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| Regent Honeyeater |
Following our visit to Kangaroo Valley (see following post) we
spent a few days sight-seeing in Canberra before continuing north to
spend 2 days with our friend Kathy Haydon in Capertee Valley - a
renowned birding hotspot. The valley is essentially a vast canyon
floor set amid the spectacular sandstone escarpments along the
western fringe of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.
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| Capertee Valley near Glen Davis |
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| Capertee Valley near Glen Davis |
We camped in the free camp (complete with hot showers!) in the
quaintly deserted former mining township of Glen Davis. We visited
Gardens of Stone National Park, Wollemi National Park and Capertee
National Park. We birded along the Glen Alice and Glen Davis roads.
Many thanks to Dean Ingerwersen and Ross Crates from BirdLife
Australia for birding advice on the area.
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| Ironbark woodland, Capertee National Park |
The key photographic target at Capertee was the critically
endangered Regent Honeyeater, with the site being a major stronghold
for this fast disappearing woodland specialist. I have seen this
species on just 3 occasions previously, and looked unsuccessfully for
it earlier in the trip
west
of Armidale.
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| Regent Honeyeater |
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| Regent Honeyeater |
Two groups were encountered at Capertee – an
impressive
gathering of
8-12 birds in Capertee National Park, including at least 2 juveniles
of different ages - indicating successful breeding this season in the
area. A further group of 3-4 birds was found along Glen Davis Road.
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| Regent Honeyeater |
In
both areas, the birds were feeding primarily on the red flowers of
the Mugga Ironbark Eucalyptus
sideroxylon –
a tree that the bird has a special affinity with. The
honeyeaters
would periodically fly to feed briefly on the white flowers of other
Eucalyptus
species. At the Capertee site it was noted that the Regent
Honeyeaters were constantly chased by the much more common Noisy
Friarbirds.
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| Regent Honeyeater |
The two
juvenile birds were both fed by adults during the time we had them
under observation. Some
adult birds had been banded as researchers are working on the birds
at Capertee. At the
Glen Davis Road site, no friarbirds were present and the Regent
Honeyeaters turned the tables – aggressively chasing White-plumed
and smaller honeyeater species out of their feeding tree.
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| Regent Honeyeater adult & juvenile |
Another
nice find near the Glen Davis camp were a couple of pairs of Rock
Warblers on the slopes above the camp, where Brush-tailed
Rock-Wallaby was also present.
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| Rock Warbler |
Other
birds at Capertee included Brown Treecreeper, White-browed Babbler,
Red-capped Robin, Rufous Songlark and Crested Shrike-tit.
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| Brown Treecreeper |
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| Crested Shrike-tit |
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| Red-capped Robin |
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| White-browed Babbler |
Reptiles included Jacky Lizard.
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| Jacky Lizard |
Sections
of the main
roads
have recently been upgraded with 100kmph zones, so
vehicles travel at high speed through the valley, taking a
substantial toll on the wildlife.
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| Common Wombat roadkill near Glen Davis |
We moved
on to Maitland for an overnight stay, then drove high into the
mountains for a 3-night stay in the Brushy Mountains Camp in
Werrikimbe National Park. A female Flame Robin in the camping round
was unexpected.
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| Flame Robin female |
I had
hoped to photograph Rufous Scrubbird here but it was not to be. The
birds were vocal enough but we were plagued by rain, cold and strong
winds. I heard a
total
of 4 scrubbirds between Spekes Lookout on the Scrubbird Trail and the
Brushy
Mountains
camp;
2 birds along
the 3.6km loop trail; 1 bird at the campground; and 4 between Brushy
Mountains and the Cockerawombeeba Road turnoff. I managed to see 2 of
the Scrubbird Trail birds briefly.
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| Scrubbird habitat at Werrikimbe |
Superb
Lyrebird, Bassian Thrush and Olive Whistler were common and the place is worth a
visit just for the beautiful camp ground and surrounding forest.
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| Brushy Mountains camp |
Our
final stop was the caravan park at Wooyung near Pottsville on the NSW
North Coast, where a feisty Buff-banded Rail was
unusually tame. We had been on the road for 52 days, travelling more than 8000km through NSW and Victoria.
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| Buff-banded Rail |
