We headed off to Murmungee for a short day after some welcome rain.

Hello Birders,

We have had two great trips to start off the year. We had a short trip to Mt Beauty where we went to the Pondage and the Rockpools. We had brief glimpses of some Latham’s Snipes at the Pondage and there was a Bee-eater at the Rockpools. A bit of a surprise was a pair of Leaden Flycatchers which aren’t seen often around here. We finished the morning with coffee at the bakery. A trip report from ebird is Mt Beauty U3A – eBird Trip Report

Last Monday we went to Winton via a couple of places in the southern Warby’s. We went first to Sunrise track looking for Turquoise Parrots but saw a group of White-throated Needletail catching insects very high up. There were a couple of Pacific Swift with them which is very common. They are very hard to tell apart but we were confident that there were two different birds. At Nason’s Springs we did catch up with some Turquoise Parrots and very rare (for this area) a pair of Double-barred Finches. Unfortunately my camera battery went flat JUST before we saw them but I hope to get photos from Lynne. 

The Duck Pond had a few Pied Stilts and some Black-fronted Dotterels as well as the usual ducks, spoonbills, cormorants and pelicans. There was then a welcome toilet and tea break at the boat ramp before we went up to Greens Hill. The White-breasted Woodswallows were there again but numbers seemed low. A bit late lunch and we finished off the day with a quick look at Humphrey’s Hill

Here is the full trip report for that day. Winton U3A – eBird Trip Report

I think the next trip will be a short day around Murmungee on the 10th March.

Good birding until then

Bill and Linda

We saw a few birds…….Kingfisher, Kite, Finch, Bee-eaters, Magpie Goose, Reed warbler, Pelican, Duck.

……….and a platypus!

Platypus photos by Rob Kaufman.

Bill has done a report with some photos. A more comprehensive report can be found at: u3a Chiltern – eBird Trip Report This gives exact locations and all my photos.

The highlight of the U3A Birding Group trip to Chiltern on Monday April 22 was viewing good numbers of honeyeaters, woodswallows, peaceful doves and especially Swift Parrots around a small dam in the middle of the Chiltern forest. Swift Parrots are endangered. They breed in Tasmania in summer and cross Bass Strait to feed in parts of Victoria and NSW for the cooler months. There are often small numbers in the Chiltern National Park but this year they have arrived in big numbers and stayed for at least a month.

We visited 5 sites in the Chiltern area and saw 52 species of bird, including 9 honey-eater species, and a Swamp Wallaby with a joey in the pouch drinking from the dam for at least 10 minutes.

Birds from Bakers Gully Bright and some from Mosaic Trail Myrtleford

Great trip to Chiltern! Thanks for photos Rob!

Chiltern U3A – eBird Trip Report

Beautiful weather for birdwatching and of course enjoying the warm sunshine. Here are some photos taken by the members. An industrious bee made an appearance and a little spider! A chatty Fuscous sang to our group too.

u3a Myrtleford Murmungee – eBird Trip Report

Eight of us went out in beautiful clear weather for this time of the year. We picked up Denise in Myrtleford and met Jan and Jenny at Nason Springs. 

This spot never fails to have something of interest. It looked a bit slow to begin with but we saw a Little Eagle in a tree then a pair of Hooded Robin. Just as we were leaving we saw a mixed group of Turquoise Parrots and Red-rumped Parrots which gave a chance to compare the two.

From there we went to the Duck Pond at Winton Wetlands just because it was on the way. Morning tea was a further detour to the boat ramp (tables, toilets and tea).

The next spot was right at the northernmost part of the Killawarra forest but there were Flame Robins and Brown Falcons to see along the way. North West Track dam is a real mecca for honeyeaters in winter as the ironbark is flowering so well. There were White-browed Babblers nest building there. This was our lunch spot.

Forest Camp further south is usually good but there was a group of primary students on a day camp making too much noise to get anything really.

Overall it was a very relaxing day in pleasant company and lovely sunshine.

and a link to the eBird trip report

u3a Warby Ranges – eBird Trip Report

Monday 26th June.

The weather was not looking very good but since we were tired of being stuck indoors, eight birders went out to the Beechworth area. As expected the birding was not the best and the weather was stubbornly dreary. The highlight was probably the non-bird sitting in a tree near the rail-trail. This koala was not pleased about being disturbed and kept turning to put his back to us. We changed the lunch stop from sitting out at Lake Sambell to the warmth of the Beechworth Bakery. We ended up with 35 species seen.

Gang Gang	Sulphur Crested Cockatoo	Yellow-tailed Cockatoo
Kookaburra	Grey Shrike-thrush	Golden Whistler (h)
New Holland Honeyeater	Yellow-tufted Honeyeater	White-browed Scubwren
Australian Raven	Yellow Robin	Willie Wagtail
White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike	Wood Duck	Black Duck
Masked Lapwing	White Ibis	Red-browed Finch
Yellow-rumped Thornbill	Flame Robin	Eastern Rosella
Crimson Rosella	Satin Bowerbird	Pied Currawong
Superb Fairywren	Australasian Grebe	Welcome Swallow
Australian Magpie	Rock Dove	Coot
Little Pied Cormorant	Purple Swamphen	Mallard
White-faced Heron	Tawny Frogmouth

On the 8th May, 4 of us went to the green tea farm area on Mt Porepunkah Road. It was a bit cool to begin with but we were in the sun for most of the time. 

A list of birds can be found through the eBird list on eBird Australia Checklist – 8 May 2023 – 227 Mount Porepunkah Road, Bright, Victoria, AU (-36.711, 146.97) – 25 species

We birded for over an hour and saw 25 species but the cold was probably reducing the number around.

Coffee at the Riverdeck was nice to finish up with.

11 u3a members went to Winton Wetlands on the 24th April. The weather was warm, sunny and no wind so excellent all around. We went to Nason Springs on the Wang side of the Warby ranges to stretch legs and look at the Turquoise Parrots and got fleeting looks at them. Then we went across the range and past most of the wetland to Mt Meg Conservation Area across the road. This spot can be a bit hit and miss and this time was only so-so. Going to the main wetland sites we started with morning tea at the boat ramp then up Boggy Creek and on to Green’s Hill for lunch and a walk. Finally we went to the Duck Pond. We stopped briefly at Nason Springs on the way back.

https://ebird.org/australia/tripreport/121820