YATHONG NATURE RESERVE

Yathong Nature Reserve is in western New South Wales, an hour and a half's drive from Cobar. It is the only place to see the nominate race of the Striated Grasswren, called the Mukarrthippi Grasswren. Or not to see them as the case may be. I spent a few days trudging up and down in what I thought was suitable habitat and saw no hint of grasswren. The closest I came was a couple of Inland Thornbills mimicking the grasswren's call. The first time I heard this, my heart leapt and I thought I must be near the bird. Perhaps I was. But I saw no further evidence of it. I arrived on Saturday, spent Sunday and Monday looking for grasswren, took Tuesday off, partly to recover, but mainly to drive to Wilcannia and admire the race samueli of the Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, went back to Yathong again that afternoon, then again spent Wednesday looking for grasswren, before returning home on Thursday. I gave those grasswren every chance to show themselves. Of course I knew that these birds are critically endangered, that the tiny population is estimated to be 12 individuals, with a low possibility that there might be as many as 20 inidividuals. So, with that understanding, I really have no right to be disappointed in not seeing them. Yathong is a large reserve. It covers an area of 115,604 hectares. Hardly surprising that I didn't see a dozen tiny birds.

I saw new races of Grey-fronted and Brown-headed Honeyeaters, which was lovely, but the black cockies gave me a disproportionate amount of pleasure. I'd looked for them unsuccessfully in both Western Australia in June and the Northern Territory in July, so I was absolutely delighted to see them along the Darling River in Wilcannia, calling and taunting me, as if they'd always been there - why did I waste my time looking in other states?

These new subspecies were consolation prizes. All I really wanted was a Mukarrthippi Grasswren. The habitat was perfect and the weather was good. I thought August would be the right time of year, the birds would be getting ready to breed, and might be singing and more easily heard. But they simply refused to play ball. Here's what I thought was ideal habitat: spinifex, white mallee, some broom bush and red earth.

There were lots of lovely kangaroos (four species: Red, Eastern Grey, Western Grey and Euros) but far, far too many goats. An expensive predator-proof fence was under construction at the reserve and the park was about to be closed for a week for aerial bating for foxes. In my very limited time at Yathong, I didn't see any foxes. I saw several feral cats, a handful of pigs, and thousands and thousands of goats. There was a little evidence of rabbits, but not a great deal. And, of course, dozens of emus. The predator-proof fence will enclose an area of some 8000 hectares for soft release of captive bred endangered species, after all the exotic interlopers have been removed. It is clear that a lot of work and a lot of money has gone into this project.

Yathong Nature Reserve is a long way from everywhere. We stayed in Cobar, which, as I say, is an hour and a half's drive away. Cobar is a mining town. It calls itself 'Copper City' and is very proud of its open cut. There is a moving memorial to miners, and a museum, which I confess I did not enter. But under the eaves of the museum building, dozens of Fairy Martins had built their mud nests. I've often seen other birds occupying old Fairy Martins' nests, but on this occasion, I was surprised to see Red-rumped Parrots doing so. This is a most inferior photo (taken with my camera) but, if you squint and hold your tongue in the corner of your mouth, with a bit of imagination, you can just about see that there are parrots occupying a couple of nests.

Forgive me, I have to amuse myself somehow when the grasswren refuse to entertain me.