Nallan Station – I Wish We Could Have Stayed Here

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Tara

When I was researching our trip to Western Australia, I found several glowing reports of birders who had stayed at Nallan Station and even had meals catered. Unfortunately, the owners haven’t been operating their station stay for several years. Even though the Queen of the Murchison provided great accommodation in town, there would have been something special about staying at the station and waking up with the birds. The accommodation is in the shearers accommodations and would suit backpackers or people seeking an authentic Aussie experience. I did take a peek inside the quarters, although they have not been maintained since they aren’t being used, you can get a good idea of what to expect.

If you are planning a trip to Western Australia for birding, it would be worth contacting them just to see if they re-open the accommodation. It’s also a good idea to call them if you just want to come for day visits. They seem happy to have birders visit. Please offer a donation to help them conserve this amazing bird habitat for future generations.

ABC Life on an Outback Cattle Station

Michael & Sandy were away when we visited but their son Jamie showed us around and was very friendly.

Nallan Station, Cue 6640

08 9963 1054 nallanstn@bigpond.com

Western Bowerbird (Chlamydera guttata)

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Tara

The Western Bowerbird (Chlamydera guttata) is a species of bird in the Bowerbird family. The species is a common endemic of Australia. It has a disjunct distribution, occurring in Central Australia and the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Male Bowerbird

Female This bowerbird is endemic to Central Australia and mid-central inland and semi-arid Western Australia. They can be easily seen at Nallan Station near Cue in Western Australia. See black dot on map below.

LEARN MORE ABOUT WESTERN BOWERBIRDS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Birds in Backyards

VIDEO

Nice footage of Bowerbird dancing and calling for a mate.

Meet The Parrots – Nallan Station, Western Australia

Posted on May 24, 2014 by Tara

There are so many avian delights at Nallan Station, I will need to break them up into several posts. Let’s start off with my favourites – the parrots!

BOURKES PARROTS

Seen mostly by Judas Well. I have a profile on them here.

MULGA PARROTS

Also seen at Judas Well and in surrounding trees. Note the brightly coloured male vs the duller female.

AUSTRALIAN RINGNECK

Found flocking with these Mulga Parrots.

GALAHS

Seen near the shearing shed. They weren’t the least bit afraid of the workers who were using some pretty noise machinery!

See my post on Cue for more information on how to get here and Western Australia to learn how I organized this trip.

Milly Soak & Lake Nallan, Cue

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Tara

Lodge Review: Queen Of The Murchison, Cue

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Tara

The Queen is one of those delightfully quirky small Outback lodges located in Cue. Originally there was a pub downstairs but they no longer serve alcohol. There are lots of cool knick-knacks to look at and this is the area where breakfast is served in the morning.

I think I was so overwhelmed by all the birds in the area I forgot to get photos of the rooms. The pics on the hotel’s website are pretty accurate. Carla, the very friendly owner was happy to swap fans around to make sure we were happy. The verandah is a great place to sit, relax and watch life go by. Prices are very reasonable and a continental breakfast is included. The one criticism I had was that if you are headed to Nallan for birding, you have to eat before you go, they won’t let you take the breakfast with you as a picnic. I’m just not the sort who can eat at 5am!

They have several pet birds in large aviaries downstairs.

The location is convenient to everything in Cue and there are a couple of eating places within walking distance. Laundry is available at the caravan park a couple km down the road and there is an internet place across the street which also has some tourist information.

Cue: Gateway To Western Australia’s Outback

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Tara

As one might expect, a country as large as Australia has a wide variety of eco-systems and species of birds. Many of these potential bird habitats are extremely difficult to access such as the Canning Stock Route. You need to be a very experienced 4WDer to make it out there safely.

Canning Stock Route

Fortunately the Outback town of Cue gives us a much easier way to access some stunning bird species such as Mulga Parrots, Major Mitchell Cockatoos, Bourke’s Parrots, Western Bowerbirds and some that are very familiar to pet bird keepers such as Cockatiels, Budgerigars and Zebra Finches. Seeing your pet bird’s wild cousins is an amazing experience and can give you a renewed interest in conservation and learning more about the bird’s behaviour. Check out the very impressive bird list!

Cue has no airport so most people would fly into Perth and drive. The roads are in good condition but you should avoid driving between sunset and sunrise as there is a strong risk of hitting kangaroos.

Location of Cue

You also need to beware of road trains and oversized mining equipment. They are preceeded by a warning vehicle which gives you plenty of time to pull over and let them pass.

Forget about your hotels points, there are only two places to stay in town:

Queen of the Murchison (I stayed there, review coming)

Murchison Club

Up until around 2010, most birders stayed at Nallan Station, about 13 km north of town, but they are no longer operating the station stay. Hopefully, they may open it back up again!

Cue has a “wild west” feel about it and an Outback charm all its own. The locals are very friendly and the town attracts birders interested in the wonderful Nallan Station which I will be blogging about separately. Meanwhile, here’s a few pics from Cue and surrounds!

Western Australia – An Outback Journey From Esperance To Cue

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Tara

You never really appreciate the vastness of Australia until you drive it. After birding the forests, mountains and southern coast of Western Australia, the next destination after Esperance was Nallan Station outside Cue. This involved an epic journey of 1150 kilometers which seemed like forever but is really nothing compared to the whole of Australia.

There was no way I could drive that in one day so I decided to break the trip a little more than halfway at the mining town and former Gold Rush centre of Leonora. This meant the first day would be 390 km (4 hours) to Kalgoorlie for a lunch stop, then a further 235 km (3:25) to Leonora. The second day would be 512 km to Cue with a lunch stop at Mount Magnet.

There isn’t much to look at while on the road but it was worthwhile to keep an eye out for nomadic parrot species such as Major Mitchell Cockatoos, Budgerigars & Cockatiels. Unfortunately, I wasn’t lucky enough to spot any parrots other than these guys in an aviary at a petrol station.

There are a few waterholes along the way, might be worth a look. You are more likely to see water birds and raptors. Lunch stops are few and far between. We ate at KFC in Kalgoorlie on the first leg (first cheap place I saw after buying fuel) and on the 2nd leg we got sandwiches at Mt Magnet which is an interesting little Outback town. Fuel is really expensive, figure on $1.70 – $1.85 a litre and always top up the car before leaving a town.