freckled duck

Lake Lorne + Mcleods Waterhole: Spring 2015

November 14, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Earlier this week, Carolyn and I went on an impromptu trip to Lake Lorne. We’d met at Balyang (where I had been birding for 2 hours) and she wanted to do a bit more adventuring.

I was up for it. I’d been planning on walking home when she texted but it is always fun birding with her. After a hit of humming and aahing, we decided on Drysdale. I’d explored so much of the Barwon and Geelong area lately, and both of us were keen to see how things were going.

We did see this family of swans at Lake Lorne. Unfortunately, there was a deceased adult nearby.

At Mcleods waterhole there was a pair of blue billed ducks which was exciting to see. My new goal is to get a really good photo of them.

A hoary headed grebe in breeding plumage. Nice seeing them, I’ve missed seeing them at Eastern Beach.

Below are a number of freckled duck photos that I took. There weren’t as many ducks compared to the last time I was here. It’s amazing how much things can change in a matter of months. I do want to learn more about their behaviour in the wild, they fascinate me. I recently learned that they are the rarest duck in the country. Cool.

We were walking around the back of the waterhole when I saw these purple swamphen chicks. I always love seeing chicks and it was awesome to see. I have no idea why there are so few at Balyang. I still have found any eurasian coot babies yet… I am trying though 🙂

Noisy Miner Vs Goshawk

This was pretty awesome to witness. We saw a noisy miner have a go at, and subsequently chase off, a brown goshawk. We couldn’t ID it at the time, I had to go home and look at the photos. I’m basing this on the tail and glaring eyes. The photos are sub par but show some interesting behaviour. I love it when little birds attack much larger ones.

We were both pretty knackered at this point. This post may not be as interesting as others, but it is always worth documenting the changes. I’m thinking of trying to visit here each season and seeing what I can learn. So many places to visit, such little time. And so much fear of catching more then one bus 😛

Visiting Lake Lorne and Mcleods Waterhole

July 15, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

This trip took place on July 9.

On Thursday I woke up, keen for an adventure. I had impulsively decided to go to Serendip, after someone had commented that there was a baby moorhen there. I waited for the right bus…. and waited…. and waited.

The bus timetables had changed in Geelong and I wasn’t able to catch the right bus in order to get the train to Lara. I flipped out. My anxiety was extreme that day and I hadn’t created a back up plan. I caught a bus into town, debating whether to go to Lake Lorne or walk along the beach. I walked up and down the bus bays at the Geelong Station, trying to see which place would be the best to visit.

By the time I got there, I had calmed down. I’d seen a couple of black shouldered kites along the road, especially near Moolap Saltworks.

I got there around 2pm.

Initially, I was a bit disappointed. There didn’t seem to be much wildlife there. Ducks were scattered and hard to see, even with my 500 lens.

I did see this lovely fungi when walking there.

I also saw this cute pardalote. I think there have been a lot more pardalotes around then I would have assumed. I saw one at Balyang recently. They are so small and hidden that it is easy to assume it’s a thornbill.

Mcleods Waterhole

My main reason for going was photography. I wanted to observe some bird behaviour to help me calm down. There were interesting ducks at Lake Lorne, as someone pointed out later. I prefer Mcleods Waterhole. Larger numbers, easier to see them. They are fairly skittish though.

There were about 70 pink eared ducks there, which was fantastic. They are one of my favourite species of duck. I never get really close enough to get good photos or observe behaviour. The ones at Balyang, and Jerringot, were by themselves and I never got to observe group behaviour. I did get to see a couple of them flap their wings from a distance. The above photo is cropped. It’s awesome because I got to see under the wings

The underside of the birds chin. I don’t know if this is normal but I thought it was awesome.

The pink eared ducks were extremely skittish – I’d sit down somewhere and they’d instantly fly away. They would swim back shortly after. The freckled ducks would just stay hidden in their little area and not care.

I did see some interesting behaviour when they called. There would be one main duck in the group that would raise its head up and do an interesting hoot, causing the others to follow it. I had never seen this before. I’d love to learn more about it. In one group, the other birds were smaller. I wish I could have recorded it.

Saw a black kite flying overhead, which was a bit disappointing. I had really hoped to see other birds of prey.

I was able to see a couple of pairs vortex feeding, which was a first. I’d seen youtube clips but had never seen it in person. The birds were a fair bit away so I couldn’t get close up photos and only saw it about five times. The feeding only appeared to last 6-10 seconds. Sometimes another duck would interrupt them. I wish I could find more information on this – I almost want to go back and see them again.

I did get some awesome photos of this eurasion coot feeding.

More views of their underwings. Love it.

Was lucky enough to get a photo of the bird with its mouth open.

Crested Pigeon – taken using creative auto. I think I need to experiment with this setting for birds that are up close!

More fungi

A bit of a rushed post; at my families and the nephew is making it hard to type. Have recorded most of the major observations. Didn’t get to even start the post about Balyang though 🙂

Hoping to do more adventuring now that the weather has improved.

Lake Lorne with the little dude – again!

May 22, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

This trip took place on May 6th

Lake Lorne 🙂 It’s quickly becoming one of my favourite accessible birding locations. It can take a short while to get out via public transport – especially when compared to my local haunts – but it has a lot of diversity.

Sethy and I had gone to Lake Lorne in February. He enjoyed it, but was a bit disappointed. I had promised him freckled and blue billed ducks. We had gotten a bad view of a blue billed and the freckled were in small numbers.

Earlier this month, Carolyn invited me to both Ocean Grove and Lake Lorne. We had a fantastic twitch. I was so impressed with the birds I had seen there that I decided I should take Sethy up there ASAP. I don’t know the area intuitively yet, nor am I knowledgeable about bird movements on the peninsula. I wanted to get there quickly to hopefully see the same amount of birds. Was so glad I did!

Yes, swans are boring. I don’t care though, I always love seeing a family of swans.

Black fronted dotterel. Really need to find us a red kneed for Sethys list!

An unknown plant type that looked interesting. I’m going to start printing out some of these photos to take to the field nats, to help us figure out what we’ve seen.

Whistling Kite

I was hoping the whistling kites would show up in similar numbers to last time. The ducks here were fantastic but we were too busy looking at the kites.

We were able to observe their behaviour most of the time we were there and I got some really clear photos that will be able to help when teaching the little dude about ID’ing.

Spoonbill

I was able to get some beautiful photos of the spoonbills feeding. Sethy was getting a little bird bored and wouldn’t let me spend too long watching them, which was a shame.

Ducks

Blue billed, male and female.

You can see the decent number of pink eared ducks here, which I always love. Someone one ebird recently reported 150!

Small group of freckled ducks.

Shovelers.

This account is a bit rushed because there really isn’t that much to say. I’m not knowledgeable enough about this area to provide any real commentary.

Both visits this month have been great for photography. I don’t know if that is a seasonal thing. I’m thinking of returning soon by myself to see what photos I can get.

Sethy loved it, because the birds were accessible. I’m running out of places to take him to! Fortunately, people at the field nats are helping out with ideas and even things to pass onto him.

I’m feeling a bit unsure about what birding adventures I’ll go on next, especially with the impending move. Hopefully it wont impact me too much and I’ll get back into the birding/hiking scene.

Seths First Visit to Lake Lorne

February 20, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Visiting Lake Lorne

This was my second visit to Lake Lorne. The first involved my boyfriend… and the realization that my boyfriend prefers places like Balyang, where the birds seemingly sit and pose for us. It’s actually a great place to take kids birding. The walk around the Lake is relaxing and, because it’s rural, has lots of opportunities to find bugs. It’s half way along the Bellarine Rail Trail, which is interesting if your young cohort loves trains. Plus the playground is awesome!

The first priority was taking a walk around the lake and seeing what was there.

Shit.

I’m all for seeing ibises and egrets, especially in flight. However I’d promised a four year old that we’d see a couple of new species. I looked every along the inner islands and couldn’t see anything. At this stage, I was starting to panic. We’d dipped on the blue billed at Jawbone before. I didn’t know how long he’d be okay for.

I was matter of fact. I said that I couldn’t see the ducks and that I didn’t know why. We’d walk around the lake and then go to the waterhole were I had seen the freckled before. There was still a good chance we would see other birds before we got there, though.

And see them we did!

We accidentally flushed a flock of about 30 masked lapwings to a nearby paddock when we walked to close to them. There were a number of black winged stilts hanging out in that area.

We saw what I’m assuming is a juvenile black kneed dotteral.

Plus a pair of Australasian shoveler! It was a lifer for Sethy and only the second time I had seen one. I was able to get a better view and make a much more confident ID. So keen to see a northern shoveler now.

We saw a couple of Eastern Rosellas, which was lovely. I find there are more Easterns in that area of the Bellarine.

A random bug which I’m keen to ID

We also found numerous noisy miners, which Seth loved. Another lifer! He was fascinated them and loved their calls. I’m keen to teach him more about miners and show him other species, probably starting with the bell miner. One step at a time.

Mcleods Waterhole

We took our time and walked over to the waterhole. It’s a short but really lovely walk. In one section we were surrounding by trees and it really felt like we were in a forest. We didn’t see anything in the main waterhole so settled down to watch the activity in the smaller one.

SUCCESS! There were numerous freckled down – and a juvenile hoary headed greet being fed by it’s parent.

Seth loved it around here. There was a horse nearby that we got to get close to. We walked down a street, and some of the houses had farm stuff in their front years. It was a lovely escape from the city.

Now, I know we saw freckled ducks here. And at some point during the day we found a female blue billed duck. I just can’t really remember which photos are from where. So, in terms of ‘story, let’s just say that all photos from now on are from our return to Lake Lorne. If some look like they are from the waterhole, then blame my obsession with taking photos of everything.

This is a photo of a male freckled duck. I was really interested in this photo because the bird had a crimson colour at the base of the bill. I’ve since learned that his happens during breading season.

The reason we didn’t see them earlier was because they were resting in dense cover for most of the morning. Many freckleds and pink eared ducks seemed to leave the cover when we returned around 1pm for some reason.

I love this shot because the duck at the back has its bill open and it looks adorable.

It was a bit of a difficult twitch. I’m comfortable going to new places by myself but there aren’t many tips about Lake Lorne online. I was flying blind with a 6 year old that asks a lot of questions. Fortunately it all worked out and we ended up learning a lot.

I’m starting to miss birding by myself. I tend to stick to familiar spots west of Melbourne when I’m adventuring with him. I’m very keen to visit places further afield and meet up with more birders. I’ve been so exhausted this past month that I only have energy for one adventure a week – and try to take Seth out once a week as it’s therapeutic for both of us.

Suspect I’d have more energy if someone didn’t sneak upstairs and play bird calls on his ipad to wake me up 😉

Birding in Drysdale

October 9, 2013 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Lake Lorne, in Drysdale, is meant to be one of the best places to see the Blue Billed duck and freckled ducks. I lived in Clifton Springs for nine months and walked the Bellarine Rail Trail. Despite my history, it took a trip to Canberra for me to learn about the birdlife. Thank you to the bird nerd ranger I met atTidbinbilla.

I missed the Bellarine. It’s so beautiful. However….

Freckled ducks freckled ducks FRECKLED DUCKS! Random tip: they have little tufts of hair on their head, sort of like a mohawk

Oh I’m sorry, did I spoil it?

Let’s go back to the begining

Lake Lorne

I was pretty confident taking Glenn to Lake Lorne. I new the railway station there would interest him, even if the birds didn’t. Of course, he was so obsessed looking at the camera that he missed out on some flight shots. I ended up getting several as I nicked the Canon. It had better focus and I wanted to be able to identify birds. I know how much Glenn loves flight photos so I tried to get heaps, even when I though the ibises were boring.

They so sound like chickens when they are calling! 🙂 I loved that.

I’m getting better at birds-in-flight photography. It’s easier for me as I have better eyesight and intuition.

We saw this dude, who is a little miner. Generic but I needed SOMETHING for my list. Especially as I dipped on the blue billed duck. We ended up walking on the path around the lake; cautiously moving closer when necessary.

I have no idea what these two are. Maybe a grebe?

These two links have tips to tell the two types of grebe apart:

Maybe a musk duck? The beaks are pretty small. I kinda don’t care at this point; I tend to crack it after about 20 minutes of consistent confusion.

Not sure what this is; all I know is the tail is unusual. And that Glenn has been hearing me say ‘Birds are stupid’ all morning, apparantly. I’m guessing it’s a common koel and will be googling more later.

How do other new birders, who aren’t yet part of a community, get help with identification?

Hoary headed grebe.

I don’t know what this is and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to tell, since I primarily have a silhouette to go by. Judging by the wing curve and feather shapes, I’m guessing a harrier or kite. It would be awesome if it was a whistling kite, Glenn loves those.

A pelican flying away. Again, something Mr. Sexypants missed.

Swans

On the other side of the lake, there was two groups of swans. Neither had cygnets (although the pair at Mcleods Waterhole did.) One pair had it’s feathers raised and were honking at each other. I don’t think it’s a mating ritual as such but it was incredibly cute. Glenn was sitting close while I was getting photos of them from another angle. We also did the obligatory photos of each other taking photos.

Mcleods waterhole

This was very easy to access from Lake Lorne. It was a very short walk. I did have to use the maps function on my phone to find where the smaller waterhole was.

The main one was very empty, and I was very disappointed. No ducklife – what a waste of a trip! There was these two birds in a tree:

The bottom is the normal white faced heron. I’ve seen them a couple of times and they are always a delight. The bottom is a great cormorant; you can tell because of the orange under the neck.

We then found the other waterhole. I had a hunch that this was it. The ducks were a lot closer then the Lake lorne. PINK EARED DUCKS! The are so quirky; I’ll never get sick of photographing them. I sat down quietly to get photos, even if it meant the grass obscured the view occasionally.

Here are the pink eared ducks amongst the freckled ones.

It was a great afternoon out. Close enough so that it isn’t a major trek via public transport. It was nostalgic, in a way. Glenn enjoyed it as we got a got to see horsies and a beehive up close. I would have loved to photograph the buildings in the township but someone needed his old man nap and we chose to return another day.

Next time, I’ve love to spend part of the day here and part of it in Portarlington. I plan to visit several place by myself to birdwatch/walk, as I know Glenn wouldn’t be interested.

Really wish we had better gear though, and that I had glimpsed a blue billed duck.