Not both at once, I hasten to add.
Early Wed. am, we took an overseas visitor to see a few birds before his
work started. At Rockbeare Park(Ivanhoe) we were pleased when 2 Black
Ducks and a Little Pied Cormorant flew into a pool in the creek right at
our feet, and then we met 3 Kookaburras, who laughed for him. Then we
found the resident Tawny Frogmouth family, mum, dad and 2 young ones,
and an Eastern Rosella.
A quick move to Wilson Reserve found a dozen White ibis, more ducks
including Chestnut Teal, Red-rumped Parrots, a young Nankeen Night
Heron, Yellow Robin, Bell-Miners and White-browed Scrubwren - but Blue
Wrens and Redbrowed Finches were not to be found. Perhaps because of a
Collared Sparrowhawk which whizzed over the billabong and over us! We
got a good view of the square-cut tail and its wonderful cornering
ability as it dodged around a tall eucalypt and shot off again.
I was sorry we couldn't show our visitor the beauty of Banyule Swamp
which I visited today. As well as the usual Black Ducks and Chestnut
Teal I had an inadequate distant view of a longbodied 'brown' duck which
may have been an Australian Shoveler among the water-ribbons among a
party of Black Duck. Pied Stilts still around, 1 Latham's Snipe, lots of
Aust. Grebe, Swamphens and Dusky Moorhens galore, 3 White-faced herons,
I White Ibis and a solitary small white egret. It was kind enough to
perch on a post - short yellow dagger beak, and shaggy head, so I wrote
it down as a Cattle Egret. Is it the first bird of autumn or a stray
which never got round to going north this summer?
The resident pair of Hobbies supervised the Swamp from their tall dead
trees or swept in circuits over the water. The male ate a dragonfly. The
female made a very determined dive from a low sweep at some potential
victim on the water but it must have escaped by diving - she struck the
water with a distinct splash but returned to her perch empty-footed. No
wonder the only baby Moorhens I saw were on the nearby Billabong, where
they are safely screened by all the saplings which sprang up while the
billabong was dry. The Blue Wrens and Redbrowed Finches were in there
too.
Anthea Fleming in Ivanhoe (Vic)
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