Visions of swimming off the homestead pontoon quickly disappeared when the 25 participants in the COG Easter camp arrived at Willandra National Park. Instead we were greeted by a dry, cracked riverbed, with the only available water coming from a bore which was used to generously sprinkle the green lawns in the homestead precinct. This did prove to be a boon for the local birds which were attracted to the resulting puddles. Many an hour was spent watching Mallee Ringnecks, Brown-headed Honeyeaters, Peaceful Doves, Spotted Bowerbirds and up to 50 White-winged Choughs, among others, drinking and bathing.
A reconnaissance spotlighting trip by two carloads of COGites on Good Friday night yielded Owlet Nightjar, Banded Lapwing and Inland Dotterel, and the following morning we were able to take the whole group out to see the lapwings and four Inland Dotterels. The photographers of the group were able to get close enough to get some very good pictures. We continued north through the park with frequent stops which yielded Stubble Quail, Singing Bushlark and an abandoned Emu nest with nine eggs. Geoffrey Dabb had suggested we drive out of the park to the north and then travel east, up to Roto and home via Trida. This circuit included mallee where the highlights were Yellow-plumed and Grey-fronted Honeyeaters, and open farmland which yielded Black-faced Woodswallow and White-fronted Chat, as well as Crested Bellbird in the roadside shrubs.
Willandra has a range of accommodation options, including the homestead, a cottage, the mens’ quarters and two campgrounds. 10 of us occupied the mens’ quarters, while 15 chose to camp. The social side of a COG outing was not neglected with happy hours and after dinner chats in the campground. Excellent facilities were available in the men’s quarters, where we had a sitdown communal dinner for 25 on the Saturday night. Despite the very dry conditions, we managed to record 78 species for the weekend.
Sue Lashko