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!

Later that day I checked out the Barham River estuary on the other side of town.  Latham's Snipe, Bar-tailed Godwit and a Sanderling had all recently been reported on eBird so I was hopeful.

Barham River from the Great Ocean Road

Just north of the road there were Masked Lapwings, White-face Herons and a Buff-Banded Rail on the opposite bank, and heading upstream I found a party of Australian Wood Ducks and a few other friends on a little beach area.

Australian Wood Ducks

An off-leash dog flushed a second Buff-banded Rail from the reeds and then a different dog-walker gave me a tip on a Koala in a tree nearby.

It was snoozing - no surprises there.

Following the river back down across the road there were some more Hooded Plovers on the beach and, in the estuary itself, a large group of Crested Terns roosting with Silver Gulls.

Barham river from the other side of the road

Crested Terns

So, none of the migratory waders or snipe but I liked this spot!  Full list here.

It was getting pretty warm by this stage so we got an ice-cream in town where we also spotted another Koala.

Not a real one, lolz

That was it for birding in Apollo Bay itself but on Sunday we headed away from the coast into Forrest.

forest near Forrest

This is very conveniently a good spot for both birding and mountain biking and so I had a few hours to explore Lake Elizabeth while the non-birder was otherwise entertained.

A male Satin Bowerbird was calling high in a tree near the carpark, and then at the day visitor area I came across a Rufous Fantail by the creek, a lone Red-browed Finch and some little Superb Fairy-wrens hopping about.

male Superb Fairy-wren

Further on I heard a Rose Robin, a few Golden Whistlers (just seeing one female) and Yellow-faced and White-naped Honeyeaters.  There was a Dusky Moorhen with chicks in the pond along the path where I also heard Flycatchers.  I got a brief view of a female bird which I assumed would have to have been a Satin...

Dusky Moorhen

Another cool sighting on the walk to the lake was a Crested Shrike-tit.

Not really too crested in this pic though...

I read somewhere that Lake Elizabeth was created naturally when a landslide dammed the river here and it filled the valley.  You can walk all the way around which is about 3.5kms.

A bit eerie in overcast conditions...

I just walked to the beach and back and on the way finally got a visual on some Yellow-faced Honeyeaters.  One was quite happy coming down onto the track though I couldn't quite see what it was after.

Curious Yellow-faced Honeyeater

The beach, like a lot of the track, was unfortunately quite overgrown with introduced weeds.

The beach?

There are some lovely views of the Lake from here though and I have seen platypus here on a previous visit.

No platypus today.

Bird-wise the beach area was pretty quiet with just a few Welcome Swallows and an Eurasian Coot.

Welcome Swallow

There wasn't much else new on the way back besides an Olive Whistler and this tiny skink in the middle of the path. It didn't seem too concerned at all by anything and perhaps this relaxed attitude explains the lack of tail.

Cute and trusting skink

Oh and the Flycatchers were still there by the pond so I was able to get decent views of the male bird after the pair had seen off a Pied Currawong.  And yes, added Satin to the list - year bird!

After that it was home via the inland route with a quick stop at Cafe La Hoot, my favourite owl-themed cafe, for an iced chocolate - yum!