Hirstglen

19 -21 Jan 2007

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“Mirravern”, Don Vernon’s property at 1187 Hirstvale Road near Pilton, was the venue for the campout on January 20, 21 - the first birding trip in 2007 for members of BASQ. Atlas surveys were carried out at the invitation of Peter Vernon. Our first contact with Peter was late last year when he reported on the BASQ 1300 number that Bluebonnets were nesting at Hirstglen.

The Vernon’ properties and adjoining farms that we visited are situated just over the top of the Great Dividing Range on the eastern edge of the Darling Downs and are a mixture of cattle grazing and mainly grain cropping in rolling country. There were a number of hills and ridges to climb and explore. The heavy undergrowth (mainly lantana) in these hilly areas did not deter the 10 intrepid birders and in fact was a major factor in the good bird count of 89 species for the one and a half days we spent surveying. Considering the ongoing drought and the prevailing hot weather (which was made a little more pleasant with a slightly cooling wind), both the species count and birds numbers in general were quite good. It was really pleasing to note that the smaller birds of the scrub and undergrowth were in fairly abundant numbers and in fact the sighting on at least 8 to 10 separate occasions of groups of speckled warblers was “great news”. A lovely little bird the speckled warbler. The very few sightings of Rufous and Golden Whistlers along with Grey Shrike-thrushes was surprising to the group. No sightings at all of Eastern Yellow Robins in the wooded hills were also a little puzzling. Perhaps the big dry has something to do with this?

A visit to “Kate Fraser’s Hill” was very productive and it was nice to look up every now and then and note that we were under the steely gaze of up to 4 Wedge-tailed eagles. They have been nesting here for a number of years now. The exercise gained during this survey was to stand us in good stead for large Pub meal that evening.

Most of the dams in the area had very little water in them but we did manage to view a fair variety of ducks and waders. The stately White-necked Herons bearing their “white headlights” on the wings seemed to be quite common here and it was nice to see the Yellow-billed Spoonbill even though it was a loner. The Glossy Ibis that Peter Vernon had seen recently, failed to show up for the duration of our stay, and the Blue Bonnets had left.

Our green and grassy camp site in a dry creek bed was an ideal spot to bunk down and was made even more pleasant by the high pitched call of Owlet-nightjars at night time. The group including Grahame and Donalda Rogers, Ross and Cathy Smith, Dez Wells, Phil Coorey, Paul Mathews, Bob Sutherst, Chris Armstrong and Chris Sanderson ventured out to the Wheat Sheaf Hotel at East Greenmount on Saturday night for a good old-fashioned country pub meal. It was a shame that Neil McKilligan could only spend Friday night and Saturday morning with us.

Anyway the visit to the Wheat Sheaf proved to be a real bonus for us in more ways than one. Grahame had assured Bob that we would get a great-unobstructed view of McNaught’s Comet from the pub. So we arrived there just after sunset with Bob immediately noting the presence in the western sky of a couple of large hills that “were not supposed to be there”. Grahame assured Bob that these hills must have sprung up since the last time he was here - two weeks ago. Anyway we did get fantastic (and unobstructed) views of the comet for at least and hour and it was very interesting to note that the length of the tail of the comet got longer after every round of drinks. Late in the piece Chris Armstrong had the audacity to try and tell us that the tail had developed black stripes. Until someone explained that the power lines across the road may have had something to do with this phenomenon.

It was great to have Chris Sanderson from Birds Australia with us for the weekend. He gave us a run down on the atlassing project he is running in the Mary - Burnett region.

A very enjoyable campout. Peter Vernon and his father Don were excellent hosts as was Kate Fraser. They could not do enough for us.

Survey sites:
1. Campsite. A lushly grassed area below a dam on "Mirravern", shaded by Rough-barked Apple trees. Not many waterbirds, but a Magpie-lark sitting on a nest over the water, and lots of butterflies in the wet mud at the edges.
2. Alan Keith's property. A long narrow paddock along a gully studded with small dams, heavily grazed and lightly wooded.
3. Kate Fraser's hill. A conical hill with a flattened top rising 140m above the plain. The steep rocky slopes were treed with a thick understorey, including a lot of lantana. The area has not been grazes for 20 years. The hill was lousy with little birds - Sitellas, Speckled Warblers, Finches and Fairy-wrens
4. The Big Hill. North of "Mirravern", rising steeply to 694m, with wooded slopes and a thick understorey ( with lantana). There was some vine scrub at the base. A fence line/firebreak ran almost to the peak. From the top there was a clear view to the east of the crest on the Main Range, and to the south across King Creek (see photo below). Highlights included Glossy Black-Cockatoos, Speckled Warblers, and all three Fairy-wrens. We disturbed a mob of feral pigs who charged over the top.

Photos by Chris Sanderson