14 November 2023
Leader: Clancy Benson
Jawbone Reserve sits neatly between housing and the sea … a beautifully preserved and wild piece of Williamstown. Something natural and protective for the wildlife and birds that frequent our shoreline and salt tolerant flora. The weather wasn’t particularly warm, and the sunshine was a rare visitor, but the rain stayed away and the wind, although present, was little more than a breeze and not too cold. All said, quite tolerable conditions for a morning walk and bird watching for the 14 birders in attendance.
Clancy has made this his local patch and regularly visits. His knowledge of birds and his familiarity with the area made a perfect combination for leading this walk.
For those interested I have included the eBird track of the area we covered (see end of the Blog), and further information relating to Jawbone can be found in the links below…
Jawbone Flora & Fauna Reserve – Hobsons Bay
Jawbone Flora and Fauna Reserve – Remember The Wild
We met up on Crofton drive and couldn’t help but be impressed by the expanse of the environment laid out before us. A vista filled with masses of promise. Toward the South and West there were many Swans and wildfowl feeding out on the sea, and close by, the lakes and reed beds were alive with ducks, waterhen, and smaller birds. Nearer the houses, Doves, Pigeons, Magpies and Mynas. Overhead, Gulls, and mystery flyovers (in the sense that you never know what might fly past).
Soon after 10.00am our eager group began by walking roughly eastwards toward the arboretum taking in the abundant birdlife in the reed beds and lakes. Eurasian Coot and Grey Teal were about in quite large numbers.
Grey Teal. Photos by Steve Hoptroff
Purple Swamphen and Dusky Moorhen grazed on the open grass near the reed beds, and a single Black-tailed Native Hen showed briefly on the outward journey but presented much better views later as we retraced our steps.
Pied Cormorants, and Little Pied Cormorants rested on rocky outcrops that dot the islands. Closer inspection of the lakes revealed Hoary-headed Grebes, Hardhead, a few Pacific Black Duck, and a Great Crested Grebe.
Hoary-headed Grebe (above); Great Crested Grebe (below). Photos by Steve Hoptroff
Great Crested Grebe. Photos by Qifan Su
An Egret generated some debate as some members were keen to get an Intermediate Egret… however, we all eventually settled for Great Egret.
A Black Swan was attending to some cygnets, one of which was hitching a ride on Mum or Dad’s back, and what one might describe as “the great Crake temptation” began. Just visible, for a fraction of a second, behind the reeds…lakeside…a likely Crake…that disappeared quickly without a sound or any other hints.
Disappointment soon evaporated as a Black Shouldered Kite drifted overhead and began hovering before moving on again.
Australian Reed-Warblers and Little Grassbird were calling from the reed beds. Two Pelicans flew past from the East…low, majestic, and eye-catching. Then the flash of a falcon in a rapid low-level flight that later revealed itself to be an Australian Hobby. European Greenfinch, New Holland Honeyeaters, Singing Honeyeater, Superb Fairy-wren, and Red Wattlebird were all spotted in the shrubs that border the reeds in places. Welcome Swallows swooped overhead from time to time…not in large numbers but present.
European Greenfinch (above); New Holland Honeyeater (below). Photos by Steve Hoptroff
Red Wattlebird (left); Red Wattlebird and Crested Pigeon (right). Photos by Steve Hoptroff
In the arboretum a hide overlooks a small pool….and yet another Crake temptation…possibly a Spotless but again not enough visibility or sound evidence to add it to the list. House Sparrows were being obliging enough though and here too were small numbers of Grey Teal and Little Pied Cormorants along with Superb Fairy-wrens.
On the boardwalk…. excitement at the presence of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, A Pied Stilt on a nest, and an end to the great Crake temptation with two Australian Spotted Crakes showing extremely well.
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. Photos by Steve Hoptroff
Australian Spotted Crake. Photos by Steve Hoptroff
Turning our bins to the line of rocks an immature Pacific Gull was noted along with Great Crested Terns, Pied and Little Pied Cormorants, a White-faced Heron and a few resting Whiskered Terns which later showed a little better as they resumed hunting over the saltmarsh and water.
Pied Stilt (above); White-faced Heron (below). Photos by Steve Hoptroff
As we began our return along the boardwalk a group of 5 Black Swans loomed large in the West and flew over us toward town.
Retracing our steps in a Westerly direction we spotted Royal Spoonbill roosting in with the Cormorants and got some nice views of Yellow-rumped Thornbills as they left the cover of the shrubs to forage in the grass. Little Ravens turned up overhead for an interlude of cawing and circling before heading away again.
Moving West past our starting point we stopped at the cars and kitted up with some scopes and spent a little time looking in more detail at the lakes and beyond. Two Musk Ducks revealed themselves and a Blue-billed Duck was spotted tucked in behind some reeds.
Musk duck (above); Blue-billed Duck (below). Photos by Steve Hoptroff
Musk Duck (above); Blue-billed Duck (below). Photos by Qifan Su
Further away on the sandy area, a few Pied Oystercatcher and a single Sooty Oystercatcher were noted amongst the Silver Gulls. Chestnut Teal were also noticed in small numbers on the lake.
The lakes at the western end held more Eurasian Coot, Grey Teal, Pacific Black Duck, another Great Egret, Royal Spoonbill, a Great Crested Grebe with a chick on its back, and some Little Black Cormorants. Silvereyes, House Sparrows, Greenfinch, and New Holland Honeyeaters frequented the shrubby cover.
The Paisley Challis wetland was given the once over from the path at its Eastern end and turned up a Black-fronted Dotterel and a Red-kneed Dotterel.
Red-kneed Dotterel. Photos by Steve Hoptroff
Heading back along the landside of the western lakes we at last got a sighting of a Little Grassbird and located an isolated gathering of about 10 Chestnut Teal. White-plumed Honeyeater were noted along with the ubiquitous Common Myna and Common Starlings.
We headed off to Newport Lakes for a late lunch, and hopefully, a few different species. We weren’t disappointed as the lunchtime entertainment included a female Rufous Whistler, a couple of Willie Wagtails, and a pair of Pied Currawongs that called and flew nearby. After lunch we did a short walk heading across the causeway and traversing just half the lake area.
New birds included Golden Whistler, Sacred Kingfisher, Australasian Grebe, Spotted Pardalote, Noisy Miner, White-browed Scrubwren, and a Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo.
There were many pleasing sightings on the day and the photographs tell most of the story, but it would be remiss of me not to mention the Australian Hobby (good luck getting a photo of that one!) and the Sooty Oystercatcher which was quite distant.
The bird records for the day can be found via the links below. Our total for the Outing … an excellent haul of 65 species. 55 at Jawbone and 32 at Newport Lakes with 10 new species added there.
http://birdata.birdlife.org.au/survey?id=9412127&h=d07127d4
http://birdata.birdlife.org.au/survey?id=9412134&h=48baa432
Many thanks to Clancy for a great day birding. Photos kindly provided by Steve Hoptroff, Qifan Su and Clancy Benson.
Phillip.
birdlifemelbourne 