The plan was to bring the Australian leg of our holiday to a close with a return trip to Mallee country – my third visit but a ‘first’ for Jane. We travelled through the upper Hunter, taking in the Goulburn River National Park, before making the 400k trek to Lake Cargelligo – gate way to Mallee country. With temperatures above 40 degrees and swarms of flies the birding was unusually difficult and our first evenings visit to this unique habitat was proving to be an energy and moral-sapping event – until that is we came across the water-hole! Over the course of the next 24 hours we had outstanding views of over thirty species of bush birds here, including most of the areas specialities. Here are some of the species using the water-hole or seen nearby:

First, Restless Flycatcher

Diamond Dove, a difficult species to catch up with

Male Black Honeyeater drinking, with Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater in the background

Crested Bellbird – more often heard than seen

Gilbert’s Whistler, a mallee speciality – here a male is drinking alongside a White-eared Honeyeater

A Mulga Parrot and Common Bronzewing – we saw more than thirty of both species

Speckled Warbler

A splendid male Red-capped Robin

Southern Scrub-robin – another mallee speciality

Splendid Fairy-wren

Brown Songlark

To finish, the common but curious Tawny Frogmouth