• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

JadeCraven.Org

My Nature Blog

  • About
  • Trip Reports
  • Life List

West Melbourne

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.

IMG_3197

IMG_3205

IMG_3206

IMG_3219
IMG_3248

Filed Under: West Melbourne Tagged With: dusky moorhen, eurasian coot

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.

Wood sandpipers

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.

Brolgas

A parent brolga with a chick. I’d love to be able to show Sethy brolgas in the wild at some point. Apparently the ones at Serendip don’t count. Ha!

Little grassbird

Little grassbird. Finally got the bugger. At first I thought it was a crake but it was too small.

Golden headed cisticola

Beautiful golden headed cisticola.

Brown falcon (Falco berigora)

Brown falcon (Falco berigora)

Incredibly photogenic brown falcon. Damn, I could spend all day photographing birds of prey.

Yellow spoonbill flying

Yellow spoonbill flying

I don’t have enough opportunities to see spoonbills in flight.

IMG_9509

I did see this cormorant, which wasn’t looking too healthy. I was concerned, especially as cases of botulism had gotten around. It seemed to pick up.

We also saw a small group of godwits, which was another lifer!

It’s hard to remember much else from the trip. I know I loved it, I just stopped documenting so often as I have a lot on.

Filed Under: West Melbourne Tagged With: brolga, Little grassbird, little pied cormorant

Whistling Kites Chasing Cormorants At The WTP

April 15, 2016 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Recently, I was at the treatment plant. We were looking out to the ocean when we saw a group of whistling kites hanging out on the rocks. They were hanging out quite close to the cormorants and I was quite surprised that they were so close.

Then, one flew up. The little black cormorants nearby also flew up and landed in the water. I captured the whole scene.

My photos are mediocre but it’s one of the reasons I definitely need to get out more often.

Whistling kite chasing cormorants.

Whistling kite chasing cormorants.

Whistling kites

Whistling kite chasing cormorants.

Whistling kite chasing cormorants.

Whistling kite chasing cormorants.

Whistling kite chasing cormorants.

Filed Under: West Melbourne Tagged With: little black cormorant, whistling kite

Raptors Eating Rodents at WTP

July 24, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Yesterday, I was going through my photos from the Western Treatment Plant with Glenn. He was saying how our sigma lens wasn’t working as good as he’d hope and that the Canon lens I’d borrowed was doing a better job.

It was true that the Canon lens was focusing a lot faster. However, I argued that that the Sigma lens was still pretty good. Glenn has a habit of not going through his photos properly. He’ll choose the best ones from a glance of the folder. That means he often misses the small details – the details that can really make the shot.

Yesterday, he was upset because I had gotten shots of birds of prey eating mice and he didn’t. As the below photos show, methinks he was mistake. He actually got better shots. They have much more detail and capture different moments.

IMG_6016

IMG_6012

IMG_6017

IMG_6019

IMG_6294

IMG_6301

IMG_6305

IMG_6396

IMG_6399

Other images

He did take other photos, although he was right in that the quality was meh in some of them. It was mostly due to the settings of the camera and the fact we didn’t change them for different lighting. And at times the car was moving.

IMG_5937

Cute Greenshank

IMG_6727

A cormorant I’m pretending has a case of the giggles.

IMG_6832

A beautiful Avocet

~

I learned SO MUCH yesterday – and the information is mixing with other bits of information I’m getting and turning me into a nerd.

I saw a golden headed cisticola yesterday and couldn’t figure out what it was. You know why? I hadn’t seen it in winter before and didn’t know that the top of their head turned blue.

We struggled to find any double banded plovers. I’ve since learned that there have been significantly less DBP’s in the Geelong region, according the the GFNC winter wader count. This is a quote from the email I got. I’m not sure about the etiquette with posting but it is so fascinating.

It is interesting to note that this lack of birds has also been observed this winter by other wader teams around Port Philip Bay eg Avalon and Western Treatment Plant but not so much the Westernport and Corner Inlet /Gippsland counts. Numerous suggestions as to what this might represent have been circulated including a reduction in open exposed ground in some Port Philip Bay sites which have been fenced off for conservation but actually have meant there is less open area for these birds. The other interesting factor back in New Zealand is that it is a beech mast year. In a mast year beech forests produce a higher than normal amount of seeds. Rats and stoats feed on the seeds and turn on native birds when the seeds run out. This may have put the Double-banded Plover young at risk and we may be seeing the result of a poor breeding season. We will see what next winter brings for these birds and what our wader experts across the Tasman think.

Filed Under: West Melbourne

Seeing barn owls TWICE MORE at WTP

July 24, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

I’ve already posted twice about Wednesdays trip to Werribee Treatment Plant. It seems I am a glutton for punishment because I am adding a third post in as many days. This post, however, is about a bird that is fast becoming a favourite.

I’m talking about Barn Owls.
[Read more…] about Seeing barn owls TWICE MORE at WTP

Filed Under: West Melbourne Tagged With: barn owl, Werribee Treatment Plant

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Go to page 5
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • St Helens Boat Ramp at Night: September 2023
  • Other Marine Life At St Helens
  • Learning More About The Sea Squirts At St Helens
  • Botrylloides Galore At St Helens
  • Botrylloides Diegensis Found at Eastern Beach!

Categories

  • Apollo Bay
  • Barwon River, Geelong
  • Bellarine Peninsula
  • Big Things
  • Brisbane Ranges
  • Chiltern
  • Eastern Beach
  • Geelong And Surrounds
  • Gold Coast
  • Goldfields
  • Great Ocean Road
  • Marine
  • Melbourne
  • My Backyard
  • Other
  • Otways
  • Port Phillip Bay
  • Shipwreck Coast
  • Surf Coast
  • Tasmania
  • The Property
  • Toolangi
  • Uncategorized
  • West Melbourne

Copyright © 2023 · Parallax Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in