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Good Morning Birdos,
Did the rounds at Werribee this past Sunday, with a brief
follow up trip to the western boundary of You Yangs NP, as follow up to Aaron's
earlier sightings of Diamond Firetails and Zebra Finches. I have observed
small flocks of Diamond Firetails in the You yangs park from time to time over
the past few years, never more than 5 in any one group. With Aaron's
sightings and my own, his mention of past records in the Atlas seem to sell the
number of this species in this area short. Perhaps sightings need to
be documented more carefully and religiously.
Anyway, a fantastically cold morning's stroll to the tip
of the sandspit at Werribee before sunrise saw me standing in the centre
(well not probably geographically) of this wonderful mecca for birds. Very
few shorebirds actually on the tip, just the usual Oycs, Red-caps, and
Pied Stilts.
As the sun broke above the horizon, 34 Red-necked Avocets
flew down to the shoreline on a receding tide.
Wonderful morning colour highlighted their
gracefulness.
I spent an hour at the tip before strolling back along the
beachfront. Four Neophema sp. flew in low and landed on the
fenceline before feeding on the tips of the vegetation hanging toward the
fence. I imagine they didn't like the idea of dropping down onto
the frost covered ground, preferring much drier conditions and easy
pickings off the fence line. In the morning light, full id was
difficult but I managed to identify at least one Orange-bellied amongst the
small group. As with Aaron's finches, these birds did not seem phased
by my presence, arriving and landing close to me.
While I didn't visit the Austin Rd. lagoons, I managed to see
a good number of species in the remaining areas of the Treatment
Plant. Together with a good stint working the edge of the You
Yangs western boundary along Sandy Creek Road, I managed to tally 97 species by
12:30pm.
Nothing unusual to report on this occasion and unfortunately,
no finches. With more time spent actually in the park and some of the more
common species missed on the day, it shows you what an amazing area this is,
providing 100+ species without breaking a sweat !
Cheers,
P.
Paul Rose
Year 9 Purple Team
Department of Biology and
Chemistry
Wesley College - Glen Waverley
620 High Street Road
Glen
Waverley 3150
(03) 9881 5426
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