No twitchathon for me this year, as we were celebrating my mother-in-law's
92nd birthday, but once the visitors had departed I popped out for about an
hour to Drysdale, on the Bellarine Peninsula. There are some great birding
spots there.
Lake Lorne has become the most reliable place to see Freckled Duck over the
last 3-4 years. Numbers are sometimes over 100, though at the moment there
are fewer birds. I could only find around a dozen today, but I only looked
on the west side of the islands. Blue-billed Duck are also usually present,
and today there were at least 4 males. A Shining Bronze-Cuckoo was calling
and flying around the scrub at the edge of the lake, occasionally harassed
by a Red Wattlebird. There was a Grey Fantail staying close to the cuckoo,
but the cuckoo was an adult, so I assume it was just coincidence.
McLeod's Waterholes is nearby, and worth a look if you have time. A little
further away, in Martins Lane, is the Drysdale Flore and Fauna Reserve.
This really doesn't look very promising, a bit like a small abandoned
paddock, but there is a small wetland and a small woodland with old trees
and a few hollows. There are usually Red-rumped Parrots, Galahs, lorikeets
and several honeyeater species around. This tiny reserve has turned up
interesting birds over the years.
The most interesting bird today was an adult Spotted Harrier near the
corner of Grubb and Belchers Roads - an uncommon raptor for the Bellarine
Peninsula.
Russell Woodford
Geelong
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