Yuraygir & Bundjalung National Parks, Northern NSW

After visiting Border Ranges National Park (following post) we visited the coastal national parks of Yuragygir and Bundjalung. We spent three nights at the seaside camping ground/caravan park at Brooms Head and two nights at the Woody Point camping ground near Iluka.

I found several pairs and parties of Southern Emu-wren in low heath in Yuraygir National Park along a sand track heading north just before Brooms Head township. The emu-wrens were often in the company of Red-backed Fairy-wrens.

Southern Emu-wren, female

In the same area of heath I saw several Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters. This species is close to the northern limit of its distributional range here. Among the Tawny-crowneds was a newly fledged youngster. White-cheeked Honeyeater was also common in the heath.
Quite a few bronzewings were about but they turned out to be Common, not Brush as might be expected in this habitat.I had a flock of 100+ White-throated Needletails feeding over the heath and among them were a few Fork-tailed Swifts.

Yuraygir is one of the few places in coastal NSW where emus are to be still found. We saw a distant party not in the national park but in cane fields between Maclean and Brooms Head.

At both Brooms Head and Woody Head and all along the coast, large numbers of Short-tailed Shearwaters were battling strong winds offshore, with numerous birds on the water and beach, dead or dying. At one point they were literally falling out of the sky, with birds on roads and footpaths, in gardens and parks - all over the place.

Similar spectacles were evidently unfolding elsewhere along the NSW coast in what clearly is a very large wreck of young shearwaters returning to their south-east Australian breeding grounds for the first time. Among the numerous Short-taileds offshore were small numbers of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters. A single Streaked Shearwater was also seen off Woody Head.

Waders around the rocky headlands at Brooms Head included a pair of Sooty Oystercatchers  and good numbers of Ruddy Turnstone. Eastern Reef-Egret was also present.

On mudflats at Sandon, a short drive from Brooms head, several Grey-tailed Tattlers were present, along with Common Greenshanks and a few other waders.

A few scenic shots. The image above is looking inland over Lake Arragan from dunes north of Brooms Head.

Red Cliff in the same area was impressive.

We visited the delightful pub at Iluka, where this image was taken of the Clarence River.

The coastline in Bundjalung National Park was equally impressive - this is the beach south of Woody Head.

Macropods included large numbers of Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Red-necked Wallaby, and a couple of frisky Swamp Wallabies.

An Olive-backed Oriole showing nicely.

A fish-cleaning bench at Brooms Head.

This honeyeater is well-named.

Plenty of Ospreys about.

Offshore, quite a few Humpback Whales were seen splashing about in the rough seas.

We visited the remnant rainforest at Iluka Nature Reserve, where I had no trouble getting on to White-eared Monarch, here at the southern end of its distributional range. Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove and Regent Bowerbird were plentiful here.