COG will join Mark Clayton’s bird banding crew for the October long weekend campout in these two reserves near West Wyalong. This will be a take everything camp as there are NO facilities in either reserve. All rubbish etc will need to be taken out. Access is more difficult to Buddigower but with care, a conventional vehicle will get in OK. There are no problems getting into Charcoal. Buddigower is larger than Charcoal and covers a wider range of habitats, from pure Mallee to small areas of heath, extensive areas of Broombush (Melaleuca) and ironbark ridges. There are numerous old mineshafts in Buddigower so care needs to be exercised walking around. Both reserves have been severely affected by the drought so birds could be a bit of a pot-luck assemblage. However most migrants should have returned to the area. We will move from Buddigower to Charcoal on Sunday afternoon. For those who do not wish to camp, there are motels and caravan parks approximately 15 km away.
Mark will have further details including directions on getting there at the September COG meeting. If you can’t make this, or wish to register your interest please call Mark Clayton on 6241 3620 (A/H). Mark can also be reached at Mark.Clayton@csiro.au, but this is less reliable. He apologises to members who have been unsuccessful in reaching him by this route, he’s expecting this will be rectified by the time of publication.