Mungo National Park

Mungo sands are still on my vehicle and I’m in no hurry to wash them away. Everything about the Mungo trip was awesome: the company, the scenery, the history, the ranger, the sunsets and the weather. Slightly less pleasant were the mossies but even they were quiet little nibblers who didn’t interrupt our sleep.

Mungo is an extraordinary place that I’ve wanted to visit for years; it is captivating and I’m already looking forward to my next trip. It’s an isolated National Park in the south-west of NSW, 110km north of Mildura. 85km of the trip is on unsealed roads which can be closed during and after rain. There are no supplies of food or fuel in the park and the rangers suggested that we took our own drinking water.

 Major Mitchell Cockatoo – Mungo

 

We saw small flocks of Major Mitchell Cockatoos flying to the dam on our first evening at Mungo; with the sun setting in the west and dark clouds in the east they were a beautiful sight.

 Major Mitchell Cockatoo – Mungo

 

The water level in the dam was fairly low while a second dam we visited was completely dry. The landscape was exquisite, very distinct, almost lunar.

 

Mungo National Park

 

Mungo is of great significance to the Traditional Owners. Mungo Man, Mungo Woman and human footprints have been found there that date back to the last Ice Age. The winds and rain are gradually uncovering treasures that have proved Aboriginal stories about megafauna and human existence in a place that used to be a lake, 60,000 years ago.

 Yellow-throated Miner – Mungo

 

We didn’t see many birds around our accommodation at the Shearers’ Quarters apart from Australian Ravens calling from the trees, Crested Pigeon, Welcome Swallows and resourceful Yellow-throated Miners that frequently visited the picnic tables.

 Apostlebird – Mungo

 

A lively family of Apostlebirds were calling from a tree at the main camp, 2km south of the visitor centre but photographing them was difficult due to the bright sky behind them. Also on the trip we saw almost 100 emu, dozens of kangaroo, lizards, Willie Wagtails, Australian Magpie, Magpie-lark, Pink-eared Duck, Australasian Grebe, Black Cormorant, Inland Dotterel, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, White-breasted Woodswallow, Brown Falcon, Black Kite, Jacky Winter and my first ever sighting of White-winged Fairy-wrens.

Happy birding, Kim

 

 

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