Page 1 of 6 Gelantipy Camp 6 – 10 November 2017
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Gelantipy Camp 6 – 10 November 2017 Merryl Wright & Jack Winterbottom Snowy River at Willis. Chris Healey Merryl Wright This was a really exciting camp for many of us who had not been to the Gelantipy and Snowy River high country area before. Our base was Karoonda Park just south of Gelantipy, which in a former life had been a timber workers camp, but the owners were now providing adventure tours and also accommodation for school groups, horse riders, walkers and birders. There were 21 camp participants including 16 BirdLife East Gippsland members. Others who joined in the fun included 2 BirdLife Melbourne members and three others. 11 of the 21 birders chose shared accommodation in The Lodge and the remainder were in cottages or units close by. The Lodge had a communal kitchen for breakfasts and evening meals and a large lounge area with a wood fire for happy hours and relaxing. Monday: Day 1 – Karoonda Park It was raining when we arrived and settled in at Karoonda Park. We ate lunch in The Lodge, waiting for the rain to ease, but it persisted through the afternoon, with the verandas and the large windows in the lounge the best vantage points for birding. A few hardy souls donned wet weather gear and ventured outside, checking off Flame and Scarlet Robins, but the rest of us stayed indoors and stoked up the wood fire, with happy hour kicking off quite a bit earlier than usual! Karoonda Park Survey Tuesday: Day 2 – Willis, Alpine NP (68 Species) and Suggan Buggan (26) The rain had eased during the night, and the weather forecast promised a fine day ahead, so we were keen to get out and get birding properly. For safety, we car-pooled into six 4WD vehicles all equipped with two-way radios to keep in touch when needed. It was about 60km to our site at Willis but worth every minute of the drive. This was the best site of the camp in terms of number of species and variety, with bushland beside river, reeds, some marshland and even a few sandy banks. Page 1 of 6 Rainbow Bee-eaters, Scarlet Honeyeaters, Rufous Whistlers and White-throated Gerygones seemed to be calling everywhere around us. There were Flame and Scarlet Robins, Satin and Leaden Flycatchers and even a Rufous Fantail was seen. Brown Treecreepers were hopping about on the ground and even picking up crumbs from the picnic table after lunch unconcerned about the humans all around. There were several honey-eaters recorded including the Fuscous Honeyeater – a first for many of the group. By exploring a bit further away from the carpark, a male Emu was seen leading a train of striped chicks, and by the river Reed-warblers and a Golden–headed Cisticola were heard – always hard to see them. Many birds were nesting or feeding young on this fine Spring day. With all rain well and truly cleared away, we headed back towards Karoonda Park, stopping for afternoon tea at Suggan Buggan. A treat awaited us here with four Diamond Firetails attracting much attention as they poked about in a shallow puddle next to the stream. A Red-browed Finch also joined the Firetails for a while. They seemed perfectly content as photographers snapped away, getting as close as possible to the birds by lying on tummies in the grass. Lewis also discovered two platypuses further upstream, rounding off a great day of birding and exploring before we convoyed back to Karoonda Park and happy hour. Willis Survey Suggan Buggan Survey Diamond Firetail taking a bath and Red-browed Finch. Ian Wright Wednesday: Day 3 – Native Dog Flat (36), Rogers Hut (21) and Snow Plain (14) Another 60 km drive took our convoy to Native Dog Flat, another pretty camping ground on the Buchan River. We were greeted once again by almost constant calling from Rufous Whistlers, Striated and Spotted Pardalotes. And at last we saw some raptors – Wedge-tailed Eagle, Nankeen Kestrel and Australian Hobby. Other good sightings were Satin Flycatchers, Grey Currawongs and a total of 20 Buff-rumped Thornbills. Breeding behaviour was again observed for many species with several young seen in nests or fledglings being fed by adults. Native Dog Flat Survey Heading back to Karoonda Park after lunch we made a couple of stops along Limestone Road at Rogers Hut and Snow Plain. There were fewer birds at these sites, but still a good mix of species, with plenty of Striated Pardalotes, Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and Grey Fantails. Roger's Hut Survey Snow Plain Survey Karoonda Park owners and staff catered for our camp dinner in the main dining room on Wednesday evening. Large quantities of soup, wonderful roast beef, turkey and vegetables from the property farm were consumed and followed by homemade apple pie with cream and Ice-cream. We tottered back to our rooms for sleep and recovery, to get ready for the next big day. Page 2 of 6 Thursday: Day 4 – McKillops Bridge (46), McKillops Bridge Campground (50) Little River Gorge (15), Little River Crossing (19) (Jack Winterbottom) Day 04, Thursday, was another beautiful, sunny and warm day after the typical high country clear skies and frosty night. We set off at the usual time of 8.10 for 8.15, heading north. After passing the lonely phone box at Seldom Seen [a crucial piece of infrastructure as there is no mobile signal beyond Buchan apart from one bar on the occasional high spot], we veered right - off the Barry Way towards Little River, the last three vehicles stopping soon at a large dam to check out its avian inhabitants. Nothing there so moved on again quickly but not quickly enough for a local who had caught up with our Tailend Charlie who then warned us, via Channel 40 on the CB Radio, that the local was making his way through the cavalcade. The local had his radio on too and gave us his thoughts on tourists stopping on his road. We quickly let him blast past only to have him turn left into a property only a very few kilometres down the road. Hmmm! Passing over Wulgulmerang Creek and Little River, we gathered at Wheelers Gap, the start of the steep, windy and windy, single-lane-in-places, descent to the mighty Snowy River. Eagle Leader John radioed that 6 cars would be descending, we heard no reply and off we went. There is no doubting that both the views and the road are spectacular. We were soon down the bottom, over McKillops Bridge and immediately left into the car park and deafened by the bird chorus, led by Scarlet Honeyeaters and Rufous Whistlers. McKillops Bridge Survey About 10.30 we adjourned back over the bridge to the campsite where we had morning tea, then lunch, with two hours of birding. My highlights were Restless Flycatcher, White-winged Chough, nesting Fuscous Honeyeaters and Jacky Winters and a Speckled Warbler. Other specials seen were Leaden Flycatcher, Varied Sitella, Scarlet, New Holland, White-eared, Brown-headed, Yellow-faced, Yellow-tufted and Lewin’s Honeyeaters, Noisy Friarbird, Bell Miner and Eastern Spinebill and a pair of Common Blackbirds. McKillops Campground Survey Brown Treecreeper. John Beekman After lunch we drove back up the hill, this time with my car [contents: Jack, Lyn, Bev, Heather – I am sure we had a reputation] as Tailend Charlie. We constantly let Eagle Leader know over the radio that we had cleared the campground, cleared Royals Creek, and cleared the Royal Creek ravine etc. when the radio crackled into life with a message from a Queensland dude with T-van who had just commenced coming down the narrow bit. It would have been a major drama if it had occurred just 5 minutes earlier. Once he was informed that 6 vehicles were coming up, he found a passing place to hunker down in and we completed our ascent without any problems. Stopping at the Little River Gorge car park for a look down onto the gorge from the lookout at the end of a 400 metre path, Roger discovered that his vehicle had a totally flat front tyre, caused by “kissing” a sharp rock on the way into the carpark. Page 3 of 6 Well, it was still a major drama as he and Inta had only had the vehicle for a month. A swarm/flock of alpha males descended on the car. All the women fled. Allowing 5 minutes per helper present meant that it took 35 minutes to change the wheel, not helped as the jack didn’t raise the wheel high enough and the rim had “welded” itself to the bearing assembly and needed a specialized Birmingham Spanner to help ease it away. Eventually the job was completed and all had regathered. Little River Gorge Survey Next we went off to the Little River Bridge, afternoon tea and a short walk to the Little River Falls where Derek finally confirmed a martin – Fairy Martin in this case. Red Wattlebird and White-naped joined the honeyeater list. Little River Falls Survey After a great day of birding we headed home with my car stopping at the dam again which had a family of Masked Lapwing with children, a gaggle of Australian Shelduck and we managed to flush a Brown Quail. A walk after tea with Robert got us a pair of Southern Boobook hooting in the distance and several koalas in trees, one with a baby. Awww! Friday: Day 5 – Ash Saddle (33), Bridge Basin Road (14) Another beautiful warm and sunny day after a cool night welcomed the birders for their last day.