Chiltern - Mt Pilot NP, September 2014

Spring has arrived, the weather is warming up and I had a few days free so decided to take a road trip up to Chiltern - Mt Pilot NP.

A quick google to get a rough plan of where to go and what to look out for came up with Chiltern as "Victoria's capital for birdwatching". I then read that there are 4 of Australia's endangered birds that regularly visit the surrounding Box-Ironbark forests - Regent honeyeater, Swift parrot, Turquoise parrot and Square-tailed kite. It was starting to sound like an excellent place to go and tick off a few more species!

On the way up we stopped at Reef hills state park and Lake Makoan, both just out of Benalla. Reef hills is a Box-Ironbark forest and although I didn't see many birds, the spring wildflowers were starting to bloom and put on a spectacular show of colour.

Mountain Grevillea, Grevillea alpina

Mountain Grevillea, Grevillea alpina

Wax Lip Orchid, Glossodia major

Leopard Orchid, Diuris pardina

Leopard Orchid, Diuris pardina

The water level at Lake Mokoan was very low and unfortunately this bird of prey that I captured was a long way away. The photos had to be heavily cropped but it turned out to be the first new spot of the trip - a Swamp Harrier.

Swamp Harrier, Circus approximans

I started my first day at Chiltern over at the Honeyeater picnic ground next to Cyanide dam. It was raucous with honeyeaters and it wasn't long before I'd ticked off another species - a beautiful Yellow-tufted honeyeater.

Yellow-tufted honeyeater, Lichenostomus melanops

As keen as I was to see a Regent Honeyeater, the odds weren't great. There had only been a handful of sightings over the past year.

The area around the dam was dominated by the larger and more aggressive Red wattlebirds which is why I didn't see too many smaller birds. I did, however, manage to see White-browed babbler, Olive-backed oriole, King parrot, Brown treecreeper, Grey shrike-thrush and White-bellied cuckoo-shrike. But the highlight was seeing one of the threatened species - a pair of Square-tailed kites that circled briefly above the dam.

Square-tailed Kite, Lophoictinia isura

Square-tailed Kite, Lophoictinia isura

White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Coracina papuensis

The Cuckoo-shrike was being harrassed by a Yellow-tufted honeyeater as it followed it from branch to branch. 

There were also more pretty wildflowers.

A short walk along part of the White Box walking track took us away from the aggressive honeyeaters and into an area full of Fairy wrens and Thornbills.

It was also here that I ticked off 2 more new species - Speckled Warbler and Brown-headed Honeyeater.

Speckled Warbler, Chthonicola sagittata

Brown-headed Honeyeater, Melithreptus brevirostris

Brown-headed Honeyeater, Melithreptus brevirostris

And found some more wild flowers.

Chocolate Lily, Arthropodium strictum

Chocolate Lily, Arthropodium strictum

Greenhood Orchid, Pterostylis pedunculata

 We drove to Magenta mine for lunch and was slightly deafened by a large flock of Noisy Friarbirds.

Noisy Friarbird, Philemon corniculatus

A little further up the road at Greenhill dam I was rewarded with this photo and another new spot, a Fuscous Honeyeater.

Fuscous Honeyeater, Lichenostomus fuscus

Fuscous Honeyeater, Lichenostomus fuscus

Yellow Star, Hypoxis vaginata

Olive-backed Oriole, Oriolus sagittatus

One of my favorite shots of the trip is this gorgeous Jacky Winter, posing on a wire fence in front of flowering yellow wattle.

Jacky Winter, Microeca fascinans

The next day we drove over to the southern section of the park around Mt Pilot. Here the land is covered in granite boulders and Black Cypress pines. We had a lovely walk around the Yeddonba Aboriginal site where you can view some very faded rock art.

The sun was shining - perfect for this lizard to sun itself on one of the granite boulders. At first we thought it was a type of Blue-tongue lizard but it had a slightly different shaped head and very spinose scales. Once home I was able to identify it from one of my books as a Cunningham's skink, which are commonly mistaken for Blue-tongues.

Cunningham's skink, Egernia cunninghami

Cunningham's skink, Egernia cunninghami

Pied Currawong, Strepera graculina

We walked to the summit of Mt Pilot which gave superb 360 degree views of the surrounding valleys. Fairy wrens and Thornbills were the only noticeable birds around.

Wood White, Delias aganippe

We had a lazy afternoon sitting by Chiltern Valley #1 Dam. A pair of Red-rumped parrots landed on a dead log just in front of us. They were happy just hanging out until they spotted a Whistling Kite circling above them.

Red-rumped parrot (male), Psephotus haematonotus

The moment he spotted the Whistling Kite circling above him.

I was really hoping to see a Turquoise parrot but had only seen Red-rumped and Eastern rosellas so far. A few minutes later I heard the familiar parrot sounds in a tree above my head. It took a while to get a clear shot of them and although they weren't Turquoise parrots, they were a new spotting for me, the Yellow rosella. Although because they are a sub-species of the Crimson rosella it won't change my total tally.

The Yellow rosella (race flaveolus) exists from interbreeding of two species of Crimson rosella. Much like the Adelaide rosella (race adelaidae) which I spotted in October 2013, which occurs when Crimson and Yellow rosellas interbreed.

Yellow Rosella, Platycercus elegans flaveolus

At the dam we also spotted White-faced heron, Restless flycatcher, White-plumed honeyeater, Yellow-billed spoonbill, Grey fantail, Kookaburra, White ibis, Grey shrike-thrush and Willie wagtail.

Grey Shrike-thrush, Colluricincia harmonica

We had a quick walk around Bartley's paddock at the end of the day mostly seeing Noisy friarbirds, Fairy wrens and Silvereyes.

Superb Fairy-wren, Malurus cyaneus

On our last morning we took a walk around Chiltern, starting at Lake Anderson.

Black-fronted Dotterel, Elseyornis melanops

Pacific Black Duck, Anas superciliosa

Superb Fairy Wren, Malurus cyaneus

Clamorous Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus stentoreus

Clamorous Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus stentoreus

This Crested pigeon posed spectacularly against the yellow wattle.

Crested Pigeon, Ocyphaps lophotes

Crested Pigeon, Ocyphaps lophotes

Crested Pigeon, Ocyphaps lophotes

Blue-faced Honeyeater, Entomyzon cyanotis

Blue-faced Honeyeater, Entomyzon cyanotis

Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Acanthiza chrysorrhoa

It had been a fantastic 3 days exploring a new part of Victoria, and although we didn't see any Regent honeyeaters or Turquoise parrots we did manage to see over 60 different bird species. I was also able to tick off 6 new species + a new subspecies to take my tally up to 210.