Driving up into the top corner of Victoria was exciting for me. The chance of a few special birds beckoned, but I knew I was going to see a lot of birds. I stayed the night at Ouyen before heading off and had already had a nice surprise of Major Mitchell Cockatoos fly in late in the evening. Next morning the Red Wattlebirds decided to show me that even birds I thought were a bit bland could be very colourful.
Leaving Ouyen, I headed north to Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. One of the places to see the Mallefowl and Mallee Emu-wren, well, supposedly. Although I had done well with finding birds I normally dip on this year, I wasn't overly confident about these two. And I was right in the end. I pulled up inside the Hattah part of the Old Calder Highway due to a lot of noise from the driver side of the car. A bird I have seen before but not in this area - the Apostlebirds, about 8 of them chattering away.
There were Mulga Parrots there too as well as Weebills and Malle Ringnecks who were surprisingly shy the whole trip. Back into the car and crawled along the old highway, windows down, waiting for sound. But it was movement that caught my eye. Something hopping along the ground. A Chestnut Quail-thrush. I thhink in hindsight I had possibly seen one of these before in this area on a previous trip but had put it down to one of those sightings you don't know what it is because it was too quick into the scrub. This one wasn't going anywhere in a hurry and came out into the open and into the sun nicely for a few photos.
A little bit further along the old highway and I pulled off into what looked a bit like a camp site, complete with bins and the inevitable toilet paper blowing around. The Dusky and White-browed Woodswallows were flitting around, as well as the Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters, a bird I was to see a lot of in the coming days. Jacky Winters, Tree Martins, Willie Wagtails - a nice little spot for smaller birds.
Red Wattlebird
Leaving Ouyen, I headed north to Hattah-Kulkyne National Park. One of the places to see the Mallefowl and Mallee Emu-wren, well, supposedly. Although I had done well with finding birds I normally dip on this year, I wasn't overly confident about these two. And I was right in the end. I pulled up inside the Hattah part of the Old Calder Highway due to a lot of noise from the driver side of the car. A bird I have seen before but not in this area - the Apostlebirds, about 8 of them chattering away.
Apostelebird
Mulga Parrot
Chestnut Quail-thrush
A little bit further along the old highway and I pulled off into what looked a bit like a camp site, complete with bins and the inevitable toilet paper blowing around. The Dusky and White-browed Woodswallows were flitting around, as well as the Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters, a bird I was to see a lot of in the coming days. Jacky Winters, Tree Martins, Willie Wagtails - a nice little spot for smaller birds.
Dusky Woodswallow
White-browed Woodswallow
Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
Despite searching along the Nowingi Track, nothing new appeared. It was time to keep going.
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