Birds good, weather naff

Rather cold in Leeton and very foggy.  I particularly noticed that when I went out at 0615 to get some bread from the bakery.  By 0800 as we headed back to Fivebough the fog had lifted, revealing inter alia a Superb Parrot in the main street.

The swamp was again good. A flock of 35 Red-necked Avocets were a highlight.

As usual a raptor caused some identification issues.  I am pretty sure it was an immature Brown Goshawk.  When it flew off it caused plenty of grief for the other birds in the area.

Most of the white egrets I could see had short necks, making them Intermediate Egrets.  This image also shows the gape ending under the eye, another good (the best) field mark.

We then headed off towards Lake Cargelligo, basically in a Northerly direction.  At one point we were heading towards Griffiths, but mainly until we got to Rankins Springs (after 100kms) it was again through the middle of nowhere.  The birdlife along the way was remarkable for very frequent encounters with Apostle birds in groups of 2 - 16 (with a median size around 10, on guess-counts as we trundled by).

At Rankins Springs (where there is a very active local birding group) I went to look at a sculpture (see below) and found a very cooperative pair of Red-rumped Parrots.

The sculpture is a somewhat abstract depiction of Glossy Black-Cockatoos which are apparently found in the area.

On getting to Lake Cargelligo we scored a pie (rated 7 on the scale) in the take-away shop.  Too early to go to the Motel so we took ourselves off to the poo pits.  Finally got a photo of a Black Kite.

The pits were, by the standard of that site pretty quiet.  It was also bitterly cold with a strong wind at about 12 C.  The other feature was the wetness of the track leading to our shoes getting thoroughly glugged with mud.  So we decided to go and try for Chat Alley.  To my surprise, as I thought it was just a nickname by birders, this was listed on the satnav which made getting there pretty easy!

As we approached we saw a pair of White-necked Herons (WNH) in a paddock.  They have been daily sightings on this trip.

Notice the  'landing light' visible on the left wing.

There were more WNH in the paddocks beside the Alley, together with 2 Yellow-billed Spoonbills and a Royal Spoonbill.  A pair of Black-shouldered Kites were also evident which possibly kept the passerines hidden in the lignum.  We eventually got a good look at a male Purple-backed Fairywren (BAD) and 3 female White-backed Fairywrens, whose ID was assisted by the unusual call.  The only Chat seen was a Male White-fronted.

Heading back to town we saw a Swamp Harrier over the paddocks and an obliging Nankeen Kestrel (male).

The road had a couple of damp patches, but they looked OK to transit.

Still too early to go to the Motel so we went out to the Leki Hide.  It wasn't accessible!  Judging by the line of debris the water had been at least 1m higher in the recent past.

Some nice lilies got photographed, but not really identified.  Thus far, iNaturalist also limits it to Lilliums.

Wandering around the area we met the local Apostlebirds.  Our best count of the flock was 14 so the Apostles must have had himself (and Brian) as well as the 12.

When we got to the motel the very friendly owner checked that we had seen the Water Tower.  Details are at this site.

When I assured the lady that we had seen it coming back from Chat Alley she asked if we had seen any Orange Chats.  She said that several guests had tried recently with no luck.

For evening meal I walked down to the takeaway shop and had difficulty finding it.  That was because it shuts at 3pm!!!!  Apparently the only take-away food was pizza at the Royal Mail Hotel.  This turned out to be quite edible.  Annoying, as we could have had nice fish and chips in Leeton and the leftovers from Kerang Tuesday evening.