An extended camping trip is planned to Warren, Macquarie Marshes and Gundabooka NP, in inland NSW. The town of Warren is north-west of Dubbo (about 470 km from Canberra), and Gundabooka National Park is another 320 km further, to the north-west. We are planning one night at a caravan park in Warren on 14 Oct and a morning exploring the fabulous wetlands on the edge of town. We will move on to Macquarie Marshes on the afternoon of 15 October, spend one night and then go on to Gundabooka NP on 16 October for 4 nights. The trip ends on Sunday 20 October. Campers are to make their own campground and caravan park bookings and ensure they have a relevant National Parks Pass. Once at Gundabooka we will be birding around the broader campground area and the subsequent days we will drive to places further in the park. We have not done a “reccie” for Gundabooka so the trip will be a bit exploratory.
To register, contact John Goldie or Kathy Walter on walter.goldie (at) gmail.com. The trip is limited to 16 people. Please DO NOT make bookings until your registration has been confirmed. Campers are to make their own campground and caravan park bookings and ensure they have a relevant NSW National Parks Pass. Campers are also to make their own arrangements for getting to and from the start/finish.
Twelve eager birders arrived on Monday afternoon at the caravan park in Warren. It backs onto the town levee and ponds north of the wetlands so the evening walk was around these. Highlights included Glossy Ibis, Cockatiel, Australian Ringneck, Purple-backed Fairy-wren and Grey-crowned Babbler.
After heavy overnight rain, the next morning we walked around Tiger Bay Wetlands where a pair of Black Falcon, Plum-headed Finch, Black-tailed Native-hen, stunning Red-winged Parrot and Baillon’s Crake were seen, as well as a number of water birds, including at least 180 Straw-necked Ibis perched on the many dead trees.
After a coffee stop at a converted church cafe we drove in convoy to Burrima day visitor area, in Macquarie Marshes, with shelters and toilet facilities protected by a high levee. The infrastructure in the wetlands for visitors is extensive, with a 2-kilometre boardwalk, and high and low viewing platforms. Pale-headed Rosella, White-breasted Cuckoo-shrike and White-breasted Woodswallow were additions to our ever-growing birdlist.
More overnight rain meant a change of plans for the route to our main destination, Gundabooka National Park, with sealed roads being the only sensible option as we all made our separate ways northwards, with many mixed flocks of Masked and White-browed Woodswallow along the way. Curious local Red-capped Robin and Splendid Fairy-wren checked us out as we set up camp in the recently upgraded Dry Tank Campground for the next four nights.
On Wednesday morning thunder rumbled around but there was only light rain so we set out on the Little Mountain Walk from camp. Typical mulga birds seen included Inland and Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, Crested Bellbird, Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush and White-browed Treecreeper. At the end of the walk, we were rewarded with splendid views of Mt Gundabooka, as well as Pink Cockatoo and Mulga Parrot.
In the afternoon we did the walk to Yapa rock art caves. This was more open, rocky platform country leading to a small creek and gorge in the edge of which is the cave with the rock art. Excellent sightings of Pink Cockatoo feeding, a Spotted Bowerbird and a Red-backed Kingfisher capped off a lovely day.
The next day again threatened rain and some short showers were enough to settle the dust. We drove to the Shearers’ Quarters and did a local walk to the dam. On the way there were White-browed and Chestnut-crowned Babbler, as well as a Little Woodswallow. We circled back from the dam via the old station dump and car graveyard and nearer to the Shearers’ Quarters saw Crested Bellbird, Hooded Robin, Mistletoebird and Restless Flycatcher.
With more rain threatening, we decided to bring forward the planned late afternoon outing to Bennetts Gorge walk to before lunch. We headed onto open country between the mulga woodland and Mt Gundabooka escarpment which is crossed by multiple creeks. Flocks of Budgerigars were seen in the trees along the dry creek beds running out from the mountain.
We headed back to camp for the rest of the day and a fierce game of Up and Down the River was waged as the afternoon thunderstorm raged around and drenching sheets of rain swept past the picnic shelter.
The next day, while John and Steve tried to sort out some battery issues, the rest of us walked to the road to check conditions. We added Yellow Thornbill to our birdlist, and enjoyed the many pairs of Red-capped Robin, as well as great views of a Crested Bellbird. Emu were seen bathing in the larger ponds of loose water at the road edge.
The rain had soaked in remarkably quickly and it was decided to attempt the run down Yanda track to a campsite by the Darling River. A stop at a dam on route yielded excellent bird watching including Crimson Chat for those lucky enough to see them, and a nesting pair of Restless Flycatcher and a Brown Falcon. On the water were Australasian Grebe and a pair of Hardhead.
We drove on northwards, but unfortunately the road got very wet about 10km in so it was decided to return to the dam for lunch which yielded a sighting of a pair of Wedge-tailed Eagle. The afternoon was spent in camp and saw a return match in the card game before we headed back down the track for evening drinks by the dam. In beautiful evening light over 100 Tree Martin soared and dived as they fed over the water of the dam. Red-winged and Mulga Parrot, Australian Ringneck, Galah and a Pink Cockatoo all came down to drink, while the Black-tailed Native-hen had a good bath. A nest of Striped Honeyeaters was nearby and we got a close view of the adult bird. The Restless Flycatchers attacked a sole Australian Raven. Pigs we had seen earlier came for a drink. The day after we left, the park was due to close for feral control and the number of goats and pigs seen suggested it was definitely needed.
Camp visitors included one strap-nosed brown snake looking for the ultimate shade with Martin and Pat, two species of frog, a gecko, a dragon, and a scorpion visiting Sandra’s tent. This was a winning double for her as she had also scored the large centipede seeking dry ground at Burrima.
In summary, 128 bird species were seen on another very successful trip organised by Kathy Walter and John Goldie. Many thanks to them.
Sheila Hughes
