Beginners outing to Newport Lakes and Jawbone Reserve

24 November 2018

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.

View the complete bird list for the day: BM Nov 2019 Bird List Newport Lakes and Jawbone Reserve

 

 

 

Weekdays outing to Birrarung Park, Lower Templestowe

4 December 2018

The morning was cool and grey as 22 birdwatchers assembled in the car park. Our number included a couple of members from Western Australia on their way around a comprehensive tour of the eastern states. Lyn Easton led the walk and “initial suspects” in the car park included Noisy Miners, Australian Magpies, Rainbow Lorikeets and Spotted Doves.

Red Wattlebird. Photo by Katmun Loh

We slowly walked the circuit track, passing the now-dry billabong which did not refill after the recent heavy rains so is now probably a dry dip in the ground for the foreseeable future.

Bell Miner. Photo by Danika Sanderson

‘Tis the season to – breed – and we recorded a Magpie Lark’s mud nest with 2 well-grown young begging, gape-mouthed, from an adult. An unoccupied Tawny Frogmouth nest looked rather Spartan while a male Rufous Whistler was on incubation or brooding duty on its nest.

Rufous Whistler (m), on nest. Photo by Katmun Loh

Late in the walk a pair of Noisy Miners was determinedly defending their territory from another bird which took some identification as it was unfamiliar to most of the small group of watchers. The ID was sorted out and several people were able to claim a “lifer” – a silent immature Olive-backed Oriole. These have been rarely reported as eating small birds’ nestlings so the miners may have been acting on the principle that no larger bird is to be tolerated.

The group, listening to the leader. Photo by Katmun Loh

Both Spotted and Striated Pardalotes were heard but not seen and the parrot list included a quickly flying Australian King-Parrot and a pair of Red-rumped Parrots obligingly perched visibly on a dead tree. The cockatoo list included Galahs and Little Corella.

Laughing Kookaburra. Photo by Danika Sanderson

A trip down to the river bank yielded a Sacred Kingfisher near what appeared to be a small tree hollow on the opposite bank. Platypus sightings were hoped for but didn’t eventuate and Laughing Kookaburra calls sounded derisively.

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike. Photo by Katmun Loh

The only waterbirds recorded were an overflying Little Pied Cormorant, a calling Dusky Moorhen, a foraging Straw-necked Ibis and a Masked Lapwing, while no raptors were noted. The dense understory was alive with Superb Fairy-wrens and several White-browed Scrubwrens were also listed while higher in the trees both Brown and Yellow Thornbills were recorded. Mistletoe grew in several places and a darting Mistletoebird was seen by only a few. Another species seen by some was Red-browed Finch while Eastern Yellow Robin was heard as it gave alarm calls as well as the more familiar call.

Grey Shrike-thrush. Photo by Katmun Loh

The introduced dove was joined by Common Blackbird calls and sighting s of Common Mynas. At lunch we were joined by a young Australian Magpie which didn’t achieve the quantity of food it may have been used to – birdwatchers feel that natural food is healthiest.

Common Bronzewing. Photo by Danika Sanderson

With the festive season just around the corner we decided to truncate the day and count our species.

Rainbow Lorikeet. Photo by Katmun Loh

 

Forty-one species were recorded by the group, a very satisfactory total considering the relatively small area we covered and we thanked Lyn for her preparation which allowed such a successful result.

Diane Tweeddale, Coordinator BirdLife Melbourne weekdays outings

 

Weekdays outing to the Brisbane Ranges

0 November 2018

Watchers. Photo by Danika Sanderson

The day was grey with ten-tenths cloud to challenge photographers trying to record bird colouring above our heads – in the sky or in tree canopies. Eighteen watchers assembled in the Anakie Gorge picnic area car park, eight from Melbourne and ten from Werribee including our leader, Dave Torr.

Yellow-tufted Honeyeater. Photo by Danika Sanderson

After some car park birding, always productive and this time including Australian King-Parrot as well as Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and Yellow-tufted, White-naped and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, we car pooled to drive to Stoney Creek and then walk back to through the gorge and thus save time instead of a less productive return walk.

Yellow-faced Honeyeater. Photo by Danika Sanderson

Species included Sacred Kingfisher, Grey Currawong and Superb Fairy-wren. Grey Shrike-thrush warbled frequently and both female Rufous and male Golden Whistlers were seen.

Rufous Whistler. Photo by Katmun Loh

A couple of White-throated Treecreepers were watched as they foraged up trunks and branches and then movement down on the rocks of the stream bed was noted.

 

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This turned out to be another treecreeper, drinking and bathing in an extremely tiny rock-pool of water (probably remaining from rain a couple of days previously.

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Few, if any, of us had seen that before. Olive-backed Orioles called their name repeatedly. Loud snarling grunts heard as lunch finished were the calls of a territorial male Koala. It joined the couple of Black Wallabies (and road-killed Eastern Grey Kangaroos) on our marsupial list for the day.

Bassian Thrush. Photo by Katmun Loh

The long morning had been gratifyingly productive and we recorded 42 species for the gorge. Then we drove in convoy to the Stieglitz South Road. This required care as the busy route was shared with large-hauling semi-trailers.

Long-billed Corella. Photo by Danika Sanderson

Not much birdlife was observed as we walked. A thornbill call was heard and the identity as a Buff-rumped Thornbill was demonstrated on an app. That recorded call brought in an unexpected flock of at least 10 thornbills, not travelling near the ground as usual but flying about 5m high through and above the bush canopies.

Walkers. Photo by Danika Sanderson

Apart from a White-eared Honeyeater and an overflying Straw-necked Ibis these were the only additional species for this short walk.

 

Pelargonium rodneyanum. Photo by Danika Sanderson

The species count here was only 7, and a total of 45 species for the day’s Brisbane ranges walk.

We thanked Dave for introducing many and reminding the rest of us of the potentials of this interesting area. Afternoon storm was predicted (and may have quietened the bird activity) and so we departed on this note.

Diane Tweeddale coordinator BirdLife Melbourne weekday outings

Beginners Outing to The Briars

28 April 2018

Leaders: Hazel and Alan Veevers; Species count: 43

All photographs by Eleanor Dilley

Eastern Yellow Robin

Lots of Australian Wood Ducks on the grass beside the main drive greeted the Beginners as they arrived at the Briars on a bright sunny morning.  At the Visitor Centre car park, Noisy Miners were the dominant species, although a mixture of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and Little Corellas also announced their presence very loudly. A Brown Goshawk flying overhead provided an early highlight.  As the usual track to the wetlands was closed for repairs, the group had to enter the Wildlife Enclosure from the other entrance and it was immediately evident how dry the bushland was. Ponds which normally are home to ducks and Dusky Moorhens were bone dry, though fortunately there was still a little water in Balcombe Creek.

Rainbow Lorikeet

Taking the Woodland track it was pleasing to see Eastern Yellow Robins, the first of several pairs seen throughout the morning. Birds were in short supply along the higher part of the track apart from Eastern Rosellas, Rainbow Lorikeets and a pair of canoodling Galahs. From the lookout it could be seen that the water level was very low in the main lagoon and hence was not attracting many birds.

Galahs

However, from the track towards the hide there were excellent views of a Swamp Harrier flying low overhead, followed by more distant views of a pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles. Three species of honeyeater were seen from the boardwalk section; Yellow-faced, White-eared and New Holland. From the hide it was disappointing that the only birds seen were a Chestnut Teal and a White-faced Heron, no doubt a result of the low water levels.

Swamp Harrier

On returning to the lookout a Nankeen Kestrel skimmed rapidly past and there were distant views of a pair of Black-fronted Dotterels. The group then returned via the Fire Track towards the Visitor Centre and near the creek saw a female Rufous Whistler which was a surprising sighting so late in the season. On leaving the Wildlife Enclosure most members chose to walk a short distance along the Balcombe Creek Track, hoping that the moist conditions would attract more small birds, but sadly this was not to be.

Rufous Whistler, female

Lunch was taken in the picnic area where the Noisy Miners again made their presence felt and members had to keep tight hold of their sandwiches!  A further walk was then taken up the hill towards the Homestead from which there were distant views of a pair of Nankeen Kestrels perched on fence posts. A pair of Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes flew low overhead while a White-faced Heron in a paddock allowed close views.

White-faced Heron

Walking back down the track to the car park two Whistling Kites were seen, bringing the raptor count to 5. A total of 43 species was recorded for the day which was very respectable given the dry conditions. Many of the members vowed to return when the wetlands are once again full of water.

View the bird list: BM APR Bird List The Briars

Weekdays outing to Toorourrong Reservoir

8 November 2017

Silvereye, recently fledged. Photo by Bevan Hood

The weather was ideal, calm and sunny, as 20 people assembled in the car park. Car park birding kept us focused before Graeme Hosken, our leader, led us downhill towards the dam wall.

Grey Fantail. Photo by Mundell Thomas

The early birds included Little and Long-billed Corellas which gave many a good chance to compare size and the distribution of pink plumage. Other parrots here included Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Galah and Crimson Rosella.

Crimson Rosella. Photo by Bevan Hood

After a short walk 6 Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos joined the list. Welcome Swallows dipped over the dam and twittered over the outlet. A Little Raven pursued a Brown Goshawk till out of sight. Down in the swamp beyond the dam wall a Sacred Kingfisher perched obligingly, allowing many to obtain reasonable views.

Sacred Kingfisher. Photo by Mundell Thomas

As we walked flitting honeyeaters foraged in the trees offering considerable challenges to identification as they disappeared behind foliage or branches. Yellow-faced, White-eared and White-naped Honeyeaters dominated but then sharp eyes saw red. Lots of red.

Scarlet Honeyeater. Photo by Mundell Thomas

The rest of the group peered up and eventually there it was – a male Scarlet Honeyeater. In the end we had recorded both male and female of this species and several people had a “lifer” for the day. High in the trees nesting Striated Pardalotes were noted, calling and disappearing into small holes.

Striated Pardalotes, juvenile. Photo by Mundell Thomas

Walking continued toward the dam and a White-necked Heron was sighted in an adjacent paddock while a grebe was initially identified as Hoary-headed. Later this ID was queried and an Australasian was claimed. Hmm. A re-check found both Hoary-headed and Australasian Grebes in the same section of lily pond. Reassurance all round and two more species for the list.

Laughing Kookaburra with prey. Photo by Diane Tweeddale

The dam yielded the only duck sighting – a distant male Musk Duck. A single Purple Swamphen foraged at the lily pond’s edge. Here were the memorials for the local people killed in the 1990 bushfires. So many had been lost.

Toorourrong Reservoir and car park. Photo by Diane Tweeddale

A small flock of European Goldfinch flew over the dam wall but not many introduced species were observed – Common Myna and Common Blackbird were also reported. Birds in the canopies included Rufous Whistler and Pied Currawong while Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike appeared to favour high perches in bare dead trees.

Rufous Whistler, female. Photo by Bevan Hood

At walk’s end we paused for the bird call and the often-observed happened – the only Wedge-tailed Eagle of the walk flew past, harassed by Little Ravens and a Brown Goshawk.

Wedge-tailed Eagle. Photo by Mundell Thomas

Another for the list (the goshawk and ravens had been recorded earlier). Non-birds included sightings of Echidna and Eastern Blue-tongue and calls of assorted frogs by the dam.

Eastern Blue-tongue Lizard. Photo by Diane Tweeddale

By walk’s end we had 54 species on the list and we thanked Graeme enthusiastically for all his work which had reintroduced us to the area in its recovery from the fires.

Diane Tweeddale, coordinator BirdLife Melbourne weekdays outings

You Yangs Birding and Boneseeding

3 December 2016

Words and photos by Merrilyn Serong

What a beautiful day for birding and boneseeding; mostly calm with a warming sun and good company. Thanks to the participants for making it a very enjoyable day for my last time as organiser of the activity.

As usual, we began at the carpark near the Park Office, where there were both Grey and Pied Currawongs. Two chicks, which I believe were Grey Currawongs, had almost outgrown their nest, high in a nearby Eucalypt. Near the dam, we found two Willy Wagtail nests with a parent sitting on each one.

Grey Currawong nest near the You Yangs office

 

Despite the good spring rains, the water level of the dam was still low, though a little higher than it was on our September visit. Turtles used to live in the dam; I wonder if they are still there. The trees in the area looked healthy with lots of new bright green leaves, but flowers, and therefore Lorikeets, were few. No Tawny frogmouths were to be found, either.

Rufous Whistler, Gravel Pit Tor

Next stop Gravel Pit Tor, with more healthy new growth on the eucalypts. We found the reliable Mistletoebird, but no red robins. This is a good place to look for small bush birds, and we did find Silvereye, Brown Thornbill, Spotted Pardalote, White-throated Treecreeper, Yellow-faced Honeyeater and Rufous Whistler. The last two mentioned are prolific in the park at present. We also saw a goat, which is not unusual here.

Eucalypt, Gravel Pit Tor

Hungry after spending so much time at our first two stops, we eventually arrived at Fawcett’s Gully for lunch. The upper dam had much water, the odd frog, numbers of dragonflies, and a very long Brown Snake.

Black-headed Skimmer, Fawcetts Gully

Disappointingly, our official boneseeding site, which over the past several years has been virtually boneseed-free, was studded with small boneseed plants. It’s the rain, I suspect, and the fact that boneseed seed stay viable for ever in the soil.

Boneseed in our You Yangs site

When I first became involved in the project, there were numerous large boneseed plants in our site and over the years we have cleared them out. Boneseed really can’t be eradicated, but it can be controlled, at least for a while. Our site does have a lot of native groundcover and small native shrubs that would not have grown if the boneseed had been left there. The new young boneseed plants have not flowered or fruited yet, and we managed to pull out large numbers of them. However, more work is needed.

While we boneseeded at our site, we were visited by numerous Weebills. The ever-present Rufous Whistlers sang. White-winged Choughs and other regulars were there and a Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike appeared. Later we found an Eastern Yellow Robin.

Eastern Flat

Our last walk for the day was in the Seed Garden / Eastern Flat area, as usual at this time of year when the sun sets so late. The water level in the dam had dropped to almost nothing from the reasonable amount that I saw there on Tuesday, only four days ago. Evidence of spring rains can be seen in the longish and now dry grass in open places.

Total bird species count for the day was 37. A quiet day.

Sincere thanks to all those wonderful people who have been part of the project while I have been co-ordinator and also to those who might not have made it to one of the days, but remain interested.

Best wishes to all for happy seasonal celebrations, a wonderful summer and excellent birding. Wherever you are, may your environment be healthy, rich and diverse.

A bird list for the day will soon be available at http://www.birdlifemelbourne.org.au/outings/site-lists/YouYangs%202016.html

I will include another report and photos on my website, http://www.timeinthebush.com/

Beginners Outing to You Yangs Regional Park

28 November, 2015

Species Count: 51

Rufous Whistler. Photo by Ron Garrett

Geoff Deason once again led the Beginners Outing to the You Yangs, in ideal weather conditions. Due to the drought it was decided not to visit Hovell’s Creek but to take a circuit from the Ranger Station for the morning walk. Highlights included good views of Rufous Whistlers, Eastern Yellow Robins, Shining Bronze-cuckoos and a family of White-winged Choughs with a nest.

Near the dam a small female Koala was much admired by those at the front of the group.

Brown-headed Honeyeater. Photo by Kathy Zonnevylle

The photographers, who arrived shortly afterwards, were fascinated to see a Brown-headed Honeyeater pecking at her back, possibly to collect fur as nesting material.

During lunch at the Valley Picnic Area there was much bird activity including Weebills building a nest which was very well camouflaged in a low branch of a gum tree. A pair of Scarlet Robins, nesting Striated Pardalotes and a family group of Tawny Frogmouths were other highlights.

Members then drove the circuit route to the Eastern Flats where a ‘hotspot’ revealed a female Mistletoebird, Varied Sitellas and more Brown-headed Honeyeaters and Rufous Whistlers. At the edge of the farmland, high up in a tree, three Little Lorikeets were spotted, and nearby, a large male Koala.

Weebill on nest. Photo by Kathy Zonnevylle

Despite the dry conditions a total of 51 species were recorded for the day and Geoff was thanked for his expert leadership.

Leaders: Geoff Deason, with Hazel Veevers.

View bird list from the outing: BM Nov 2015 Bird List You Yangs