Tag Archives: Australian Birds

Jets, Eagles, Whistlers and Robins

Posted on March 24, 2015 | 2 comments

Woodlands Historic Park is in Greenvale near the Melbourne Airport. I visited last week after my walk along Cororoit Creek. I was pretty hungry and the only places I could see to eat along the way were crappy fast food outlets. I would rather go hungry than eat cardboard covered in salt, grease, sugar and fat. At the turn-off to get to Woodlands I saw a food truck at the Aircraft viewing area. I never knew about this area until I saw it on google maps while looking for the Woodlands Park. I stopped for some really good quality Turkish style food (chicken fillet burger and some fresh Dim Sims – ok a little junky but it was fresh made and really good). While waiting for it to be made several planes landed at the airport. The planes fly low right overhead as they land. It is a sight to see. Several mums had kids there watching and the kids were loving it – like giant dinosaurs flying overhead and landing nearby with a roar. They were too close to get in a shot using my 400 mm. Next time I will take a wider angle and wait for an airbus A380 to come in. One of the regular spotters said that was the best plane to watch as you can feel the turbulence and feel its size and at night it feels like it is going to land on you.

There are several good birding spots at Woodlands and the site I have been to a few times is near the Aboriginal Cemetery and Back Paddock gate. There is a large mob of Grey Roos hanging around that don’t seem too bothered by birders popping in or visitors with kids and strollers.

Grey Kangaroos

I found a pair of Red Capped Robins and they ignored me while they had a squabble about something. The male would approach and be gently attacked by the female. If the male backed off the female would jump in and get him hot and bothered again. It was strange to watch and I had no idea what was going on. I assumed it was a bit late in the season to be a courtship ritual. After a while they broke off and started hunting – with a similar style to the Eastern Yellow Robin – from a higher perch and then pouncing onto the prey on the ground.

Red Capped Robins in a stand-off

Female Red Capped Robin

Male Red Capped Robin

Red Capped Robins – another stand-off

Male Red Capped Robin

Male Red Capped Robin – looking for moths and other insects

Female Red Capped Robin keeping an eye on me as I circled around trying to get better shots

Rufous Whistler – I looked up from my stalking and found this guy trying to figure out what I was up to. His partner was in the next tree hunting amongst the tree branches and leaves.

Rufous Whistler II

Rufous Whistler III

Wedge Tailed Eagle – several Eagles passed over head during my few hours at Woodlands. The Galahs gave a panicked call alerting me that something was above.

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Posted in Animal, Bird Behaviour, Birds

Tagged Australian Birds, Bird Photography, Grey Kangaroo, Nature Photography, Photography, Red Capped Robin, Rufous Whistler, Victoria, Wedge Tailed Eagle, Woodlands Historic Park.

Kororoit Creek: A waterway claimed by many…

Posted on March 17, 2015 | 1 comment

I explored a new area last week. The Kororiot Creek mouth opens out into Port Phillip Bay in Williamstown next to the Jawbone reserve. To access the area you need to park at either the sports ground or next to one of the many fishing club shacks that line the Creek mouth on one side. As the nearby areas gentrify this part is fighting to stay the way it has always been – a working class fishing area/village. On the opposite side is a bank of salt marsh vegetation while on the village side it is Banksia trees and attempts at regeneration of creek side flora including White Mangroves. It is a remnant of the tidal wetland that ran right across this coastal area.

Further up the creek is the Mobile Oil Refinery Storage tanks. Considering the local birdlife including many migratory waders, it is surprising that such heavy can co-exist successfully with the wetland.

Great Egret

Welcome Swallow

Little Black Cormorants – I watched these Cormorants hunt as a pack. There were 6 in the group working closely together.

Black Swan P81 – I reported the swan through the myswan link . See Jawbone link above for more details on tagged swan research.

Pelican

Pelican II

New Holland Honeyeater

Little Pied Cormorant

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Posted in Birds, Victoria

Tagged Australian Birds, Australian Pelican, Bird Photography, Black Swan, Great Egret, Kororoit Creek, little black cormorant, Little Pied Cormorant, Nature Photography, New Holland Honeyeater, Victoria, Welcome Swallow

Hungry, Shy and Alluring – the Ladies of Tarra Valley

Posted on March 14, 2015 | Leave a comment

During my recent trip to the Tarra Bulga National Park and the Tarra Valley, the weather was overcast and drizzly making the forests quite dark and difficult to photograph birds.

After a few days the sun did come out and I found a few interesting scenes of feeding, preening and secret bathing spots.

Immature Grey Shrike Thrush waiting for a parent to bring a snack

Adult Grey Shrike Thrush with a moth

Grey Shrike Thrush feeding time

Silvereye

Silvereye preening

Silvereye keeping an eye on the voyeur with the camera

Eastern Spinebill – there were many large Fuschias around the campground and along the river (escaped plants) most likely established by previous owners of the campgrounds. The Spinebill loves this bush for the nectar in the flowers.

I had walked downstream from the campgrounds one evening and was looking at a small pond waiting for a platypus to appear when I remembered the old birding adage “always look behind you“. I did glance back up the creek and saw a large brown bird hopping into a rock pool and splashing about. It was a Lyrebird taking its evening dip.

Lyrebird

Lyrebird II

Lyrebird bathing – small wings and a long tail make for very short flight – more of a ground dweller and branch jumper.

A dog barked nearby and the bird jumped back into the bushes so I took the opportunity to re-position and observe a bit longer. The Lyrebird made a few calls and came down a few minutes later and hopped right back in…

Lyrebird – big claws for digging the rainforest floor for meals of insects, spiders and earthworms.

Just right……

Lyrebird splashdown – photos following this one were a blur of feathers and water…quite funny to watch – she spent a fair bit of time working on the tail as well.

Secret Lyrebird bath – after she left I had a look at the bath and it is a natural bathing spot – perfect for future stake-outs.

My Blue Thunder co-owner and I found a different Lyrebird building a nest in the National Park – the nest was about 2 metres off the ground on the side of a large Mountain Ash tree. She placed sticks carefully and collected large mouthfuls of mouldy leaf litter to place on the bottom of the nest. She ignored us watching and taking photos from only a few metres away.

Lyrebird Nest on the side of the Ash. Invisible unless you saw her jump up into it.

Tarra River next to the campgrounds

Moss and Lichen with a nice coloured bokeh background.

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

Tagged Australian Birds, Bird Photography, Bokeh, Eastern Spinebill, Grey Shrike Thrush, Lyrebird, Nature Photography, Silvereye, Tarra Bulga, Tarra River, Tarra Valley, Victoria

Dinner and a Show at Elster Creek

Posted on March 10, 2015 | 2 comments

An evening walk last week took me to the edge of the local pond along Elster Creek. A few regulars were taking their own evening strolls, having late snacks, preening and bathing and I stopped to have a bit of a look…..

Australian Wood-duck – also called a Maned Duck due to their short black mane running down their necks

Australian Wood-duck – the Wood-Duck has very large families and often Aunts will help look after the brood – I have seen 28 ducks in a single family flock

Eastern Rosella – an adult and an immature Rosella were feeding on the flower buds and seed heads on the edge of the lake. They are usually quite flighty but allowed me to get closer than usual.

Eastern Rosella – it was a bit windy and a gust came a long at the right time.

Immature Eastern Rosella having a look back at me while he chews on a flower head.

Eastern Rosella – I find this bokeh a little weird.

Eastern Rosella

Dusky Moorhen

Pacific Black Duck – bath time

Pacific Black Duck – water off a duck’s back

Pacific Black Duck III

Pacific Black Duck – the series of photos showed the duck’s head and body staying in place while the wings shook off the water – he flapped 3 or 4 times

Pacific Black Duck

Pacific Black Duck – all done , nothing to see, move along

A young Australian Wood-duck – last minute feed

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

Tagged Australian Birds, Australian Wood Duck, Bird Photography, Dusky Moorhen, Eastern Rosella, Nature Photography, Pacific Black Duck, Photography, Silver Gull, Victoria

Multi-tasking with a Snake-Bird

Posted on March 6, 2015 | Leave a comment

I love it when I can do several things at once. I feel a sense of achievement when I accomplish the goal for the day and feel even better when I can do two things for the journey of one. Bunnings is a hardware super store (for those that are not familiar with Australian Hardware Super-stores). I often make a Bunnings run to procure equipment and supplies for my gardens, home projects and camping trips. Opposite my favourite store is Karkarook Park. I stopped in last week to look for photo opportunities before I visited Bunnings. The Park is a restored sand mine and now has a wetlands area made up of several well vegetated lagoons, a large lake used for canoeing and fishing and pockets of woodlands around the edge. It has a very good range of water and woodlands birds and I often get up to 50 species on an extended visit. It is close enough to home to just pop in for half an hour and look for a species to photograph

Little Pied Cormorant

Common Bronzewing

Male Common Bronzewing

Male Superb Fairy Wren – immature Fairy-Wren coming into his adult colours

Superb Fairy Wren

Masked Lapwing – previously known as a Spur Winged Plover. It can be a very aggressive bird often taking on Raptors (and people) if they get too close to feeding grounds or nests. They make their various alarm calls quite casually, spooking other nearby birds. The Lapwing can be difficult to get close to….

Australasian Darter – a young female, the males are generally all black. This one allowed me to approach slowly along the pier until I was quite close.

Australasian Darter – they are also called a snake bird due to their swimming habit (very low in the water and sliding backwards into the water to hunt) and their very long snake like neck. This one waved it around quite a bit keeping an eye on fish below, hunters above and me…

III

Interesting eye and bill detail

When the Lapwing nearby gave one of its alarm calls the Darter immediately looked up for danger. She did not fly off or panic but was very aware. It is interesting that birds know each others specific danger calls

Beautiful wing patterns

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

Tagged Australasian Darter, Australian Birds, Bird Photography, Common Bronzewing, Karkarook Park, Little Pied Cormorant, Masked Lapwing, Nature Photography, Photography, Superb Fairy Wren, Victoria

Hastings Harbour Mudflats: Flames, Wrecks and Pelicans

Posted on March 4, 2015 | Leave a comment

Coming back from spending some time at the family farm, I stopped at Hastings to have a look at the mudflats at low tide. Hastings has a popular fishing harbour as well as a mixed industry site. A good amount of work has been done to turn it into a seaside town with a growing tourism market. There is a nice tree lined walk right along the edge of the mudflats and mangroves. Pelican Pier has a cafe with great views of the harbour. I have not been there for a long time and I was surprised to find that it is a pretty interesting place with a lot of scope for bird and general photography. There is a pier with lots of fishermen in action at low tide, many birds (Ibis, Egrets, Spoonbills, Swans & Pelicans) out on the mudflats that move up closer to the shore when the tide comes in and at least a dozen Pelicans hanging around looking for a free feed from the fishermen as they fillet and clean their catch.

Hastings Harbour – heavy industry amongst the mangroves and Great Egrets

An old fishing boat wreck out on the mudflat island. I did not notice the hovercraft in the background until I processed the image.

Pied Cormorant – it took a bit effort to get the fish down. The cormorant kept juggling the fish trying to get it down head first. He got it in the end….

Pacific Gull

Silver vs Pacific Gull – to see the two together gives you an idea of the size difference – the Pacific Gull is a big bird.

Pelican – stretching and drying, and maybe telling stories about the one that got away….

Pelican – everything gets a stretch.

Pelican – with a long neck and bill you can pretty much reach anywhere….

Pelican in the mangroves

The pelicans did not mind me too much as I got in close while they waddled in to the fish cleaning tables. I took a number of close shots of their feathers, eyes and beak throat pouch skin

Pelican close-up

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Posted in Birds, Victoria

Tagged Australian Birds, Australian Pelican, Bird Photography, Hastings, Nature Photography, Pacific Gull, Pied Cormorant, Silver Gull, Victoria

A Serendipitous Visit to Serendip Sanctuary

Posted on March 1, 2015 | 1 comment

When I visit the You Yangs I usually pop into a local bird and animal sanctuary at the base of the You Yangs Range. It is little known park close to Melbourne, free to visitors, with breeding programs for several rare birds. It also maintains a sanctuary for injured birds and animals, some too badly injured to be released. It is a great place to see and photograph rare and hard to find birds. The aviary birds are used to people and so are quite relaxed and offer photographers a good chance to get in close. Around the site are many wild birds breeding and taking advantage of the abundant food and protection. There are some large wetlands and many migrating visitors. The park also has resident populations of emus and Brolgas.

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

Emus are free to wander around and don’t bother people too much.

Emus – these two snuck up behind me to see what I was doing (unsuccessfully trying to photograph a family of Black Chinned Honeyeaters)

Emu and chick walking and feeding along the edge of the main lagoon – the chicks are very cute and there were a number at the Sanctuary but considering how protective (and big) the parents are I kept my distance.

Black Wallaby – relaxed and snoozing in the shade.

Black Wallaby II

Magpie Geese – several thousand were spread across all the lagoons and wetlands.

Magpie Geese

Magpie Goose – does not quite make my top 10 prettiest birds list…

Tawny Frogmouth – nocturnal specialist and master of camouflage.

Tawny Frogmouth II

Bush Stone Curlew

Red Rumped Parrot

Red Rumped Parrot II

Buff Banded Rail – secretive wetlands bird that birders only usually get glimpses of – but at Serendip there is an aviary full of them that allows for long views and many photos. In fact you have to be careful while you move around taking pics. They get under your feet while looking for insect snacks.

Buff Banded Rail II

Large Whistling Kite nest – the Kites were still around and making a nuisance of themselves amongst the nervous flocks of Magpie Geese

Cape Barren Goose – this one followed me around the Wallaby/Kangaroo Pen – he must have been expecting a feed. He made me a bit nervous as every time I turned around he was a few steps closer to my backside.

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Posted in Animal, Birds, Victoria

Tagged Australian Birds, Black Wallaby, Buff Banded Rail, Bush Stone Curlew, Cape Barren Goose, Emu, Magpie Goose, Nature Photography, Red Rumped Parrot, Serendip Sanctuary, Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Tawny Frogmouth

Up the You Yang(s)

Posted on February 28, 2015 | 6 comments

Halfway between Melbourne and Geelong is a Regional Park with high granite peaks and over 50km of Mountain Bike riding trails. It is also a good spot to bush walk and find a reasonable selection of uncommon woodlands birds. It can be dry and hot at times and there are a few dams in the park near the entrance that usually have water and so are good spots to explore for birds. There is a 12 km dirt road (the Great Circle Drive) that winds around the park taking in most of the main habitats.

Injured Cockatiel on the side of the road leading to the You Yangs, not known in this area so I assume an aviary escapee.

Scarlet Robin – teased me into thick scrub to try and take a photo. A curious bird and one that stands out quite well against the grey/brown background of the surrounding bush.

There are several large groups of White Winged Choughs (chuffs) in the You Yangs. They are a social species living in extended family groups. They are generally hard to sneak up on as they post guards in the surrounding trees as the main group feeds on the ground. I took some time and watched this family and slowly moved closer. They have very distinctive calls and different alarms for a variety of threats.

White Winged Chough

White Winged Chough – one of the guards keeping an eye on me as the main group looked for food on the ground.

White Winged Chough III

White Winged Chough – a glimpse of the White Wings – very clear in flight and when grooming

The two above were grooming each other and cleaning their own feathers.

Common Bronzewing

Common Bronzewing II

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

Tagged Australia, Australian Birds, Bird Photography, Cockatiel, Common Bronzewing, Nature Photography, Photography, Scarlet Robin, Victoria, White Winged Coughs, You Yangs

Elster Creek’s surprise visitor: a Pallid Cuckoo

Posted on February 22, 2015 | 5 comments

Yesterday was hot and humid and after a lazy day I decided on a late afternoon walk along the creek at my back fence. I took my camera and 1.4 Extender to see what I could find up at the Elster Creek lake inside the Golf Course. At the lake, I ran into a young local birder/naturalist – Gio F and we explored the creek up to a dense section looking for roosting Nankeen Night Herons but instead spotted a Pallid Cuckoo. It flushed a few times from high in the trees and we followed it around a few large Conifers trying to get a better angle for a picture. We ran into another local birder – David E (my birding mate from the Lake Tutchewop Twitch), who suggested that it was a young female Cuckoo probably starting the migration north and just passing through our area. They are quite rare in our part of the urban landscape.

Pallid Cuckoo, Elster Creek

Pallid Cuckoo II

Pallid Cuckoo III

Noisy Miners are native honeyeaters that have adapted extremely well to urban locations. They are a communal bird that are very aggressive and push out other species from areas. Some councils around Australia have started culling programs to reduce their numbers and it has worked – other species are making a come back. The Miners, while being a pest are actually interesting to watch and study as they have 11 known warning calls for predators and a specific one for “raptors above”. We heard it used while standing at the lake and soon spotted a Brown Goshawk flying over.

The one below came over to have look at what we were up to – had it seen the Cuckoo, it would have put out a challenge call and brought the rest of the pack over. It seemed quite hot and was panting while it watched us.

Noisy Miner, Elster Creek

Noisy Miner II

Eastern Rosella – this immature bird also came over to see what I was up to at the lake’s edge – I was trying to entice a Little Grassbird out of the reeds by doing a bad impression.

Eastern Rosella – I tried to mimic the Rosella’s calls ( a wide variety of piping chimes) and after a bit of a chat, the look he gave me suggested that I was a bit “special” and he took off…

Little Pied Cormorant

Little Pied Cormorant in the evening light

Australian Reed Warbler – I did entice this guy out with a call.

Australian Reed Warbler II

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

Tagged Australian Birds, Australian Reed Warbler, Bird Photography, Eastern Rosella, Elster Creek, Little Pied Cormorant, Nature Photography, Noisy Miner, Pallid Cuckoo, Photography, Victoria

Goschen! It was a good day to Twitch…

Posted on February 21, 2015 | 2 comments

Late last year a sighting report came in for a Long Billed Dowitcher – a bird that usually heads down the American side of the Pacific on Summer migration from Siberia. This one seemed to have mistakenly come down the Australasian Migration Highway. It was the first time one had been seen in Australia let alone so far south and into Victoria. I got up early and with a birding mate made the 3 hour drive for my first real twitch to get a single bird onto my life list – one that may never been seen again in Australia. Within 15 mins of arriving at Lake Tutchewop we found the bird thanks to a line up of spotting scopes and photographers. It was cold and windy and after recent rains the lake’s wide sandy foreshore had turned to sticky slippery mud. I did not take any photos (other than two iPhone shots) but had some nice clear views of the red/brown shorebird via my scope.

Spotting scopes lined up, Lake Tutchewop, Vic,

Lake Tutchewop, Vic – to get close up images several keen photographers crawled forward of the main group and stayed low in the mud to make sure they did not spook the Dowitcher and the other waders in the water.

Having been very lucky and finding the bird so soon (many other twitchers making the long trip took hours or days to find it and several never saw it all due to it flying around the vast lake at different times of the day) we decided to make the most of the location and head over to Goschen Bushland Reserve, near Swan Hill. Goschen is a small grassy Mallee woodland remnant, site of a planned, partially built but abandoned town with an old hall, tennis courts and facilities – all now derelict. Several hours of exploring the area can produce a good list of mallee birds not generally found further south and some nice pictures.

Hooded Robin, Goschen

Hooded Robin II, Goschen

Singing Honeyeater

Singing Honeyeater II

Singing Honeyeater III

White Browed Woodswallow

White Browed Woodswallow II

White Browed Woodswallow III

On the way home we passed through Lake Boga and watched White Breasted Woodswallows feeding their chicks.

White Breasted Woodswallows, Lake Boga – parent with a nice sized dragonfly

White Breasted Woodswallows, Lake Boga

White Breasted Woodswallows: just like real estate – it is all about position – the chick in the middle kept missing out….bad position.

White Breasted Woodswallow chicks waiting patiently for their next feed.

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Posted in Birds, Victoria, Victorian Reserves

Tagged Australian Birds, Bird Photography, Goschen Bushland Reserve, Hooded Robin, Lake Boga, Lake Tutchewop, Long Billed Dowitcher, Nature Photography, Singing Honeyeater, Twitch, White Breasted Woodswallow, White-Browed Woodswallow

Ricketts Point – Pelican Bandits

Posted on February 20, 2015 | 1 comment

Along Beach Rd at Beaumaris is a rocky platform that becomes exposed at low tide and is a favourite roosting spot for Silver Gulls, Crested Terns, Cormorants, Swans and Pelicans. Many other birds also stop by at times but these seem to be the main ones that are often here.

I always check the platform as I drive past and yesterday I noticed that it was visible with quite a few birds around. The carpark is only several meters from the edge of the rocks and screened by low salt bush so it is easy to get your gear ready and walk slowly onto the platform without spooking the birds. They are generally used to people and just move a bit further away. The best time to go is weekdays as the weekend and good warm weather guarantees lots of people visiting the area.

Ricketts Point, Beaumaris – at the end of my visit, two skin divers set up their hunting gear at the point tower and finally spooked the birds.

Little Pied Cormorant drying off

Little Pied Cormorant II – dry and fluffed up after preening

Australian Pelican – the short and tall of it…a few of the pelicans seemed to favour the upright resting position – I have not seen this before.

Pelican stretching or yawning

Pelican – cooling down or drying off a bit

Tagged Crested Tern – many of the Crested Terns on the rocks were tagged

Tagged Adult Crested Tern

Pacific Gulls – a grey/brown juvenile (1st year) and a Gull with almost adult plumage. It can take several years to reach full adult plumage.

Fisherman in their boat off Ricketts Point

Fishermen in their boat off Ricketts Point

Pacific Gull

The Pelicans developed an intense interest off shore and all started to watch the 1st year Pacific Gull move towards the fishing boat. One of the fishermen threw some bait or a chunk of fish to the Gull which attempted to bring it back to the rocks to consume. Several of the pelicans took off with a just a few flaps and immediately hounded the Gull in the air until it dropped the prize and one of the pelicans dived down and retrieved it. I have not seen this type of behaviour before – it is usually the other way round – maybe they knew the Gull was young and took advantage.

Pelicans with a sudden offshore interest.

Pelican taking off with a just a few beats of its wings

Pelican – off to harass the Gull.

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

Tagged Australian Birds, Australian Pelican, Bird Photography, Crested Tern, Little Pied Cormorant, Nature Photography, Pacific Gull, Ricketts Point Beaumaris, Victoria

A day at the Farm….the Pooh Farm!

Posted on February 18, 2015 | 4 comments

I visited one of my favourite birding sites yesterday – the Western Treatment Plant also known as the Pooh Farm. It is a 200 square kilometer site for the treatment of Melbourne’s waste products. Before the treated water is released into the Bay it moves through large areas of settling ponds and ocean side lagoons. Over the years it has become a major site for Bird species including many migratory birds that spend the Northern Winter in Southern Australia. It has become famous and has actually been named a world RAMSAR Wetlands. It is a great place to drive around and study the various shorebirds as well as the resident birds like the raptors. I made 23 trips there last year and it has become a regular spot for me when the conditions (temp, tide and winds) are right for a day visit – it is a very wind exposed site with limited tall vegetation and no facilities. People drive from hours away and interstate to visit a place that is only 35 mins away for me. A permit and key system is in place and to get full access to the 2 major areas one has to purchase permits and sit an induction process.

And a common question I get when people ask about the site – “What is the smell like?” There is no “off” smell, just the smell from the sea and the vegetation. There are heaps of insects but nothing that bites. It is the insects that help bring in such huge bird numbers.

The Lagoons are adjusted by the Melbourne Water engineers and suit different birds at various times of the year. Each species has a food and water depth requirement. The photo below was taken in Nov and yesterday it was dried out. And yes I have often nearly driven into the water while trying to drive, use binoculars and take photos all at the same time.

Lagoons within the T section of the Western Treatment Plant – Avalon Airport and the You Yangs in the background

If anyone wants to head out to the “farm” let me know….it is a great experience and I look for any excuse to go.

I found 75 species yesterday and attempted to take a few photos while driving the various roads…..

Shorebird flock, Western Treatment Plant – mostly Red Necked Stints and and Sharp Tailed Sandpipers

Shorebird flock II, Western Treatment Plant

Swamp Harrier

Swamp Harrier II – nice lines and effortless turns

Brolgas, Western Treatment Plant – always a treat to find these large rare birds.

Brolga

Red Necked Avocet, Western Treatment Plant – a very easy to identify species, nothing else even remotely like it in Australia.

Common Greenshank

Sharp Tailed Sandpiper

Welcome Swallow

Welcome Swallow II

Juvenile Welcome Swallow

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Posted in Birds, Victoria, Western Treatment Plant

Tagged Australian Birds, Bird Photography, Brolgas, Nature Photography, RAMSAR, Red Necked Avocet, Sharp Tailed Sandpiper, Shorebirds, Swamp Harrier, Victoria, Welcome Swallow, Western Treatment Plant

Chicks with big feet and an Angry Dad

Posted on February 16, 2015 | 6 comments

Karkarook Park is an old sand quarry site in Heatherton that has been rehabilitated into wetlands, a large multipurpose lake and bushland. It is a good site for Birding (50+ species in a few hours) and photography. It is used by locals for exercise, fishing, dog walking and picnics. The wetlands are excellent for spotting the rarer waders like crakes and rails and often migrating birds will stop for a few days rest – Stilts, Dotterals and the very rare Little Bittern.

On my last visit I watched as some newly hatched Dusky Moorhen and Coot chicks took to the water and were fed by their parents. I was quite surprised by the size of their feet.

Dusky Moorhen Chick

Dusky Moorhen Chick II

Dusky Moorhen & Chick

Eurasian Coot feeding its chick small bits of water weed.

Eurasian Coot and chicks

Eurasian Coot and chicks II,

I was walking down one of the woodlands paths when I was buzzed by a Willie Wagtail that was clearly agitated. They can be quite aggressive with other birds and are a very good bush alarm giving a clear distinctive warning (chicka chicka) when something dangerous is nearby: snakes, foxes, large lizards etc. But they don’t usually worry too much about people. I stood still and had a look around and realized that just near my knees in a bit of scrub were 2 Wagtail chicks that must have just come out of the nest. They did not fly away and just watched the parent. I moved back a few metres and sat down next to a tree. The parent then ignored me and started to feed his chicks. The other parent was on the other side of the bush looking after a third chick.

Angry Willie Wagtail

Willie Wagtail II

An Angry Dad giving me the stink eye…..

Willie Wagtail fledglings – 3rd chick just visible to the right

Willie Wagtail fledglings II

Little Wattlebird

Little Wattlebird II

Any guess why this bird is called a Red Kneed Dotteral?

The Red Browed Finch caught my attention when it flew up to the top of a fence line and started to bop up and down with a delicate grass seed stem. He put on quite a show for a few minutes but when the female ignored him he dropped the seeds and flew off….

Dancing Red Browed Finch

Great Cormorant drying out on a pier post – there are a number of Cormorants resident on the lake.

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Karkarook Park, Photography, Victoria

Tagged Australian Birds, Bird Behaviour, Bird Photography, Dusky Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Little Wattlebird, Nature Photography, Red Kneed Dotteral, Victoria, Willie Wagtail

Dandenong Ranges National Park – Welch Track: The Powerful Owl

Posted on February 15, 2015 | 8 comments

Another part of the Dandenong Ranges that I have explored briefly is a section near one of the Puffing Billy Steam Train Stations – Welch Track. It is a rather steep section of the Park with a good track leading down to a rainforest gully and then merging onto other tracks. I had seen a report of a few Large Billed Scrubwrens in the area and while I looked for them I found a few other interesting birds along the way.

Crimson Rosella

Male Superb Fairy Wren

Red Browed Treecreeper – usually difficult to see as they stick to the higher canopies of very tall trees

Juvenile Powerful Owl – still with fledgling white chest feathers, and already with extremely large and lethal talons. The Powerful Owl is able to take much larger and heavier prey – a favourite being the brush tailed possum.

Even as a young Owl in daylight it had much better senses than I did – it knew when other people were coming down the track well before I did.

Welch Track Foliage and fallen tree

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Posted in Birds, Dandenong Ranges, Rainforest, Victoria, Victorian Reserves

Tagged Australian Birds, Bird Photography, Crimson Rosella, Dandenong Ranges National Park, Nature Photography, Powerful Owl, rainforest, Red Browed Treecreeper, Superb Fairy Wren, Victoria

Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve – a small bird haven

Posted on February 12, 2015 | Leave a comment

I explored a new bush park today, on the outskirts of Frankston, Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve. It is a good sized reserve with many well managed and signposted tracks and a wide fire break running down the centre of the park. I spent a few hours investigating several of the Northern trails and found quite a number of smaller birds. The bush is very thick and dense with the only access via the trails – it is too thick to get into. It is a haven for the smaller birds while the larger birds stick to the taller gums. A few uncommon birds seen were Grey Currawongs, a Collared Sparrowhawk and 2 Wedge Tail Eagles circling very high. Many of the gum trees were flowering and there seemed to be a good supply of Lerp on the leaves as well. The birds were quite aggressive towards other species and each other – a sign of a supply of food worth defending.

Yellow Faced Honeyeater

New Holland Honeyeater,

III

Little Wattlebird

Grey Shrike Thrush

Collared Sparrowhawk

And my usual forest companion:

Eastern Yellow Robin

III

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Posted in Birds, Victoria, Victorian Reserves

Tagged Australian Birds, Bird Photography, Collared Sparrowhak, Eastern Yellow Robin, Grey Shrike Thrush, Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve, Little Wattlebird, Nature Photography, New Holland Honeyeater, Victoria, Yellow Faced Honeyeater

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