It was pleasantly cool at the Depot car park as we all prepared for our morning walk, greeting others, trying to find car parks for the larger number of people who had arrived and enjoying the wonderful bird calls from the nearby trees and creek. Eastern Whipbird often call here and today was no exception. Smaller bird species graced the upper canopies of the gums. Olive-backed Oriole called from here later on in the day.
Eastern Spinebill. Photo courtesy of Clancy Benson
As we walked beside the creek, a few different frog species called from the adjacent swamp.
Australasian Grebe enjoying the peace of the swamp. Photo courtesy of Clancy Benson
Azure Kingfisher. Photo courtesy of Bill Ramsay
There was excitement from further up the track as one of our 34 bird watchers spied this gorgeous Azure Kingfisher which had flown off from somewhere along the creek line. Luckily it had perched in a nearby tree. The excitement didn’t end there when Rufuous Fantail and nest were discovered.
Rufous Fantail. Photo courtesy of Clancy Benson
There were the usual suspects at the dam we visit which backs onto Yellingbo Reserve from one of the small farms. As we headed north there were beautiful but loud calls from a couple of male Satin Flycatcher both vying for the attention of a female spotted close by.
Surely the day couldn’t get any better.
After enjoying a welcome break and lunch close to the depot, a few intrepid bird watchers decided to take a walk back along the same path we took earlier on in the day.
Wedge-tailed Eagle. Photo courtesy of Bill Ramsay
Those returning from the afternoon walk excitedly talked of amazing sights of Wedge-tailed Eagle, two, in a nearby tree. Azure Kingfisher was sighted again as well as Sacred Kingfisher which had not been seen or heard of earlier in the day.
Sacred Kingfisher. Photo courtesy of Lyn Abreu and Bill Ramsay
In the fifteen or so years I have been coordinating this bird walk, I don’t remember experiencing a better day as far as bird quality and number of enthusiastic bird watchers were concerned. We recorded 55 species on the day. Thanks so much for coming along everyone!
Leaders: Hazel and Alan Veevers; Species count: 62
Photographs by Eleanor Dilley
Rufous Fantail – bird of the day
Moderate temperatures and light winds provided excellent conditions for the 37 members attending this outing. The Newport Lakes Reserve was looking very good with lots of eucalypts flowering and plenty of water in the ponds. Soon after leaving the carpark a small water hole on the left had attracted a male Rufous Whistler which moved around in a small bush alongside it.
Rufous Whistler, male
Red Wattlebirds, New Holland Honeyeaters and a few White-plumed Honeyeaters were dominant in the tree canopy.
White-plumed Honeyeater
From the amphitheatre several Dusky Moorhens were seen, some shepherding very small chicks away from the admiring crowd. Australian Reed-Warblers were singing lustily around the edge of the lakes and could occasionally be seen.
Dusky Moorhen with chicks
Near the bridge a pair of Spotted Pardalotes had a nest between some rocks and members enjoyed excellent views of them. On crossing the stepping stones a pair of Black Swans had four young cygnets learning to feed themselves. On the dead trees further up the lake a male Australasian Darter was drying his wings along with a Great and a Little Black Cormorant.
Black Swan cygnets
Several Superb Fairy-wrens were seen foraging in the undergrowth beside the lake. On heading towards the arboretum ‘bird of the day’ was spotted – a Rufous Fantail! This was a most unusual sighting for a suburban park in November. The bird stayed around for 10 to 15 minutes, enabling everyone to have a good look at its beautiful plumage.
During lunch a bird call for the morning produced 38 species. Some members voiced their delight at the large total number of individual birds actually seen. Most of the group then drove down Maddox Road to the shore, where it was high tide. Unfortunately a serious pollution event had contaminated the Paisley-Challis Wetlands with an oily chemical, seriously degrading the habitat.
White-faced Heron
With the aid of booms the pollutant had been prevented from entering the bay, so the birds there seemed unaffected. Pied and Little Pied Cormorants were resting on partially submerged tyres whilst lots of Silver Gulls along with a few Black-winged Stilts and a lone White-faced Heron were on the shore.
Red-kneed Dotterel
A Red-kneed Dotterel and a Common Greenshank were also located amongst rocks on shore. Members then took the track through the wetlands to Jawbones Reserve and were rewarded with some great sightings. These included several Blue-billed Ducks, Pink-eared Ducks, Grey and Chestnut Teal, Royal Spoonbills and Hoary-headed Grebes.
Blue-billed Duck
Pink-eared Ducks
A few Whiskered Terns showed off their flying skills, swooping down to the water’s surface to grab whatever morsel was on the surface. Little Grassbirds were calling lustily from the reeds, but were very hard to see.
Whiskered Tern
At the turning point of the walk a large number of Pied Cormorants were displaying their very white breasts in contrast to the Little Pied Cormorants, some of which looked decidedly grubby.
Pied Cormorants watched by a Royal Spoonbill
A Great Crested Grebe was spotted nearby, raising excitement levels as we retraced our steps to the car park. A final look was taken on the shore where the tide was lower than it had been when we set out. Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Red-necked Stints could now be seen foraging in the mud close to the bird hide.
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Red-necked Stint
Forty-four species were recorded for the afternoon session, which produced a combined total of 62 for the day. Once again, many thanks go to Eleanor Dilley for taking all the splendid photographs in the Report.
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