Saturday, February 25, 2023

Reef Hills State Park Visits 1 & 2

 

Check my birding map for specific location.

This state park is a little south west of Benalla and only 10 minutes from the house sit where I have been staying. There are a few tracks in the park and most of them are passable in my little van so I have been exploring. I found a dam in the north eastern part of the park and immediately saw a Speckled Warbler, which was fantastic. But it was dark and gloomy with no real opportunity to photograph the birds. 

Moving further into the park, I found another dam and tried my luck. And my luck was in. The sun was behind me but never seemed to get high enough to give me enough light but the birds were fantastic and that was enough. On my first visit there, I didn't get any great shots but I knew it had great potential.

So, on day 2 I got my flask and packed some food and headed down there around 7am. I backed the van to the edge of the water close to where the birds were the day before. It was very quiet but I could hear the kookaburra and cockatoo begin to wail so I knew it wouldn't be long. 

A flash of red in the canopy caught my eye and I knew straightaway it was a Gang-gang Cockatoo. I've only ever seen them once so it was exciting. They are uncommon birds but very distinctive. They didn't come too close but hopefully I'll get better shots of them next time.

Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalonfimbriatum)


Once the cockatoo had gone, I settled down and poked my camera out of the bug net in the back of the van and waited. The honeyeaters didn't take too long to come down and as the sun got a bit higher, the place got busier. I was amazed at the variety of species and how these incredible birds were coming down to the water just feet away from me. 

First up was the Eastern Shrike-tit. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I saw them in Nagambie and I hadn't managed to get a good shot. And here there was, one right in front of me.

Eastern Shrike-tit (Falcunculus frontatus)


One of the reasons I wanted to come here was that I had seen reports of Turquoise Parrots in the area. They would be another new bird for me and I thought I saw them on the first visit. I was very hopeful on the second. As I lay in the van shooting the honeyeaters on the ground next to the water, all of a sudden the parrots were just there. I really wanted to get good shots but largely managed to focus something just behind them. Still, I got a couple of half decent ones.


Turquoise Parrot (Neophema pulchella)


There were several kingfishers working the dam including a juvenile so there was plenty of posturing and squabbling. Great to watch. This bird is the juvenile - they have black flecks on the breast.

Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus)


Regular visitors to the small patch of sand were the honeyeaters - white-plumed, yellow-tufted, brown-headed and fuscous were all there. Also coming and going were the Restless Flycatcher, Olive-backed Oriole and Little Friarbird. I struggled to get them all!

Restless Flycatcher (Myiagra inquieta)

Little Friarbird (Philemon citreogularis)



Olive-backed Oriole (Oriolus sagittatus)

Can't wait for visits 3 and 4! The video below doesn't show many birds but listen to that noise!



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