|
Black-eared Cuckoo |
Following
our visit to Deepwater (following post) we headed south to Tamworth
for an overnight stay, then on to Warrumbungle National Park for two
nights at Blackman Camp. We last visited the Warrumbungles in 2013,
soon after the area was razed by particularly devastating bushfires.
I was interested to see how it had regenerated.
. While plenty of trees
and shrubs had sprouted, as expected, huge numbers of trees remained
blackened trunks, killed by the fires. So many trees with hollows
were lost that authorities have built and placed scores of nesting
boxes.
|
Fire-killed trees |
|
Warrumbungles |
Conditions
were drier even than around Deepwater. Emaciated kangaroos were
digging into bare earth in search of grass roots. A brief shower
during our visit was
so unusual that it prompted an Echidna to surface in the heat of the
day. Along roads around the park, crops had perished and livestock
removed as the drought intensifies.
|
Echidna |
Best
bird was a Black-eared Cuckoo in a patch of cypress pine just west of
the national park boundary. Other cuckoos included Channel-billed and
Pallid.
|
Black-eared Cuckoo |
|
Channel-billed Cuckoo |
|
Pallid Cuckoo
|
A few White-browed Woodswallows mixed with White-winged
Trillers and Rufous Songlarks were along the road. Speckled Warbler,
Red-capped Robin
and Yellow Thornbill were among the birds in woodland remnants.
|
Red-capped Robin |
|
Speckled Warbler |
|
White-browed Woodswallow |
A
small flock of Turquoise Parrots flew through the camping ground late
one afternoon. A White-winged Chough was enamoured with our car
window and a couple of Emus
were seen.
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