For the last three years I have spent Grand final Day at the Western
Treatment Plant. Yesterday proved to be the best yet as I found the resident
pair of Brolgas in their usual place on the Military Wetlands at the far end
of Pt. Wilson Road. For ages I watched a very unusually marked White-faced
Heron, no white face, not the right coloured grey, not even quite the right
shape before I realised it was a Brolga chick!
I watched as the parent birds occasionally tended to the chick as it darted
out of the reeds into the water and back again, then they all withdrew to
the far back left of the wetlands and sat down so only the adult red heads
were visible if you knew where to look - great camouflage with the reds of
the scrub.
How many chicks do Brolgas usually have?
I also saw my first Cygnets for the season, a family of five and later a
family of four.
On the way back from the Conservation Area there was a Grey Plover still in
some (50-75%) black frontal breeding plumage on the grass verge next to the
settling ponds. Spent some time looking up Field Guides and differentiated
it from Pacific Golden Plover using Hayman/Marchant/Prater "Shorebirds" by
its size, white rump and black axillaries in flight as well as the darker
ear-covert patch.
To top off a great day, when the final siren rang I was on the coastal track
at the back of Lake Borrie. I was just out of the car enjoying the bright
sunshine and let out a celebratory "Whoop" (a Fitzroy supporter from way
back) and I set up three Orange-bellied Parrots from the vegetation .
Roll on next Grand Final Day!
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