Hi All,
Last Saturday (18/01) I took my last group of beginner wader watchers to
Werribee.
It was a pleasant relaxed day, with good weather and lots of time to get the
ID's right, pay particular attention to the diagnostics, and then to
consolidate as we moved around. There were no rarities, but of interest were
the missing. Not a Pacific Golden Plover or a Banded Stilt to be found.
Austin Rd or the T Lagoons (the pond left of the second gate on Point Wilson
Rd) had Black-tailed Godwit and Marsh Sandpiper. Amidst a bunch of roosting
Whiskered Tern was a solitary White-winged Black Tern. To the right on the
Summer Lagoons, at a distance, were a handful of Freckled Duck. Singing
Bushlark were prowling the tracks.
Aside from excellent views of a Greenshank there was not much at Kirk's
Point, but a Black Falcon may have been the reason for that. The pond by
the Kirk's Point gate had approx 30 Freckled Duck, one on each rock, and a
few rockless. The tide was pretty high at the hide, but watching the entire
beach stand up and shuffle a couple of feet sideways was fun. Lots of
red-necked stint, curlew sandpiper and sharp-tailed sandpiper, only orange
flags to be found.
The Borrow Pits are drying up, but the chooks (BTNH) and a few Red-kneed
Dotts were still around. The pair of Cape Barren Geese are present so often
they appear to be resident at Paradise Rd, and a couple of Glossy Ibis were
present on arrival but disappeared when I blinked getting out of the car.
The closure of the bridge was a good excuse to stop and look at Banded
Lapwing opposite the airfields on the way out.
I've enjoyed taking groups out to Werribee and have met some great people in
the few years I've been doing it. I will certainly miss its wonderful
diversity of habitat and birdlife. But, now its time to concentrate on
packing up the house and moving to Broome in March to take up my new
position as warden at BBO.
Cheers,
Joy Tansey
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
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