Birding in the Capertee Valley in New South Wales

Capertee Valley, New South Wales, Australia

On our way back from visiting family in Sydney last year, we decided to take a different route. We love travelling in Australia and we especially love exploring new routes and new places. One such place I had longed to visit was the Capertee Valley, just north of Lithgow and only a few hours' drive north-west of Sydney.

We left our son's home after breakfast and travelled up through the Blue Mountains and past Katoomba. This is a lovely part of Australia and there are many wonderful places to stop along the way. We only stopped briefly for morning tea because I wanted to make the most of the birding opportunities in the Capertee Valley. This has been a magnet for many birders over many years. The scenery is also quite spectacular, as you can see in today's photos.

Capertee Valley, Australia

I actually misjudged the distances and time needed to fully explore this area. To make a full exploration of the region, and to actually get to see many of the wonderful birds resident in this area, birders need to spend at least a full day here, preferably several days to a full week. There is so much to see.

We stopped a short distance east of the village of Capertee for a picnic lunch. It was just after midday - not the best time of the day to be birding in Australia on a warm day. While we ate our lunch, I saw zero birds and only heard one in the distance - possibly one of the treecreeper species found in this area. We were off to a bad start. Driving slowly down the road the countryside opened up from forest to farmland. We started seeing a few Australian Ravens, Australian Magpies, White-winged Choughs and occasionally a few Galahs and Magpie Larks. I managed zero photos of these birds; they were too far away.

Eventually, I decided to stop to get a few photos of the magnificent sandstone cliffs bordering the valley. They were spectacular in the afternoon sun. As I was taking these shots - those shown above and below - a solitary bird flew from the grass and landed on a fence post about 50 metres from me. With the good zoom lens on my camera, I managed a photo, but it is far from good, even for identification purposes. I think it is an Australasian Pipit which is found in the area.

Australasian Pipit?

Over the next few hours, we explored some parts of this beautiful valley. Some of the photos I took are shown below. I will write again next week about some other birds I saw that afternoon.

For more stories about my sightings of Australian birds, and for more photos of them go to my other site Trevor's Birding.

Capertee Valley, Australia

Capertee Valley, Australia

Capertee Valley, Australia

Capertee Valley, Australia