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| like this one |
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| and this one |
12 September 2018
Wild Bird Wednesday: Tree Martins
I have a few leftover photos from my recent WTP adventures so I'm joining in Wild Bird Wednesday this week with... Tree Martins!
4 September 2018
Phone + Scope + WTP
I made quite a few visits to the WTP over winter. As per usual, there were crazy amounts of birds - and so lots of opportunities for phonescoping practice!
One morning cruising along the coast road inside Gate 8 the tide was just right and a little collection of birds had gathered in the shallow water.
There were quite a few Australian Pied Oystercatchers in this bunch and five of them obviously had some oystercatcher business to sort out.
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| a distant Blue-winged Parrot at Kirk Point |
One morning cruising along the coast road inside Gate 8 the tide was just right and a little collection of birds had gathered in the shallow water.
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| preening Black Swan and some teals |
There were quite a few Australian Pied Oystercatchers in this bunch and five of them obviously had some oystercatcher business to sort out.
25 August 2018
Some More 5MR Birding
After a pretty good start to 5MR birding, I've managed to find a few more species.
The first Saturday of June a Brown Gerygone and a pair of Scarlet Robins were reported at Studley Park in Kew. I always love seeing robins and the gerygone is a great record anywhere around metropolitan Melbourne so I went out early on the Sunday for a look.
I didn't know where to look but finding some Tawny Frogmouths and also this gate spurred me on to explore the whole area - another new 5MR spot for me.
I didn't find the gerygone or robins that day so I went for another look the next week. Again I walked around the whole Studley Park area, again with no sign of any gerygones or robins. But, I decided to have 'one last look' up a trail from the boathouse carpark where I'd started and there were the robins:
The first Saturday of June a Brown Gerygone and a pair of Scarlet Robins were reported at Studley Park in Kew. I always love seeing robins and the gerygone is a great record anywhere around metropolitan Melbourne so I went out early on the Sunday for a look.
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| a misty view over the Yarra |
I didn't know where to look but finding some Tawny Frogmouths and also this gate spurred me on to explore the whole area - another new 5MR spot for me.
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| I assumed this was an imperative |
I didn't find the gerygone or robins that day so I went for another look the next week. Again I walked around the whole Studley Park area, again with no sign of any gerygones or robins. But, I decided to have 'one last look' up a trail from the boathouse carpark where I'd started and there were the robins:
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| Mr Scarlet |
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| Mrs Scarlet |
31 July 2018
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
16 July 2018
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
18 June 2018
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.
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.
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.
The estuary and beach at the end were pretty quiet, except for a welcome but distant White-bellied Sea-eagle.
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
13 June 2018
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!
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.
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!
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...
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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...