Jade Craven

Lots of skinks at Buckley Falls

April 14, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

This trip took place on April 11

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of impromptu adventuring with a 6 year old. He’s been pretty stressed out with his first proper year of school and walking/birdwatching helps him chill out after a busy week.

I had planned to do exploring with a bit of birding but we ended up just looking at skinks for 2 hours. It was frustrating, somewhat, as he’d attempt to catch every single one! I let him, as he needed to learn that rocky areas give skinks so many more places to hide. He didn’t catch one, as expected.

I was able to get a lot of awesome photos, especially ones of skinks eating other bugs. Unfortunately, someone didn’t listen to my requests to ‘wait!!!’ when doing some of the photos so I missed out on even better shots. I’m thinking it’s now too late in the season to go looking for lizards and will have to wait until mid spring.

These are some of the photos I got. Buckley Falls is great if you want to see a lot of skinks and birds in the wild. I am getting fairly sick of the area (adventuring there way too much) but I always find something interesting.

I was surprised to see both this fan tailed cuckoo and the pelican flying over. I don’t think I’ve ever seen cuckoos locally. Weeks later I saw another one in a different part of the Barwon! I’m thinking it may be a seasonal thing, and I’ve just never noticed as I didn’t leave the house that often. In many ways, Seth has been good for me.

Another stingray at Eastern Beach!

April 14, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

On Monday, during our botanic gardens adventure, Seth was faced with a difficult choice. Do we explore the promenade and play in the water, or do we go on Thomas the Tank Engine? Seth chose the latter – and quickly regretted it. We didn’t get to look for fish! I promised him that we would return to Eastern Beach later in the holidays and have a proper adventure.

On Friday, we returned with Nan. Seth loves adventuring with her. She sees so many things that we miss and he loves showing off what he’s learned. We spent about 5 hours there just wandering.

Recently, Seth and I came here without a camera. We were exploring the area where the yachts/boats are docked and looking at the fish. We saw several species in addition to several crabs. We didn’t have much luck on this visit as the tide was out but still saw swarms of fishies.

We didn’t see much else until we got to the promenade. It was awesome seeing these hoary headed grebes. They were stretching and being cute. Would have loved to have stayed longer to get photos of them (theme of the day!) but I wanted to be where Seth was. That kid has an eye for finding stuff that I wouldn’t otherwise see.

I’m not sure whether this fish is the same species as earlier. I made sure to get photos of all the fish we saw so I could show mum afterwards.

We spent at least 20 minutes watching this cormorant dive for fish. It’s becoming a recurring theme of my photography.

We were also lucky enough to see another sting ray! I had saw one on an earlier adventure with Glenn and had been looking out for one ever since. This species was a different type called a fiddler ray. Seth and Nan also saw what looked like a globefish. I can’t confirm because I was in the toilet at the time.

Larger fishies.

We then walked towards limeburners point, to see if we would have the same luck with birds of prey. It was at this point that I brought up that one of the cadets leaders, who Seth loves, dislikes Justine Clark. Mum chose that moment to sing ‘watermelon.’ Seth now sings a version of that song which includes the line “What have I done.”

No idea where that came from 😉 We also saw these ‘butterbums’ in the trees. I struggle to ID them in the field, but am getting a lot better at telling them apart when I get home. I’m finding bird identification to be a lot easier now.

Seth also discovered this awesome spider. I wonder what species it is? So well camouflaged!

Mum noticed these ladybugs, too. Some had stripes and spots and some just had stripes. I’ve done a quick google and I have no idea how to figure it out. Maybe ask someone at the field nats?

It was a really fun adventure. It was a big one, but Seth loved it. He loves sharing the things he has discovered with others, especially nan. One of the things he most enjoyed was showing nan the concrete chair near limeburners point.

There was a gannet floating about. It was one of those lovely days that celebrate the end of summer.

Easter Adventures at Geelong Botanic Gardens

April 5, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Today marks the end of the first week of the school holidays. Other then the moth night, Sethy and I hadn’t gone on any adventures. We’d gone to the botanical gardens briefly on the Monday but I was feeling too sick to properly explore.

We decided to hit the storage pond to hunt for the pesky Ballions Crake, meander through the botanical gardens and end at Eastern Beach. Firstly:

We found the crake! We only saw it for a couple of seconds and it was a lot smaller then we expected. Sometimes Seth will say he’s seen a bird when he really hasn’t. He pointed to the exact spot where I had seen it and said it went behind the green grass. He also said how small it was. The above photo is the only photo we were able to get but I’m so glad we finally got to find the little bugger.

Now just need to find the lewins rail and I’ll have knocked off a lot of the ones that have taunted me thus far.

We saw just two grebes this time, and two pacific black ducks. I couldn’t tell if the grebe was from the previous or most recent clutch. We had a quick check again for the crake and, after dipping wandered over to the botanical gardens.

The main target at the gardens was the rufous fantail, eastern spinebill, pink robin and white browed scrubwren. Someone was a bit hyper and the gardens were pretty crowded. We did see a million bajillion leaf curling spiders, though – something I wouldn’t have known about if not for the local cadets group.

We did see this juvenile grey fantail, which I initially thought was a white browed scrubwren. It looked different. I’m quoting from Kevin Bartram in the bird ID page here, but “The buff tips on the wing coverts Is a characteristic of immature plumage, they are remnants of juvenile plumage.”

It was those tips on the wing that confused me – just little things, because I generally don’t pay attention to them in the field. I’m not a lazy birder but there is often so much going on that I have limited attention.

According to Graeme Chapman, there is a subspecies that migrates north from Tasmania in the winter. These often look darker then the other subspecies you find here. I never really knew that. Does the local subspecies migrate?

I’m not as confused anymore and more fascinated. We also saw a rufous fantail! I got good views of the colour and Seth saw the bird. Apparently this time of year is a great time to see them while they are migrating to their winter grounds. A mate says he doesn’t often see them so we were pretty lucky 🙂 I only went there because I had seen reports of them on ebird, I didn’t know they were that elusive. It’s fascinating how much you learn.

We went near the back where we spotted this sulpher crested cockatoo enjoying a sunflower head.

Limeburners Point

We then mosied over to Limeburners point, hoping to find a couple of pacific gulls. We were very lucky, Seth got good views of this Juvenile.

We saw this adult on a light pole but it appeared to have an injured leg.

There were a number of terns and cormorants about but we were quickly distracted by a black shouldered kite that was hovering nearby. It was awesome that Sethy got to see that hovering behaviour, I was hoping we would see a BSK when we went to Lake Victoria in March.

We saw it grab its meal and fly off to a nearby pole. I’m assuming it was a rat or a rabbit based on it’s size.

The following pictures show some interesting behaviour we saw. The kite landed on a pole and two butcherbirds weren’t happy about it! They would continually dive at the kite – either to defend their territory or to get a free feed. The kite wan’t too happy about it.

Seth walked up the hill to get a closer look and the bird flew off. I knew that would happen but understood Seths desire to get a better look, as I was looking through the camera. Was glad to capture the behaviour

It was a fun twitch. Seth didn’t get as much time to play as I’d normally plan for, as we had an impromptu trip on Thomas the Tank Engine at Eastern Beach. Also saw an egret and another juvenile pacific gull near the main beach.

Will try to do another two adventures during the holidays. Glad I got to get the little dude another 3 lifers!

Moth Night at Ocean Grove Nature Reserve

April 4, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Last weekend, we went to the moth night as part of the local field nats. It was our first proper outing as a family with field nats. As a majorly anxious person, I was pretty nervous. Would Sethy be able to handle it? Would I even know anybody?

I needn’t have worried. It was a really lovely night. Sethy scored a couple of lifers and met some of my friends. He got some close up views of swamp wallabys and actually socialized! I didn’t get as much out of the night as I would have liked but it was still pretty awesome.

We got there at around 6, before most of the people had showed up. We did a bit of a wander to see what animals we could see.

Mum isn’t fond of the type of bush there, she is more fond of the type of bush we get at the ballarat bush block. I love it.

We saw this female rufous whistler early on, although we needed help to ID. The gentleman said they would be moving on around this time, then I said that we had seen a male.

I was really stoked to see them! I had read on Graces blog that you can see Golden Whistlers there. I was hoping to find a pardalote for him but this whistler was pretty awesome. I thought they would have been hard to find. Sometimes it’s really fun to be a newbie.

I’m reading up on them right now. Apparently they do move north in the autumn. Huh. Fascinating.

Bog standard grey fantail. Briefly took Seth to the botanic gardens to find a rufous fantail with no luck. Did get a shot of a spinebill, though I’m doubtful Seth saw it.

We returned to the main picnic ground to find more people had arrived and I introduced my family to Carolyn. Someone mentioned that there was a common bronzewing. AWESOME! I had heard a ‘hoo hoo’ sound but thought it might have been an owl. I was actually hoping for a boobook. There was a group of people under the tree and I followed. Another lifer!

Sethy made sure that nan and pa saw it and was very excited to get another lifer. I had seen a bronzewing before when walking along the Barwon River and had been trying to see if I could find one for him. He was pretty excited to see both the new lifers.

A small bird nest in the tree.

We got to see the swamp wallabies on multiple occasions. I would leave the group to supervise him and make sure Sethy was keeping his distance. It was lovely to see them behave normally up close in the wild.

We did a spotlight while waiting for it to get dark enough to see the moths. Around the end, we saw this possum. Ironically, we saw a brushtail possum in the walnut tree when we arrived home.

We left before the good moth action happened as mum was worried that Seth might have been getting the way of other people. I wish I had a macro lens – I would have stayed longer if I did! Overall, Sethy loved the night and getting to see new animals. I would have been more relaxed if I was solo adventuring but I always love sharing stuff with him.

I’m hoping to go back to the reserve in the winter when more of the robins are around. Also keen to find the swifties when they arrive locally. This post is a bit all over the place because I’m catching up with so much work online and am exhausted. Want to post everything while I still remember the details!

Koalas and King Parrots at Kennett River

March 30, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Last weekend, my parents and nephew went to Apollo Bay. I was incredibly jealous, as Apollo Bay is the hub of a lot of wildlife activity and I’ve been getting bored of birding in the few areas close to public transport.

They went to rockpools and the Otway Fly but hadn’t seen any koalas. I’m a nerd and have several books on the great ocean road so did some research for them.

There is a place called Grey River Road at Kennett River. It is literally right off the Great Ocean Road and has a decent amount of koalas for such a small area. Even better: They have wild rosellas and king parrots that like being fed!

Sethy, my nephew, loved it. I got a call as soon as they’d left there and they sent me several photos. “There was one on my head and there was wood ducks!” It was the highlight of their trip – even if they missed out on seeing koalas.

They had originally stayed at my aunts flat and accidentally left a few things there, necessitating a return trip. I was invited to come although “we’d only stop at the birds for an hour.”

Yeah, it was an easy decision.

We left at 9am and the weather was abysmal. It was pouring down so hard we could barely see the road. We stopped at several places due to my dads teeny bladder. This gave me enough chances to have a peek at what birds were around and sulk about not being able to drive. The road, and the Otways, is so beautiful. 3 days doesn’t do it justice.

And then, finally, we were there.

KOALAS! Not just one, THREE!

I’m a bit spoiled. I check out a lot of zoos and wildlife parks and koalas aren’t that big of a deal when they are in captivity. Still, I got such a thrill seeing them in the wild.

We are such a lucky country. We are so blessed to have so many unique animals. And we aren’t doing enough to support them.

Anyway – we weren’t expecting to see them so close. The brochure said that you may have to walk/drive several kilometres. Driving would have been difficult. The road itself is a popular place to feed the parrots and it can be very difficult to navigate through the many birds and people.

We saw three koalas, which was fantastic. Only one of them was moving. It was difficult to get photos but it was still a blast watching them eat eucalyptus leaves.

It was difficult though as there was about 5 tourist buses there when we got there. It is a popular spot and can be really crowded when a lot of tourist buses are there. It wasn’t that bad, though, as it meant there were more parrots then usual. Previously, my family saw about two king parrots and one crimson rosella. On Wednesday, there was at least 30 parrots and several currawongs.

I would have loved to explore the area more. I know there are glowworms there at night. There were a lot of wood ducks floating around. Mum fell in love with them; she hadn’t seen them before and commented about how delicate they were.

There was a cockatoo walking along the ground. Dad had fed them previously at Grants Picnic Ground so put his hands on the ground. The cheeky bird pecked his hand to make him drop the seed!

It was a brilliant family outing. We drove through the otways on the way back to geelong and it was just beautiful. We’d see flashes of birds fly past and try to guess them. The tree ferns were magnificent. I believe that the Otways are the main attraction – however they don’t have the public transport options for me to fully explore them.

I highly recommend visiting here if you are making the journey along the road. Don’t try and cram everything into a day. Stop at Apollo Bay or Lorne and explore the diverse wildlife and nature of the region. The Otways… wow. I’m in love.