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common bronzewing

Winter Visit To Serendip

August 6, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Last week, Carolyn asked if I wanted to go birding on Monday. I’d turned down two offers of adventures already (I needed to get the house clean for the internet cable guys) so immediately agreed. The night before, I was kind of regretting that decision. I’d just spent a busy day with the little dude and knew I’d be a bit meh the next day. I decided to just go with the flow and I’m glad I did.

The first port of call was to Serendip Sanctuary. I was at Werribee Treatment Plant with Paul Rushworth when he told us about the baby cape barren geese at Werribee Zoo. I was immediately interested, despite forgetting I’d photographed them previously at Serendip. If they were at the zoo then there was a good chance they would be here. Plus Serendip is slightly more accessible thanks to the recent bus and train changes.

Very, very glad I went as Carolyn is a great guide to the area. She told me about all the places the birds loved.

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Red rumped parrot. Only took the photo because it’s butt was hanging out.IMG_8330

Lizard. It didn’t like it when I accidentally blocked the light to take a photo. Look at how flat its back is!

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This is the nest of a whistling kite. There were quite a few in the area, I was so annoyed that the camera wasn’t working. The nest looks very similar to a crow one. I’m trying to learn more about nests so was very thankful.

Cape Barron Geese

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Turns out that yes, there was a lot of babies. I was so fortunate to be able to see them so little. The geese bred a lot earlier then I expected. Do they even breed later in the season?

I’m hoping to visit here twice a month in the future so I can keep an eye on them, it can be a great learning experience.

Emu

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Serendip is a fun place to photograph emus. Especially if you love the facial expressions.

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Magpie goose. Planning to return over the summer to get more photographs. Do they breed here?

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Young black winged stilts. IMG_8483

Chestnut teal

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Freckled duck. Would love to return here and just spend an hour photographing this guy. The ones at Mcleods Waterhole were a lot friendlier then the pick eared ducks there but I would never be able to get the opportunities that I got here. I just think they are beautiful ducks.

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Buff banded rail. Not sure how interested I am in continuing to photograph these guys but there was at least five in the enclosure.

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The above photos are of a crested pigeon displaying nesting behavior. I noticed the beginnings of a nest above us and saw this guy collecting nesting material.

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Bronzewing. Always a pleasure seeing those.

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Shelducks. Love them. I never noticed the different facial markings before. Also notice the shoveller in the background? Carolyn keeps on proving to me why I should get a pair on binoculars.

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Shovellers again. I believe their orange feet is a way to tell them apart?

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A tree that had fallen down but was still alive. It was ginormous.

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Carloyn was also kind enough to show me the tree where the purple crowned lorikeets like to nest.

I had seen them once before but the photos I got were mediocre. This was pure accident. We were at a distance so the photos aren’t as good as they could have been. I’m very keen to go back to try and get better photos.

~

You need to do multiple visits over a period of time to be able to fully appreciate Serendip, as well as visit there with people who know it quite well. It is very similar to Balyang in that way. It has a lot of hidden secrets.

Filed Under: Geelong And Surrounds Tagged With: Australasian shoveler, australian shelduck, black-fronted dotterel, black-winged stilt, cape barren goose, common bronzewing, magpie goose, purple crowned lorikeet, red-rumped parrot, serendip sanctuary

Queens Park & Buckley Falls: The birds

October 5, 2013 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

This walk was the first one over 10km that I had done in about 3 years. It was also the first walk where I overexerted myself to the point of vomiting.

If I’d packed money or my phone, I would have called a taxi after I’d passed Fyansford common. I’ll talk about the walk itself in a separate post; this is primarily focused on the birds I saw.

Birdwise, it was an awesome walk. I passed through multiple types of environments as was able to sit down and observe what I saw. It was a bit difficult at times, as the path is also used by cyclists and people walking their dogs.

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I saw my first red-browed finch! I know they are fairly common but I hadn’t gotten a decent look at one. As soon as I saw it, I guessed at the name although I had to go home to be sure. I don’t know how the name fell into my head; I’ve been reading far too many lists about bird sightings along the barwon.

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I also saw a common bronzewing, which was a relief. I hate being the moron that misses out on seeing common birds.

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This guy is a fan-tailed cuckoo, which is another first.

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It turns out that this little fella is a bog standard willy wagtail. I was going through my book, flipping back and forth, until I realized that this is what wagtails look like when their tail is down. Duh.

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I have no idea what the little bird in this picture is. I don’t think it’s a honey eater and it certainly doesn’t look like the baby version of the other bird. I think it’s a beautiful photo but man, I suck at ID’ing.

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I’ve hesitantly ID’d this bird as a masked woodswallow, but I’m not confident in that. Just looking at the picture makes me feel dizzy though.

Parrots

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I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crimson rosella in the inner suburbs. It was a bit of a surprise.

Red rumped parrot
Red rumped parrot. They appear repeatedly in many of my old photos.

Baby duckies

There was a guy and his sun kayaking alongside the path for quite a bit. It was somewhat annoying, as their noise scared away a lot of the birds. Then I noticed they’d stopped and were looking at this.

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Of course, I stopped to get some photos. The son got out of his kayak and walked closer to try and get some pics. The duckies weren’t too pleased about this and swam further up the river.

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I got some really beautiful shots, including the one below of a wood duckling, but this post is already photo-heavy as it is.

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Darter

FYI: I just realized that you can tell its a darter because the beak isn’t hooked like a cormorant. Huzzah!

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I was walking close to the edge when I saw this darter posing. They are a common sight, but I always love getting close up shots.

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He was feeling uncomfortable and had different plans.

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I love this shot. I can’t wait to show Seth. And he’s such a strong swimmer!

 

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Despite getting sick and hurt, it was a very good walk. I realized that I am learning a lot and am enjoying putting my knowledge into practice. Those that are smarter then me having been doing it considerably longer AND have a car. This frustration is across the board.

The birdwatching/hiking is allowing me to explore the thought processes surrounding my anxiety disorder in a safe setting. I get confronted with stuff but there is no external pressure and judgement. It’s like I can train my mind without being watched. It’s kinda awesome 🙂

Filed Under: Barwon River, Geelong Tagged With: australian darter, buckley falls, common bronzewing, crimson rosella, fan-tailed cuckoo, red-browed finch, red-rumped parrot, willy wagtail, wood duck

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