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Melbourne

First submission to MySwan – will definitely do it again!

January 21, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

swan sighting

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of swans with number tags on their neck. I assume these things happen when you leave the house more frequently 😉

Seriously, I’ve been visiting the western suburbs of Melbourne a bit more. I saw a swan with a name tag on it at Truganina and decided to go through my records so I could submit the data.

I’m always uncertain when contributing to citizen science projects, but this was actually fun. When I sent in the details, I was taken to a page which showed more information about the specific swan. I got to see the other places it had been sighted, how old it was and whether it was with another bird.

It’s almost not worth writing about. However, it made me feel more connected with the swans and the project. If you want people to care about your cause, or your study, you need to give them a reason to care. I want to help more with citizen science but I am time poor and a newbie. This process is something that people should try to emulate.

Learn more at MySwan.Org.au

Filed Under: Melbourne Tagged With: black swan

First Visit To Woodlands Historic Park

December 13, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

I recently joined a Facebook group for Victorian birders and had arranged to join a group trip to Toolangi. Somebody was coming up the day before and was going to meet up with another birder to see a peregrine falcon. I asked if I could tag along and they were both gracious enough to say yes. For this, I am so appreciative.

As a kid, I was a bird nerd. I was focused on learning as much as I could about parrots but I was also fascinated by peregrine falcons. An animal book I had growing up said they were the fasted birds in the world. I loved them, even if I didn’t research them.

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Above is the crappy photo of the aforementioned falcon. I never would have found it by myself. Despite Phillips best description, I needed Bill to physically point me towards where the bird was. The photos were crap but I don’t care. I would have loved to see more of it – possibly it hunting – but I’m so happy I got to see it. I can’t describe any information about it’s location simply because I was unfamiliar with the area and don’t remember.

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We dipped on finding purple crowned lorikeets which was fine, as I know I’ll find them. As soon as we walked into the woodlands we saw this tawny frogmouth. Part of me groaned inside, as I’d struggled so hard to find one around Geelong. I do love seeing them though.

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It was a great day for raptors. I learned so much! We saw a parent and juvenile calling to each other. We heard magpies doing a call saying that there was a raptor in the area.

We definitely saw a collared sparrowhawk. Looking at the pictures, and the images in my field guide, I can see why they said the tail gave it away. There is one subspecies up north that I’ll have to track down. Also saw a brown falcon so can tick it off the list. The above bird is a young brown goshawk (I think). I wrote down the birds I saw but not in the order that I saw them.

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Also saw this spider which was cool. Saw another interesting small greenish spider but my camera wouldn’t focus on it.

Rufous Whistler

I had seen a female golden whistler in the past but never a male. I believe I saw a male golden whistler at some point during the weekend. Seeing the rufous though helped me understand what rufous means 😛 It’s a consistent colour. I remember it’s call being beautiful, but I don’t remember what it is.

There are give subspecies of it – it’s described as a nomadic or migratory species in some parts of Aus. According to birds in backyards, “The female and immature birds can be distinguished from most other whistlers by heavy streaking on the underparts.”

It’s rarely seen on the ground and forages higher then other whistlers. And produces two broods in a season. If all that information is overwhelming for you then just look at how pretty it is. I only googled because I know nothing about whistlers.

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Straited Pardalote

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We did get to see a straited pardalote which was pretty awesome. I’ve seen one before but hadn’t seen it with this behaviour. Phillip used callback to get it closer and it was on a branch above us, spreading it’s wings. This behaviour was different to the one I had seen at Ocean Grove.

Bill suggested that it may be it’s defense behaviour – there may have been females or young in the area. I was just researching online and the bird is apparently very defensive of it’s territory. Maybe the difference in behaviour was because I saw it without using callback?

There are a number of subspecies across Australia and markings are meant to differ? No idea.

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I think the above is a weebill. I know I also saw a yellow faced honeyeater – either here or at some point on the next day. It was incredibly overwhelming – almost to the point where I couldn’t keep track of everything. I had so much fun though.

Getting Sick

I’ve written about how I’m susceptible to migraines and have a problem coping with heat on warm todays. Today was no exception. I started feeling really sick after about an hour of walking. There was a slight incline and my legs were burning. I had a funny feeling in my gut and couldn’t seem to catch my breath. I ended up saying “you guys go ahead and I’ll wait here for a bit.

They came back and we drove to another area of the woodlands. Again, I sat down by myself for a bit. I felt rude but still had fun watching the reed warblers. I was burping (not so discreetly) to try and feel better. At one point, I really thought I was going to throw up. I ended up burping out the tummy upset and being okay for the trip home.

I know this is way too much information, but it’s one of the frustration aspects of birding. I don’t know if it’s a health issue, a side effect of my antidepressants or just the result of me being unfit. I don’t get sick as often anymore as I’ve been pushing myself more with my fitness levels. It just made me feel like a shitty liability.

~

Overall it was a fun trip. I love seeing new areas and learning about them. It reminded me of Ocean Grove Nature Reserve somewhat. Philip is extremely knowledgeable and I was very grateful to be able to tag along. I learn a lot and there was no way I would have saw that much by myself, let along learn anything.

Part me of feels guilty for taking away from Bills experience. I honestly do not know how to behave in some group situations and don’t know if I’m cramping other peoples style. I suspect this is something I’ll have to relearn now that I’m actually being social again.

Filed Under: Melbourne Tagged With: collared sparrowhawk, peregrine falcon, straited pardalote, tawny frogmouth, Woodlands Historic Park

Family Day At Melbourne Zoo

June 6, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

It was the last full week of the holidays. Other then Apollo Bay, I hadn’t really done much with Seth. I eagerly jumped at the opportunity for a family trip to the zoo as I wanted to experiment with animal photography and, you know, do some bird perving. [Read more…] about Family Day At Melbourne Zoo

Filed Under: Melbourne

Penguins in Melbourne – St Kilda Breakwater

November 9, 2011 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

When most people think of penguins near Melbourne, they think of Phillip Island. Visiting there requires either an daytrip or a LONG time on public transport, plus an overnight stay

What most people – even locals – don’t know is that there is a penguin colony a short tram ride from the CBD. It’s at the St Kilda breakwater, which is the line of rocks at the end of the pier.

About the penguins:

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The breakwater was actually constructed for the 1956 olympic games – prior to this, penguins weren’t usually found in the area. In the 1980’s, people discovered penguin where living there and the colony has been the subject of study and conservation ever since.

Now the colony numbers at around 1300. You certaintly wont see that many, but it’s a really interesting place to visit. They have created a environment where the public can see and learn about the penguins, yet most of the colony is fenced off and protected.

You can see the penguins if you visit there at dusk. There are a bunch of helpful volunteers that will show you were the penguins are and answer any questions you have. I recommend talking to them as they know so much about life cycle and history. You’ll probably see about 20-30 penguins, as well as a couple of water rats.

In the summer, it may be too late for young kids. There are also a lot of tourists, so expect for it to be crowded. Also expect to have a lot of people blocking your view just to get a photo.

How to get there

You can’t catch a train to St Kilda – you have to get there via train. You can catch the 112 or 96 from in front of spencer st Station. The 96 will get you closer, and is a much nicer ride.

I’d take the 96 and spend some time exploring St Kilda. It’s a really lovely area and I’ve visited there a couple of times going to the market or Luna Park. If visiting in the summer, you could easily find a nice restaurant for dinner

We got there at 7.45 in mid November. It was way too early, and the boyfriend went to explore the pier a bit more while I waited. We saw the first penguins at around 8.15

I was worried that I’d get there and not know what pier they were talking about. Seriously – there is just the one pier. It’s long, and you can see a line of rocks beyond the restaurant.

I get lost easily and I was able to find it pretty quickly.

Finding the penguins

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The boardwalk consists of a walkway, and then a larger area with a few seats. This leads towards a further set of steps.
When I got there, we sat on the seat. There was actually a small penguin under the seat, and two hiding amongst the rocks. Wherever there was a penguin, there was a group of people around them talking loudly with camera. Be prepared to have to wait to get a glimpse of it.

Around nightfall, you will start to see the penguins come in. A lot of people hung out around the area where thre was the beach, assuming that you’d see them walk across the beach. Those that did went so quickly that you barely saw them, and even then there was usually someone leaning forward so you could barely see it.

The best chance was waiting until they had gotten onto the rocks and started exploring. The volunteers would shine a torch on them for about 10 minutes, and you were able to get really close to them. There was about 20-30 there.

I found the best vantage spot was sitting in an isolated area beyond the steps. You are away from the crowds and can sit there silently watching the penguins climb up. You don’t get as close, but it’s a lot nicer.

Filed Under: Melbourne Tagged With: little penguin

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