MILDURA!

Mildura sits at the edge of the outback, closer to Adelaide than Melbourne, and about a seven hour drive along a (not very good quality) highway. We spent five days in Mildura, and loved it.

We stopped at Hattah-Kulkyne National Park on the way, a place we had read so much about as the birding nirvana in these parts. Sadly, not for us on that particular day! We were pretty excited to see six regent parrots about 5kms before we arrived at Hattah, and as a sign of things to come - sadly, it wasn't. But it was still fun, and we'll try it again...the lakes near the entrance were in flood, and the weather had probably caused the birds to hide or leave.

However, we did receive a warm welcome from the apostlebirds, apparently so called because they travel in groups of (12?) or possibly not!

We also had a lovely interlude with a (?) juvenile rufous whistler (still figuring this one out)... but it was a real cutey!

And on to Mildura, a fruit-growing area on the banks of the mighty Murray. What a fab place...a really well-kept shoreline and central city area, with excellent walks along the banks, and on Lock Island right in the middle of town. Some highlights follow...

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Kings billabong

On the edge of town, such an idyllic spot we made two visits, the first in the rain (and bog) and the second in the sunshine on a picture perfect day. We were surprised that the short track into the main area to the Billabong (with public facilities too) was so poor, and because we'd had so much rain, we got into a skid on the way out. No harm done, but unpleasant, all the same.

​As for the wildlife, we had a brief encounter with a juvenile blue-faced honeyeater, bronzewing pigeons, and families of white-winged choughs.

But it was a real thrill to see for the first time ringneck parrots. often squabbling with eastern rosellas, and many many red-rumped parrots.

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THE AUSTRALIAN INLAND BOTANIC GARDEN

This was a real find, just five minutes across the river and close to the banks on the NSW side of the Murray. It was so good, we visited twice, even though it was hot. True to its name, the botanicals were brilliant, and from many parts of the world.

Then there were the birds!

​In addition to those mentioned above, we also found a mulga parrot (not a great shot but still great fun), white-plumed and spine-cheeked honeyeaters, a reed warbler at the man made lake, a sacred kingfisher (always a thrill!) and a variegated fairy wren.

But the catch of the day was the rainbow bee-eater. We had just collapsed into our picnic chairs for lunch, and noticed a silhouetted bird on the nearby tree...then, we realised it was a bee-eater darting for dinner and having some territorial disputes with a pesky willy wagtail. This fabulous bird gets its own gallery of pics!