Date: 24 April 2024
Leader: John Van Doorn
A daunting Melbourne day with the suburbs under heavy showers and grey skies in abundance, but for those who decided to head off on another midweek birding adventure the drive toward Westernport Bay was blessed with some blue sky, and the rain began to clear. By 10am we had a group of 11 birders and welcomed back two overseas visitors … J from Germany and B from Sri Lanka. G from Inverloch was a new attendee for this group. We were all rugged up and ready for whatever the weather could throw at us!
No rain to begin with, but a rather blustery wind that successfully drowned out any birdsong that might have been near the car park. We did manage to see a couple of Australian Magpies in the adjoining paddock and a lone Sulphur-crested Cockatoo screeched loudly enough to make the beginning of the list. As the track we chose made its way down into the gully the wind eased and allowed some distant birdsong to carry in our direction. So, yes, it was rather quiet to begin with, and the group fell into conversation on mundane things like “why is it called The Gurdies”?
Please see the links below for more information and tips for exploring the area more widely.
The Gurdies, Victoria – Wikipedia
The Gurdies Nature Conservation Reserve (weekendnotes.com)
As we made our way deeper into the forest, we eventually hit a hot spot and paused to see what might reveal itself. A beautiful male Golden Whistler and a couple of foraging Spotted Pardalotes were the first to be seen, followed shortly by a Grey Fantail. We than had an amusing interlude of “Spot the Shrike-thrush”. We all heard the beautiful call of this bird but even though it was photogenically positioned out on the end of a dead stump it proved decidedly difficult to describe its position for the photographers. Eventually, some lovely photos were obtained.
The density of the understory was not making it easy to see the small birds but after a little more persistence we got onto some Superb Fairy-wrens. A nearby Thornbill proved difficult to positively identify though. Moving further down toward a muddy dam we spotted a Crimson Rosella and heard the call of White-throated Treecreeper. Here, our German friend showed his ecological credentials by sampling the water for signs of life. After deftly removing his shoes and socks he waded into the mud and used his insect net to dredge the water, duly noting the presence of tadpoles.
After some deliberation we retraced our steps for a short distance and took a narrower path through the shrubs. At some point along here our leader John spotted a Bassian Thrush that was also seen briefly by Phillip as it flew off, but unfortunately it could not be relocated for other members of the group. This was not the only disappointment as a little later a short melodic song was tentatively identified as a Brown Gerygone by J. A possible individual was briefly located perched further down the path by Phillip. The bird did not reappear for John who is more familiar with this species, to confirm the sighting, so it was not added to the list. Instead, we got some good sightings of Brown Thornbills and another Superb Fairy-wren.
As we made our way gradually back uphill, we heard the call of an Eastern Spinebill and spotted a Red Wattlebird that subsequently flew off revealing the presence of a group of them as they moved on through the canopy. The sunlight through the Stringybarks painted a surprisingly pleasant picture of the forest as we pondered what might have been. Back at the car park a lone Willie Wagtail was heard calling before we closed the list for this location with 14 species. The survey data can be found at the following link.
http://birdata.birdlife.org.au/survey?id=10008581&h=8878bd91
We made the short 25-minute drive to San Remo for lunch, and for those who also keep personal lists there were sightings of Cattle Egret and Black-shouldered Kite along the way. The foreshore reserve was cold and blustery, and we arrived on the tail end of another rain shower. However, we managed some sheltered seating near the BBQ’s. The Pelican feeding that regularly happens here at 12pm was in progress and provided J with an unexpected spectacle for the day. After lunch we headed over to Phillip Island and the car park at Fishers Wetland. Conditions were still blustery, so after an initial scan of the lake near the hide we chose the path that runs behind the hide and traversed what was the Western, sheltered side of the wetland.
The section of lake near the hide held some Eurasian Coot, Pacific Black Duck, Chestnut Teal, and a Grey Teal. Hoary-headed Grebes were identified after some close-up photo shots.
The small shrub covered promontory held Royal and Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Australian White Ibis, Great Egret, and a Cape Barren Goose.
Cape Barren Goose. Photos by Steve Hoptroff
Welcome Swallows hawked the air above the water, and some eagle eyes spotted two White-fronted Chats foraging along the Eastern edge. Purple Swamphen were noted in many spots around the edges of the water.
As we moved further around, we obtained some nice views of a group of Australian Shovelers and spotted a few more Grey Teal and Pacific Black Duck.
Black Swans were feeding at the far end. The thick shrubbery along the path again made it quite difficult to get onto the small birds. A Grey Fantail and a Brown Thornbill were noted as well as a few Superb Fairy-wrens. Coming out into an open section John spotted a Swamp Harrier on the Eastern side. After a few minutes it was joined by a second bird, so we got some nice raptor in action views.
Swamp Harrier. Photos by Steve Hoptroff
A few Common Starling were noted resting on a telegraph pole and then an Australian Pelican glided in to make a perfect landing.
The paddock to the West held over a hundred Cape Barren Geese along with quite a few Masked Lapwing, Australian White Ibis, and more Purple Swamphen. The return walk along the track yielded a Red Wattlebird, and more photo opportunities as the Shovelers were not too far away.
To complete the afternoon walk we used the boardwalk toward Churchill Island and noted lots more Masked Lapwings and a Chestnut Teal to our right. We walked up to the beginning of the bridge and scanned the shoreline for any loafers and turned up two Australian Pied Oystercatchers, five Pacific Gulls and a White-faced Heron.
Two Little Pied Cormorants and one Great Pied Cormorant were noted flying overhead.
Our bird list for the day totalled 43 species. There were only four species that were seen at both sites. A very good outcome after a quiet start. The sightings for Fishers Wetland may be found at the survey link below:
http://birdata.birdlife.org.au/survey?id=10008586&h=fa7ad29f
Photos kindly provided by Steve Hoptroff and John Van Doorn.
Phillip.
birdlifemelbourne 
John,
Peter and I have just recently renewed our membership. How do we get onto the mailing list for upcoming bird watching trips. We are keen to get back to going out on birdwatching trips again. We are beginners (of a sort). We used to go out on Hazel and Allen’s trips but have been away for a couple of years.
Marna
Hi Marna. Unfortunately, the BirdLife Melbourne site does only posts three forward dates for outings.
If you send birdlife.melbourne@gmail.com an email, I will send you the outing lists for both the weekend and mid week outings.
Kind regards