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altona coastal reserve

Taking Sethy to Jawbone + Altona

January 26, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

It’s the a story that I think is going to repeat itself multiple times this year. I promise Seth we can go adventuring if he is good. He actually behaves. I end up spending an hour plotting, trying to think of something interesting we can do that is something other then ‘Lets walk along the Barwon River.’

The Barwon is awesome. It’s fun. He’s going to be seeing a lot of it now that school is returning. He was hankering to see a blue billed duck. I thought the birding would be more interesting at Jawbone, and was certain we’d see a blue billed. We caught the train to Seaholme station and off we went.

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Of course, the birding started before we got to Altona Coastal Park. We did the same walk that I did in this post. I thought it was a reasonable distance that could take him through different environments.

We saw many birds of prey on the way there. Unfortunately, I’m unable to ID them quickly yet. Seth was saying what he thought they were or, moreso, what he hoped they were. At a trainstation near Laverton we saw magpie geese on the side of the tracks! We were very shocked.

There were many musk lorikeets and a little wattlebird in the tree outside the station. Was hoping to luck out and see a little lorikeet 😉

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We then walked to the beach, where someone got distracted by being a 6 year old at the beach. We looked at shells and marveled at just how many dogs were at the beach in the area. I always let him muck around and be a kid on these walks, provided we at least keep moving so we can get back at a reasonable time.

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I saw these two birds at the beach! Turned out all the birds I saw that day were Common Greenshanks, just like Sethy said. I was really hoping to find a common sandpiper, which had been sighted in the area. Alas, no luck.

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Seth repeatedly asked me to get photos of what the little black birds were, even though I knew. Here is a close up of the starling.

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Large flock of swans. Seth now really loves swans. We got photos of any bird that had a tag around it’s neck and submitted them to myswan. Seth helped point out the tags. At Jawbone, he started hooting at a pair who were kind enough to talk back.

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Green shank

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Beautiful tern. This was flying over as we were walking towards the coastal park.

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Yellow rumped thornbill! I wasn’t able to ID it until I got home. I thought the rump looked way too bright, and it didn’t appear to be hiding like so many thornbills that I saw. Someone was amused because the word “rump means bottom.”

Grasshopper

It had been about two hours since we had left. Mum called to see how we were doing. At the exact moment I answered, Seth found this on the path.
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!!!!

Seth loves bugs and critters. Loves them. I couldn’t talk to him and mum at the same time, so I hung up so we could investigate further. He put it on is hand and we looked closely at it. I know grasshoppers are common but seeing one this size and so well camouflaged was brilliant. Look at the photo below.

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Try finding the grasshopper. Seth found it immediately. Eventually, I had to pull him away.

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We had to wait around at the walkway over the creek because Seth saw tiny fish in that water. He can be really awesome on adventures, helping me find stuff that I otherwise wouldn’t see. And I get a buzz out of showing him different environments and ecosystems. There were a couple of terns floating around.

Egrets are still annoying

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I had to ask for help with this one – I still struggle. It looked smaller, the kink in the neck wasn’t as pronounced and the gap didn’t extend back that far. I may just have to accept that this is a bird I will struggle to ID for some time.

Walking from Altona Coastal Park to Jawbone

We were walking between the birding areas when Seth pointed to something on the side of the track. “Look, fungi!” I didn’t believe him at first. I went “no there’s no………………..t,” with my voice getting really high pitched towards the end. I was that surprised to see fungi at the beach. I thought that they liked the damp and cold. Definitely something I want to investigate.

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We heard a rustling in the trees and went to investigate. Seth said it was a honeyeater. I wasn’t too sure as it looked too small, but we checked on the app and with his field guide. Yep, it was a singing honeyeater. Lifer number 2 for the little dude and possibly my first lifer for the year.

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Yet another fungi. Seth is awesome for finding fungi.
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Walking towards Jawbone we saw a great crested grebe. Third time I’ve seen one and a second for Seth, but now we both have a photographic record. Although I already had one from WTP.

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Jawbone.

We got to Jawbone and had a little bit of a wander. Seth was disappointed about the lack of quails, especially because he was super quiet. We did see a lot of rabbits. I knew it would be unlikely. Will definitely seek out quails in the future though. Or, as he repeatedly called them, guinea fowl 😉

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Always fun to see another spoonbill.

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A pelican flying past Williamstown beach

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It was a pretty big day, with what felt like very little return in terms of wildlife. Seth still had a blast. It was just the little things that you see when you go to a different environment. We could probably find similar things closer to Geelong but I wouldn’t know how to get there. Here, I was familiar with.

The blue billed duck wasn’t there, which was a disappointment. We also didn’t get to play in any of the tempting playgrounds. Fortunately there were a lot of toilets and places to refill your drink bottle along the path. And, I got to teach Seth more about the area. I’d love to take him back to Williamstown and explore the main beach/pier area, and then catch a ferry into the city.

I’ve noticed that I feel a lot healthier, and feel less agoraphobic. Our adventuring started out so he had something fun to do over the holidays, as my parents have been so busy with moving. I think it’s really benefited both of us. He’s learning lots of little things, like he does when he’s with my parents. I find it fascinating watching his brain develop. I’m also keen to take mum to some of these places, as Seth would love to share things with her.

Filed Under: West Melbourne Tagged With: altona coastal reserve, Australian White Ibis, black swan, common greenshank, crested grebe, jawbone, little wattlebird, pelican, royal spoonbill, singing honeyeater, yellow-rumped thornbill

Altona Coastal Park + Jawbone Reserve

December 3, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

After visiting Truganina Swamp yesterday, I decided to visit Altona Coastal Park and walk through Jawbone Reserve to Williamstown station. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the area even if it didn’t yield much in terms of birds. I had initially planned to visit Cherry Lake as well but thought that may have been too much for me. Good call, past Jade!

I got off at the Seaholme station and it was a short walk to the coastal park.

Altona Coastal Park

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I walked past a reserve. Their was a pier nearby, which was fantastic for the normal birds. Lots of pelicans and pacific gulls. They were flying around a lot so it was great for photography. I loved getting the above photo with three pelicans sitting on boats.

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Primarily got this one to show Glenn.

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It was a bit frustrating there. I could hear a lot of birdlife but not necessarily see much. Of course, a lot of the birds showed their heads while I was sitting down and talking on the phone to Glenn! Alas, I couldn’t multi-task. My feet were hurting a bit at this point so I was hoping to wrap about the trip ASAP. But look! A poorly lit photo of a Golden Headed Cisticola. 🙂

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I try to take photos of birds that are tagged so I can contribute to the research projects. I need to make a list of ones I can help with. Also, this area was brilliant for Fairy Wrens. It was a different environment then what I was used to and is definitely an area that requires more patience. Straited Fieldwrens are common here. I probably saw several but they were too quick. I could hear birds everywhere but they were well hidden.

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Another black shouldered kite. It was at this point that I changed the camera settings to sports mode. It made the rest of the photos from the day look dark and yucky.

Trying to cross the river

It was at this point that I decided I didn’t need the map. I saw a fence and a path leading towards the creek mouth and decided to follow it. My feet liked being on softer crowd. There were foot prints and bike tracks leading to the water so I tried to cross it. I tried to cross the small streams leading to the creek mouth first. I took off my shoes and socks and saw this little guy.

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THEN I SAW A RED CAPPED PLOVER!

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And then I realized there was no way to cross, so tried to cross at the actual creek mouth. It looked deep so I hiked up my dress. I put on foot in the water. The sand enveloped my foot and I fell on my butt, getting saturated up to my waist. The camera didn’t get wet, though.

Fuck!

It was funny – I knew I’d be able to see the funny side later. My feet were still sore and I knew I had to backtrack. It was hot and I was incredibly thirsty. I was starting to feel a bit woozy, even though it wasn’t that hot. I don’t have much tolerance for heat.

I ended up chafing because the bike shorts I was wearing took too long to dry. It took ages to get to Jawbone and it didn’t yield anything out of the ordinary. Until I decided to get a closer look at a ‘rabbit.’

Jawbone

I was walking towards the bird hides when I saw a black shape in bushes on the side of the footpath. I thought “Awesome. Another rabbit to photograph.” I hate rabbits but my nephew enjoys seeing them, so I photograph them where possible.

I leaned closer to get a better look. I swore. It was a quail! It was just as started as I was and ran even deeper into the bush. I didn’t have the chance to take a photograph, so I wasn’t able to identify it.

I asked on a Facebook group I’m a part of and they said that brown quails are very common in the area – it’s a good hotspot for them. But you can’t 100% say it is as you also get painted button quails and stubble quails in the area. I’m loving the various Facebook groups I’m involved in. The people are so helpful, despite my obvious newbie-ness. I’m learning so much more then I was by birding by myself and hoping that google had the answers. Google very rarely does; people don’t seem to share that much birding information via blogs, at least stuff that is good for newbies.

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I have a thing for white fronted chats.

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And spoonbills in breeding plumage. Wish I could have gotten better shots. I want to go to Serendip with Glenn before his break finishes.

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Obligatory cormorant shot, because Glenn loves it.

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I love blue billed bucks. I’ve seen them before at Jawbone but suspect it was a female. I was shocked at how bright the bill was! It was such an honour to see that close. I really love ducks.

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This part of the twitch was a real struggle. I was exhausted, in pain. I found a tap along the path and refilled my water bottle. I sat in the bird hide for about 20 minutes and just drank water, trying to cool down. I did feel better afterwards and didn’t get a migraine from the trip – nor vomit. When you have anxiety and migraines you learn to expect the worse 😛 I think the naprogesic helped. I’ve learned that I need to:

  • pack more water
  • Find a better hat, as this one doesn’t cover me up properly
  • Wear sunscreen.
  • wear my hiking shoes. Regardless of whether they are dying!

I’m also unfit, I can’t walk 15+ km in a day like I used to. I only walked 6-7 yesterday. I’ve been able to do that before but it’s along the river here and has more shade, and isn’t as hard on my feet. I felt pretty rotten physically today.

I’m also starting to think that Jawbone isn’t really worth the visit any more – I should explore the other areas, now that I know how to get there. Tomorrow we are going to Werribee Zoo. Primarily for Glenn to practice wildlife photography but I’m hoping we’ll see some birds. Has over 130 regular birds sighted there!

I’m loving birding and life at the moment. Sometimes it all falls into place.

Filed Under: West Melbourne Tagged With: altona coastal reserve, black swan, blue-billed duck, jawbone, little black cormorant, pelican, red capped plover, royal spoonbill, white-fronted chat

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