Heathcote-Graytown NP Bird Camp, Sept 2013

About an hour's drive north of Melbourne along the Hume Freeway and left at Nagambie took me to the first Spring camp of 2013, on the 20^th-22^nd of September. It was organised by the Murray-Goulburn branch of BirdLife Australia and was situated on an extensive private property on the edge of the Heathcote-Graytown NP. The site contained mixed habitat, grasslands, scrubby bushland to eucalypt forest, including box ironbark. There were many interesting grasstrees, and another, some in flower, which were popular with the abundant yellow-tufted honeyeater population. 

I travelled light for this camp (my set-up was rather modest this time), but I slept really comfortably despite finding ice on the car and frost on my camp chair after the first night. Days were full of interest drawing to a close with colourful sunsets - then some astronomy, with Mercury, Saturn and Venus prominent in the western sky and the Moon rising shortly after sunset.

During a trip through Costerfield, I saw this old cottage, which was in serious need of some tlc.

It was a successful camp enjoyed by around 16 happy campers with over 80 bird species recorded over the three days. Reports of Gilbert's whistler, views of a painted honeyeater high in the canopy and a pair of hooded robin, here's the female, nesting just off the ground were especially memorable. 

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Images © Russell Cockman