Eastern Spinebill perched waiting for snacks to come his way….
Eastern Spinebill perched waiting for snacks to come his way….
After spending a part of yesterday at the farm working the patch for Fanior and Henry, I stopped in at Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve for a walk in the mid afternoon sunlight. It was cool, calm and very quiet, not many species of birds around expect for quite a few White-Eared and New Holland Honeyeaters. Walking along the Emu Wren Track I noticed a bird on an overhanging branch. I was quite surprised and delighted to find it was a Bassian Thrush. I have only seen a few of this species over the last few years and this was my first time photographing one. I suspect it was a juvenile by the way it seemed to be crouched and begging a bit. I did not see any adults but they are much more secretive and generally harder to see and find.
In the late afternoon light I found some large banksias that had a few Little Wattlebirds feeding on the flowers.
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.
And my usual forest companion: