Weekdays outing to Lysterfield Lake Park

22 October 2018

Twenty-one people assembled under light clouds in a mild breezy day. Our advertised leader, Elsmaree Baxter, was slightly incapacitated so she delegated active leadership to Pat Bingham and merely walked gently at the rear of the group. We had new members and visitors including Suzanne from Austin, Texas.

The day started well with Eastern Grey Kangaroos as well as Eurasian Coots and Silver Gulls present beside the launch area, to the delight of visitors who hadn’t been close to roos previously. Other birds on the water or the bank included Little Pied Cormorants, Pacific Black Ducks, Masked Lapwings and Little Ravens.  A female Musk Duck swam beside the short mooring post and beside her splashed a small duckling, charming the watchers. An unusual and unexpected sighting was a Purple Swamphen perched in a tree, 3-4 meters above the ground. In the bush the Noisy Miners dominated the more open areas, even diving at a Common Bronzewing as it foraged on the ground. We headed to the dam wall where the wind blew strongly across the lake and hats were clutched tightly. Among the coots near the wall we had good close views of Grebes, Hoary-headed, Australasian and, much-appreciated, Great Crested (not often seen in this area). The dam wall also provided close views of a young Echidna walking beside the fence until it found a comfortable space in the wire mesh and slid through.

Echidna. Photo by Diane Tweeddale

Several Pacific Black Ducks were examined as closely as possible and all seemed to be pure bred, without a sign of the orange legs of hybridisation with the Northern Mallard. A white domestic “dinner duck” was not counted. Up into the bush where frog calls from damp areas included the Common Froglet. A female Rufous Whistler called and was then briefly observed while a couple of Red-browed Finches flitted near the track. Further along a male Tawny Frogmouth was on incubation duty on a simple nest in a tree fork high above the track. The only parrots and cockatoos seen were several Long-billed Corellas on the grass and an Eastern and two Crimson Rosellas plus a couple of Rainbow Lorikeets. Superb Fairy-wrens, both brown females and blue males, delighted all, especially visitors. The honeyeater list was not long, in addition to the many Noisy Miners there were calling Red Wattlebirds and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters. Both an immature and an adult Grey Butcherbird were present and Australian Magpies and Pied Currawongs were present and calling.

After lunch the group reduced to 13 people and we walked briefly on the northern side of the car parks, adding only two extra species to the list, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike and Grey Fantail, and gaining improved sightings of several species. The species list now stood at 42 where it had been 40 at lunchtime. We thanked Pat and Elsmaree for all the careful preparation and teamwork which had resulted in a successful outing.

Diane Tweeddale, coordinator BirdLife Melbourne weekday outings

Beginners Outing to Lysterfield Lake

23 July 2017

Leader: Robert Grosvenor; Species Count: 45

Golden Whistler, male. Photograph by Eleanor Dilley

Twenty eight hardy birders braved the very strong and cold wind to attend the beginners outing at Lysterfield Lake.

Magpie-lark, male. Photograph by Eleonor Dilley

While waiting for all attendees ,Crimson and Eastern Rosellas, Purple Swamp Hen, Magpie-lark and Rainbow Lorikeets were viewed in the carpark. A Masked Lapwing was spotted closer to the Lake’s edge.

Masked Lapwing. Photograph by Merrilyn Serong

On the reccie more Kangaroos were seen than birds and it looked like this outing would be more of the same as the first twenty minutes went by before we sighted our first bird – a Brown Thornbill, quickly followed by a White-eared Honeyeater.

Eastern Grey joey. Photograph by Merrilyn Serong

There were long periods of inactivity until we would come upon a small hot spot. The first of which produced excellent sightings of Grey Shrike-thrush, Grey Fantail, both male and female Golden Whistlers and the two birds of the walk, a male Rose Robin and a Brush Bronzewing.

Unfortunately not all the beginners were able to see both. The Rose Robin surprised everyone when it appeared in a tree at eye level not more than two metres in front of us but did not stay for long. Still, many of the group got their first look at this beautiful bird. The Bronzewing skulked in the undergrowth, making sighting difficult before it was disturbed and flew off.

Little Pied Cormorant. Photograph by Merrilyn Serong

The strong wind was keeping the small birds hidden but in a more protected spot we found Superb Fairy-wren, Silvereye and Spotted Pardalote.

Venturing down to the edge of the lake enabled us to see Musk Duck, Hoary-headed Grebe, Hardhead and Coot all on the water, before returning to the main track.

Little Black Cormorant. Photograph by Merrilyn Serong

Again there was a long period of inactivity with only a Grey Butcherbird heard and a Little Raven overhead. We were now back at the lake wall where Little Pied and Little Black Cormorants, Australasian Grebe and Dusky Moorhen were seen.

With the wind howling across the lake we were all glad to break for lunch and find an area out of the wind to partake of some refreshments.

After lunch we walked to the eastern end of the carpark and a short distance along the Logan track. In the more open fields we saw Straw-necked  and White Ibis, Wood Duck, Cattle Egret and in the distance a few Red-rumped Parrots.

Common Bronzewing. Photograph by Eleanor Dilley

Returning to the carpark we had excellent views of another Brush Bronzewing together with a number of common Bronzewings.

Brush Bronzewing. Photograph by Eleanor Dilley

Overall 45 species were seen for the day which, considering the wintery conditions, was noteworthy.

See the complete bird list for the outing: BM July 2017 Bird List Lysterfield Lake