Some Special Birds in June

So we're back in lockdown here in Melbourne! But luckily I was able to get out birding a bit while we were able, and actually had a pretty good month of birds.

First, there were some nice overwintering waders. During May a Whimbrel had been reported pretty consistently at Kororoit Creek mouth and then later a Grey Plover also turned up there. Whimbrels are not so common that close to the city and Grey Plover would be a state bird for me so I decided to go for a look.

the hide at Kororoit Creek Mouth

lots of birds out there (also tyres)

After setting up my scope I located the Grey Plover pretty quickly. And although it was about as far away as possible when I first spotted it, it took flight allowing good views of its black 'armpits' before it settled a little closer. Still not close enough for good phonescoping but I tried my best!

that is the Grey Plover with some stilts (well, kinda)

The Whimbrel was a bit harder to find but I eventually spied it out to the left of the hide on the mud, and watched it make it's way around the sandbar. There were also several Bar-tailed Godwits, but again, quite far away. My phonescoped pics of those are also pretty terrible, so instead please enjoy these much bigger, much closer but more common birds:

Black Swan

Australian Pelicans preening (with bonus Eurasian Coot and Great Cormorant)

and also fishing

I had also planned to go to Laverton Creek Mouth for a bit more wader and waterbird action, but when I stopped by Cherry Lake on the way I heard the calls of Swift Parrots! These were a super welcome surprise as I hadn't seen any reports of them in the area recently and had thought I might miss them this winter due to the coronavirus restrictions.

one of the Swifties way up high

this one was really into trying to eat the branch

and liked having a scratch in the sun

and a bit later was joined by a friend

They were hanging around the trees in the picnic area and along the fence-line, mostly high up with  occasional zoomies when chased out of the trees by Noisy Miners.

I couldn't see properly what they were feeding on but the trees didn't look like they were in flower

Hopefully they can fuel up on the mainland, despite a a lot of their wintering habitat being affected by the bushfires last summer, and make it back to Tassie safely when winter is over.

also, some Australian Pelicans and White Ibis that were circling overhead

This was a great start to winter birding - and then I went seawatching!

the view!

This would be my first bit of real seawatching, with Leigh at Point Addis. I was hoping to see some lifer albatross - and success! We'd only had our scopes set up for a little while when we spotted the first albatross for the day - a Black-browed in amongst the Australasian Gannets.

no albatross photos, sorry, but some more view

Luckily Leigh knows how to ID seabirds because besides the very basics, I don't! After plenty more gannets and Silver Gulls, we also saw a few Shy Albatross and another Black-browed - two lifers for me!

We also had nice views of Great Cormorants on the rocks, Pacific Gulls flying past up close and super cute Superb Fairywrens hopping around the boardwalk.

fairy wrens also enjoy views

We didn't seeing any whales, but there was a lone Australian Fur Seal, lounging around holding its flippers out of the water. A few dolphins also swam past just before we left but we couldn't be sure which species they were from the view we got.

a very cropped, phonescoped seal

After Point Addis we went for a look around Coogoorah Park. We missed out on Southern Emu-wrens here but did hear a calling Fantail Cuckoo (not a common thing in winter) and see some Little Grassbirds (usually super stealthy).

Covid tips at Coogoorah Park

The next weekend I had another special sighting - the Glossy Black-cockatoos in Frankston. These three birds would have traveled at least 400m from the nearest known populations and it is believed they are most likely fire refugees as a huge amount of the Glossy Blacks' habitat and food sources further east were burnt in the summer bushfires. More info here.

They were first seen at Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve at the beginning of May and many birders were lucky to see them around Frankston and also at Braeside Park. Then they then seemed to disappear for a month or so before they turned up again at The Pines. I'd always been interested to visit this reserve - apparently there are Southern Brown Bandicoots holding on here - so this seemed a good reason to finally go.

a good place to start!

Glossy Black-cockatoos feed on a species of casurinas/sheoaks, and there were many where I started, there was no sign of the cockies. I went to explore the park and ended up doing a pretty long walk covering both sides of the highway. I didn't know where the cockies had been seen but I didn't see any casurinas in the rest of the park so headed back to where I had started.

the view from Panorama Track

I got excited when I saw a black-cockatoo low in a casurina. But it turned out to be a Yellow-tailed. Still, I won't complain about seeing them, and I watched one dig a huge grub out of a branch and eat it - yum!

But then I heard a call - a Glossy Black call! I turned around and started up Panorama Track behind me and managed to catch a glimpse of the three birds flying past. It was not a great look but I clearly saw the patchy yellow head of the female, and bright red in the tail of one of the other birds. They didn't stop, and because it was now starting to get dark, I assumed they were heading off to roost for the night.

Hopefully these birds manage to find what they need here, and can head home at some stage.

dusk over The Pines

On my last little bird adventure in June, Charlotte and I ventured into the Dandenongs hoping to see some Superb Lyrebirds and other wet forest species. Unfortunately I saw in a post the following day that not everyone who visits is considering the birds and their habitat, or perhaps they aren't aware that leaving the walking tracks and approaching nests or display sites can disturb and threaten the birds. With some patience and luck you should be able to see and hear these awesome songbirds without needing to go off the path, or interrupt them going about their usual lyrebird business.

 morning mist in the Dandenongs (thanks to Charlotte for the photo)

We were in fact lucky enough to see a few lyrebirds that morning, including two males who came out on the track ahead of us. We watched them with a jogger who also stopped for them until they had moved on.

We heard several more throughout our walk and I made a few recordings of individuals that weren't singing too far away from the track. How many bird species can you hear in each one?

flyingsouth · Superb Lyrebird - Sherbrooke - 27 June 2020 8.53.42 AM

flyingsouth · Superb Lyrebird - Sherbrooke - 27 June 2020 9.21.02 AM

(In the first recording I think there is a second lyrebird also calling further away. In the second there are some pretty noisy Striated Thornbills calling overhead, and actually I can't remember now if the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos were actual cockatoos or the lyrebird!)

Other very nice birds out in the forest included a Lewin's Honeyeater that landed right in front of us  while we were watching Eastern Whipbirds on the forest floor, and we found Charlotte two lifers with an Eastern Shrike-tit high up in the trees and some Large-billed Scrubwrens just as we were finishing up our walk.

Eastern Grey Kangaroos enjoying the morning sun

Back at Grants Picnic Ground, although bird-feeding is no longer allowed here, we found a few of the locals had been getting sneaky handouts up along the Margret Lester Forest Walk. We finished off our birding here with this short little circuit near the carpark.

Crimson Rosellas

Sulphur-crested Cockatoos

And now we are back to six weeks of staying at home... At least though I'm off to a good start with my backyard birds - I woke up on the first night of Lockdown 2.0 to hear a Tawny Frogmouth calling just outside my window, and could see its silhouette on the branch when I peeked out the curtains. #birdthefeckathome and take care!