After viewing the Spotless Crake and the Grebe for an hour or so and seeing what else turned up,  we wandered over to Elster Creek and the golf course to see what was happening in a different patch of the neighbourhood.
Autumn foliage along the Creek
Crested Pigeons are nervous at the best of times but this one decided we were interesting (3 blokes carrying camera gear and pushing a bike) and flew down to within 20 feet or so and came strutting straight towards us. It stopped 10 feet away gave us a good looking over as I unslung my camera gear and then flew off in its usual style (mad panic). I am thinking this bird may need glasses….
Crested Pigeon
Crested Pigeon II
Talking of crazy birds – I spotted several Long Billed Corellas near the lake on one of the golf fairways. They were having a grand old time digging up the fairway looking for onion weed bulbs. Each one excavated a deep hole of several inches and grabbed a mouthful of bulbs and chewed them with obvious pleasure. Even walking up pretty close did not spook them. This was my first sighting of these birds in the area. Their cousins, the Little Corella seem to be more common here especially in the last few years with a flock of 400+ roosting in the local trees over winter.
Long Billed Corella – not the greenskeepers best friend….
Long Billed Corella
Long Billed Corella – enjoying the bounty
The Gap Year and Beyond 