| Birding
On My Own - Australia and New Zealand 2002 Emmalee Tarry |
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Denilquin |
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I spent another day in Denilquin. I still have two days to get back to Wollongong for the October pelagic. At the Denilquin library I used the internet and talked to the librarian about the Plains Wanderer. She knew it was a bird found around Denilquin, but was not aware of how unique it is or of the contribution Phil Mahrer makes by bringing birders to the area to see it. She does now.
Driving east the next day I drove into a terrible dust storm. For miles and miles I drove in a total brownout only able to see the headlights of on coming cars 50 yards ahead. This storm was a feature story in the Australian editon of Time Magazine. It covered a substantial part of New South Wales and blew thousands of tons of dirt into the Tasman Sea. Core samples from the Tasman Sea show that this is a phenomenon that happens every hundred years or so.
I spent the night in Wagga Wagga staying in the same campground on the Murrumbidgee River I stayed in on the way to the Red Center last winter. The river is now full and fast flowing due to water released by the engineers for the farmers. I watched a man working out by swimming against the current. He would swim hard and fast for a few minutes gaining a few yards and then let the current carry him back to the starting position where he did it again. I considered trying it myself.
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There are more birds around the river now that it is summer. Parrots feeding on the ground in the campground on the River in Wagga Wagga. |
The next day I stopped along the Hume Highway at Yass to tour the Hamilton Hume Cooma Cottage. Hamilton Hume was an early European explorer who traveled and mapped much of the land just over the Great Dividing Range. I walked over the hills around the cottage seeing: White-browed Woodswallow, Dusky Woodswallow, Horsfield Bronze Cuckoo, Red-browed Finch and Superb Fairywren.
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| It is early summer and gardens are in bloom. In Moss Vale I
stopped at the Red Cow Farm garden. This is a two fer because I can enjoy the
flowers and look for birds in the garden. Birds at this delightful spot were Silvereyes, Grey Fantail, Inland Thornbill, Yellow-rumped Thornbill. |
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A large flock of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos were
feeding on pine cones in the Red Cow Farm Garden in Moss Vale. When you find a flock of Yellow-tailed you should look for Glossy Black-Cockatoos in with them. I did not see any with this large flock. |
Southern Coast Road and the Snowy Mountains
| After the October Wollongong pelagic, I headed south on the
Prince's Highway following the coast toward Eden. I camped on a salt water lake
with pelicans in my backyard. Remarkably I saw a new bird here the
White-headed Pigeon. This campground also had some birds I had seen many times such as:Rainbow Lorikeets, Red-wattledbirds, Crimson Corella, White-faced Heron, Australian Grebe. |
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The next day I stopped to tour the Trunktabelle Gardens where there is a large colony of Bell Miners. For AU$4 you can walk a rainforest path to a saltwater lagoon. Birds along this path were: Wonga Pigeon, Yellow Robin, Grey Shrikethrush, Eastern Spinetail, White-naped Honeyeater, New Holland Honeyeater, Noisy Friarbird, Brown Thornbill, Grey and Rufous Fantail, Mistletoe bird, Laughing Kookaburra, King Parrot, Welcome Swallow, Eastern Whipbird, White-browed Scrubwren, Pied Currawong. Nothing new. I have been here for four months of intensive birding. I can't except new birds every day. I am happy that I can now identify these birds easily and remember what problems I had with identification at the start of the trip.
The gardens are a mixture of native trees and scrubs and exotics like roses. They are very open and good birding. They have a bird list at the gate.
Stopped for lunch at a rest stop and saw 2 immature Satin Bowerbirds under a picnic table.
I continued south stopping in a small town to use the internet at a store that was a petrol station, post office, general store and internet station. I toured another lovely garden here.
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Eden used to be a shore based whaling station. Historical
legend has it that a pod of Killer Whales would drive the Humpbacks in the bay
so the men could kill them. The Orcas were then rewarded with jaw and tongue.
The Killer Whale Museum displays whales artifacts and the skeleton of a Killer
Whale named Tom. The claim is that Tom was the leader of the Killer Whale pod
After Tom died the herd moved on. In another museum exhibit a retired time telegraph operator sent a telegram in Morse Code to Wagga Wagga for me. Garden of Eden Campground owner feeds King Parrots. Eden is the starting point for the Eden Pelagics. I was not able to time it to take one. They are very like the Wollongong. |
After reaching Cabb River I headed inland on the B23 to Cooma in the Snowy Mountain area. I ended up in the Snowline Campground in Jindabyne on a large artificial lake. Except for a few fishermen the place was empty . There were Australian Woodducks on the lake.
I planned to drive through Kosciusko National Park, but discovered it was a one lane road. So I went back out of the park and drove around to Tabingo. The best birding spot was a the The Rest House at Sawyers Hill where I walked a gravel road . Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, Striated Pardalot, Grey Fantail, White-throated Woodcreeper, Grey Shrike-thrush, Wedge-tailed Eagle, King Parrot.
Australian Capital Territory or ACT
I stopped in the Australian capital to see two art exhibits. One was the Albert Namanjiro exhibit which I had originally seen in Alice Springs. It was now at the National Gallery of Art. This time it was more professionally presented and arranged. They were not exhibiting the entire collection and I didn't enjoy it as much as I had before.
The exhibit of the watercolors of Ellis Rowan was at the National Library . Ellias Rowan was a wealthy young woman who taught herself to paint watercolors of botanical specimens. Her paintings show native plants in all stages from flower to fruit. They are accurate and beautiful paintings. She was a remarkable woman traveling to North America and New Guinea at a time when that was considered quite an adventure for men Later in her life she ran into financial difficulties and sold most of her paintings to the state. Occasionally there is a special exhibit of her works and I am lucky to be there for one of them. I have become very fond of the native Australian plants. I was able to purchase a poster of one of the watercolors to mail home.
Leaving Australia
I spent the last two nights in Kiama a lovely resort town south of Wollongong. The train runs from Kiama all the way into Sydney. If I worked in Wollongong or Sydney I would live here. I stopped by the Barren Grounds Bird Observatory and donated several things like the extra extension cord, the heater/fan, left over canned goods, and my gum boots.
It took several hours to do my laundry, clean out the van, and repack all my stuff in the two big duffel bags. I went to the post office and mailed home a box with all the Australia bird books and stuff collected here. This cost AU$90. Surprisingly the clerk in the post office was most helpful and I was able to buy a box and wrapping material right there.
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I drove into the airport at Sydney and checked
into the Hilton Hotel getting the propane tank filled at a gas station. I drove
Willy for the last time to the campervan place where I said a reluctant
good-by. Willy was a great home for four months Everyone is very excited because it is Melbourne Cup day and a state holiday in Victoria. The Melbourne Cup is a horse race, the Kentucky Derby of Australia. Christmas is coming so the stores display snowmen and Christmas Trees. Ads on television show people ice skating. Of course it is also the beginning of summer so the stores feature gardening equipment. This is Christmas down under. |
The next morning I flew Quantas to Christchurch. Australian immigration is not pleased because my visa has expired. The agent tells me I am expelled from the country and can't come back for three years. Then he softens and tells me I can appeal the decision. Before I left the US I applied for an Australian visa for 3 months over the internet. On entry nobody mentioned the visa or even asked if I had one. I truly forgot all about it. It seems that I should have gone to an immigration office and extended the visa. On the other hand everything worked out fine unless I decide to go back before three years is up.
I am sorry to leave this beautiful, birdy land, but it is getting hot. New Zealand beckons.
End: Denilquin
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