Hattah-Kulkyne National Park

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.

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

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.

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.

Brolgas and other bird photos from Lake Woods and the road to Darwin

After the excitement of the last couple of days at Edith Falls with the Gouldian Finches (if you missed that post click the link here ) and then the Brahminy Kite at the Darwin Wharf precinct, and the Radjah Shelduck at Cullen Bay (if you missed this post click the link here ), I can reflect a little on Lake Woods and other birds we saw on the Stuart Highway on the way to Darwin.

The most exciting really was Moses' finding of the Australian Owlet-Nightjar during the day. He was the only one to see it and managed some great videos. Here is the link to one we have uploaded to his blog, if you would like to watch, click the link here.

Aside from this, there were a number of other birds at Lake Woods. One of which was the group of Brolgas that flew overhead. We could hear them before they arrived, and they flew fairly close, both in the late afternoon on the day we arrived and then early morning on the day we left Lake Woods. Here are a few photos from the late afternoon:

Brolgas

 

Australian Pelican

Caspian Tern

Rainbow Bee-eater

Yellow-tinted Honeyeater

 Apostlebirds at Dunmurra

Rainbow Bee-eater at Adelaide River

 

Apostlebird

Saw these birds in one of the local parks in Elliott.

Lake Woods

There is a Road Closed sign on the turnoff to Lake Woods so I decided to do the right thing and ask the local police what the story was. The local sergeant was very nice and encouraged me to take it easy on the road but head out there and if anyone asked, "tell 'em the Sarge said it was ok!"
The track was a lot better than I thought it would be from his remarks. Although it isn't marked in any way, it is still pretty easy to follow the track correctly out to the lake. Or what I thought was the lake.
After stopping the car, and realising I was the only one there, I took in the serenity. For about 3 minutes and then heard a car, which not only came to the side of the lake, but parked right next to me. A friendly fella jumped out, beer in his hand, sat down at the table I was sitting at, and proceeded to chat away for about 15 minutes. Although not overly happy that my dream afternoon of solitude with the birds had just been shattered, he was a nice guy and gave me a lot of information about the local area and birdlife. For a start, where I was sitting isn't in fact Lake Woods, that is further to the east south east from where I was. And he informed me it is the largest lake in the Territory, a fact I didn't know. And he also told me there were lots of Brolgas there. I didn't immediately get up and drive out to the actual lake as much as that appealed to me, and mainly because he pointed out some Magpie Geese way over the water in the shade. How he saw them I'll never know, although he did let on that they were one of his favourite tucker.
And the birdlife and action where we were was more than satisfying. There must be thousands of fish in the lake as lots of different types of birds were feeding on the fish, or in the shallows on food in the mud.
As I sat and watched, I saw Gull-billed Terns, Whistling Kites, Black Kites, Australiasian Darter and Great Egrets all plough into the water with beak or talons to snare a feed of fish. Brolgas, the Magpie Geese and Royal Spoonbills were staying at a distance all feeding in the shallows across the water, occasionally making there way into the open for me to see but not get great photos. At various points there would have been 40-50 birds of prey, only Whistling and Black Kites, circling above the water at various heights. The hardest thing about catching a fish was keeping it off the other Kites nearby. My companion at the table eventually took his mob home and another car that had arrived also left so I was there by myself, with this amazing bird spectacular in front of me, and above me. Various ducks and a pair of Great-crested Grebes swum around the lake, although mostly on the other side to where I was located. Nankeen Night Herons started out as just one, then another, and then there were 5 all pretty much in the one spot, occasionally barking at one another to get out of one's space. Cattle Egret were again on the far side but in beautiful orange plumage. The smaller birds on my side included another Pictorella Mannikan, Zebra Finches, Weebills, Willie Wagtails, Rainbow Bee-eaters and slightly larger Apostlebirds. For those photographers amongst you, you can imagine how many photos I took, so I've had to cut down the number shown as you would be here for hours! Even so, there are still a lot to look through. Enjoy.

Apostlebird

Black Kite

Black Kite catching fish

Australasian Darter catching fish

Diamond Dove

Great-crested Grebe

Gull-billed Tern catching fish

Whistling Kite catching fish

Zebra Finch in the late afternoon light