.au [birding-aus-bounces@vicnet.net.au] on behalf of Jeremy Weiss [enlightenedstave@gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2010 11:33 AM href=”mailto:birding-aus@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus@vicnet.net.au
Hello everyone,
Thought I would give a report of my trip to the mallee. I went from Monday September 27 to Friday Oct 1.
First I should say upfront that I dipped on a lot of birds.
I had the ‘Where to See Birds in Victoria’ book and was expecting to find a lot more than I did. I’ve only been birding for a year so I think this was just a problem of technique, often I would enter a dry forest and just find it completely silent and I wasn’t sure if driving along tracks was better than going on foot.
That said I had a great trip, still saw quite a few new birds and the scenery was just incredible.
So here it goes:
Monday September 27
Set out from Melbourne early in the morning. Before the first destination, Lake Tyrrell, we stopped to take pictures of the amazing orange flowers that were popping up everywhere. I had heard that Central Australia was getting a lot of flowers and the Mallee didn’t disappoint in that regard.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5041885994_b5bea4c40f_o.jpg
After that, the first interesting sighting on the way was a Red-backed Kingfisher sitting on a power line in some town (sorry, completely forgotten the name but it was a small town on the Calder)
I thought this was a good omen since I love kingfisher but arriving in Lake Tyrrell midday it was completely dead. Very windy and couldn’t find any birds other than a Singing Honeyeater (new)
After that we went to check out Gama Reserve on the way to Ouyen. Lots of activity here, mostly from a family of Brown Treecreepers (new) that were making a ton of noise. Did see the first Mulga Parrots (new) of the trip, some Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, Singing Honeyeaters and caught a glimpse of a male Variegated Fairy-wren (new.)
Next we headed for Bronzewing Flora and Fauna Reserve…at least I hope that’s where we went. It was off Torneys Road and had a dam with water in it. Anyway saw a pair of Southern Whiteface (new,) a few Weebills as well as a beautiful male Splendid Fairy-wren (new). Got very close to him but unfortunately he was against an overcast sky.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/5042523381_3340e17420_o.jpg
Then it was off to Hattah-Kulkyne to set up camp. Saw this lizard strutting across the road; maybe someone can help me with an ID?
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/5041886022_043419f5d7_b.jpg
Setting up the tent at the Lake Hattah campsite I saw my first Apostlebirds (new.) The novelty wore off quickly, let me tell you!
That was the end of the first day since the afternoon was spent setting up the tent and camping gear.
Tuesday September 28
Tuesday morning we headed to the Nowingi track to look for Mallee Emu-wrens. This was a lot more difficult than I had originally thought. First I had only brought track pants with me and walking through the spinifex gave my legs a gentle stabbing every time. Next, although I enjoyed roaming the spinifex clumps, it was incredibly hard to find anything. Most of the sounds I heard was just loose bark scraping against the trees in the wind. Anyway didn’t see any Emu-wrens that time, over an hour spent there and the only birds I saw were a few Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters (new)
After a few nice panoramic views at Warepil Lookout we decided to try the track around Lake Mournpall. Not long after leaving the Lookout we saw a pair of Mulga Parrots fly into the woods. Aching to get some photos of one I headed out and managed a slightly blurry shot of the male
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/5041283929_22b71ceb50_o.jpg
Luckily enough I stumbled on a family of Red-capped Robins while looking for the parrots. I love these guys and even managed to witness two males fighting, looked like fat little fireballs colliding with each other. Took tons of pics and the male was pretty indifferent to me as he went about foraging for the youngster
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/5041264205_7b8208f853_b.jpg
On the way out I also saw a Ringneck Parrot (new) and a pair of Emu (new) from the car.
After that we arrived at Lake Mournpall and decided to do a bit of the track (wasn’t feeling up for doing the whole 9.5km lake loop.) There were lots of flowers around the track and they were covered in bees but I never got stung the entire trip.
Anyway on the brief walk I saw Chestnut-rumped Thornbill (new) Brown-headed Honeyeater (new) , Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Rufous Whistler, Red-capped Robin and spent the rest of the time chasing Splendid Fairy-wrens. No good photos of them from that walk, they sure are a lot more skittish than the Superbs back home.
On the way out we saw a pair of Mallee Ringnecks and I got my only good photo of them
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5041264199_c2fb82187a_z.jpg
I found it was pretty common to see pairs of parrots flying around the Mallee but they were all incredibly twitchy.
A brief rest at the campground where I saw a Great crested Grebe on the lake before we headed back to Nowingi to look for the emu-wrens again.
At Nowingi in the afternoon I again found Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters but this time also saw some friendly Jacky Winters. Caught a very blurry glimpse of a Chestnut Quail-Thrush (new) and I think I may have seen a Mallee Emu-wren:
It was a bird the size of a wren and it jumped/flew out of a spinifex clump in front of me into another one. It landed in the base of another patch and seemed to burrow through to the other side where it flew in to a larger clump. I stood staring at the spinifex for about 5 minutes when I realised it must have taken an exit I wasn’t watching and was long gone. I’m not too confident IDing stuff without a photo and I guess it could also have been a Striated Grasswren but i’m not sure.
Slightly cheered up after seeing something we headed back to the campground for the night. Tried a bit of spotlighting heading from Lake Hattah to Mournpall but only turned up a few Brushtail Possums.
Wednesday September 29
Wednesday morning we headed back to Nowingi for one last shot at the Mallee Emu-wren. Again I only got photos of some Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters but I also had 2 possible Emu-wren encounters. I heard a soft squeaking and saw a wren-sized bird up ahead of me. Of course it was sitting with the sun behind it and by the time my camera focused it had magically vanished, that’s how it goes I guess 😛
Back at the campground for a break I saw a few Yellow Rosellas around and also a pair of Black-Tailed Native Hens (new)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/5041886038_613e2141f2.jpg
and some Grey Teal in the water.
In the afternoon we headed for Pink Lakes in Murray-Sunset National Park.
Managed to avoid running over a Shingleback Lizard and got some nice photos as a reward
Saw a pair of Blue Bonnets (new) by the lakes but couldn’t get a decent shot. I hadn’t heard much about these birds before the trip which is a shame because they are just beautiful. I wish I had gotten a nice picture but they got spooked so easily. Also in the Pink Lakes area was a pair of Red-rumped Parrots, A Black-shouldered Kite, some Masked Lapwings with chicks, Rufous Songlark (new), and a ton of newly hatched locusts by the lake!
Again I looked for Emu-wrens around the spinifex area around Pink Lakes but only found this lizard
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5041886028_2633c18631_o.jpg
anyone up for an ID?
On the way out I saw the only Major Mitchells Cockatoo (new) of the trip but just got a blurry photo.
Nearing sunset we went to Wymlet Tank to try to find some parrots. Saw a pair of Banded Lapwings (new) and managed to get some nice shots of them
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/5041886000_b5bea4c40f_o.jpg
Also in the area were more Brown Treecreepers, Red-rumped Parrots and a pair of Blue Bonnets that permitted me very distant shot.
I had decided the night before that I was sick of camping (this was my first time in almost ten years and the nostalgia didn’t last long) so we stayed at a motel in Mildura the last 2 nights.
Thursday September 30
Thursday morning we decided to try King’s Billabong near Mildura. The Vic Parks website said it had fairy-wrens along the walking track….all lies! Nothing there but some Miners and a few Yellow Rosellas.
After that we headed for Bronzewing again, this time trying the northern part from Merrett Rd. I was hoping for some Malleefowl or a shot at the Quail-thrush but didn’t get any luck. It was very quiet, had a few Splendid Fairy-wrens but i couldn’t get close with all the undergrowth but did get some decent shots of Chestnut-rumped Thornbills collecting nesting material.
On the way out I got some distant shots of a Pallid Cuckoo (new)
Next we went back to the south part of Bronzewing to get more shots of Splendid Fairy-wrens. They were infuriating to try to photograph; the Southern Whitefaces were a bit more accommodating. Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Brown Falcon, a flock of Varied Sitella, Rufous Whistler and an immature Red-capped Robin were also present.
After that we headed to Gama Reserve again, I wanted to try getting a picture of the Variegated Fairy-wren. Spiny-cheeked, White-plumed and Singing Honeyeaters were present a long with those noisy Brown Treecreepers. Located the Variegated Fairy-wren again but they rarely went out in to the open. This was the best shot I could get :/
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5041264211_60e9376ed5.jpg
Made one last trip to Bronzewing as the sun was going down. A few new things were there this time, Brown-headed Honeyeater, Striated Pardalote, Cockatiel (new) and a Little Eagle (new.) As the light was failing we went back to Mildura for the last night.
Friday October 1
Friday morning we went back to Lake Tyrrell to look for the White-winged Fairy-wren or some colourful chats (anything other than white-fronted). Driving very slowly along Lake Tyrrell road I think I saw a White-winged Fairy-wren standing on a shrub but by the time my camera was raised it had flown off. It was very distant so I’m not that sure. I did see some Australasian Pipits, White-winged Triller, White-fronted Chat, an immature Red-capped Robin and very happily, a Rufous Fieldwren (new)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5042533837_8b5093e4f4_b.jpg
After that we decided to make the last stop at Wyperfeld before heading back to Melbourne. On the way we stopped at Patchewollock to photograph some flowers and found some Variegated Fairywrens but couldn’t get close.
Eventually we entered northern Wyperfeld and it was just stunning. Yellow flowers everywhere, absolutely amazing. Birding was very good here as well. Just south of the Casuarina campgrounds, off the Meridian track I wandered around a bit and found a nice mixed feeding flock. Was happy to catch a female Mulga Parrot unawares and finally get some in-focus shots
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4128/5041886032_bf614f00a2_o.jpg
would you believe that it was actually too close this time? Got very close to some Southern Whitefaces, saw some Ringneck Parrots, White-browed Babblers, Splendid Fairy-wrens and Red-capped Robins. Last birds of the trip were a pair of Blue Bonnets but in keeping with tradition they refused to let themselves be photographed
After that we headed back to Melbourne, arriving Friday night.
All in all I had a good trip. I think I would see it in a much better light if I’d gotten a photo of the Emu-wren but it wasn’t to be. A few other disappointments like the lack of malleefowl, colourful chats, woodswallows and regent parrots were also pretty annoying.
Weather was not too bad, had about 30 minutes of rain the second day but other than that it was mostly fine if a bit cold at night. The overcast days were frustrating as a week earlier they had it forecast as sunny the entire week but it was only a thin layer of clouds and still bright enough for photography.
If I did it again I probably would have stayed at Wyperfeld or Pink Lakes instead of Hattah, found them to have a lot more birds and generally they seemed more scenic. Would probably have kept away from the Nowingi track but it’s easy to say with hindsight
I might have come off a bit negative about the experience but I always wish there was more I could see when out birding. I’m pretty happy with having seen around 20 new species (probably won’t count WW FW or Emu-wren.) Still had a blast and there’s an excuse to go back now! ========== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) href=”mailto:birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au”>birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
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