Mallacoota is a well-known and popular destination for birding, especially amongst Victorian birders. That's because Mallacoota is at the far eastern tip of the state and so gets some of the real east east coast species that don't venture too much further into Victoria - hello, state listers! And visiting during November meant Mallacoota had even more birdy-potential with migrants having made their way down for the summer.
Our most hoped-for birds here were Glossy Black-Cockatoos, White-headed Pigeons, Australasian Figbirds, Azure Kingfishers and of course our arch nemesis: Ground Parrots.
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| Mallacoota aerodrome |
Our first stop for the Ground Parrots was the aerodrome on the first evening. No Ground Parrots... but a White-throated Needletail flying low of the heath, which was full of pretty wildflowers, and some new mammals for the Perthling with our first Common Wombat and Eastern Grey Kangaroos for the trip. Yay mammal lifers! I'm not quite sure how we'd avoided kangaroos up til then but somehow we had.
Also minor birding fail here when I realised too late that the dark shapes making strange noises disappearing out the back of some dense casurina trees must have been Glossy Black-Cockatoos - oops!
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| heathland near Shipwreck Creek: much more scenic Ground Parrot habitat |
Our quest for Ground Parrot glory continued at Shipwreck Creek in Croajingolong National Park. We visited early the next morning and again in the evening the same day. Ground Parrots remained the hide and seek carry-over champions. And at that point we decided that that was ok - it was just getting too frustrating and we did not want to start having angry feels towards these beautiful birds and their lovely heathland habitat.
And that heathland habitat was pretty good to us. On the morning walk we were able to watch a small party of gorgeous little Southern Emu-wrens going about their business - so adorable! And in the evening we had a White-bellied Sea-Eagle soaring overhead, two Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters and more Emu-wrens.
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| me vs. Ground Parrots, at dusk |
Shipwreck Creek was also where we finally connected with some Scarlet Honeyeaters. Scarlet Honeyeaters are one of the birds usually associated with far-east Gippsland and are often a target bird for many Victorian birders from further west when they head out this way. But considering our trip coincided with the tail end of a major influx of Scarlet Honeyeaters into Victoria during spring 2017 (or The Myzomelypse, if you prefer) it was kinda weird that we hadn't come across any until we were actually all the way out at Mallacoota.
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| the beach from Bastion Point |
Despite our time wandering the heathlands we got in plenty of exploring around Mallacoota. There was a pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagles at the Bekta River mouth, Hooded Plovers along the beach at Bastion Point and Scarlet Honeyeaters now seemed to be calling everywhere we went. A wander around the town itself found some nice fat Wonga Pigeons and the Australasian Figbirds at the roundabout, just where they were supposed to be - yes!
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| no Figbirds visible in this pic but please accept photobombing dog instead |
The next morning our plans to venture out of town and explore some of the sites along the road in from the highway were delayed when we woke up to some seriously heavy rain. It was a good excuse for a bit of a sleep-in but as soon as the rain eased and we heard a Eastern/Pacific Koel calling from nearby it was back on! We had great views of the male bird as he called and called from a tree in the vacant lot opposite our caravan park.
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| the view from the jetty at Gipsy Point |
Things were still pretty gloomy when we got to Gipsy Point but a Buff-banded Rail was running around in the carpark and Karen lifered on Bell Miners and Australian King-Parrots in the same tree at the same time.
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| a male King-Parrot |
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| he was loving these seed pods |
There were also plenty of Eastern Greys munching on the grass which were obviously very used to people hanging around checking them out.
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| kangaroos only |
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| a soggy mum and joey |
Hoping for Glossy Black-Cockatoos we headed out to Genoa Peak, the place usually recommended for this species, but we didn't manage to see or hear any on our visit. What we did find though was another cockatoo lifer for Karen - Gang-gangs! There was a group of six, and although pretty high up, made the drive out worth it.
On the way back into town we did the walk at Double Creek Arm where Azure Kingfishers are sometimes reported. No luck with the Kingfishers but some loud grunting coming from the side of the track made it easy to find another new east coast mammal for Karen:
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| a rather big koala in a rather small tree |
We also stopped by the Adobe Abodes, some mudbrick accommodation in Karbeethong back towards Mallacoota.
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| a place to stay next time? |
Thanks to the bird feeder they have out the front we easily found our targets here - White-headed Pigeons.
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| they gave nice views in the trees outside |
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| there were two birds just chilling by the feeder |
We tried not to look like weirdos so didn't hang around too long, but long enough to also see two Wedge-tailed Eagles soaring overhead, a Lewin's Honeyeater, a Wonga Pigeon as well as a Common Bronzewing and Red-browed Finch that were visiting the feeder. Oh, and House Sparrows.
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| the Bronzewing plump from treaties |
It remained overcast and gloomy all that day but we were still hopeful of finding some Glossy Black-Cockatoos so after dinner tried the Casuarina Walk, where they had most recently been reported. This walk got off to a rather depressing start when we encountered a fox happily trotting along with a big mouthful of something native. He didn't hang around when he saw us.
Not long after that though we had one of those great birding moments. I just happened to look up and see a massive Powerful Owl staring right down at us.
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| a quick, super low-light pic before we moved on |
We were so happy to find this owl as this species was becoming a bit of a east-coast bogey bird for Karen. On her first trip to Melbourne I'd taken her to see what was a pretty reliable pair at the time only of course they weren't there that day. Then on her first night in Melbourne this time, before we set off for Gippsland, we went to look for the well-known Powerful Owls at Shepherd's Bush, which I'd checked out the week before. But again no owls for Karen. This sighting was also cool because it was the first time I'd ever spotted an owl without already knowing one was roosting in the area somewhere - yay!
And the birding success continued when, despite losing light, we finally were able to see some Glossy Black-Cockatoos - what looked like a sweet little family of three, settling down to roost for the night.
On the way back along the path we also found the Powerful Owl was up and about. We watched as it flew off into the night to wreak havoc on the local possum population.
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| Australia's biggest owl silhouette |
So that was a pretty nice ending to our stay in Mallacoota. The next day we'd start the journey back towards Melbourne, via South Gippsland, with a few more special birds still on the wish list!
PS.
Check out the Mallacoota Birds Facebook group here and the Birdlife East Gippsland's guide to Mallacoota birding sites here.
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