Day Nine- Lake Cargelligo

​Headed south from Cobar along the Kidman Way, just because we had never been that way before. The habitat is a mixture of mallee and cypress and we saw lots of goats grazing on the roadside.

​Called in at the Old Wheat Paddock in Nombinnie Nature Reserve which was our last good chance at scoring a lifer for the trip. Bird activity was relatively low, but we did get Gilbert's Whistler, bringing the total number of lifers for the trip to seven. It's lower than I anticipated but I think that was mainly due to the extremely dry conditions. At the wheat paddock we also got Chestnut Quail-thrush which was a NSW lifer for me. We spent two hours birding the Lake Cargelligo Water Treatment Plant, spotting species such as Australian Shelduck, Black-tailed Native Hen and Baillon's Crake, before driving the final stretch home.

White-fronted Chat

My aim for this trip was to get my Australian life list to 400, I managed to make it to 396. (I finally reached 400 in March 2020, with Wedge-tailed Shearwater off the coast of South West Rocks.) I wasn't too disappointed though, Dad and I had been wanting to get to Cameron Corner, the most northwesterly part of our home state for a long time, so it was awesome to finally achieve that. I love the desert, the otherworldly landscapes and the wildlife that manages to survive and thrive in such harsh conditions, so a journey out west is always worthwhile.
 
Big Sis
​
Lifers:
 
Chirruping Wedgebill (Silverton Common)
Rufous Fieldwren (Silverton Common)
Little Woodswallow (Mutawintji National Park)
Red-browed Pardalote (Dead Horse Gully, Sturt National Park)
Black-breasted Buzzard (Fort Grey, Sturt National Park)
Eyrean Grasswren (Merty Merty Road, SA)
Gilbert's Whistler (Nombinnie Nature Reserve)

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