I was able to take part in the early Saturday morning bird survey along the Waratah Mills loop on The Greenway. We saw a good range of birds.
The group met outside the Light Rail Station at 7:30 am and while we were there we saw a Brush Turkey – Continue reading
We were on our way home from Hay. The day before we had driven to Harden in bad weather. We spent the night there, and the next day we stopped off a Boorowa for morning tea.
We looked around the showground area for Superb Parrots – without seeing any. But we thought we could hear some. On a previous visit to Boorowa, I had seen Superb Parrots in that general area. Continue reading
This was our last full day in the Hay area and we visited Oolambeyan National Park to the south east of Hay. Like Kalyarr National Park, Oolambeyan was a former grazing property that was purchased to form a national park – this time specifically to protect suitable habitat for a rare bird – the Plains Wanderer.
We did not see any Plains Wanderers on our visit, but we did see a lot of other nice birds and it was certainly an interesting place to visit. Continue reading
On previous days we had visited national parks and wetlands on the hinterlands of Hay. This day we intend to stay in Hay and explore some of the cultural sights and then spend the afternoon walking along the Murrumbidgee River.
We headed into the town and parked near the old Courthouse. Continue reading
This was our second day spent visiting Kalyarr National Park. This time we were going to the Norwood section. Norwood was the former family property that Valerie grew up on. Valerie had been influential in badgering Brian to put on a NPA trip to visit the National Park, and it was great to have her along this day, not only as a friend but also as a very special guide with her knowledge, memories and insights.
As usual, on most mornings in Hay we visited the Murrumbidgee River near the Caravan Park. Continue reading
This was our first of two days in Kalyarr National Park. The park is made up from former sheep grazing properties that were purchased and incorporated into the park. It contains important plant communities as well as cultural and heritage sites. On this day we planned to visit the section that contains part of the Thelangerin Property.
We were also very fortunate in having a guide – Susan, an old friend of Valerie’s. Susan is a member of the McFarland family that owned the property since 1872 and she accompanied us the whole day. Continue reading
Valerie grew up in the Hay area, and her father was one of the pioneers of aviation in the area. Her parents were sheep farmers on a large property called Norwood, on the Lachlan River, and she often used to see the area from the air in one of her father’s planes. Thus she knew, that an aerial view would be invaluable for the others on the trip to see and appreciate the landscape. This was certainly the case.
Our pilot, Phil, was part of Valerie’s extended family. This was not a commercial scenic flight, but rather a favour of Phil’s to Valerie, and we only had to pay his fuel costs. Continue reading
We had arrived at Hay and first went to our accomodation – a cabin Valerie had booked at the Hay Caravan Park. The park was a short walk to the Murrumbidgee River, and we made frequent visits to see the trees and look for birdlife.
Here are some of the birds we saw on our first afternoon in Hay – Continue reading
I was travelling west with Valerie and Deb to take part of a trip organised by Brian Everingham for the National Parks Association of NSW to visit some national parks near Hay. A particular focus of the trip would be visiting Kalyarr National Park. We planned to meet Brian and his wife Faye in Hay the next day, so on the way down we had time top stop off at Narrandera to visit the wetlands. These are just north of the Murrumbidgee River, just off the road to the town.
We had a please walk at the wetlands. Normally, one would follow the path that circumnavigates the large wetland pond, but we found when about 3/4 around that one section was flooded, so we returned the same way, and later walked back along the second we had missed, but from the other side. Continue reading
I took part in the Greenway Bird Survey from Taverners Hill Light Rail Station to Hawthorne Light Rail Station.
Here are some of the birds we recorded – Continue reading
