“Birds are the magicians of the nature! They are here, they are there and they are everywhere!” – Mehmet Murat Ildan
An overcast and at times drizzly morning was my initial reward for an early start exploring a new site on the Mornington Peninsula. I was down the coast for the weekend and decided to have a look at a Flora and Fauna Reserve that I had always driven past to get to Green Bush but had never visited. Behind a two car carpark, an ordinary gate and piles of dumped rubbish was a pretty good native bushland reserve and a great display of small birds, along with the local regulars. I knew I was in for a treat by the shear number of birds especially the smaller ones that I could hear and eventually found as I walked around the reserve. They moved in early morning feeding flocks and were not too bothered by me, at times coming down quite close to check me out.
Golden Whistler, Peninsula Gardens, Rosebud South, Victoria, April, 2015
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Spotted Pardalote, Peninsula Gardens, Rosebud South, Victoria
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Spotted Pardalotes gathering nesting material even though it is very late in the season, Peninsula Gardens, Rosebud South, Victoria
Grey Shrike Thrush, Peninsula Gardens
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The large number of birds was I think due to a lack of visitors and a good variety of low and mid canopy native vegetation, much of it flowering like the banksia below. There were many tall Grasstrees in the reserve and a number of these were flowering as well.
Banksia, Peninsula Gardens – many of the smaller honeyeaters were squabbling over these large nectar rich flowers
Grass Trees, Peninsula Gardens
The Gap Year and Beyond 