Blue Mountains and the Capertee Valley

This was to be the final section of the trip and as we left Wollongong things were very uncertain as we were booked into a camp site in the Blue Mountains from were we had seen reports of the wild fires burning in the area but exact details were hard to come by, we had visited a couple of tourist centres on the way down but they could not tell me which areas had been directly affected but it did seem that the fires were now under control. We decided to leave plans to the last minute as things were improving daily and with a camper van it would be easy to change plans and either head off to an unaffected area at short notice.

On leaving Wollongong we headed towards Barren Grounds National Park only to find the access road was closed due to road works so we headed off to the Minnimurra Rainforest centre arriving just as it opened hoping to be on the trails early. At first there it was fairly quiet with only a group of Topnot Pigeons high up in the canopy of any interest, as we climbed up towards the Falls we came across our target for the day a pair of Superb Lyrebirds, after creeping around thinking these birds were shy and difficult to see it was soon apparent that the opposite was true and they were common and confiding and eventually we saw at least 14 birds even having them walk past us on the trail.

Mum with young Lyrebird.

 After lunch we continued up through some stunning scenery of Budderoo NP along some very windy roads until we reached Fitzroy Falls where a short walk failed to find anything except yet another Superb Lyrebird although views of themselves made it all worthwhile. As it was late in the day we headed to Moss Vale where we were able to find room in the caravan park for the night. A phone call that evening confirmed that our planned visit to Katoomba was fine as that part of the Blue Mountains had not been affected by the fire.

Next morning we moved on after breakfast with the usual companions Noisy Miners, Crimson Rosellas, Galahs, Rainbow Lorikeets and Red Wattlebirds. A stop at the Tourist Information Centre was helpful as they showed us on a map which areas had been affected and even some of the best birding areas, they also warned us that although the area had not been affected many trails were closed due to the fire risks. We did pass through an area on the way that had been burned but there were no signs of active fires anymore.  We spent the afternoon at Wentworth Falls looking unsuccessfully for Rock Warbler although we did find Eastern Spinebill, Striated Thornbill, White-cheeked Honey-eaters and Fan-tailed Cuckoos along a trail known as Darwin's Walk. One feature of the area was the deafening Cicadas whose continuous noise drowned everything else, apparently this is occasional phenomenon  only occurring once in every 10 years or so.

cicada

Sandstone cliffs at Wentworth Falls

Dark clouds and occasional thunder claps ended our visit here ( apparently  there had been violent storms on the coast at Sydney) so we moved on to our camp site by the Falls at Katoomba. A dusk visit to the Falls produced several Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos flocks going to roost not the hoped for Glossies although 2 brief fly-bys were almost certainly Glossies I could not be sure.

Capertee Valley

Capertee Valley

The following morning although we were unsure as to whether it was accessible or not we headed to the Capertee Valley, a place which was high on my list of places too visit. We had proceeded very far along the access road from Capertee when I spotted a finch on the wire, as so often happens this stop for a gorgeous Diamond Firetail so produced more birds, Fuscous and White-plumed Honey-eaters, Dusky and White-browed Woodswallows were soon found along with good views of only our second Crested Shrike-Tit. A Sacred Kingfisher  sat quietly at the edge of a nearby pool, while we watched this a covey of 3 Painted Buttonquail crossed the road in front of us ( 2 other quail sightings later on were probable also these but they were too brief to be certain). A stop by the river looking for Plum-headed Finches proved unsuccessful but we did find Zebra and Red-browed Finch, Red-rumped Parrot,  Black-fronted Dotterel, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike and a Brown Treecreeper nesting in a fence post. Heading along the track up to Glen Davis more Zebra Finches, Australian Pipits and Rufous Songlark lined the fence lines and parties of White-winged Chough were busy feeding in the fields. Another impromptu stop at some flowering trees turned up a lovely Speckled Warbler and a White-throated Tree-creeper amongst some commoner species. While we were here a birder pulled up along side us to see what we had found and told us where we might find Regent Honey-eater the speciality of the valley although he did add he had been there 3 times without success!
 We pulled into Glen Davis camp ground for lunch as it was now getting quite warm. After a welcome lunch sat in the shade with a Brown Tree-creeper hopping round our feet we set off for search round the campsite. Little Lorikeets, Yellow-faced, White-cheeked and White-plumed Honey-eaters were feeding in the trees above the camp and a Sacred Kingfisher refused to have its photo taken moving around the campsite just out of range, by the stream we found a Turquoise Parrot another of the valley's specialities which gave some good views before disappearing into the scrub. A calling Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo was seen briefly as it flew away, my only glimpse of a fairly common species. With lunch over we were heading back down the valley to visit the site for the Regents we had been told about when I spotted something in the distance walking over the road, a quick dash and as I had hoped there in front of us was an ECHIDNA very much a mammal we had wanted to see. We were privileged to be able to get very close and watch it for a while as it flattened itself into the ground presumably hoping we could not see it.

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Echidna

 Continuing on the birder we had seen earlier came along from the opposite direction and seeing us did a U turn and flashed us to stop, he told us of a flowering tree full of birds which may have Regents in although again he had not found them, so we continued on the find this tree although we missed it first time and after a 30 k detour we managed to find it and it was indeed full of birds mostly Wattlebirds, Musk and Little Lorikeets and Noisy Friarbirds. A displaying White-throated Gerygone was new for us  though but best was a huge Lace? Monitor Lizard which attempted to climb the tree before giving up and wandering off.
Returning back along the road we decided to check out the site we had been told about earlier, we parked up by the bridge and started to look around a pair of Restless Flycatchers were flitting around by the river while the nearby trees were busy with a pair of Mistletoebirds along with the usual commoner Honey-eaters etc, Fairy Martins were collecting mud from a little pool when Kay spotted a bird feeding in the nearby tree a quick look and I could see the unmistakable yellow and black combination of a Regent Honey-eater, a second bird was also found feeding in the mistletoe flowers. Later a third bird also appeared seen in the trees a little further back from the road. We had not expected to be able to find this much sought after species without a guide so I was particularly pleased that we had been successful

Rufous Whistler common in the Capertee Valley

Fairy Martin collecting mud

Regent Honey-eater

By this time it was getting late so rather driving the 100 or so kilometres back to Katoomba we headed back to the campsite at Glen Davis for the night.
Next morning after breakfast with a group of White-winged Choughs around the van and noisy Little Lorikeets, Yellow-faced and White-plumed Honey-eaters feeding in the flowering trees overhead, we started a slow drive out of the valley. In one of the gardens were both Bar-breasted and Peaceful Doves together for a direct comparison, a group of Finches along the road contained Zebra and Red-browed Finches as well as some smart Chestnut-breasted Mannikin but Plum-headed Finch continued to elude us despite several stops at likely spots. Further stops along the road out of the valley to Capertee produced Red-rumped Parrots, Brown Falcon, Black-faced Cuckooshrike, Brown and White-throated Treecreepers and a selection of honey-eaters including Yellow-tufted, White-eared, White-naped,White-cheeked, Yellow-faced and White-plumed.
Wombat had been a much hoped for mammal and there were plenty of signs of recent activity but as before we were unable to find a live one although it was particularly distressing to find so many, some very recent, victims of roadkill. It is difficult to see how they can continue to survive given the amount of slaughter on some of the roads indeed that is also true of some of the Kangaroo species as well as in some areas dead animals litter the roads.

On a brighter note while we were in the valley a closer look at some of the kangaroos enabled to see that some were Common Walleroo something I had not realised until then as most sightings had been while driving along.
Leaving the valley heading back we decided to check out the Wolgan Valley which was interesting and scenic, a lunch stop by the river produced a few birds but nothing new. Another stop at Evans Lookout near Blackheath drew a blank while again we were looking for Rock Warbler and Pilotbird and a calling Channel-billed Cuckoo refused to come into view. We did however meet Carol Proberts here who was the guide I had hoped to use in the Blue Mountains who suggested some sites for us to check out adding that the Warblers were very often common in the car park where we were but as it was breeding time they were more likely down on the rock faces, we checked out a couple of suggested sites but they continued to elude us.
Friday was our last day in the Blue Mountains as we had to be in Sydney that evening, an early morning visit to the Three Sisters car park failed to produce anything new so we decided to head up to Jenolan Caves and after a very interesting drive down a long windy steep road arrived at the caves.
Walking down from the car park we encountered a Red-bellied Black Snake (  highly venomous !!)
not the first we had seen but the first we had come across while walking.

Three Sisters

Inside the caves at Jenolan

Red-bellied Black Snake

 While we were waiting for a tour of the cave we took a wander along the river where there were an amazing selection of Lizards most of which remain unidentified at present but there were a number of different species, mostly quite approachable, basking in the sun, the crystal clear pool also contained this splendid Platypus which gave a fantastic display.

Platypus

Water Dragon

Water Dragon

 After the tour of a very spectacular cave it was lunch time and time to move on as we still had a way to go. We had decided to take a different route down to Sydney travelling back to Lithgow and down the Bell's  Highway, at Lithgow we were stopped for a random breath test but were soon on our way, this route had been the most affected by the recent fires and we drove for many miles through blackened woodlands although to be fair it was apparent that only the scrubby undergrowth had been burnt and the larger trees were mainly untouched just scorched leaves even so there were a few properties that must have been very worried as the flames had appeared to come right up to the boundary but in most cases leaving them unscathed. It was with a lot of luck that I managed to find a turf farm in Windsor and there as hoped were 3 adult Banded Lapwings with 2 chicks in tow our 400th species and a most wanted one at that having missed them at Werribee despite much searching.
Our final night was spent at Lane Cove amid the usual selection of Parrots and Brush-Turkeys before visiting Sydney Bridge and the Opera House in the morning.
Finding our way across Sydney and returning the camper van proved to be a challenge in the late morning traffic but all went smoothly and we were at the airport in good time for the return journey home.