Cocoparra

We arrived at Cocoparra in the afternoon and drove to the Woolshed Flats camping ground. Initially we were unimpressed by the degraded conditions of the camp ground but as we'd just spent a week at Gundabooka National Park I think we were a bit spoilt. However, soon after setting up the tent by the dry creek things improved, we noticed a pair of Jacky Winter with a nest just above our tent, our presence didn't seem to bother them too much as they foraged for insects around our campsite. Other birds also appeared Dusky Woodswallows, Mallee Ringneck, Mulga Parrots, Varied Sitella and White-browed Babblers noisily foraging around the creek bed. In the distance a Western Gerygone and Rufous Whistler were calling.

Around 4pm we went for a walk in the bush near to the camp ground and saw many thornbills, a few honeyeaters and what looked like a single female Black Honeyeater. In the open woodland area near to the fire management track we saw many birds foraging on or near the ground, including Crimson Chat, Brown Treecreeper, Rufous Songlark, around 12 White-winged Trillers, Southern Whiteface and Yellow Robin. Back at the campsite Peaceful Doves were cooing from the trees. A Black-eared Cuckoo made an appearance calling from the top of a dead tree until it was chased off by another bird.

The next day birds were still active around the campsite we could hear a Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo calling with the Back-eared Cuckoo calling for comparison in the background. A Restless Flycatcher was actively hunting repeatedly making his scissor grinding call.

After packing up the campsite we headed for Binya State Forest to look for a Turquoise Parrot. We had heard Wattle Dam was a good site to see this bird. We found Wattle Dam just off Wattle Track, the site was being patrolled by a large group of Choughs which called to alert all of the birds in the area of our presence with their loud descending calls. We spent about 30 minutes looking and noticed a few Red-Rumped Parrots but could not find any Turquoise, on the way back to the car a couple of parrots flew into a thicket of Cypress, while I was looking intently into the bushes Paul saw a lovely Turquoise Parrot perched in the tree in the sunshine. Initially we thought it to be female until the wind blew its wing covets and revealed a brilliant patch of red. After a few minutes the parrot obligingly faced the other way to show us his backside then after a few more minutes made a series of short calls then flew off making longer flight calls so that we could hear the difference.

Falcon Falls

After this we headed up to Spring Hill Picnic area for a walk up to Falcon Falls. This is a very pretty walk up to what would be a small waterfall near the top of the rocky cliffs if not dry, many small birds were seen on the way including Silvereye. There was still a small amount of water near the top of the cliff, some Peaceful Doves and White-browed Babblers were seen nearby. After a short while we saw a lovely Peregrine Falcon sitting on a tree near the top of the cliffs, we could hear loud calls coming from with a crevice nearby, the falcon took of and flew into the crevice where we assumed there was a nest with chick.

In our short stay we saw an impressive number of birds however there did appear to be a lack of honeyeaters, many plants were flowering however not the honeyeater attracting species. A longer stay with visits to more sites would most likely reveal many more species. This is a very scenic park really worth visiting.

The Murrumbidgee Field Nats have some helpful notes on Cocoparra and Binya included in the Bird Routes of Griffth .

Cocoparra Trip List

Map of Cocoparra

Yenda Supermarket: A good place to buy supplies. They make a good foccaica and also sell affogatto here.

Gate to Nudges Watch

We spent an afternoon looking at some of the birdwatching destinations at Rankin Springs. An information board near the Caravan Park provides some information on where to go but more information can be found on the Rankin Springs Birds of the Bush website. The advantage of visiting Rankin Springs is that a variety of birds can be seen in a relatively small area, the three areas we visited also had dams which contained water.

Approaching Rankin Springs on the Rankin Springs Rd are three sites which are relatively close together. The first site 'Fred Grahams Watch' is located just off the road on the border of Jimberoo forest. As we drove up there appeared to be quite a bit of bird life however once we got out of the car it was difficult to find a bird. After quietly walking to the back of the small dam I heard what I thought was a Western Gerygone calling, keen to see this bird I crept up only to find a Speckled Warbler singing loudly from within a cypress tree, it was surrounded by Chestnut Rumped Thornbills. Soon more birds appeared in the surrounding bushes, Splendid Fairywren, Red-capped Robin and other thornbills were present, a Crested Bellbird was seen high up in a tree.

The next stop was Nudges Dam. Just inside the gate an open grassy area amongst dead box trees revealed Rufous and Brown Songlarks, White-winged Triller, Crimson Chat and White Browed Treecreeper. We had a little difficulty finding the dam which was hidden within the surrounding trees but once there we watched families of wood duck and Grey Teal from the bird hide, other birds were also coming to drink here.

Waterhole next to Common Dam

On the road between Nudges and Common Dam (our third stop) we saw a party of emus browsing beside the road. Common Dam is a large dam with a bird hide that overlooks the dam there is also a shallower waterhole next to the dam. Around the waterhole a Red-kneed Dotteral was aggressively chasing off Black-fronted Dotteral wherever they got too close. On the other side of Common Dam ten Black-tailed Native Hens were furtively foraging. This was also another lovely place to sit for a while and watch the birds coming to drink.

Some interesting birds were also seen from the camp ground in the centre of town. Two Pink Cockatoos flew over, White-breasted Woodswallow, Blue-faced Honeyeater and Apostlebird were seen.

Rankin Springs Trip List

Block No 7

Eleven parcels of land in the Coleambally Irrigation district are now being regenerated as biodiversity reserves. An information board located in the Lions Park on the edge of Coleambally next to the Kidman Way contains information on where the blocks are located and which interesting birds have been recorded in each block.

On our journey north we chose to stop at Block No. 7 in an attempt to find a Superb Parrot as the signage advised they have been recorded here. The block was dominated by Borree but somewhat degraded as it has been used for agriculture in the past. The first parrot we found was a Blue Bonnet, we heard Cockatiel in the distance and approached them to find a lovely male and female perched in a dead branch, this was our fist close look at Cockatiel on our journey north (and there were many more to come), another parrot was heard chattering in the Boree after a few seconds looking we had located a beautiful female Superb Parrot.

During our 30 minute visit other birds seen were Galah, Crested Pigeon, Noisy Miner, raven, Welcome Swallow, Apostlebird, Grey Butcherbird, Pied Butcherbird and Australian Magpie.

Map of Coleambally