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First Visit To Kerang Lakes: Fantastic Birding in North Central Vic

December 29, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

‘Twas a couple of nights before Christmas. News had arrived that two MORE vagrants were seen at Lake Tutchewop. A red-necked phalarope and oriental plover had been sighted, in addition to the much reported dowitcher. People were planning their trips for after Christmas, hoping the birds would stick around.

They didn’t.

I was fortunate enough to visit the Kerang area on the 27th though, accompanying Owen Lishmund and Tim N. It was a brilliant days birding and one that makes me keen to explore more areas of Victoria.

Lake Tutchewop.

The alarm went off at 4.20. I was at the train station and 4.55 and at Footscray Station waiting to be picked up at 5.20. I wasn’t lucid at that hour, but it was surprising to realize that I was the oldest one in our group.

We got to Kerang around 9ish. It was surprising to see how many raptors where there! Owen was looking at the window and just saying various names. I scored a new bird, the black falcon, pretty quickly.

We got to the much hyped Lake Tutchewop. This is what greeted us.

Red capped plovers. And didn’t have to fall into a river to see them!

It was at this point that I realized I probably wouldn’t see the vagrants. Many people were there and we all saw the same birds: sandpipers, one banded stilt, one avocet and a bunch of pelicans.

We visited both sides of the lake. It is an area I’d like to return to do some photography. The guys suggested that we return later in the day when the waders were more likely to be active and do some other birding in the meantime.

As we were leaving, they heard the sound of a white winged fairy wren. Shame I didn’t get to see a male, but I still got a blurry photo of a female.

Also got a clear shot of a black kite. The markings are different to what I expected. I’m hoping that I’ll be as good as others with raptors soon enough.

Tresco West

We went to Tresco West specifically to find the blue bonnets, because I’d mentioned my fascination with parrots. I felt a bit guilty about doing a detour just for my interests, I don’t want to be the newbie that annoys others. I know other birders are awesome and love sharing but I still struggle with the social nuances of group birding.

Tim Dolby wrote more about the bushland reserve here.

We heard the blue bonnet early on. The were very skittish though and I’d only get glimpses of them flying off whenever we got too close (which was still a comfortable 5-10 metres way.) They are apparently the shyest parrots. The subspecies we saw was apparently Northiella haematogaster haematogaster – commonly known as the yellow-vented bluebonnet. Apparently located in multiple places along North Central Victoria.

I’m defintely returning to spend half a day – at least – just to watch the blue bonnets. The reserve deserves much more exploring.

Was also fortunate enough to see a yellow throated miner, something I’d placed on my bucketlist for the day. There are five subspecies of this, although on the east coast it’s primarily race flavigula. One of the races is called a dusky minor – apparently can also be confused with noisy miner. It means I only have one species of miner to find – the black eared miner. This was previously a race of the yellow throated. This is why I keep an eye on subspecies.

Barham

Apparently Goschen was bad this time of year, so it was decided that we would cross the border to see a feral population of ostriches. Only I didn’t realize we had crossed the border until I saw signs saying NSW.

Part of me doesn’t see the point in seeking out feral populations just to add them to the list. Lists in general bore me (like state lists, year lists.) I guess I’ll grow into the ideas. I’m too lazy, I think, I prefer just sitting and watching the species that fascinate me. I like adding birds to my list because I then have the context to learn about them. And, I suspect in 20+ years I’ll regret not ticking some species.

If you want more info, both Kay Parkin and Tim Dolby have written about them. Apparently they do disgusting poops.

The guys wanted to look for bush stone curlew so decided to explore the cemetery, which looked like it was the right habitat. Both of them could look at an area and saw whether it was the right habitat for certain species. I hope to be that smart one day.

This area was amazing, along with the adjoining bushland. We didn’t see any curlews but one of the first birds I saw was a rainbow bee eater.

I’ve been wanting to see bee eaters in the wild for some time now. You can get them at the you yangs but I haven’t visited there properly in ages. The colours are beautiful and they are even more magnificent in flight. They were definitely a highlight of the day for me.

We were all wandering about, following the various calls, when Owen shouted at us to come over.

I was expecting to see a bird but no, it was JUST A LACE MONITOR HANGING OUT IN A TREE! *This* is why I need to leave my suburban birding spots and start going into outback/rural areas. I love seeing other animals. Developing a fascinating with lizards.

Very, very thankful the little guy made it across the road safely.

Was also a number of kangaroos in the area.

At some point, I saw this juv blue faced honeyeater. I have now seen them in three different states.

Return to Lake Tutchewop

We returned to a group of people who had been looking there for a while. No luck. I was knackered at this point, and the sun was really beating down. I decide to just sit down and get photos of both chats and plovers. I do love mucking around with photography but only when it doesn’t interfere with other peoples plans.

This chat has different colours – am assuming it’s a juvenile. There were crimson chats in the area but apparently the bad on this bird is different?

Was nice to get a shot of a plover that wasn’t running away from me.

We’d regularly see large flocks of waders flying around various parts of the lake.

Town and Back Swamp

It was decided that we should head to this swamp. I was knackered and didn’t expect much, I was happy to along with anything. For me, it was one of the highlights.

We did a loop around the swamp, taking note of any interesting birds along the way.

It was very difficult for me to see this glossy ibis, which was one of my target species for the day. It was similar in colour and size to the shelducks (!) that were there. It is smaller then other ibises. I think this will help with identification in the future.

This is a dusky woodswallow. I almost didn’t both taking a photo of it, as I thought I’d seen it (and, I tend not to care about anything at the end of a twitch when I feel exhausted. I’d been active for 14 hours at this point.)

One was a juvenile, which was lovely. The woodswallow I had seen was (duh) masked. There are no subspecies of masked but there are two of dusky. Looks like I have to go to WA!

Eastern Rosella. I don’t care how common they are – or if they look like blue bonnets in the shade. I love them, and I especially love photos of birds feeding.

The below is a photo of a variegated fairy wren. We had seen one earlier in the day but not views as clear as this. There are five subspecies. This is race assimilis, the one that you will find across most of Australia. Kinda resembles the blue breasted but this wasn’t in the range. The guys were awesome. They could hear a bird call and then hone in on it, knowing exactly what it was. And they haven’t been birding their whole lives like I assumed. There is hope for me yet!

“Theres the brown quail for you, Jade.” Earlier in the day, we were talking about quails and I mentioned the one that had eluded me at Jawbone. We were at the end, walking towards the car, when we saw this. Hope to see more quails and get better views in the future

It was a fanastic days birding. I didn’t care about dipping on the big three. There were a number of birds they heard during the day that I would have loved to see. They heard birds and saw things such as little friarbirds. It’s the same with any trip though, I’m so overwhelmed by all the movement and sounds. I think I’ll be like this for quite a while until I get the hang of it. It is a bit of information overwhelm.

Oh! We were driving up there and someone in the car noticed that Kevin Bartram was in a car next to us. That man is a birding legend. I don’t fully understand the story, but apparently he did something similar to Kenn Kaufman by hitching his away across the country when he was 18. I think I met him at some point, but I was exhausted and feeling anti social at that point.

I also met Craig Morley, a prolific birder from Geelong. I see his reports of ebird a lot and had hoped to bump into him one day.

I plan to return to the area in the future – when I can drive – and explore it properly. Not just birding. It was fascinating. I especially want to go to the ibis rookery.

Yea Wetlands

December 14, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

I went to my great grandmothers funeral in Mansfield a month ago. It was a long drive from Geelong and I had a bad cold, so I kept an eye for interesting stuff along the side of the road. I saw a number of wetlands and a rail trail. I made a mental note to research and visit those places later – although I didn’t think I’d be able to until 2016!

One of those places was the Yea Wetlands. Or, depending on who is sharing the car with you, ‘YAY!’ I’d never properly birded in that area and had no idea what to expect. It ended up being one of the highlights of the day.

Tawny Frogmouth

We saw this tawny frogmouth sunning itself on a log across the river. It was so close. We were on a suspension bridge so all of us turned around and started snapping photos of it. They are some of the clearest I’ve ever gotten and that includes the photos of birds I’ve taken in free slight aviaries. I loved being able to capture the detail on it’s feathers. It wasn’t there on our return.

Sacred Kingfisher

Another highlight was seeing a sacred kingfisher with a lizard in its mouth! I’ve been wanting to see something like this for some time. This is only the second time I’ve seen a sacred kingfisher and any kookaburras I’ve seen have been well camouflaged

The detail of the lizard is poor quality. I spoke to a couple of people about lenses during the weekend and they confirmed what I’ve suspected: there must be something wrong with the lens. Even when they put it on the right manual settings the photos turned out crap. Glenn and I are thinking about upgrading the lens anyway. I mostly want photos to ID whereas Glenn wants the great shot.
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Bell Miner

I was very excited to see the bell miners! The second photo shows a number of juveniles under a nest. This means that I don’t have to go to the botanical gardens in Melbourne to track down these guys and the Eastern Spinebill. (I loathe leaving the house – and especially going to Melbourne – so am grateful for any excuse to avoid an area :P) Their call and colouring was different to what I expected.

Others:

I think this is the White-throated Gerygone. It’s probably the rufous whistler; I know I saw and got a photo of the gerygone but am feeling too overwhelmed at the moment to double check. The gerygone looked way different to what I thought it would be, a lot smaller. It was rather difficult to photograph.

(I’m certain it isn’t the gerygone but I’m going to pretend it is – I’m tired!)

Like the flycather, it was smaller then expected. I expected it to be mostly one colour with a white throat. It mates for life. Can resemble the fairy gerygone and younger ones can look like a weebill. I’m not sure these are something that interest me that much yet, I normally stick to the groups of birds I’m passionate about. Still, always fun seeing a new bird.

Brush tailed possum tail sticking out from a hollow. I know a 6 year old that loves possums and knew he’d dig this.

The above photo is a leadens flycather. Someone questioned the ID on Facebook later that night but apparently the undertail is diagnostic?

It moved so quick that I struggled to see it, let alone get a photo. I was really surprised when I got home to see that I got a clearish shot! It is so much smaller then I expected. I thought it would be willy wagtail sized. Someone else said they had originally thought the same thing. This makes me feel less stupid 🙂 I’ve been wanting to see a flycatcher for sometime although, as usual, I know nothing about them.

It’s apparently misidentified a lot. Graeme Chapman has info on telling them apart. It prefers drier habitats then the satin. Would these wetlands qualify as dry?

Was a very big day and I still feel like I’m recovering from it. I loved being with others that had a similar passion not just for birds but for all things nature. People would stop to get photos of bugs and skinks and fungi. My primary interest is birds but I am fascinated by other animals – I just don’t have the energy to pursue that passion. People would talk at length about camera settings. I felt like I was amongst kindred spirits – something I haven’t felt in a long, long time.

I was getting exhausted by the end and did rest a bit. I was paranoid that I was being rude during times when I wasn’t overly social. I mostly felt relaxed which is a lovely break from my normal feelings of anxiety. It confirms that I need to find a balance between career and my love of nature.

I need to explore everywhere and learn as much as I can. Australia is so fascinating. And the birders I met yesterday were so generous with their knowledge.

Now to sleep off the exhaustion 😛

2015 Birding Goals

November 16, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

An acquantaince on a bird photography Facebook group recently posted that he had seen over 730 birds. Wow! I posted that I was happy I had reached over 100.

And, I am. My nephew may have seen 71 species compared to my current 112 but I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. I’m broke, agoraphobic, often severely depressed. I have very few connections. Keeping up my birdwatching hobby over the past year has been extremely difficult for me.

I’m hoping to change that somewhat in 2015. I want to get it up to 250 birds and know that realistically I can do that. I’d love to get it higher and know that it is feasible – especially if I increase my income. I just know that there are no guarantees when it comes to birding.

This is the list of birds that I’m going to try to target by the end of next year. I know I’ll see some before the end of this year. I also know that circumstances will change and I’ll probably get to go birding with others at some point. Regardless, I just want to have some kind of plan.

Target species

Crested Shrike Tit: Often found around the area I live in. Would like to find before I move suburbs
Tawny Frogmouth: One of the more common owls. Just need to find a reliable location close to public transport
Rufous Bristlebird: Aireys Inlet
Rainbow bee eater
Banded Stit
Swift Parrot
Southern emu wren
bell miner (Melbourne botanical gardens)
Eastern Spinebill (Melbourne botanical gardens)
Shy albatross
Southern Giant Petrel
Southern Boobook
Painted button Quail (point addis)
Ballians Crake
Spotted Crake
Cape Gannet
Kelp Gull
Crescent honeyeater
Lewins honeyeater (dandenongs)
Superb lyrebird
Brown headed honeyeater (Pt Addis)
striped honeyeater
tawny crowned honeyeater (pt Addis)
White eareed honeyeater (Pt Addis)
White naped honeyeater (Pt Addis)
Arctic Jaeger (Pt Lonsdale)
Little Lorikeet
Purple crowded lorikeet
Mistletoe bird
Red capped plover
Fairy Prion (Point Lonsdale)
Flame Robin
Pink Robin
Rose Robin
Caspian Tern
Fairy Tern
Little Tern
Bassian Thrush
Song Thrush
White winged triller
Eurasian Tree sparrow (Melbourne zoo)

That brings the numbers up to a paltry 150ish, but it gives me several ideas for ‘easy’ birding trips I can make. I assume I’ll make some other sightings in the key areas. I’ll explore some of the gardens close to Melbourne, especially if they are close to a rail trail. I’ll go to Point Lonsdale, Point Addis and probably a trip to the Dandenongs.

My focus next year will be work and a return to hiking. I really don’t know what I will accomplish birding – but having a plan makes it heaps easier.

Birding at Lake Colac

November 2, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Yesterday I was lucky enough to visit Lake Colac with my nephew. We were in the area to go to the Colac Show. Sethy and I hadn’t hung out properly in ages and seriously, who wouldn’t want to be in a situation where you can share a dodgem car with a six year old?

The other reason I wanted to go up was to practice my fireworks photography. The night before, though, it hit me. Isn’t Lake Colac in Colac? (shut up.) Are there any birds there? None of the books I have really talk about colac as a birdwatching region. I didn’t think we’d get a chance to go but it’s always helpful to know what is local. Sethy was looking over my shoulder as I was researching. “Look at all those pelicans!” At that point, I really wanted to see if we could get there.

Only issue? I didn’t know where it was

We had just left the show and I saw a sign pointing to the botanical gardens. I asked if we could have a quick look, and we got dropped off while my parents did some shopping. It was a fantastic opportunity that didn’t take them out of their way too much.

We weren’t even at the bird sanctuary. We were near it though and Seth started running along a wooden pier/jetty. He saw this little guy and was so excited!

A month early, we had gone to Avalon Beach to do some beachcombing. I didn’t have a camera with me but I had read their were red necked avocets in the area. I showed Seth a picture of them in the bird book and he was really interested, he loved the upturned beak.

I wasn’t expecting to see them yesterday and was so excited when we did. Seth LOVED it.

I loved how they looked for food. They moved their beak side to side until they found something. I love how Seth gets to see stuff like this.

We also go to see Black winged stilts, something that Seth enjoys seeing. Haven’t seen them at Belmont Common yet. We also saw a whiskered tern. “That’s two new birds I’ve seen!” He said. We actually put a dot in ~~my old~~ his field guide, so he count all the birds he’s seen. I only saw my first whiskered tern a couple of weeks ago along the Barwon River.

Startled Coots

We were looking at the pelicans when something spooked the eurasion coots. I love seeing larger then normal populations of birds moving together. I so badly wanted to go to Broome Bird Observatory. Imagine the photos we can get!

Sandpipers

Had another unexpected lifer with these sharp tailed sandpipers. I had to use a facebook group to help ID them. I was able to narrow them down to sandpipers, which is pretty good for me! I was confused as to whether some could be pectoral based on the bill colour but others said it was unlikely. And used a bunch of terminology I’m not yet able to understand. So. Much. To. Learn!

Sometimes I worry that I’m pushing my hobby onto Seth. That he may be pretending to be interested because he’s my little mate. (I have anxiety, I’m always worried.) Days like yesterday confirm his genuine interest. He has a strong focus on birds, like I do, mostly because they are so available. His other fascinations – marsupials, insects, reptiles – are harder to indulge in when you live in suburbia. We do get to see something interesting animals occasionally.

He also loves volcanos and dinosaurs so we also talk about that when birding. We talked about volcanoes when we visited the You Yangs. He’s a kid that loves learning and I share the same personality trait – to the point where I have books that answer his questions.

Glenn is also starting to share my fascination. It’s nice to have people that understand my weirdness 🙂

Visiting Tidbinbilla

November 3, 2012 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Despite Canberra being called the bush capital, I didn´t have high expectations for Tidbinbilla. I was eager to get back into the bush but wasn´t overly enthused about another mountain with a lot of trees. The Australian Alps had no interest for me.

I´m a very fickle person and generally like certain types of forest. I like the wet forests of Tasmania, the Otways and the Dandenongs. Or I like the standard Eucalpyt Forest.

I actually fell in love with it here. I don´t know why. It was different. It reminded me of Mansfield in many ways.

On the bus up we were told we had two choices. We could visit hanging rock to hear an indigenous ranger speak about his heritage. Alternately, we could walk up Gibralter Peak.

I opted for the former.

I was all geared up the hike Gibralter Peak. I love bushwalking and I had read up on this walk. It was meant to be moderate and not be that steep.

On the bus we were told it was moderate to strenuous. After my puffed out efforts at Stromlo the day prior, I made the decision to hear the indigenous presentation. I felt like I would have preferred the bushwalk but I trusted Glenn to get the pictures.

It was actually a really fascinating presentation. Growing up, we are taught a lot about Aboriginal history and culture. I genuinely didn´t think I would learn anything.

We were shown how to create rope from bark. I asked what he was going to do with the rope he created and he let me take it home. I showed my four year old nephew who was so intrigued by it. ¨It´s from a tree!¨

We were shown how to bind things. We were told about how the bushfires came through and the rock wallabies hid between the rock and the earth. We were taught how we could use the environment around us to live. We also got a little pamphlet about indigenous plant use in the region.

It was so compelling that I bought a book on bushfoods so I could show my nephew what I had learnt. There was another person wanting to buy the last copy when I was there.

Gibralter Peak:

I wish that I was a lot fitter so I could have done this walk. I had read great reviews online but I was not fit enough to do this. I´m glad I missed out on it but Glenn got some amazing photos.

We were told that groups of people can rent out the homestead Nil Desperandum and use that as the home base while they explore the area. I´d love to do that. We spent such little time here. I´d like to go to the sanctuary and talk some more to the rangers.

The rangers were great

One of my favourite things about the weekend was that everyone was proud of Canberra. They took pride in their city and their work. You could tell that all the staff were really passionate about Tidbinbilla.

I was chatting to a guy who, upon learning where we lived, said he had been down here recently in search of a rare duck. I jokingly said ¨Oh – so you´d know what the orange bellied parrot is, then?´ Not only did he know of it, he had gone down to Tasmania to see it.

There was a young woman who pointed out a yellow tailed black cockatoo flying overhead. She said ¨I´ll never get sick of seeing that.¨

There is so much to learn

I learned a fair bit about the conservation efforts of the corroboree frog and southern brush tailed wallaby. I learned about the impact bushfires had on the region.

It felt like this area had a lot more history then many national parks that I have visited. It told a much larger story. I wish I could have purchased more books from there so I could learn.

I´m also keen to hike the Australian Alps, something that I hadn´t seriously considered before.

Do I recommend it?

If you´re a nature geek then I definitely recommend it. It was nice. It´s just a shame that we visited at the end of a very hectic weekend and I couldn´t enjoy it more.