Gippsland Trip 2017 - Part IV: South Gippsland

For the final five days of our Gippsland trip we made our way back west towards Melbourne, camped a few nights at the Prom and got in a couple of bonus birds on the final drive home. Because who says no to bonus birds?

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.

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.

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.

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!

Gippsland Trip 2017 - Part III: Mallacoota

Ok so, we made it to Mallacoota!

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.

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!

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.

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.

Gippsland Trip 2017 - Part II: Cape Conran

On the third day of our trip Karen and I headed out to Cape Conran Coastal Reserve as early as we could. We possibly didn't get to the heathland at the start of the Estuary View Walk as early as we should have for maximum Ground Parrot potential, but there was no one around and I think we were the first ones to walk the trails that morning.

Ground Parrots in there somewhere

We covered all the tracks we could find through the heath but any Ground Parrots were eating their breakfast well under cover.

Despite the lack of Ground Parrots an Australian Hobby flying over was a good addition to a trip list pretty light on raptors, and a Fan-tailed Cuckoo singing its heart out from the powerlines gave good views.

estuary views, as promised

The sound of Fan-tailed Cuckoos was pretty constant as we followed the trail away from the heath into the bush along the Yeerung River where, among other things, we found another Bassian Thrush and Rose Robin, with a Great Cormorant flying over every so often.

no birds here, but pretty

The estuary and beach at the end were pretty quiet, except for a welcome but distant White-bellied Sea-eagle.

there was some evidence of bird activity on the beach

After the Estuary Walk the plan was to try for Turquoise Parrots along the recommended Old Coast Road but we got bogged in sand on the way via East Yeerung Track. We got out ok and continued but when we reached a bigger patch of suspicious-looking sand we realised my car wasn't going to make it the rest of the way.

Gippsland Trip 2017 - Part I: Orbost + Marlo

In November last year I went on a Gippsland birding trip with my friend Karen from Perth. So this obviously a super delayed trip report but if that doesn't offend you, read on!

the green hills of Gippsland

Originally we'd planned this trip around a pelagic out of Merimbula in southern NSW that didn't end up happening. And originally we were going to travel through East Gippsland to Merimbula and continue further north in NSW in search of Rockwarblers and Eastern Bristlebirds. But when the pelagic was called off we instead reorganised ourselves to stay in Victoria and explore both East and South Gippsland - all Gippsland, all the time.

Lots of birdy firsts awaited us on this trip: heaps potential lifers for Karen, who had only done one real day of East-coast birding before this, and lots of state birds and new birding sites for me.

The first day, way back on 12 November 2017, we left Melbourne early and headed for Orbost. Our first stop on the way was Fairy Dell where Karen was met with an onslaught of lifers.

Brace yourself, Karen!

Shortly after crossing the bridge from the picnic area we stopped to watch an Eastern Whipbird in a tree. Then a Satin Bowerbird and Olive-backed Oriole flew into another tree overhead. Soon after that there was a female Rose Robin busy building a nest and then further into the rainforest we found Rufous Fantails, Brown Gerygones, and very briefly a Black-faced Monarch - all new birds for Karen and the last two Vic ticks for me!

a handsome male Rose Robin also joined us for lunch

After Fairy Dell we headed up to the drier habitat of Canni Creek Racecourse Reserve which was an interesting place. Here we were hoping for Turquoise Parrots, Diamond Firetails or Hooded Robins...

Birding the RBG

Usually when I go birding on the weekend I'm getting away from the city. But a couple of weeks ago I did the opposite and caught an early tram in to towards the CBD. My mission was to explore another place I'd never birded - the Royal Botanic Gardens.

morning view from Birrarung Marr

I started at Birrarung Marr where there was nothing too unexpected. Lots of Eurasian Coots, Silver Gulls, and Noisy Miners harassing most other birds not in the water.

corella and Eureka Tower

Crossing Princes Bridge a solo Long-billed Corella called from on top of a street light. And in keeping with the usual corella modus operandi of greatly annoying people, this one was sitting just outside my 5MR. I had Little on my 5MR list, but not Long-Billed. After a few minutes it flew off down Southbank and remained not on my 5MR list.

I continued through Alexandra Gardens and then the colourful Queen Victoria Gardens.

ooooooh pretty

I found Magpie-larks and Crested Pigeons on the lawn, and Wood Ducks, Pacific Black Ducks and a couple of Chestnut Teals in the ponds.

two of the PBDs

And I have to say that one of the most numerous birds hanging out in all this exotic, landscaped finery were the also exotic but not so fine Common Myna.

Five Mile Radius!

So I too am joining the 5MR revolution. It involves birds, lists and maps - a combination I could only resist for so long. Unfortunately it doesn't involve the metric system. But that's ok, I'm just going to stick with miles. That's what all the cool birders are doing. And also, I like consistency.

Jen of I Used to Hate Birds came up with the concept, and basically, you just keep a record of all the birds you see within a five-mile radius of your home. It encourages local birding, patch birding, green birding and all things good.

When I worked out my 5MR I found I already had 84 birds on my list. I also found that the last new species added were all the way back in 2016 - eep!

the billabong at Wilson's Reserve

There are a few places that I have birded quite regularly, like Wilson Reserve, which is where I got those last new birds - a Fairy Martin and an Australasian Darter. This spot has also gifted me some nice 5MR birds including Powerful Owl, Rufous Fantail, Bassian Thrush and Sacred and Azure Kingfishers.

Another nice little go-to spot has been Glen Iris Park with its small wetlands, and adjoining Dorothy Laver Reserve. This is where I saw my lifer Nankeen Night Heron when I started birding, as well as what I am pretty sure is my lone 5MR White-necked Heron. It's not bad for small park right next to the freeway.

a more recent young Nankeen Night Heron at Glen Iris Park wetlands

I also now have new-found motivation for some overdue local exploring. Looking at my 5MR on the map there are a few places I hadn't realised were so close to home, that I hadn't thought to visit before, or just hadn't gotten round to checking out. And a few I should probably go back to more often, like Wattle Park, where last time I saw this nice kookaburra.

I'm in your 5MR, eating your skinks.

Luckily there are also some pretty active local birders within my 5MR who report interesting sightings. It was thanks to one of these birders that I saw my first new species since I officially started my list.

OMGZ Corellas

I seem to take a while to post about things so this is a bit more autumn action from back in April. That's when the exotic Plane Trees in the streets around here were offering up some very fluffy and apparently very tasty seed balls.

mmm, seed balls...

This didn't not go unnoticed by the huge flocks of Little Corellas that have been descending on Melbourne to apparently attack trees, wreak havoc and have insane corella parties.

another three of the havoc-wreakers

I crossed paths with group of the cheeky guys in a suburban street when I happened to have my camera on board. They were well into the seed balls and I also had a hard time not running over some that were drinking from a puddle in the gutter. Classy.

plenty on the footpath, heaps more in the trees

Luckily most other cars also slowed down to let them get out of the way, though the corellas did take their sweet time about it. One nice passenger even got out to usher them off the road though it seems corellas don't really understand the concept of being ushered.