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| Spotted Quail-thrush male |
After visiting Kings Plains National Park (see previous post) we decided on a two-night stay in Bald Rock National Park on the NSW-Queensland border as our final stopover before heading home after four months on the road. We called in at Bluff Rock near Tenterfield, where a large number of Aborigines were thrown to their deaths in 1844 by settlers avenging the theft of sheep. Makes you think.
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| Bluff Rock - Aboriginal massacre site |
Bald Rock National Park abuts Girraween National Park in Queensland, the two combining to create a large, excellent reserve of woodland, granite boulders and outcrops, swampy glades and tall forest. In my view, Bald Rock is a better site as it has wide, grassy tracks - ideal for critter-spotting - that grade gently, unlike the steep, narrow and rocky paths of Girraween.
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| Wonga Pigeon |
The camping ground at Bald Rock is also beautifully set out and unclustered. Birds about the camp include Crimson Rosella, Wonga Pigeon and Satin Bowerbird.
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| Greater Glider |
I spotlighted Greater Glider and Common Brushtail at night. Southern Boobook, Tawny Frogmouth and Australian Owlet-Nightjar were about.
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| Border Track, Bald Rock National Park |
I spent a morning doing the 14-km Border Track. With Glenn joining me for the first sector, we spotted a Superb Lyrebird crossing the track. This is the restricted range and notoriously shy race
edwardi, which I had seen just once previously. We heard a second bird further along the track.
Soon after I found a small group of Red-browed Treecreepers feeding in the same trees as a pair of White-throated Treecreepers. (White-throated and Brown Treecreepers had been feeding together at Kings Plains.)
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| Red-browed Treecreeper |
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| Red-browed Treecreeper |
I flushed a pair of Spotted Quail-thrush from the track, managing excellent views of both sexes. Soon after I flushed a third bird which was by itself. So I've seen 4 species of quail-thrush on this trip (the others being Western, Nullabor and Chesnut),
Plenty of honeyeaters were about - Yellow-faced Honeyeater, White-eared Honeyeater, White-naped Honeyeater, Eastern Spinebill, Noisy Friarbird, Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, Red Wattlebird.
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| Spotted Quail-thrush female |
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| Spotted Quail-thrush female |
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| Spotted Quail-thrush male |
An Australian Little Eagle soared overhead as I continued my walk.
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| Australian Little Eagle |
I checked out the Northern Lookout, which looks out over Girraween and Bald Rock itself - the largest granite monolith in Australia. The boulders around here were festooned with wildflowers, ferns and lichens.
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| Bald Rock |
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| Boulders - Northern Lookout, Bald Rock |
Moving on, I searched a patch of montane heathland where Southern Emu-wren has been seen, but no sign of the bird. I found an extensive area of fur from a recently deceased Greater Glider - presumably the work of a Powerful Owl.
Then I found a pair of Glossy Black Cockatoos by the track feeding on
Allocasuarina cones; I had seen evidence of their feeding the afternoon before. Just 100 metres up the track was a party of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. It's not often that these two species can be seen together; it means I saw all five Australian black cockatoo species on this trip. This was an awesome morning of birding - Superb Lyrebird, Red-browed Treecreeper, Spotted Quail-thrush, Glossy Black Cockatoo, Little Eagle and more.
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| Glossy Black Cockatoo |
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| Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo |
...
