West Melbourne

I’ve never really had much much luck with crakes. I went to Jerringot a fair bit when living out that way and only saw them the once. It took about four visits to Eastern Park to find the Ballions. I didn’t mind: they are elusive buggers and there were other birds higher up on my priority list.

Nonetheless: TWO CRAKES AT ONCE!

Fabulous Day at Werribee Treatment Plant

January 8, 2018 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Today, I was so fortunate to be invited to Werribee Treatment Plant. I hadn’t been here in ages: I’d stepped back from birding and was craving something different from the usual Barwon River birds.

I’ve been actively working on getting out more and getting my life in order but the WTP is a place I can’t visit independently: It’s so darn large and I won’t be getting my licence for a while. So, when a friend asked if I wanted to come along, I jumped at the chance. I love hanging out with fellow birders. It was one of the first times I’ve been around nature loves and haven’t felt like there is something wrong with me.

We ended up spending about 4 hours here. I’ve found this is the perfect timeframe if you have let to learn the art of discreet peeing.

Waterbirds Fighting At Werribee Zoo

August 25, 2016 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Last Weekend, I stayed overnight at Werribee Zoo as part of their Slumber Safari program. I’ll be writing about those adventures shortly. It was a fascinating experience and we learned so much.

On the second day, we able to spend the rest of the day at the zoo when the morning activities were finished. Seth and I were hanging out at the river area near the front entrance, waiting for my parents to return. We were distracted by the sounds of birds screaming at each other.

The eurasian coots and dusky moorhens were getting into massive fights with each other. It wasn’t just between species, the two types of birds were also fighting among themselves. Sometimes two birds would gang up on one, and another bird would join the fray to defend it. It was interesting to see just how violent they got.

3 New Birds at Werribee Treatment Plant

May 7, 2016 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

I didn’t bird as much as I would have liked this past summer. It seemed any time I pushed myself to hard, I got a migraine. It was brutal. I was crying the day before I was meant to be seeing a musical as I was so scared I’d be too sick to go.

Nonetheless, I was so happy to go to WTP again. It was exhausting. And, seeing as I was meeting a birding friend for the first time, a bit awkward. Nonetheless, it was exhilarating.

Yes. That *is* a wood sandpiper. I’m generally a bit blah about sandpipers, but wood sandpipers have fascinating markings. They aren’t meant to be that common but we saw a couple of them. I was so grateful to be able to get a good look.

There also had been a red necked phalarope hanging around here over all summer. I had been extremely lazy about seeing it and it was nearing the end of the season. It was an unusual vagrant but tended to move around the plant a fair bit.

Well, it was seen that day. Alas, not by us. It was spotted in an area you need another permit for. It’s no biggy, I knew that I’d have little chance of seeing it and would wait until the next time it came back.