This is part 2 of my school camp. This chapter brings us to the Brewarrina Fish Traps, an interesting and effective structure built by the Ngemba People, as well as Baiame and his sons.

We Drove quickly west, and as we drove, me and my friend Ashley counted the Emus as we drove past. they were everywhere, and some families even had small chicks!

Suddenly, Bang! A big male Red Kangaroo hopped out onto the road at the wrong time, and, as we were sitting in the front seat, we got a clear view of the roo hitting the bus. We tried to look behind us, but the dust was curling silently around the bus and we couldn’t see a thing (spoiler alert: one of the other teacher’s aids who was driving the Mercedes Van behind us later told us that the bus only clipped the roo’s tail, and it hopped away unharmed).

We kept driving, knowing we could hit other things out there. A poor little Australasian Pipit flew out in front of the bus, and was immediately flattened. A small bird suddenly scuttled out from the dense undergrowth beside the bus. I got a good look at it as we drove past, and this bird was definitely a Buttonquail! I deduced this was a Little Buttonquail, the smallest and most common buttonquail out west. Another bird added to my life list! As we arrived in Brewarrina, my Emu count was up to 110, and I had seen lots more than just Emus. We got off the bus, and sat down on a large grassy area. There were Little Ravens everywhere, and I let my friend Lui photograph them with my camera.

We walked to the fish traps, with Restless Flycatchers calling around us. We all sat down, though I quickly stood back up and started walking around and searching for birds. A small flock of mixed finches flew up and I identified Double-barred Finch as well as Plum-headed Finch. A large amount of waterbirds sat on the rocks below, including three species of cormorant and two species of ducks.

I watched a small group of White-plumed Honeyeaters climbing up the eucalypt trees, searching for food in the bark.

We were met by a nice man called Bradley, who told us about how the fish traps worked. I won’t go into the details, since this is a bird blog, but it was very interesting.

As we were about to leave, a huge flock of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos flew over and landed in someone’s backyard, and luckily we were walking that way. We walked past them and I got a nice photo. This was a Lifer for me (lifers are a new bird that you have never seen before) and they were so majestic.

I spotted a few Peaceful Doves on a fence and snapped a shot.

We got lunch at a cafe which sold the best homemade lemonade I have ever drunk. I ate a ham and cheese toastie for lunch. As we got on the bus, I could still see the black cockatoos feeding and flying over. Bye Brewarrina!

Continued in Part 3…

Ebird Link to trip: https://ebird.org/tripreport/502433