crested grebe

First Visit To Lake Wendoree

October 18, 2017 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

We had just made a quick visit to the property. My parents wanted to look at something in Ballarat so kindly dropped Seth and I off and Lake Wendoree. We did have plans to go to the playground but, er, one of us got distracted.

This location is known for its nesting great crested grebes. This offers beautiful photo opportunities, especially with courtship and chick raising. Moreso than the other local grebe species. I’ve observed Australasian grebes nesting and raising chicks in the past, but their size is tiny in comparison. I could have easily spent hours here.

Nesting Grebes At Lake Wendoree

October 13, 2017 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

The following set of photos shows two pairs of grebes carrying nesting material and creating their nests. They were very dedicated, even if territorial at times. It was fascinating seeing them set up their nest so close to a busy path. [Read more…] about Nesting Grebes At Lake Wendoree

First Visit to Lake Victoria

March 13, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

This trip took place on 26th February

I was really excited to visit Lake Victoria. I love the Bellarine Peninsula. I lived there for 9 months and really regret not exploring it properly. It’s something that I’ve been planning to do now that I’m better…. but I’m not fond of going to areas I’m unfamiliar with.

The lovely Grace asked if I wanted to go along for my first Field Nats outing and told me that the area was good. I agreed, and I’m very thankful I did.

Lake Victoria is about 1-2km from the main lighthouse in Point Lonsdale. It’s accessibly from Emily St and there are a number of bus stops that go really close to there. From what I saw, there are no public toilets there though.

The rocks near the entrance are a popular spot for little egrets – or at least they were on the day! This is a spot that warrants multiple visits to properly explore.

Among those rocks we found a caspian tern. I’m always grateful to add another tern to my list but, as a species, they vex me.

We saw this large group of grebes, primarily hoary headed but with a couple of great crested. It was amazing to see. Those with a scope saw musk ducks closer towards the back of the lake.

I loved seeing this black shouldered kite hovering above us. It stayed for a short while, allowing my camera enough time to focus. It’s such a beautiful bird.

Large flocks of sharpies and red necked stints. The group was largish, so they would fly off occasionally when spooked. It was great to see this up close.

You can also see that some of the curlew sandpipers were getting their reddish breeding plumage. I loved seeing this up close.

Not sure what this skeleton is. I did consider taking it back home for the little dude, but figure he has enough random bits of animals that he’s found while adventuring.

There are hundreds of swans there – it’s somewhat similar to Swan Bay. You can’t get close to them like you can at Truganina. They also spook a lot easier then birds at more populated locations.

A lovely butterfly. Some of the ladies in the area were commenting on it but I missed the species name.

There were fairy terns sitting out on these rocks. I could definitely see the size difference at the time. Sometimes you can get the little terns in this area. It is about half way up the lake. You need to step off the path and walk along the side of the lake to get to this point – a lesson I, and my shoes, would later learn.

I appreciated how some of the fellow field nats were referring to the field guides to double check what species they saw. It makes me feel like less of a moron.

There were also two hoodies! It was really surprising. Some people suspected they were younger ones although I couldn’t see any leg bands. Most of the group walked further up to look at something while I stayed back to watch the hoodies. I didn’t move, because I didn’t know who the scope belonged to and didn’t want it to get damaged if no-one was around. That was when this little guy came up.

A red capped plover doing it’s ‘broken wing’ display. It does this to lead predators away from their nest or chicks. Apparently there was a chick further up. I didn’t move as I was minding the scope so took the following pictures. I felt so guilty doing so as I knew my presence was causing the bird distress.

The above is what I believe may be some sort of fungi, although I really have no idea.

An awesome looking spider!

A white throated needletail. I believe a fork tailed swift was also spotted but I can’t be sure that I saw it. So fast and difficult to discern!

An egg we found shortly after leaving the red capped. I’m not sure what species it belongs to.

A common greenshank. It was nice that others on the group were able to point out the call, it really helps newbies like me learn.

This was my first proper field nats excursion. I don’t know why it took me so long to join! Yes, there is an age bias towards older people. Someone explained it to be though that a lot of people have less time for the activities once they start families. They drop out of the community a bit and then rejoin when the kids are a bit older.

Everyone is super friendly and it’s not overwhelming like other groups I’ve been on. The pace is slower. I don’t feel as zonked.

I’m definitely planning on returning to the area. In fact, Seth and I visited here last weekend! I’d love to get to know the area better, preferably with someone else helping me.

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.

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 😉

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.

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.

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.

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.

Green shank

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

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.

!!!!

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Yet another fungi. Seth is awesome for finding fungi.

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.

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 😉

Always fun to see another spoonbill.

A pelican flying past Williamstown beach

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.