Hmmm…Forbes to Whoey Tank in about 90 mins….keen to start birding I see Carl.
Chris.
www.licole.com.au
Sent from my iPhone
> On 9 Sep 2016, at 2:12 PM, Carl Weber < carl.weber@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
>
>
> I drove from Sydney on Thursday 26th, had lunch at Gum Swamp, Forbes, and
> started birding at Whoey Tank, Round Hill at 2 pm. The countryside
> everywhere is as green as I’ve seen – like Europe or New Zealand. Surface
> water is plentiful and dams and lakes are full. The weather was cold, but
> mostly sunny. I was happy to see anything, but particularly wanted
> black-eared cuckoo. I stayed 3 nights in Lake Cargelligo, and finished at
> 10.30 am on 28th August. I returned to Sydney via Temora.
>
>
>
> Whoey Tank
>
> I visited Whoey Tank once. The area was a little quiet, the was abundant
> ground cover, and the tank and surrounding feeder channels had water in
> them. Mulga Parrot and Mallee Ringneck were there, with Singing, Striped,
> Spiny-cheeked and White-fronted Honeyeater. Highlights were a Horsfield’s
> Bronze-cuckoo and the antics of a calling (?complaining) White-fronted
> Honeyeater.
>
>
>
> Chat Alley
>
> In all, I visited Chat Alley 5 times, staying for up to 30 minutes or so on
> my way to and from Lake Cargelligo. There is so much water there that it
> could called Chat Lakes: The eastern end is a lake about 100 m long and up
> to 50 m wide. There a larger lake at the western end of the tar-sealed road.
>
>
>
> Birds included a pair of Australasian Shoveler, a pair of Pink-eared Duck,
> Grey Teal, Hardhead, Red-kneed Dotterel, Yellow-billed Spoonbill,
> White-necked Heron, Black-winged stilt, and an Australian Spotted Crake. The
> highlight was a Pair of Orange Chat, which showed well on 3 of the 5 visits.
> The only raptor seen was a Nankeen Kestrel.
>
> Hi All,
>
>
>
> I drove from Sydney on Thursday 26th, had lunch at Gum Swamp, Forbes, and
> started birding at Whoey Tank, Round Hill at 2 pm. The countryside
> everywhere is as green as I’ve seen – like Europe or New Zealand. Surface
> water is plentiful and dams and lakes are full. The weather was cold, but
> mostly sunny. I was happy to see anything, but particularly wanted
> black-eared cuckoo. I stayed 3 nights in Lake Cargelligo, and finished at
> 10.30 am on 28th August. I returned to Sydney via Temora.
>
>
>
> Whoey Tank
>
> I visited Whoey Tank once. The area was a little quiet, the was abundant
> ground cover, and the tank and surrounding feeder channels had water in
> them. Mulga Parrot and Mallee Ringneck were there, with Singing, Striped,
> Spiny-cheeked and White-fronted Honeyeater. Highlights were a Horsfield’s
> Bronze-cuckoo and the antics of a calling (?complaining) White-fronted
> Honeyeater.
>
>
>
> Chat Alley
>
> In all, I visited Chat Alley 5 times, staying for up to 30 minutes or so on
> my way to and from Lake Cargelligo. There is so much water there that it
> could called Chat Lakes: The eastern end is a lake about 100 m long and up
> to 50 m wide. There a larger lake at the western end of the tar-sealed road.
>
>
>
> Birds included a pair of Australasian Shoveler, a pair of Pink-eared Duck,
> Grey Teal, Hardhead, Red-kneed Dotterel, Yellow-billed Spoonbill,
> White-necked Heron, Black-winged stilt, and an Australian Spotted Crake. The
> highlight was a Pair of Orange Chat, which showed well on 3 of the 5 visits.
> The only raptor seen was a Nankeen Kestrel.
>
>
>
> Lake Cargelligo STW
>
> I visited the ponds on 2 late afternoons. The ponds themselves, although
> full, were almost devoid of birds. The first two ponds were covered in
> algae, which is probably a deterrent. In all, the ponds held a few Black
> Swan, Hardhead, and Grey Teal. A pair of Whistling Kite were perched on a
> dead tree. However there were highlights: a male Musk Duck on one of the
> smaller ponds, and an Eastern Barn Owl which I flushed from the pond bank,
> and which settled in a bush about 4 m from me, staring balefully. A
> Back-fronted Dotterel was also present.
>
>
>
> The paddock immediately to the north is flooded to form a wetland 300 m long
> and up to 50 m wide. Here were White-necked Heron, Black-winged stilt,
> Australian Shelduck, and a pair of Black Swan with 5 cygnets, Red-kneed
> Dotterel, and White-winged Fairy-wren.
>
>
>
> The Wheat Paddock
>
> One morning at the Wheat Paddock yielded most of the usual mallee birds,
> notably White-fronted and Grey-fronted Honeyeater, Shy Heathwren, Western
> Gerygone, White-browed and Grey-crowned Babbler and Southern Scrub-robin.
> The only whistler seen was a Rufous.
>
>
>
> Southern Boundary
>
> I did a circuit starting on the main road at the SE corner, west along the
> southern boundary, then north on the Wild Goat Trail to the Railway line,
> east to the main road and south to the starting point. This yielded notables
> including Splendid Fairy-wren ((2 families with breeding males), Weebill,
> and Crested Bellbird. The lowlight was an immature Horsfield’s
> Bronze-cuckoo, which for an hour or so I had listed as my first Black-eared
> Cuckoo. The bird had a beautiful black ear mark, but it eventually dawned on
> me that a striped chest, even if very faint, was a bad sign. In the end, I
> neither saw nor heard a Black-eared Cuckoo on the trip.
>
>
>
> Red-lored Whistler
>
> I heard Red-lored Whistler on 4 occasions, but saw none, despite following
> calls through mallee. The first two occasions were to the north and west of
> the Wheat Paddock. It is possible that there was just one bird that moved,
> but on balance I believe that the calls came from two birds. The third
> occasion was on the Southern Boundary, and the fourth was in mallee about 1
> km away. These two could be from the one bird. The calls were all heard on
> sunny mornings; there were no calls on the two days with cloud cover.
>
>
>
> Gilbert’s Whistler was neither seen nor heard at any time. Presumably they
> have yet to arrive.
>
>
>
> Carl Weber
>
> 9.09.16
>
>
>
> —
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