Our first stop on a seven-week winter trip
to outback NSW was Chiltern in Victoria to spend two days in the Chiltern - Mt
Pilot National Park. This park covers mainly box - ironbark woodland habitat
and when the box or ironbark are in flower this attracts large numbers of
honeyeaters including the endangered Regent Honeyeater. As part of a recovery
program captive bred Regent Honeyeaters have been released in the Chiltern - Mt
Pilot NP.
While there were some ironbark in flower and plenty of honeyeaters about - and two recent reports of Regent
Honeyeaters in the park, finding a Regent during our two days in the park would
be a little like finding a needle in a hay stack and so it proved – no Regents
found. We did see White-plumed, Fuscous, Yellow-tufted, White-naped and
Black-chinned Honeyeaters plus Eastern Spinebill, Red Wattlebird (large
numbers) and Little Friarbird. Many other bird species were found with some
highlights including Crested Shrike-tit, Olive-backed Oriole, White-browed
Babbler, Varied Sittella and good numbers of Robins including Rose, Red-capped,
Scarlet and Flame, but no endangered Hooded Robins.
The following photos were taken over the two
days and include some shots of a very cute Yellow-footed Antechinus found mid morning
foraging on the forest floor (this is the only antechinus species likely to be
found out during the day). Many of the shots show a low sun angle even though
they were not taken early or late in the day – winter is here and the shortest
day is not far away!
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| Ironbark and White Box are the dominant eucalypt species in the Chiltern - Mt Pilot National Park. |
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The very common and widespread White-plumed Honeyeater.
Achieving photos of the very active honeyeaters foraging high in the ironbark
canopies was close to impossible. This bird stopped briefly on a low perch in a patch of sun. |
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A Red-capped Robin hunting ground dwelling prey as most robins do from low
perches - the stump and light made for an attractive composition. |
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The male Red-capped Robin from above - it flew down towards me to grab a food item from
the ground - note the long shadow cast by the bird even though it is nearly 10am. |
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It was a pleasant surprise to find this nocturnal Yellow-footed Antechinus
out and about mid morning. It seemed to enjoy the winter sun. |
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| Playing "hide and seek" as I move in for a closer shot. |
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| Soon after this shot I lost track of this cute little animal. |
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Varied Sittellas specialise in gleaning food from the bark of tree trunks and tend to operate
above the level where the unrelated Treecreepers finish their ascent of tree trunks. |
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| Caught in the act - the white object is a dropping. |
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| Prizing off a piece of bark - a tasty grub was hiding under the bark. |
