Plains Wanderer and more – South-east Oz Autumn 2022 Part 1

We kicked off a 6-week road trip of NSW, Victoria and South Australia on April 20 with a couple of nights at Kookaburra Camping Ground near Deepwater in the northern highlands of NSW. This is a delightful camping spot amid granite belt woodland with fantastic views. The transformation from our last visit a couple of years ago, when the region was - along with much of the country - in the grip of drought, was astounding. Lush vegetation and an abundance of water everywhere were the order of the day.

Major changes in wildlife populations and diversity were obvious. Last time there was an abundance of macropods attracted to the small area of green grass around the camping ground. This time just a couple of Euros were spotted.

Birdlife was prolific enough, though the Diamand Firetails that were common last time were absent; the landowner says they died of starvation due to an absence of seed during the drought. Scarlet Robins were a delightful presence around the camping ground and plenty of Dusky Woodswallows and Striated Thornbills were about.

The Eastern Striated Pardalote (subspecies ornatus of Striated Pardalote) was common here. The first image below is of this subspecies. The second was taken in Adelaide later in the trip and shown here for comparative purposes; it is the subspecies substriata.

We continued with overnight stops in Gunnedah and Peak Hill, with this pair of Red-rumped Parrots looking good in the morning light.

We had a couple of nights by the Murrumbidgee River at Narrandera. Here, as elsewhere on the trip when we were in the Murray-Darling Basin, the river was in full flow with adjoining river red gum floodplains under water following good rains in recent months. A joy to behold.

Nice birds were about the riverside scrub, including a few Yellow Thornbills and Brown-headed Honeyeaters around our camp.

From here we headed into Victoria and the famed natural grasslands of the Terrick Terrick National Park. The woodlands around the campsite were very birdy with Hooded Robin and Diamond Firetail among the species seen, while a Swamp Wallaby showed nicely roadside.

However, it was the nearby grasslands that were my area of interest. This area has become a stronghold for the critically endangered and enigmatic Plains-wanderer, which is endemic to the sparse native grasslands of inland Victoria, NSW and south-west Queensland. I first saw the species in the mid-1970s on private property near Hay in NSW. I saw it again near Deniliquin with Phil Maher on another property when we put together a news story for The Sydney Morning Herald on the bleak future facing this species. I was very keen to see it again a few decades down the track, this time with camera in hand. Previously we found the birds by driving around with a spotlight at night as they are very difficult to locate during the day. Now, with the welfare of birds in mind, walking is the go. I am most grateful to Scott Baker for helping me out with site information and to Simon Starr, who runs professional tours to locate the birds (as does Phil Maher) for providing me with tips. I hit the grasslands (below) at dusk with my thermal scope along with the usual spotlights and other gear. By myself, as I looked out over the grasslands, I realised this was going to be a challenge.

I had flushed several Stubble Quail and Little Buttonquail in the afternoon and it wasn’t long before I found some roosting Little Buttonquail with the thermal scope.

I then located the first of several roosting Stubble Quail in the same manner.

Eventually, after four hours, I spotted a male Plains-wanderer with the scope and saw it through binoculars but could not relocate it; evidently they sometimes run! Soon after, however, I found a lovely female Plains-wanderer which allowed close approach. Success at last.

After Terrick Terrick we headed south, the GPS taking us down some obscure country roads, where Long-billed Corellas were common, like this flock near Ararat.

We had three days at the pleasant seaside town of Port Fairy. In the camping ground I finally nailed a photo tick of European Greenfinch, an introduced species, as a small flock was being stalked by an immature Collared Sparrowhawk.

An adult Australasian Gannet put on a show in the boat harbour.

A Flame Robin was an unexpected find at the local cemetery.