Apollo Bay Birding

A kinda spontaneous pre-Christmas trip meant last weekend I ended up in Apollo Bay with a non-birder. But of course I had packed my binoculars and done a little eBird research...

No, you are not getting a chip.

Not sure you can call it birding, but the first stop along the Great Ocean Road on Friday night was Anglesea for some non-fish fish and chips. The local Silver Gulls greeted us and our dinner at the foreshore park and there were also some nice Crested Terns and a few Pacific Gulls. 

Towards town

The next morning in Apollo Bay we wandered down the beach from the caravan park to check things out and saw a few birds. Nearing the mouth of Wild Dog Creek we came across the local Hooded Plovers. There were at least four that we could see. Hopefully they have a successful nesting season!

Little Bittern!

Back in October, like many Melbourne birders, I spent some time standing around a reedy pond in an industrial estate in Braeside.  And then obviously took a while to post about it...

Anyway, an Australian Little Bittern wasn't being as skulky as usual so was getting quite a few visitors. Luckily, when I went to have a look I didn't have to wait too long for the female bird to show herself and I had great views of her preening and enjoying a bit of sun before she snuck back into the reeds.  And yes! There was phonescoping!