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Birdwatching Apollo Bay Beaches

January 27, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

It’s been a while since I’ve written about Apollo Bay. Blame the heatwave, and the resulting exhaustion. I’m so glad we went to Apollo Bay when we did!

We didn’t do much while there. A lot of time was spent taking my nephew to the beach and fair, so he could play and my parents could relax. I accompanied them to the beach on the final day, where the Barham River met the sea.

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A pacific gull! I’m pretty sure I’ve seen one before at Jawbone but that was never confirmed. It was pretty excited to just see one while bludging at the beach.

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I initial thought these were swans but took a photo just to be sure. Turns out they were Australian Shelducks! A funny accidental lifer. I was a bit unsure because of the markings, I always second guess myself. The giveaway is that they are one of the few ducks that fly in a V formation.

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I’m fairly certain (sadly) that this is just another crested tern, judging by the colour and shape of the beak. Damn. I want to see other terns and shorebirds!

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I also found this dead penguin on the beach which was sad.

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We left on Sunday, at midday, stopping briefly at the fish markets to pick up a present for my aunt who lent us her holiday house. I quickly jumped out of the car when I saw these two birds:

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I was so excited. More Cape Barren Geese! I didn’t think anything of it until I saw another bird report later discussing Greylag Geese.

Graylag… never heard of those. I did a quick google and discovered they are a domesticated and almost feral breed. I went to check my birdbook to see if it counted towards my lifelist but I couldn’t find it.

I searched the house for days but couldn’t find it. I was getting really annoyed and then it hit me: I’d left it out for my nephew to read the day before we went to the zoo! I texted mum and, sure enough, Seth had taken the blue bird book home. He loves looking at the different species and gets excited when we see something we haven’t seen before.

I ‘borrowed’ it back off him yesterday and checked. Technically, I was wrong, however it’s no different then the domesticated species of duck that live at some sanctuaries. You learn something every day!

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More terns on the rocks. Again, suspect Caspian. Still an awesome sight!

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Some cormorants just hanging around.

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I need to go back to Apollo Bay and explore the area properly. So. Many. Lifers!

Filed Under: Apollo Bay Tagged With: black swan, greater crested tern, little penguin, pacific gull

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