Hi everyone,
I finally got down to the Western Treatment Plant yesterday and was
rewarded with a great days birdwatching including excellent views of the
Red-necked Phalarope. The Phalarope is a really sharp looking bird
especially as it is in almost complete breeding plumage now. The small
grassy pond it is on (37 59.748 S 144 38.264 E for those with GPS but
Richard's directions are easy to follow and spot on) is a very good area
with a host of good birds at the moment. Within the space of about 100
metres there are Pectoral Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed
Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper (some in almost complete breeding plumage),
Red-necked Stint, Red-kneed Dotterel, Black-fronted Dotterel and a host
of ducks and other common water birds.
Other highlights for the day were 1) The Wood Sandpipers (still at
least 3); I think they look much more striking than the field guides
suggest. The heavy spotting on the back and bright yellow legs is very
impressive. Sitting in the car eating lunch while watching them eat
theirs was great. 2) Seeing a Lewin's Rail at the site which Mark
Bennett mentioned. The view I got yesterday was not as clear as the one
Mark wrote about last week as the birds never came completely out into
the open but it was still memorable. 3) The raptors; people have
recently been writing about excellent raptor sites and while not best in
Australia or even probably Victoria the Treatment Plant is pretty good.
Yesterday I saw six (Whistling Kite, Swamp Harrier, Little Eagle, Brown
Falcon, Australian Hobby and Black falcon) and I missed the virtually
unmissable Black-shouldered Kite and Nankeen Kestrel. The numbers of
Whistling Kites are very high at the moment and may have influenced the
timidity of the Lewin's Rail as the area was being monitored fairly
regularly by one Kite. 4) And finally the interesting compact group of
cormorants etc. resting on the 15E outlet drain which included Darter
(5) (more than I have seen previously in Southern Victoria), Little
Black Cormorant (5), Little Pied Cormorant (lots) and Pied Cormorant
(lots).
List
Musk Duck
Black Swan
Australian Shelduck
Pacific Black Duck
Australasian Shoveler
Grey Teal
Chestnut Teal
Pink-eared Duck (1000s)
Hoary-headed Grebe
Darter
Little Pied Cormorant
Pied Cormorant
Little Black Cormorant
Australian Pelican
White-faced Heron
Great Egret
Australian White Ibis
Straw-necked Ibis
Royal Spoonbill (1)
Yellow-billed Spoonbill (1)
Whistling Kite
Swamp Harrier
Little Eagle
Brown Falcon
Australian Hobby (1)
Black Falcon (1)
Lewin's Rail (2)
Purple Swamphen
Dusky Moorhen
Eurasian Coot
Common Greenshank
Wood Sandpiper (3)
Red-necked Stint
Pectoral Sandpiper (1)
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Red-necked Phalarope (1)
Black-winged Stilt
Banded Stilt (>100)
Red-necked Avocet (>500)
Black-fronted Dotterel
Red-kneed Dotterel (5-10)
Masked Lapwing
Pacific Gull
Silver Gull
Crested Tern
Superb Fairy-wren
Brown Thornbill
Red Wattlebird
New Holland Honeyeater
White-fronted Chat
Magpie-lark
Willie Wagtail
Australian Magpie
Little Raven
Eurasian Skylark
Richard's Pipit
House Sparrow
Red-browed Finch
European Goldfinch
Welcome Swallow
Fairy Martin
Clamorous (Australian) Reed-Warbler
Golden-headed Cisticola
Common Starling
Common Myna
Best Wishes
John Boyce
Department of Microbiology
Monash University
Clayton, 3168
Vic. Australia
phone: work: 9905 4838
home: 9376 6641
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