Cox Scrub Conservation Park

This morning I took advantage of the only sunny day forecast for the week and visited a park I haven't been to before - Cox Scrub. I chose the Stringybark Hike (4km) as I wanted to leave plenty of time to visit the Murray Mouth later in the day to try out my new fieldscope! Just inside the gate from the main car park on Bull Creek Road there is a large pond, surrounded by thick vegetation, a nice haven for birds. I was able to spot a few black ducks in there, but anything else that may have been in there was well hidden. The trail is sandy and winds around, gently uphill. The vegetation is fairly low, with not too many tall trees - quite good for spotting birds without straining my neck looking upwards! There were a lot of New Holland and Crescent Honeyeaters, as well as a few Tawny-crowned and Brown-headed Honeyeaters (year tick!). 

Crescent Honeyeater, Cox Scrub CP

In the middle of my walk, I came across a little bird hopping around in a shrub right next to the track - a Chestnut-rumped Heathwren - a lifer for me! I spent a while watching it and trying to get a photo, to be sure that it wasn't the similar looking Shy Heathwren that I haven't seen either. Later I realised that they aren't on the list for that area anyway, and they look a bit more different from each other than I thought.

Chestnut-rumped Heathwren, Cox Scrub CP

Other birds seen today included some Elegant Parrots, one of which posed nicely for me, not too far away from where I was standing, Dusky Woodswallows, Striated Thornbills, Purple-crowned Lorikeets (I only ticked them off my year list last week!), and two glimpses of what I think may have been a Brush Bronzewing, which I haven't seen before and didn't see well enough on this occasion to tick off. 

Elegant Parrot, Cox Scrub CP

After Cox Scrub I headed to Goolwa, where I checked out the barrage, but there wasn't a lot there in the middle of the day, just the usual cormorants, pelicans, coots etc. I set up my fieldscope anyway, just to have a look. Then I headed around to the Murray Mouth where I last visited only 2 weeks ago, but I wanted to see what a difference my scope made to viewing those birds, and wow what a difference! I spent a while there watching Pied Oystercatchers, Crested, Caspian and Fairy Terns, Pelicans, Great Cormorants, Red-necked Stints, and Red-capped Plovers. I tried taking a few photos through the scope, first using a small camera, then with my camera. Neither worked particularly well, but I wasn't using any digi-scoping attachment, so perhaps I might look into that.

All in all, a successful day - 1 lifer and 1 year tick, and lovely long walks on a beautiful sunny day!