One could not have imagined such different conditions compared with those of last November when this outing, wisely it turned out, was postponed due to inclement weather (snow on the hills, and heavy overnight rain which left vehicles bogged on the road) as the seven COG members joined me at the Bumbalong Rd turnoff in clear skies and warm, dry, though still conditions. As we crested the hill our first views of the wonderful Bumbalong Valley, so dry at its broadest part, were rather discouraging, as was the bird life when we stopped on the way at several spots known from previous trips to be prolific. However, as we dropped into our new camp site at the very top of the valley in a grove of very mature ribbon gums Eucalyptus viminalis, we were very pleasantly surprised by the obvious active bird life even in the middle of a warm afternoon. After setting up our tents this was soon confirmed by a leisurely stroll along the Murrumbidgee River bank for just a few hundred metres, during which we recorded six species of small honeyeaters amongst the trees, together with many other species, the highlights being several Brown Treecreepers in the camp site, an immature White-bellied Sea-Eagle moving up stream, and a Superb Lyrebird calling very loudly, including mimicking other species, a few hundred metres downstream. We had recorded Pied Currawong, Grey Butcherbird and were about to include Satin Bowerbird until we realised all the calls were coming sequentially from the same spot!
Because of the steep hill blocking out the late sun, bird life quietened down noticeably after about 6 pm, and so we moved down to the river to look for platypus and soon found one nearby. Unusually, it was floating on the top of the water for long periods so that most participants were able to get very good looks, including of the eyes, through the COG scope (another was seen doing the same thing, at least for a short while, the following morning). While the bird life was quiet during the evening (save for a few calls from a somewhat distant Southern Boobook), our hosts joined us for a BBQ and together with some of their neighbours we had a very enjoyable evening, including helping to celebrate one of the local's birthday. Some of us also heard the predicted (from the many mature trees with hollows on the hill) Australian Owlet-nightjar after we adjourned to our tents.
The very late rising of the sun, not until well after 7 am, allowed us to have a quiet start to the day after the celebrations. While we had already notched up 38 species, we decided we hadn't recorded all the birds on the site yet, and we would have a more thorough search first before setting off back up the road. This turned out to be a very good move, because as the sun rose and warmed up the hill behind us the birds seemed to move out of the ribbon gums and into the dryer steeper slopes covered by apple box/cassinia. During the morning we recorded an estimated 40 Fuscous and 15 Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters, with everyone obtaining excellent views of these in bright sunshine. Also higher up were about 30 Dusky Woodswallows hawking and resting while on migration, and eight quite late Tree Martins which preferred to stay put, their diagnostic dark heads clearly visible even from a distance. A couple of Varied Sittellas proved more elusive. Later as we moved along very slowly we had great views of a couple of Diamond Firetails, a pair of Scarlet Robins and several Speckled Warblers. Particularly early on, Yellow-faced and a few White-naped Honeyeaters were funnelling down a small gorge to the river, but by mid morning there was no real migration pattern as small groups were moving either up or downstream.
We arrived back at the camp site after a couple of hours well satisfied with our decision when during morning tea/coffee we first saw a Whistling Kite moving downstream and then had great if brief views of the bird of the camp-out, a Crested Shrike-tit, after being alerted by its unusual call (which it also repeated while we were watching). As a number of participants remarked, this was virtual “armchair” bird watching. It is a long time since I’ve seen any site so active, particularly with the recent dry weather.
It was quite late by the time we set off to check a couple of good sites on the road upstream, and though we found 23 species over an hour, including seven not seen round the camp site, bird life was much quieter due to the warm conditions and lack of shade. It was therefore somewhat of a relief to return to the shady camp site for lunch to find much activity still, with Superb Fairy-wrens, White-throated Scrubwrens, Red-browed Finches etc still moving actively under the trees, not to mention the Fuscous Honeyeaters still calling loudly, as they had all day. It was also an opportune time to find a couple of Restless Flycatchers and confirm that the female bird consorting with them, which we had seen the night before, was a Leaden Flycatcher.
Another non-birding highlight was a couple of the largest male Gippsland Water Dragons we'd ever seen with jaws locked in battle quite oblivious to us on the side of the river. All participants agreed it was a great way to spend 24 hours. The camp site is really special and unique, with the bird life magic. Overall 52 species were recorded within a few hundred metres, of a total of 62 during the weekend. The camp site also has the best facilities of any I have led for COG. We'd like to thank Lynette and Justin once again for allowing us to camp on their property and for being such wonderful and generous hosts. We all look forward to returning, hopefully when it is less dry and with more time to explore the other parts of this, my favourite valley in the COG area of interest!!
— Jack Holland