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Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 21:39:50 +1000
From: Brian Fleming <>
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Elizabeth Shaw <>,
Vin Lam <>
Subject: Phillip Island
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My sincere thanks to Elizabeth and Vin for their very helpful response
to my RFI on Phillip Island . A full day's visit on Friday 24 July was
most enjoyable.
I collcted American visitor Nick from his B&B in Toorak rd at about 7.10
a.m. and we broke the journey briefly at Tooradin, in hopes of Pelicans,
but no boats moving and no Pelicans either - good views of Masked
Plover, Red Wattlebirds, Magpies, Magpie-Larks and Little Ravens. Also a
small group of Australian Shelduck overhead.
The farmland en route provided very few birds but we reached the San
Remo Bridge about 9.15 a.m. Low tide and extensive view of mudflats in
Westernport. We saw 2 Black Ducks flying and found a New Holland
Honeyeater in a Banksia (still with some flower) outside the Information
Centre. Apparently no bird-list is available for the Island - this
should not be too hard for locals to produce and sell.
Our first stop was at the Woolamai Surf Lifesavers Clubhouse. Wave
erosion has removed all access to the beach but with a bit of a scramble
we got down and Nick soon located three Hooded Plover picking about in
the seaweed at high tide mark, with a Willy Wagtail in attendance. Two
Gannets sailed past as well. We managed a scramble up a sandy beach
cliff - without knocking too much down. Some unfortunate plantings had
been buried by windblown sand.
Next stop - Fisher Wetland where a very well-marked Fantail Cuckoo was
perched on a notice. It called briefly once or twice. We heard Brown
Thornbills fussing, presumably about the Cuckoo, but they stayed out of
sight. One or two Superb Blue Wrens appeared briefly and there was a
small flock of Golden-headed Cisticolas in long grass. Black Swans and
Swamphens were in the swamp - Nick tells me that Australian Swamphens
have become recently established in Florida.
Once on Churchill Island Cape Barren Geese were very confiding and
permitted photography - at least 2 pair with the Highland cattle and
others elsewhere. We walked down to the shore of Westernport - Strawneck
and White Ibis, Silver Gulls, Masked Plover, White-faced Heron, Pied
Oystercatcher, and Little Pied Cormorants were visible on and near the
shores. A Pelican was swimming some way out. In the fields we found
White-fronted Chats, Eastern Rosellas, Yellow-rumped Thornbills, a
Skylark, House Sparrows, and a Swamp Harrier (first of several for the
day).
At the Koala Conservation Centre, we had good views of Koalas and
witnessed a violent fight between a female and an over-enthusiastic male
- both roaring and screeeching loudly as they cuffed each other. The
female moved out on the thin twigs at the end of the branch - the male
followed with the result that the female fell heavily to the ground from
a height of about 10 feet - I suppose the twigs broke. She lay on the
ground but as two Rangers rushed over she picked herself up and dashed
up another tree - apparently uninjured. There was a Ringtail Possum in a
tree also. We also found a female and an immature Grey Shrike-Thrush,
Red-browed Finches, a White-naped Honeyeater, Superb Blue Wrens and
White-browed Scrubwrens. We saw and heard a Kookaburra.
Next stop, the Nobbies - where the wind was very strong and conditions
were now quite cold. We hoped for Penguins under the walkways but we had
no luck; however we found some Pacific Gulls, lots of Silver Gulls, and
had telescope views of the seals snoozing on their rocks. A Brown Falcon
and a Nankeen Kestrel hung in the wind giving us splendid views. Nick
found some Sooty Oystercatchers on the rocks. We saw another Swamp
Harrier.
At the Penguin Centre only one solitary Penguin was visible inside one
of the nestboxes under the building - we walked down to the beach where
we found a group of Redcapped Plover scuttling about at amazing speed -
again accompanied by Willy Wagtails. We noted the extensive tracks made
by the Penguins. We headed back to Rhyll to see if we could find more
waders - en route Nick spotted a Great Egret and lots of both Ibis, plus
more Cape Barren Geese. We also startled a Whistling Kite which went up
from the roadside.
At Rhyll we found the high tide had covered the shoals and there were a
number of Chestnut Teal sitting on the rocks halfway to the Observation
Point Spit. On the Spit itself were a number of Pacific Gulls, two
Caspian Terns, aand an Eastern Curlew. It was now 4.00 pm and rain was
setting in so we moved off. Other birds we saw here and there included
Galahs, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Welcome Swallows, a Blackbird, a
Brush Wattlebird, Common Starlings and Common Mynahs. On the way home
there were a lot of Black Swans in the paddocks, and a Grey Currawong
flew across the Highway as we came into Tooradin. I made it a total of
about 56 species, which wasn't bad for a winter day.
A good day all round.
Anthea Fleming
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