Western NSW bird adventure - Day 3

Day 3.

Cobar to Gundabooka National Park

Early to rise and first stop for the day was the fabled ‘New Tank’. Unfortunately due to the large amounts of rain I was unable to do a lap of the lake, so my visit lasted 10 mins and nothing of interest was seen. Next stop was ‘Old Reservoir’ and ‘Devil’s Rocks’ just minutes outside of Cobar. First thing I have to say about this area is that it’s bloody brilliant! Birds everywhere and excellent habitat. I wandered around in here for a few hours and upon reaching the Devil’s Rocks I decided to sit on the ground and watch the bird life around me. About five minutes into my sit down I caught some movement close by my side. I turned to look and saw a pair of Emu feet not 2 metres from me and as I looked up with my heart racing, I saw five Emu heads checking me out at close range.

These guys must have been adolescents because of their curiosity and also because they didn’t appear as dark as other big Emus I have seen. Still they were over five feet tall, easily within striking distance with their feet and here I am sitting on the ground. They hung by me long enough to change to a 28mm lens to get some photos then wandered off into the bush never to be seen again.

Species at Cobar, Old Tank and Devil’s Rock.
Magpie Lark, Australian Magpie, Australian Raven, Pacific Black Duck, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Yellow-throated Minor, Pied Butcherbird, Crested Pigeon, Peaceful Dove Welcome Swallow, Red-rumped Parrot, Black-fronted Dotterel , White-plumed Honeyeater, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Blue Bonnet, White-winged Triller , Crested Pigeon, Spotted Bowerbird, Crested Bellbird, Hooded Robin, Southern Whiteface, Emu, Galah, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Singing Honeyeater, Rufous Songlark, Splendid Fairy-wren, Hall’s Babbler, and a scruffy Whistling Kite.

On the road again and making a beeline for Gundabooka National Park. The roads were in pretty good condition with only a couple of muddy patches. Emus, Kangaroos, Lizards, Goats and a Pig as big as a two seater sofa were seen on the way to the Aboriginal Rock Art walk. White-backed Swallows flew around the creek below the caves and a solitary Brown Falcon soared above while keeping a watchful eye on me.

Dry Tank Camping Ground was a nice quiet spot guarded by Red-capped Robins who flew over to check me out when I arrived. With the threat of approaching rain in the coming days I decided to get stuck into the birding straight away in case a hasty retreat was required. Little Mountain walk adjoins the campsite and this was where I headed.

One of my wife’s instructions was to take some non bird photos on my trip. Stupid me was obeying this request and had just packed the 400mm in my backpack so I could photograph the wildflowers when a Chestnut Quail-thrush walks across the track about 3 metres in front of me!!! It even stopped to look before going off into the Mulga. Several expletives and a vow to never again stop for other photos while in bird searching mode, and I was ripping my pack apart and swapping lenses. Thankfully after much stalking, I managed to find three of the Quail-thrushes as two were having a bit of a scrap (probably over the other one).

The walk was a good one and I saw several species on the walk, except for Red-backed Kingfisher and White-browed Treecreeper.

An early dinner was had and with nobody to talk to, I wrote down my notes for the day and was tucked up in the car ready for bed by 6.30pm.