willy wagtail

Willy wagtail nest – with chicks!

December 15, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

I was at Princes Bridge, being my usual photography nerd self, when I noticed increased activity in the tree above me. The willy wagtails were considerably more active then usual. They would fly up, sit on the nest for a short while, move around and then fly off again.

I just thought it was building a nest, like the grey fantails I saw at Toolangi. I got home and started going through the photos. Then I screamed.

“What is it?”, Seth asked. I’ve started getting lending him my camera occasionally so he’s taking an interest in my photos.

“There are babies in that nest!”

It turns out the parents were taking turns to feed them very quickly. My behaviour wasn’t disturbing them, as I’ve been photographing from that location for weeks oblivious to that nest. It’s just above a very busy walking trail.

I have no idea what day they are but the parents have been doing a fantastic job. There was a mudlark nest in the same tree, those chicks fledged a couple of days after I discovered it. It’s a very busy time on this little stretch of path…. for those who can drag themselves away from looking at the cormorants and darters!

Willy Wagtail Attacking a Raven

October 27, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Remember when I posted about the willy wagtail attacking a sulpher crested cockatoo? Well, the little guy is back. I’ve been it’s territory a bit lately, watching the darters and cormorants nesting near the bridge and walking back to my mothers house.

On Monday, I was lucky enough to witness the wagtail full on attacking the raven. The raven didn’t budge for a good five minutes and another wagtail joined in the fight. I’m not sure where exactly the nest is – but it is very entertaining to watch!

Attack of the Willy Wagtail!

October 14, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

After I went to Eastern Beach, I decided to stay at my parents for a couple of days and explore the Barwon River. I like checking it out every couple of weeks.

I got some brilliant photos of cormorants which I will be sharing in the coming days. Todays post centers on the interaction between this cockatoo and willy wagtail.

I was photographing cormorants when I heard a commotion above me. I looked up and saw the wagtail flying and attacking a much larger bird. It reminded me of when I saw the moorhen attack a kangaroo at Currumbin. Nothing gets in the way of parenthood and territories.

The photos didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped, but that is to be expected when the photographic situation changes quickly. I did get a couple where you can clearly see the wagtails feet on the cockatoos back, which is awesome. Ironically I was in the exact area the next day to get some more cormorant nesting photos when I saw the wagtail attacking a raven near this same tree. Some things never change 🙂

First Visit to Lakeland Wetlands

August 5, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Carolyn and I went here after we went to Serendip. My initial impression was that ‘oh, this is like Balyang but on a slightly larger scale.’ Then we turned around and saw just how huge the place was.

My initial comments were because the first two birds I was greeted with was this heron and darter.

Then I saw the cape barron geese – and more goslings! – and thought “oh, we aren’t along the Barwon anymore.

I haven’t really explored areas around Lara. I haven’t had the time, nor the knowledge. Carolyn and I walked around here and she showed me where the birds like to hang out at different times of the year.

She is so knowledgeable and taught me so much. It may be worth coming back at a later time but, for now, it isn’t that high of a priority. If you live between Corio and Werribee, this can be an interesting place to drop into. You’ll probably get similar species to what you’d find in other locations in the area. It’s great for getting close photos of Geese. I was also intrigued by the proximity to Hovells creek, something I’m keen to walk along again.

Seth + Truganina: Part 2

February 23, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Last Wednesday, I decided to take Seth birding. I didn’t particularly want to take him anywhere but he had been having a rough couple of days, and we hadn’t adventured in over a week. I decided to go to Truganina because I really wanted him to see the banded stilt, and I couldn’t be bother thinking of anywhere else to go.

That’s the type of adventure you get if you wake me up early by playing bird calls on your ipad. I need more prep type for adventuring.

Unfortunately, I didn’t realize until we got to Laverton that many trains from Werribee are express on weekdays and we’d need to take THREE trains to get to the swamp.

Oops. He did okay considering the 6 trains we caught – and the drunk guy at one of the stations!

What did we see?

We hadn’t even gotten to the swamp when we saw this Australian Hobby. I wasn’t 100% sure of the ID, but the behaviour was similar to the one I had seen at WTP earlier in the week. I couldn’t say for sure so promised Seth we would look it up when we got home.

I had settled ID because of the colour and size of the bird. The guide said I should also check Peregrine falcon as the birds can often be confused. I just didn’t think that it was one. The wings weren’t stiff enough, it was flying pretty low to the ground. People in the bird ID group tentatively agreed with me… which is good enough for Seths list 😉

We did see a number of black winged stilts in the area but no bandeds. A friend lives nearby and said that there were a couple of them there that night. I’d checked beforehand about stilt numbers and the bandeds had been there for a couple of weeks. I think they were just hiding very well. I saw some that may have potentially been juvenile, but double checked proved otherwise.

It’s amusing for me, but less so for Sethy. Fortunately, we scored one lifer for the day.

A welcome swallow. I initially thought it was something else but figured that it was a juvenile. The markings are too bright, although they extend further then they normally do. The chest is too clear. The fail is short, yes, but that is common for a juv. 🙂 It can be really tricky trying to hold all of this in my head!

A disheveled looking willy wagtail.

Swans

Another main reason we went there was to see the wild swans. Alas, there were only 3 there this day. We got nice views of a pair flying off as a separate pair landed.

We also saw a swan with a neck tag.

It was a bit of a disappointing twitch, but it was all I could come up with in a short timeframe. Next time I might go to Newport Lakes park. I’m running out of ideas, especially for places that also interest me. I’m sick of Balyang.

Hopefully I’ll do some more birding of my own this week, plus there is the night parrot talk this weekend. Super excited.