From Mallacoota, our first stop for birds was at Metung, which had been a busy little spot in November '17. Generous amounts Topknot Pigeons were regularly being seen in a large fig tree in a residential street. I believe one day someone even had the amazing combo of Topknots, Pacific Koels and a Brown Cuckoo-dove all in the tree at the same time.
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| the famous fig tree |
When we arrived the tree seemed deserted, but thanks to tips from other birders we were able to find some of the Topknot pigeons roosting in gum trees in a vacant lot nearby. We did eventually see some flying in and out of the fig tree but didn't quite get the amazing views some other birders had been lucky to. Still, a vast improvement on my only previous sighting of this species - their grey tummies way up high in the rainforest canopy in Queensland. State bird for me, lifer for Karen!
That night we camped at Holey Plains State Park which is conveniently not too far off the highway between Sale and Rosedale. We didn't really do much birding here but overnight heard a Southern Boobook - trip bird!
Holey Plains was also conveniently placed to set us up nicely for a pretty early start in the wet forest of Tarra Bulga National Park the next morning. Our main target here was those stealthy little Pilotbirds.
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| the suspension bridge at Tarra Bulga |
We were one of the first to arrive in the carpark and were were quickly surrounded by Crimson Rosellas hoping for a handout (they were disappointed) then only a few steps into our walk had a close encounter with two Superb Lyrebirds. Walking the trails from the carpark we saw Gang Gangs, a Large-billed Scrubwren, low-down Crescent Honeyeaters and we were also able to watch some Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos feeding in a wattle tree. We also found a nice male Flame Robin when we returned to the carpark. I think I've seen one of these guys in the carpark almost every time I've been here.
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| one of the hopeful rosellas |
As for Pilotbirds, we had only seen one very briefly when I nearly ran it over on the road coming into the park where there was nowhere to stop. Luckily, when we'd finally given up hope of seeing another one, a toilet stop just before we were about to leave lead us to a Pilotbird out in the open on the asphalt path outside the toilet block - yay! And as we were watching the Pilotbird, I heard some wings fluttering just to my right. I turned and saw two Olive Whistlers had appeared just next to us. Double lifer moment for Karen and a major birding win!
Heading south from Tarra Bulga we stopped at my favourite birdhide-with-a-view at Toora. We had lunch and found lots of Bart-tailed Godwits and Eastern Curlews.
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| the birds are not actually as close as this sign suggests |
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| ...but you can see the Prom! |
And then it was on to Wilsons Promontory National Park, our final destination for the trip. We didn't have any specific target birds there, but planned to just do some walks, relax and enjoy the scenery. This is one of my favourite places and I've been many times so I was hoping Karen would enjoy it too. I was also hoping no wombats would destroy the tents Leigh had lent me.
The first morning we headed up Mt Oberon for an overview. I hadn't done this walk since I was a kid. It was a bit of a slog uphill in quite warm weather but the views were totally worth it.
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| Norman Bay, Tidal River and the camping area from Mt Oberon |
The most interesting birds here were Scarlet Honeyeaters singing around the start of the walk near the Telegraph Saddle carpark. I'd wondered whether any had made it this far south in the irruption and checking later found this was the most southerly record of the species on eBird.
We also saw another two Olive Whistlers, heard a Golden Whistler and I managed a sneaky pic of a Rufous Whistler, so lots of whistler fun to be had there too.
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| male Rufous Whistler |
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| Tidal River |
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| classic Prom coast |
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| on the way to Lilly Pilly Gully |
Oh, and another southerly record! One morning leaving camp we heard, and got a brief glimpse of, a Pacific Koel. Again checking eBird later, this appeared to be the first record for the national park, and thus the most southerly record for this species too. Very interesting! Will they make it to Tasmania next summer!?
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| Where were all the Emus? |
For some reason we were determined to get an Emu on our trip list and so checked out some of the walks in the northern part of the park where the Emus tend to hang out.
No Emus were seen on the walk out to Cotters Beach but we did find some evidence they'd been there - and saw some Blue-winged Parrots!
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| no photos of the Blue-wings so here is a White-fronted Chat |
Emus were also hard to come by on the Wildlife Walk although there were plenty of very chilled kangaroos.
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| for example, this little cutie |
But on our final morning, on our way out of the park, we stopped at the Wildlife Walk again for one last look and found our Emu. And also a last-minute lifer for Karen in an unexpected Striated Fieldwren!
With our Emu mission complete and after a nice stay at the Prom we were heading home.
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| a Prom sunset |
But, the trip wasn't quite over yet. While on the road at the other end of the state, a Hudsonian Godwit had been found at Reef Island on Westernport Bay and luckily it was still around.
Many birders had been able to see it roosting with Bar-tailed Godwits from the beach at hide tide, so not needing to cross to the island itself. This was a vagrant wader I'd been hoping would turn up again somewhere around Melbourne, and Karen had also never seen one, so with a slight detour via Inverloch, Reef Island could totally be on the way home!
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| entry to the conservation reserve |
The tide times happened to work out just nicely for us, and when we got down to the roost a few birders were already there looking. Thanks to Karen having brought her scope all the way across the country, we both got nice views of the Hudwit, including a few wing-stretches showing us it's lovely dark underwing! A successful twitch!
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| There's a whole bunch of Godwits out there and one is a Hudsonian, I promise! |
Ok actually there was one more stop after that. Some Channel-billed Cuckoos that are becoming quite regular summer visitors had been found again in Berwick by birders on their way down for the Hudwit. Another little detour and were lucky to see the two birds sitting quietly (!?) at the top of one of their favoured trees.
So, much success on the drive home - a great way to end our tour of Gippsland!
And now some stats and links:
There was only one new bird for me (the Hudsonian Godwit) but Karen saw a crazy amount of lifers. With some day trips to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne, Philip Island and the Western Treatment Plant after we returned from Gippsland her grand total came to an awesome 51 lifers!
For more info on birding in Gippsland, a good start is the relevant sections of Where to See Birds in Victoria and Finding Australian Birds. There is also the Birdlife East Gippsland Facebook group, as well as their website where you can find some great guides to different areas.
And there seems to be surprising amount of birding blogs coming out of that part of the world. Check out East-Gippsland Birds, Jackwin 777, Wild South East, Avithera, Pearsondale Birder and Gouldiae's Blog for some ideas of what can be found.
There are still so many places down there to explore and great birds to see, at the end of the trip I was already thinking of the places I'd like to go back to. And those Ground Parrots! Hopefully I'll cross paths with one of them next time!
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