This is a 4 day trip to the Grenfell area. Participants will need to arrange their own accommodation in Grenfell. Visits will be made to Bimbi State Forest, Weddin Mountains NP, Warranderry State Forest and other birding spots around Grenfell. The trip will be limited to 16 people, who will carpool each day from Grenfell in 4 vehicles. Early registration is encouraged. Contact Bill Graham on graham.br63@grapevine.com.au, giving your name, mobile number and the name and number of an emergency contact. Once your registration is confirmed, it would be advisable to book your accommodation.
Bill Graham and Kim Farley
Eight keen birders set out on Tuesday morning for two full days and two part days in the Grenfell district in central west NSW. With heavy rain forecast for the rest of the week we all got wet at least once during the trip but, despite that, we recorded 104 species in all. This included life birds for some of us.
Our first stop was lunch at Lambing Flat Chinese Tribute Garden in Young. As well as familiar water and woodland birds we also had good views of Little Friarbird and Sacred Kingfisher.
On Wednesday, the rain poured down as predicted, but we set off early and drove over very rutted and wet roads to Bimbi State Forest west of Grenfell. This wonderful SF adjoins the western side of Weddin Mountains National Park. Its habitats consist of White Callitris/eucalypt woodland with a grassy understorey and patches of cassia and acacia shrubs. Birding was hard work in the poor conditions but our spirits stayed high and we saw some great birds, including Blue-faced Honeyeater, Turquoise Parrot, Bluebonnet, Australian Ringneck, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Red-capped Robin, White-browed Babbler and Chestnut-rumped Thornbill.
We lunched at the nearby Ben Hall’s Campground in Weddin Mountains NP and were entertained by the very tame Apostlebirds in the picnic area. A climb to Ben Hall’s Cave gave us lovely views over Bimbi State Forest and across the plains to the west.
Thursday saw a slight improvement in the weather for our visit to Warraderry State Forest north of Grenfell. The driving in the SF was somewhat adventurous, with two wet creek crossings, slippery mud and overhanging vegetation by the tracks. It was worth the effort though, as we saw some fabulous birds. These included excellent views of a male Gilbert’s Whistler. Other highlights were Striped Honeyeater, Hooded Robin, Grey-crowned Babbler, Painted Button-quail and Varied Sitella. Several of us were lucky enough to hear (though not see) Black-chinned Honeyeater.
An evening drive on Thursday to Holy Camp in Weddin Mountains NP produced close-up views of a very cute Australian Owlet-nightjar on the roadway plus two Southern Boobook heard calling.
Our final outing was a Friday morning walk at Company Dam in Grenfell. It was very wet underfoot, but we recorded 36 species in one hour – including Peaceful Dove, Rainbow Bee-eater, Leaden Flycatcher, Little Friarbird, Varied Sitella and Hoary-headed Grebe.
All the trip’s sightings were recorded on eBird (thank you Lia) and, for subscribers, can be seen by viewing the Weddin Shire bird list.
Kim Farley
