Hume

For about 18 months I have been visiting the developing West Hume industrial area, and being surprised by the variety of birds in this very unlikely area. This walk will take in some of the areas I visit, including wetlands, a heritage-listed old homestead and some woodland. Meet at 9.00am on Tralee St – turn right at the roundabout and park along the road. No need to book.

A dozen members met in the Hume industrial area on a beautiful winter morning. A call from a Diamond Firetail led us to the woodland area but, alas, no bird showed itself (despite groups of nine and seven birds being seen the same week in the area).  The Couranga St dam and pond did not add much to the bird list, but we explored the garden of the neglected Couranga Homestead and the slab hut home of Tralee Station’s original family.

More productive was the area between Tralee St and the railway line. The soil dumps and woodland produced Speckled Warbler, Scarlet Robins, European Goldfinches, Superb Fairywrens and thornbills. A Brown Falcon was sitting just beyond the railway line, and the trees along the railway yielded a Golden Whistler and White-eared Honeyeater. Crimson and Eastern Rosellas, as well as Red-Rumped Parrots were seen in various locations.

At the end of the outing a few visited the vacant blocks at the end of Tralee St, and found a group of 16 Australasian Pipits, bringing the morning’s total to 39 species.