Sawtell

 Sunday 18th

We farewelled John and Rebecca with a mutual agreement to revisit again soon. I had a good start on my bird list with a total of 38 species.

Todays trip was another short hop to Sawtell which we were happy to do without a stop. Once settled in to our site we did our usual explore of the park and surrounds, which is adjacent to where Bonville Creek flows in to the ocean. A great sandy place for kids to play and we reminisced about the last time we stayed here about 20 years ago. That time we were in an on-site van in heavy rain and the van had several leaks, one strategically placed over the bed...hopefully we will not see a repeat. On our walk we saw a couple of interesting birds, one of which was a Black-faced Monarch and the other I couldn’t identify!

As we returned from our beach walk we ran in to a couple of my birding colleagues from Ballina who had been here for a kayaking weekend. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and recovering from the last couple of days before meeting with family for dinner at the Toormina pub. By the time we returned home the drizzly rain had well and truly settled in but at least this time no leaks!

Monday, 19th

How lucky we are to have weather apps to consult these days. Ours was telling us there would be a couple of clear hours this morning so we headed for the Coffs Harbour Botanic Gardens. The Gardens were opened in 1988 and cover 20 hectares. They are bounded on three sides by Coffs Creek and contain a variety of environments including a Japanese Garden, Australian native garden, mangroves, rainforest and an Indian Garden. 

I had always wondered where the name Scribbly Gum came from but when you see the bark it is very obvious. The scribble pattern is caused by the Scribbly Gum Moth which lays its larva between the old and new bark.

There were a large variety of birds present including both male and female Satin Bowerbirds. (Bottom)

Michael spent quite a bit of time waiting patiently at different vantage points before it started to sprinkle. By the time we returned to Sawtell the rain had set in as predicted. 

Unfortunately in my enthusiasm of coping with binoculars and camera, the Gardens had claimed my glasses, so first stop was a cheap shop for a pair of $10 specs so I can at least do some reading in the next 2 weeks. 

Tuesday, 20th

Michael insisted that we revisit the Botanic Gardens in search of my wayward spectacles...minus binoculars! We enjoyed a lovely morning retracing our steps but alas there was no Eureka moment so it looks like the $10 specs will have to suffice until we get home.

As we only had less than an hour to our destination we made a small detour into Urunga to check out the Urunga Wetlands. The 20 hectare area had been the site of an Antimony Processing Plant between 1969 and 1974. The site was then abandoned with no clean up or remedial work done. After being privately owned it was transferred to government ownership and remediation work was carried out. There are 2 distinct areas, the Freshwater Wetland and Swamp Schlerophyll Forest. We had a pleasant wander along the well kept pathways and boardwalks.

Our original plan was to settle into our campsite at Gumma Reserve, just outside Macksville, then head in to town to restock our supplies. Once we were settled in we decided it was too pleasant to leave and we had plenty of food for the night so we stayed put. While Michael fed his worms to the local fish I headed off for a wander through the scrub with my binoculars. Michael was content and I was very pleased to be able to add some more species to my list, including a Striped Honeyeater, the Female Koel and a pair of Regent Bowerbirds.