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Jade Craven

Birding in Drysdale

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Lake Lorne, in Drysdale, is meant to be one of the best places to see the Blue Billed duck and freckled ducks. I lived in Clifton Springs for nine months and walked the Bellarine Rail Trail. Despite my history, it took a trip to Canberra for me to learn about the birdlife. Thank you to the bird nerd ranger I met atTidbinbilla.

I missed the Bellarine. It’s so beautiful. However….

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Freckled ducks freckled ducks FRECKLED DUCKS! Random tip: they have little tufts of hair on their head, sort of like a mohawk

Oh I’m sorry, did I spoil it?

Let’s go back to the begining

Lake Lorne

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I was pretty confident taking Glenn to Lake Lorne. I new the railway station there would interest him, even if the birds didn’t. Of course, he was so obsessed looking at the camera that he missed out on some flight shots. I ended up getting several as I nicked the Canon. It had better focus and I wanted to be able to identify birds. I know how much Glenn loves flight photos so I tried to get heaps, even when I though the ibises were boring.

They so sound like chickens when they are calling! 🙂 I loved that.

I’m getting better at birds-in-flight photography. It’s easier for me as I have better eyesight and intuition.

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We saw this dude, who is a little miner. Generic but I needed SOMETHING for my list. Especially as I dipped on the blue billed duck. We ended up walking on the path around the lake; cautiously moving closer when necessary.

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I have no idea what these two are. Maybe a grebe?

These two links have tips to tell the two types of grebe apart:

Maybe a musk duck? The beaks are pretty small. I kinda don’t care at this point; I tend to crack it after about 20 minutes of consistent confusion.

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Not sure what this is; all I know is the tail is unusual. And that Glenn has been hearing me say ‘Birds are stupid’ all morning, apparantly. I’m guessing it’s a common koel and will be googling more later.

How do other new birders, who aren’t yet part of a community, get help with identification?

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Hoary headed grebe.

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I don’t know what this is and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to tell, since I primarily have a silhouette to go by. Judging by the wing curve and feather shapes, I’m guessing a harrier or kite. It would be awesome if it was a whistling kite, Glenn loves those.

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A pelican flying away. Again, something Mr. Sexypants missed.

Swans

On the other side of the lake, there was two groups of swans. Neither had cygnets (although the pair at Mcleods Waterhole did.) One pair had it’s feathers raised and were honking at each other. I don’t think it’s a mating ritual as such but it was incredibly cute. Glenn was sitting close while I was getting photos of them from another angle. We also did the obligatory photos of each other taking photos.

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Mcleods waterhole

This was very easy to access from Lake Lorne. It was a very short walk. I did have to use the maps function on my phone to find where the smaller waterhole was.

The main one was very empty, and I was very disappointed. No ducklife – what a waste of a trip! There was these two birds in a tree:

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The bottom is the normal white faced heron. I’ve seen them a couple of times and they are always a delight. The bottom is a great cormorant; you can tell because of the orange under the neck.

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We then found the other waterhole. I had a hunch that this was it. The ducks were a lot closer then the Lake lorne. PINK EARED DUCKS! The are so quirky; I’ll never get sick of photographing them. I sat down quietly to get photos, even if it meant the grass obscured the view occasionally.

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Here are the pink eared ducks amongst the freckled ones.

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It was a great afternoon out. Close enough so that it isn’t a major trek via public transport. It was nostalgic, in a way. Glenn enjoyed it as we got a got to see horsies and a beehive up close. I would have loved to photograph the buildings in the township but someone needed his old man nap and we chose to return another day.

Next time, I’ve love to spend part of the day here and part of it in Portarlington. I plan to visit several place by myself to birdwatch/walk, as I know Glenn wouldn’t be interested.

Really wish we had better gear though, and that I had glimpsed a blue billed duck.

Queens Park & Buckley Falls: The birds

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This walk was the first one over 10km that I had done in about 3 years. It was also the first walk where I overexerted myself to the point of vomiting.

If I’d packed money or my phone, I would have called a taxi after I’d passed Fyansford common. I’ll talk about the walk itself in a separate post; this is primarily focused on the birds I saw.

Birdwise, it was an awesome walk. I passed through multiple types of environments as was able to sit down and observe what I saw. It was a bit difficult at times, as the path is also used by cyclists and people walking their dogs.

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I saw my first red-browed finch! I know they are fairly common but I hadn’t gotten a decent look at one. As soon as I saw it, I guessed at the name although I had to go home to be sure. I don’t know how the name fell into my head; I’ve been reading far too many lists about bird sightings along the barwon.

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I also saw a common bronzewing, which was a relief. I hate being the moron that misses out on seeing common birds.

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This guy is a fan-tailed cuckoo, which is another first.

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It turns out that this little fella is a bog standard willy wagtail. I was going through my book, flipping back and forth, until I realized that this is what wagtails look like when their tail is down. Duh.

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I have no idea what the little bird in this picture is. I don’t think it’s a honey eater and it certainly doesn’t look like the baby version of the other bird. I think it’s a beautiful photo but man, I suck at ID’ing.

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I’ve hesitantly ID’d this bird as a masked woodswallow, but I’m not confident in that. Just looking at the picture makes me feel dizzy though.

Parrots

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I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crimson rosella in the inner suburbs. It was a bit of a surprise.

Red rumped parrot
Red rumped parrot. They appear repeatedly in many of my old photos.

Baby duckies

There was a guy and his sun kayaking alongside the path for quite a bit. It was somewhat annoying, as their noise scared away a lot of the birds. Then I noticed they’d stopped and were looking at this.

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Of course, I stopped to get some photos. The son got out of his kayak and walked closer to try and get some pics. The duckies weren’t too pleased about this and swam further up the river.

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I got some really beautiful shots, including the one below of a wood duckling, but this post is already photo-heavy as it is.

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Darter

FYI: I just realized that you can tell its a darter because the beak isn’t hooked like a cormorant. Huzzah!

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I was walking close to the edge when I saw this darter posing. They are a common sight, but I always love getting close up shots.

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He was feeling uncomfortable and had different plans.

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I love this shot. I can’t wait to show Seth. And he’s such a strong swimmer!

 

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Despite getting sick and hurt, it was a very good walk. I realized that I am learning a lot and am enjoying putting my knowledge into practice. Those that are smarter then me having been doing it considerably longer AND have a car. This frustration is across the board.

The birdwatching/hiking is allowing me to explore the thought processes surrounding my anxiety disorder in a safe setting. I get confronted with stuff but there is no external pressure and judgement. It’s like I can train my mind without being watched. It’s kinda awesome 🙂

Pelicans at Balyang

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This post is sheer indulgence. I get so caught up in learning as much as possible that I forgot to just sit and enjoy watching birds. I was very fortunate to find 2 pelicans resting on the nesting boxes when I got there.

I’d been talking to mister Sethy about pelicans wingspan recently, so was stoked to get this photo.

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He was on the nesting box closest to the car park. There were noisy children chasing the ducks nearby so he flew off.

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I was annoyed, yet grateful to be able to get shots of the bird in flight.

Pelican Yawn

I walked around Balyang looking at other birds and sat down near the remaining pelican. He was a bit sleepy.

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STRETCH!

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Just a little more!

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And side angle!

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These photos are perfect to show both Glenn and Seth. It was shortly before 6 and the lighting was perfect.

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He then began to groom himself, which is an amusing sight. I love watching birds groom but it must be a lot harder with that beak!

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Eventually he flew away, letting me get several more shots of him in flight.

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I sat down for about 20 minutes watching these two. It was so calming and peaceful – and fun! I just wish I had the other camera.

Other birds:

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A cute rainbow lorikeet in flight. Normally don’t get shots like this as there is too many leaves obscuring the view.

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Purple swamphen in a tree. Thought it was amusing – don’t normally see them up there!

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Eurasion coots having a snuggle. I need to capture more loving/evil moments between animals.

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Return of the honeyeater! See, I’m learning 🙂 This little dude moves so quick.

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I didn’t see any darters in my normal spot under the bridge. Imagine when I saw all of these in tree. I’ve never seen this many at once. Maybe it’s the time of day?

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This was a tree that had fallen over the path between the swamp and the main road. I wanted to capture *some* kind of evidence of the crazy weather we’ve endured lately.

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For about five minutes, the lighting was just magical. I would have loved to experiment with the light in different areas of the sanctuary but I was distracted by the pelican.

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Worthwhile birdwatching trip. Reminded me to focus on the joy, rather then the chase and competition.

Windy Balyang

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Today was the first time I had been birdwatching in about a week. It’s weird how reluctant I am to go on an adventure, despite feeling a lot healthier. I nearly didn’t go as Glenn didn’t want to come with me. The weather this morning was horribly windy, with hail and sideways rain. I decided to just go. Glenn is on holidays soon and I doubt we’ll be as active as we are planning. As long as we get to Werribee Treatment Plant!

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A heron flew over and landed before I had a chance to get the camera ready. It was nice; I don’t see them there that often. He flew over again later.

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I was sitting down, watching the birds on the teeny island in the middle when this guy waddled over. There were a lot of people feeding ducks there today and I think he wanted food. Still, I got some beautiful shots

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There were a lot of welcome swallows about. They were incredibly hard to photograph; I got some average ones of them in flight. This little guy was still long enough for me to get several photos.

I then went for a walk along the path that is alongside the road. I was hoping to see something rare – perhaps a lathams snipe. I did get to see this pink-eared duck and got several shots.

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I really do love these ducks. I wish I could see a large population and had a camera with a better lens. They are so cute.

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Glenn wasn’t there so I didn’t have to rush everywhere. I got to walk slowly and do photography that I enjoy, rather for identification purposes. I love shooting the sun through flowers. I’m thinking about going to the botanical gardens to continue this.

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Mr Pelican was there again. He came up close as a family was feeding him as I was able to get some really lovely shots.

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This trio of ducks were keen to be fed. They are pretty tame and really fun to photography.

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Glenn loves getting photos of birds in flight. I was sitting down in a secluded area, trying to get photos of the small birds that were flying really fast. I heard a honk and snapped a photo of this guy. I got several more as he flew over to where I was sitting. He wanted to join his ducky friends and get in on the bread action.

It ended up being a really nice shot, even though it was accidental.
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The final bird (and the second new species) is the White plumed honeyeater.

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It was a lovely trip; one that taught me a lot. I do prefer solo birdwatching; I just feel bitchy leaving Glenn here. I see it as my job to make sure he enjoys his days off. It’s silly and is an anxiety thought pattern I’ll have to defeat. I felt accomplished and a lot more peaceful.

I know I need to do this more, it’s just a matter of when. I have very little income coming in and hang out with my nephew pretty often. The weather is manky on a regular basis and I don’t have a car. It feels like there are so many obstacles and that this journey is going to take a long time.

This is just panic as Glenn will have a MONTH off and I need Jade Time. There is also impatience due to being sick for so long. I think I need to make some birdwatching/hiking friends. I’ll see what local tours we can do on Glenns month off.