Trip report: Shepparton and Reedy Swamp

A couple of weeks ago I asked for some recommendations for birding around Shepparton, and the consensus was that I should visit Reedy Swamp. I ended up in Shepparton on Monday and Tuesday, and my work had me busy until about 5pm on Monday, and starting again at 9 on Tuesday. On Monday evening I walked along the bike path from the town up towards Cudgee Park. There had been a huge downpour that afternoon (with rain coming in through the roof of the electorate office) and the sky was very heavy. I didn’t have an umbrella or raincoat, but I thought I’d risk getting wet. The path follows the Goulburn River downstream from Shepparton, and the river flows through some nice forest areas. There were quite a few birds, but in the gathering darkness I wasn’t able to get much, although the calls were good. Best bird there was the Little Friarbird, which, coming from Melbourne, was a bit of a treat. I turned for home when the rain started again, and got home in time for a huge dinner at the local RSL. Chicken Parmigiana, and a pint of Bulmers, of course. Mmm-mmm. On Tuesday morning, I got up at 5 and grabbed the fleet car (a nice brand-new AWD Territory with immaculate brown metallic paint). I made it to the northern end and worked my way back southwards. At the north end of the track (which winds up the eastern side of the swamp) there were Bee-eaters, and they appeared to be burrowing in the sand at the side of the road, which at this point is along the crest of a sand ridge (would you call it a lunette?). When I arrived they retired to a nearby tree, and posed nicely in the sunrise. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=969029736445314&set=gm.10153270367029881&type=1 Further south, the road goes through some forest before getting closer to the swamp itself. I stopped the car (which by now, after the rain the previous day, was sporting quite a lot of mud, including some on the roof) and approached the swamp. Rather than being wet, it was mainly silty mud, which I didn’t walk on for fear of getting stuck. Out in the middle a few stags stand, and on one there was a juvenile Whistling Kite. An adult was cruising up and down the swamp, being seen off by anything that was brave enough. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=969564323058522&set=p.969564323058522&type=1. Around the edge, lots of smaller birds, like Superb Fairy Wrens and Red Browed Finches were reasonably common. I might be wrong here, but I think I got both Brown and White-Throated Treecreepers here. The Brown TCs were investigating a stump out in the swamp, while the White-Throateds were in the forest around the edge. They were pretty distant, but the calls separated them. While on the subject of calls, I’ve put a snippet on the Birding-Aus Facebook page of a call – I know I’ve heard this many times, ut I’m not amazing at calls, and I just can’t bring it to mind. Can anyone help me? It’s the repeated “kwow, kwow”. https://www.facebook.com/download/813033198759829/ReedySwamp.wav All in all, a nice way to spend the spare time while out with work. I had a bit of explaining to do when returning the car, but the rest of the guys thought it lent an air of “rural cred”. Many thanks to those who made suggestions! The list for the two days is as follows: Species Name Pacific Black Duck Brown Quail Australian White Ibis Black-shouldered Kite (Australian) Whistling Kite Masked Lapwing Spotted Dove Laughing Kookaburra Sacred Kingfisher Rainbow Bee-eater Dollarbird Galah Long-billed Corella Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Eastern Rosella Red-rumped Parrot White-throated Treecreeper Brown Treecreeper Superb Fairy-wren White-plumed Honeyeater Noisy Miner Red Wattlebird Little Friarbird Spotted Pardalote Striated Pardalote Australian Magpie Black-faced Cuckooshrike Rufous Whistler Willie Wagtail Grey Fantail Magpie-lark Australian Raven White-winged Chough Welcome Swallow Silvereye Common Blackbird Common Myna Common Starling House Sparrow Red-browed Finch