Spring is here! Hodgson House is looking great with new life in the gardens and  of course, warmer days when you can enjoy our unique riverside picnic table -   Hodgson House, Echuca's B&B on the Murray River - our promise is we will pamper you!

Murray River B&B  - Hodgson House,  Bird lover's holiday in Echuca - Bird watching

When you sit on the Terrace at Hodgson House, it is easy to forget that you are so close to Echuca. The combination of the Murray River and Wharparilla Flora Reserve has given a great gift to visitors to Hodgson House; a significant array of Australian birds can be seen at various times of the year. Those interested in bird watching will be pleasantly surprised the the number of birds that visit us.

Two colonies of about 14 Choughs each build a nest in the redgums behind Hodgson House each year. During August and early September guests are entertained by the choughs as they constantly take turns on their nests bringing food to the chicks. It gets quite hectic at times as the Choughs seem to be queuing up to arrive at the nests (that's why we say about 14 - they were difficult to count). For those who don't know, Choughs establish a colony with one nest and one breeding pair - the entire community supports the nest taking turns; sitting on the eggs, gathering food and feeding the chicks.  It's an interesting experience - if you'd like to see them book in August or early September - ideally, call Anne on 5482 2128 to confirm the Choughs are there before coming to Echuca as we wouldn't want to disappoint you.

A family of up to 8 kookaburras usually join us each evening for a small feed of meat and reward us with their famous laugh before they leave to forage and settle down in the reserve.

Other constant visitors to Hodgson House are magpies, mudlarks, cockatoos, galahs, currawongs, choughs and ducks and the ever cheeky willy wagtails.  The wagtails have a wonderful call during their mating season (September) and you can hear them singing through the night. Similarly, Pied Butcherbirds have an outstandingly beautiful song of loud mellifluous notes often by moonnlight to also enchant you at night.

There are also red-rumped parrots, yellow rosellas, crimson rosellas, lorikeets, fairy wrens, flycatchers, butcherbirds, blackbirds, bronzewings, crested pigeons, wattlebirds, spotted pardalotes and kites that regularly patrol the sky above Hodgson House and the reserve. 

Seasonal visitors include frogmouths, kingfishers, ducks, dotterels, robins and various honeyeaters.

Yellow Rosella

We are delighted that a family of Yellow Rosella's are visiting us each day from Wharparilla Flora Reserve. The Yellow Rosella is only found in the Murray River region and many of our visitors have been surprised to see these timid birds.

A Yellow Rosella on a feeder at Hodgson House.

For those bird observers who want to see more, the Echuca Bird Observers Club tells us that there are numerous species of birds that can be seen in the walk from Hodgson House to Echuca along the river track which follows the Murray to the Campaspe junction and then through to Echuca. Just ask us and we'll happily give you a map of this delightful walk and even lend you a pair of binoculars to make observing a little easier. The Echuca Bird Observers Club maintains a gallery of birds sighted locally, these can be seen at http://users.mcmedia.com.au/~stocky/birdgallery.html.

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