Wildlife at Thurloo and a murder over the border...

Water flowing from the Bore number 2.

One of the many things I like to do of course is look at the wildlife on these trips. On the way to Thurloo I had the pleasure of seeing grey and red kangaroos, mobs of horses, emu, dingo and of course- birds. If you are travelling out west I urge you to stop at the Bogan River Reserve at Nyngan. Here whilst you have a coffee break you will enjoy all manner of birds, including water fowl, birds of prey and mud nest builders. I have seen an Australian Crake and Nankeen Night Heron here.


Red-necked Avocet. ( click on photo for better view)

Perhaps the most interesting feature of great sheep and cattle stations are the Bores. These are sunk into the Artesian basin and are allowed to flow into man made lakes, and tanks. This, of course provides water for stock but also for wildlife and flora.
The water comes out hot and steaming and is good enough to make Whiskey from! As Peter said "The Landscape has changed a lot since your grandfather was here. I expected him to say it was worse, but instead he said " its far better now. More trees, more grasses and more water". This seems to fly in the face of the conservationists.


Black Kite flies in for a look...
Number 2 bore was put in when Plummer was manager and it therefore held great interest for me. A Red-necked Avocet was one of the feature birds on its small lake. following the shoreline a Black fronted Dotterill, almost invisible.

Black-fronted Dotterill. Almost invisible without a zoom

The Berawinnia Creek was full and the trees which lined it were looking superb. Peter says the water should last about 9 months before drying out. A wide variety of ducks and Australian Pelicans graced this section of the property.


Berawinnia Creek.

This was a very special trip for me and I hope to be able to return and spend more time learning from Peter and his family. Many, many thanks.

Birds seen:-Australian Raven, Little Crow, Little Raven, Galah, Pee Wee, Australian Magpie, Masked Wood Swallow, Crested Pigeon, Nankeen Kestrel, White-faced Heron, Australian Grey Teal, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, White-winged Cuff, Willy Wagtail, Black-shouldered Kite, Masked Lapwing, Pacific Black Duck, Australian Ringneck, Apostle Bird, Yellow-throated Miner, Black Kite, Whistling Kite, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Square-tailed kite, Australian Darter, Welcome Swallow, Red-rumped Parrot, Yellow Billed Spoonbill, Australian Wood Duck, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Nankeen Night Heron, Little Pied Cormorant, White Browed Babbler, Emu, Australian Ibis, Intermediate Egret, Major Mitchell,Australian Pelican, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, White- plumed Honeyeater, Diamond Dove, Hardhead, Zebra Finch, Peaceful Dove, Grey fantail, Tree Martin, Red Necked Avocet, Australasian Grebe, Black Fronted Dotterill, Australian Pipit.

Next Week- A trip to Kilcowera Station, (formally part of Boorara), in outback QLD and the Murderers Bore.

A quote from the Newspaper. " I GOT PANICKY AND I BURNT HIM"

Boorara Murder Trial.

"I told Bill he could not drive a wheelbarrow, and he made a hit at me, (with his left fist, and I hit him with my left fist, his head bumped the anvil above his leftear and he became unconscious; he -lived for about 20 minutes. I got panicky, so I decided to get rid of his body. I built a fire at the back of the cooking galley and I burnt him. I dumped some water on the coals and collected the bones at sunrise and dropped them down the bore hole."-These statement* were allegedly made by James Callaghan, 60, boring engineer, on December 5th, when a" police party recovered bones and charcoal from the bottom of a deep bore hole at Boorara station... 10th January 1941. Quote Charleville Times Brisbane QLD.

What did Jim Cotter have to do with this? Find out exactly what my uncle was up to when I return from the Murderers bore......