Category Archives: Birds

A forest walking companion…

Posted on April 5, 2018 | 6 comments

One of the first birds I see when I enter the forest at Green’s Bush is the Eastern yellow Robin. I watch it as it moves forward away from me down the track to the next tree trunk around head height. It keeps an eye on me and watches the ground for its next meal. It is an ambush hunter. From behind it is quite camouflaged and I often fail to see until it dashes forward but front on it is a beautiful vibrant yellow. I usually find them in pairs in territories around the track, my record for sightings is 14 along a 3.8 km circuit. At the moment there are quite a few juveniles coming into colour and moving around the forest.

Eastern yellow Robin, Greens Bush, Mornington Peninsula National Park, Vic

Eastern yellow Robin, Greens Bush, Mornington Peninsula National Park, Vic

Eastern yellow Robin, Greens Bush, Mornington Peninsula National Park, Vic

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Eastern yellow Robin, Greens Bush, Mornington Peninsula National Park, Vic

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Eastern yellow Robin, Greens Bush, Mornington Peninsula National Park, Vic

Eastern yellow Robin in its usual hunting pose…

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Yellow-rumped Thornbills at Easter lunch.

Posted on April 4, 2018 | 4 comments

I spent Easter Sunday at my parents place in Moorooduc, an hour south of Melbourne. Between chainsawing fallen tree branches after the last wind storm and Easter lunch, I heard soft trill calls and noticed a feeding flock of small birds moving through a group of trees. I grabbed my camera gear from the car and stalked the little birds with the bright yellow rumps. I try and wander around the various sections of the farm looking for new species. The small farm is starting to build quite a bird list. I added two new species  – the Yellow-rumped Thornbills below and later a pair of Cape Barren Geese landed in a nearby paddock.

Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Willowind, Moorooduc, Vic

Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Willowind, Moorooduc, Vic

Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Willowind, Moorooduc, Vic

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Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Willowind, Moorooduc, Vic

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Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Willowind, Moorooduc, Vic

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Tootgarook lookout

Posted on March 20, 2018 | 1 comment

I saw a few bird species working the fruiting thorn bushes near the Tootgarook swamp. Along with the Striated Fieldwren and I found small groups of adults and juvenile Golden-headed Cisticolas feeding on insects and hiding in the thorn bushes. One would sit at the top of a bush and keep lookout while the rest would feed. The young one pictured further below must have been fresh out of the nest as it was quite clumsy in flight and when trying to land between the thorns.

Golden headed Cisticola, Tootgarook Wetlands, Tootgarook, Vic

Golden headed Cisticola look-out, Tootgarook Wetlands, Tootgarook, Vic

Juvenile Golden headed Cisticola, Tootgarook Wetlands, Tootgarook, Vic

Juvenile Golden headed Cisticola navigating the thorn bushes.

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Striated Fieldwren – Tootgarook Swamp

Posted on March 19, 2018 | 8 comments

Trying to get access into the Tootgarook Swamp and wetlands can be quite tricky. The swamp is located between Rosebud and Rye in Tootgarrok on the Mornington Penninsula. The proposed fresh water wetlands have been a battle ground between local environmentalists and developers trying to bulldoze the swamp and create yet more suburban housing. At this stage the local action groups are winning out and the developers are being delayed. Hopefully this will continue until the full community gets behind the creation of a protected wetlands. I have been visiting and exploring around the fringe of the swamp areas trying to find the best access spots. One of the higher vantage points is via a closed road that leads to an old dumping area that is located between the sports ovals and the swamp. I spent some time looking for the beautiful and melodic Striated Fieldwren and found a quite a few along the edge of the dumping ground.

Striated Fieldwren, Tootgarook Wetlands, Tootgarook, Vic

Striated Fieldwren, Tootgarook Wetlands, Tootgarook, Vic

Striated Fieldwren, Tootgarook Wetlands, Tootgarook, Vic

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Striated Fieldwren, Tootgarook Wetlands, Tootgarook, Vic

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Striated Fieldwren, Tootgarook Wetlands, Tootgarook, Vic

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Striated Fieldwren, Tootgarook Wetlands, Tootgarook, Vic

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Striated Fieldwren, Tootgarook Wetlands, Tootgarook, Vic

Protest vote

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Green’s Bush Eastern Spinebill

Posted on February 21, 2018 | Leave a comment

During late Summer I have been spending most weekends walking around the various sections of Green’s Bush. Near the entrance to the Baldry Crossing Circuit I found this Eastern Spinebill feeding along the creek.

Eastern Spinebill, Greens Bush, Mornington Peninsula National park, Vic

Eastern Spinebill, Greens Bush, Mornington Peninsula National park, Vic

Eastern Spinebill, Greens Bush, Mornington Peninsula National park, Vic

Eastern Spinebill, Greens Bush, Mornington Peninsula National park, Vic

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Scrubbers along the track

Posted on January 29, 2018 | 1 comment

One of the regular birds I see along the tracks of Greens Bush is the White-browed Scrubwren. I see them often but dont often photograph them due to their constant movement and the shady and dark areas they lurk. When I find them I try to phish and psst to attract their attention. The one below was with a bunch of juveniles that were hunting in the mottled shadows and I managed to actually get a clear shot. I liked its intensity as it grabbed a spec of food and gave it to one of the juveniles.

White-browed Scrubwren, Greens Bush, Mornington Peninsula National park, Vic,

White-browed Scrubwren, Greens Bush, Mornington Peninsula National park, Vic,

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Churchill National Park Fairywrens.

Posted on January 28, 2018 | 4 comments

A friend took me to Churchill National Park a while back. I have been looking for new sites around the greater Melbourne with good photo opportunities. It was a the first time I had visited this site and it was pretty good. There are plenty of tracks and I found good range of forest bird species and a colony of Superb Fairywrens including this nicely coloured male below.

Male Superb Fairy-wren, Chrurchill National Park, Vic

Male Superb Fairywren, Churchill National Park, Vic

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