Munghorn Gap and various other Winter Wonderlands west of Sydney

What better way to spend the middle of winter is there than to go camping? none I should think! Max and I were off to Munghorn Gap National Park, 20km out of Mudgee, for the Feathers and Photos forum campout. Away from home Friday to Monday, completely self-reliant, the first proper birding trip with no parents.

We stopped off first at Pierces Pass in the Blue Mountains, which proved a good idea, as we had cracking views of a male Superb Lyrebird, and listened to another’s mimicry a little further down the valley. A small flock of Crescent Honeyeaters was a welcome surprise, and, yet again, the Pilotbirds refused to show, only calling in the dense vegetation near the creek. Lithgow was next, and no visit to Lithgow is complete without checking out the sewage plant. Pink-eared Ducks, Australasian Shovellers, Hoary-headed Grebes and a lonely Black-fronted Dotterel were the highlights. Lake Wallace was quiet, but we still ticked off the reliable Musk Ducks and Great-crested Grebes.

After another quick stop to bag a “pure” Mallard in Mudgee, we were off to Munghorn. When we arrived, Heyn, Duade, Eric and Trevor were already there. We headed off to Moolarben Road and spent the afternoon having a look around and taking photos of the birds. Diamond Firetails, Jacky Winters, White-browed Babblers, a myriad of honeyeaters and a few Restless Flycatchers made for a good days birding.

Jacky Winter

Ridgeline near Honeyeater Flat

The next morning, Grant arrived at 7:00 (after leaving home at 4:00), and we headed back to Moolarben Rd, were we spent most of the morning, and managed to find some Black-chinned Honeyeaters (which I haven’t seen for a long time) and also tracking down an Emuby following it’s “drumming” call. Heading back to camp, we picked up Gerard, Dave and Rick, and after a “short lunch break” headed back to Moolarben Rd after about 2 hours. It ended up being a great afternoon of birding, with amazing views and photographic opportunities of Diamond Firetails, plus Crested Shrike Tit, Striped Honeyeaters, and the lovely Jacky Winters, all keeping us very entertained.

Diamond Firetails

Striped Honeyeater

Jacky Winter

Crested Shrike Tit

A walk up the ridge behind our campground at honeyeater flat netted Max and I two Rockwarblers, but almost nothing else. Spotlighting was even more of a dismal failure, with not one night bird showing (except for the Owlet-nightjar that flew past my face never to be seen again). Mammals on the other hand were quite interesting – Eric narrowly avoided hitting a big male kangaroo, and a wombat ran along the road in front of our car for a few minutes. When the car in front stopped to have a look at him, and Gerard stepped out, the wombat picked up speed and charged straight at his legs, forcing a hasty jump back into the car. That image had Max and I laughing for the rest of the night!

The next morning, after a very slow start, we headed off to Goulburn River National Park around 9:00. Firstly, we stopped at a short stretch of road which was covered with Dusky Woodswallows before we flushed them. The trees around were flowering, and we had more views of honeyeaters such as Black-chinned, White-naped, Yellow-tufted, White-plumed, Fuscous, Noisy Friarbirds, etc.

Black-chinned Honeyeater

White-naped Honeyeater

The excitement again picked up about a kilometre later when we got to some open farmland. Grant, driving in front, pulled over and had a quick look through his binoculars at a hill. Then he got out and had a good look at what I realised was a raptor sitting on a rock. I jumped out and got it in the binoculars, and Max, Grant and I quickly came to the conclusion that this dark raptor was indeed a Black Falcon, a very nice bird indeed. Grant radioed the other cars, who were further back photographing a kestrel. They arrived just in time to see the falcon fly off over the paddock. No problem, as it came back over after a few minutes, and everyone saw it well (except for me, because I was looking at the Brown Falcon chasing the Black Falcon by accident!).

As we entered Goulburn River NP, a few swallows were hawking around a hill at Obrien’s Crossing, so I headed up there to make sure there were no White-backed Swallows. Big mistake. The hill was covered in those weedy-black-spiked grass things, and soon, I was covered from head to toe in those little black spikes, literally, I looked like an echidna.

Just past Lee’s Pinch, we stopped again as Grant spotted some Glossy Black Cockatoos flying up from next to the road. Heyn, Dave and I followed the calls and found a pair feeding low down in a casuarina. Another two birds flew in after a few minutes (one was a youngster). This was easily the best views I’ve ever had of this species. After leading the others down to the Glossy Blacks, a few of us elected to try and re-find the heathwren that Max had glimpsed earlier. After quite a bit of callback, we were “rewarded” with 2 seconds views of the Chestnut-rumped Heathwren as it jumped onto a log, and then disappeared.

We said goodbye to most of the convoy, who needed to get back to Sydney, and Grant, Eric, Max and I headed on. Hooded Robins and more Black-chinned Honeyeaters were nice, but eventually, we reached Grant’s swallow site, and after almost giving up hope, we finally got on to a couple of beautiful White-backed Swallows, a lifer for me (they had been a bit of a bogey), and a great little bird. I had been hoping to get them for the whole trip, but hadn’t found any until this point – cheers Grant! :)

White-backed Swallow!

Max and I said goodbye, and after packing up camp, we headed south the Capertee Valley, and set up the tent as the sun was disappearing below the horizon. Our spotlighting was more successful than the previous night’s, with a Tawny Frogmouth in a tree, and a Southern Boobook sitting right in the middle of the road! The next morning, we birded the areas around Glen Davis and Crown Station Road, but didn’t see much that we hadn’t seen the day before. We drove north to Glen Alice, and on a bit further to “Max’s spot”, which is a small patch of trees on the road north of Bogee. This was quite an exceptional birding area, with highlights being 40 Common Bronzewings (all flushed from 3 or 4 trees as we walked under them), a lot of Peaceful Doves, many honeyeaters, and a flock of at least 150 Plum-headed Finches.

A Brown Treecreeper farewelled us at the campground, pecking around on the ground within a metre of both Max and I, but it proved too difficult to focus on with the camera. A stop near the base of Mt Airly in the hope of Red-browed Treecreepers was fruitful, not because of treecreepers but because of a lovely male Scarlet Robin.

Brown Treecreeper

Back at Pierce’s Pass, we saw three Beautiful Firetails, including one bird hopping up and down on a branch, presumably displaying the other one next to it. A quick walk to the lookout was fantastic for views, but we still got no views of Pilotbird. After a quick stop at Mount Tomah Botanical Gardens, we headed back home.

We both had a fantastic trip, and it was great to meet so many Feathers and Photos members who we had previously only known online. The weather was sunny most of the time, and never too cold. Our trip list ended up totalling 126 species, with a last-second Great Egret as we crossed the Hawkesbury River back into Sydney. This is definitely one of the best ways to spend the winter holidays!

 Diamond Firetail

 Juvenile Diamond Firetail