Nature Encounters Lithgow

Country roads are often narrow and winding.
Bends and curves are often dangerous due to a build up loose dirt and stones.
Be prepared for changing road conditions and surfaces in wet weather.
Always drive to the conditions, which is not necessarily the posted speed limit.

Commonly seen in this area is the gloriously coloured Rainbow Bee-eater. Other likely sightings include the Crested Shrike-tit, White-winged Chough, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Wood Duck, Masked Lapwing and the Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike. Along Crown Station Road, you may be able to spot an endangered Turquoise Parrot.

Glen Alice

The camp ground in Glen Davis is an excellent spot for bird-watching. Look out for White-throated and Brown Treecreepers, Speckled Warblers and Barking Owls. Other possible sightings include Black-chinned, Yellow-tufted, Fuscous and White-plumed Honeyeaters. A walk along the fire trail reveals sheltered gullies offering night time refuge for bee-eaters, White-winged Trillers and Brown Treecreepers. Often buzzing in the sky are flocks of Little Lorikeets and Zebra Finches.

Glen Davis

The grassy fields attract robins, including the Red-capped, Hooded and Scarlet varieties. There are also Red-rumped and Turquoise Parrots, Brown Falcons, babblers and treecreepers.

Farms

The grey gums on Capertee River banks also provide a habitat for koalas. If you are lucky you might catch a glimpse of them in the trees.

Amongst the casuarinas along the river banks, you may encounter a Black Cockatoo, lorikeet or Rufous Songlark. Various species of honeyeater can be seen feeding on the mistletoe of the casuarinas. Among these species are the New Holland, Yellow-faced, White-napped and Yellow-tufted Honeyeater. Alongside the creeks you can find finches of many varieties, such as the Diamond Firetail, Zebra, Red-browed and Plum-headed finch. Try the Coco Bridge on Capertee Road, where many varieties of bird have been spotted. Other sighted species include White-throated and Brown Treecreepers, the White-plumed Honeyeater, the Willie Wagtail, the Noisy Friarbird, the crested Shrike-tit and the Dusky Woodswallow.

Riverbanks and Creeks

The best way to access the Garden of Stones National Park is on a mountain bike or on foot. There are no visitor facilities in the park, so you need to be organised. The park is distinguished by its stone pagoda formations, formed over millions of years. Here you can spot forest birds such as Lyrebirds, honeyeaters, Weebills and Red-brown Treecreepers. To experience the Gardens of Stone National Park, you can cycle along the Ben Bullen fire trail. In the daytime you can see plenty of echidnas and lace monitors. At night you can see grey kangaroos, red-necked wallabies, swamp wallabies, brush-tailed possums, ring-tailed possums and greater gliders.

Lithgow Signs

Nature Encounters - Lithgow

Australia’s native animals are generally nocturnal, so it can be a challenge to spot them in the wild. By understanding a little more about where and how the animals live, you can increase your chances of an encounter. Insights into different ecosystems, and seasonality, will help you to discover rare treasures in the wild. These treasures might be wild waratahs, or perhaps iron bark gum flowers, an important food source of the endangered Regent Honeyeater.

The Capertee Valley is an outstanding area for animal encounters. It is home to the largest diversity, and the highest population, of birds in the southern hemisphere. The altitude of the land varies along the valley resulting in a great diversity of plant species, which in turn attract the different bird communities. Old growth forests allow carnivorous predatory birds to roost. Riverbank environments are dominated by casuarinas (river oaks), which attract seed eaters. Nectar eaters feed off the blooms of eucalypts, as well as flowering plants beneath their canopy.

The Capertee Valley is wider, but not deeper than the Grand Canyon. The Capertee Valley is also 10 times older than the Grand Canyon, having been carved, by rivers and streams, over a period of 90 million years.

The Capertee River runs through the heart of the Capertee Valley, turning into the Colo River when it meets the boundary of Wollemi National Park. In the middle of the 18km wide valley is Pantoneys Crown, rising dramatically from the valley floor to a height of 1000m. There are no established tracks to the top of Pantoneys Crown. However experienced bushwalkers can reach the summit by using a compass, and allowing a full day.

From its summit you can take in an awe inspiring view of the valley. The windswept tops of Pantoneys Crown are covered with heathland, whereas dry sclerophyll vegetation inhabits the wind protected gullies.

The dry sclerophyll forests on the higher altitudes include species such as mountain gum and vinanlis. Beneath the canopy you can find acacias, hakeas, waratahs and grevilleas. Lower down, on the valley floor, forests are typified by grey gums. Pockets of other plants such as herbs, lomandras, sedges, grasses and rushes, can also be found in gullies.

Where to spot the birds in Capertee Valley

Woodlands

One of the Capertee Valley’s most famous residents is the endangered Regent Honeyeater. It is found in woodlands, including the rare box gum grassy woodlands, which are also a feature of the area. Box gum communities include species such as white box, yellow box and Blakelys red gum. Beneath the canopy are herbs, shrubs and native tussock grasses. You can look for the Regent Honeyeater at Nine Mile Hill, 10km from Capertee village. It can best be spotted in the flowering ironbarks of the open woodlands or in the open woodland around the Glenowlan Bridge area. Other birds of the Capertee woodlands include the Grass Parrot, Turquoise Parrot, Crested Shrike-tits, Black-chinned and Striped Honeyeaters.

Forests of Gardens of Stone

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Nature Encounters Lithgow (4 images)