Werribee and beyond

[Shirley Cameron <>]

The birds in our area are certainly getting ready to raise the next brood.  The Wood Duck have been squabbling over the best nesting holes in the River Red Gums along the Werribee  River for the past couple of weeks.  This morning a pair on Purple-crowned lorikeets were checking some smaller holes. 

At Newport Lakes while one pair of swan had cygnets who have almost reached adultery another swan was turning and mounding  grass for a new nest. The ravens are all out collecting and stealing sticks. 

Our Werribee Wagtails had a great day out  last Tuesday. 

Melbourne?s weather over the past weeks has been bleak and very windy. Fortunately Tuesday 6th  was an exception, cool, sunny and only a light breeze, so the 19 Wagtails had an enjoyable outing. We commenced at Newport Lakes Reserve recently described by another birder as ?a little oasis in suburbia, only a 15 minute drive west of the centre of Melbourne. Created from a disused quarry and refuse dump it now contains such diverse habitats as lakes, forest, wetlands and parklands, offering some great birding opportunities?.

Very close we visited the Altona Lakes Public Golf Course, a wander around one of the Lakes added a few more birds to the list. It is good see areas like the Golf Course and the Park in the shadows of the industrial zone.

Almost under the junction of two main highways beside Koroit Creek we visited the G.Hoskens Park and Blackshaw Urban Forest. The Brown Goshawk was added to the list.

On over the Westgate Bridge to Westgate Park, The well-defined walking tracks lined with dense shrubs provided good habitat for small birds like the White-browed Scrubwren. Our impressive list is below

Black Swan

Australian Wood Duck

Mallard

Pacific Black Duck

Grey Teal

Chestnut Teal

Hardhead

Australasian Grebe

Hoary-headed Grebe

Little Pied Cormorant

Pied Cormorant

Pelican

Great Egret

Sacred Ibis

Whistling kite

Brown Goshawk

Purple Swamphen

Dusky Moorhen

Eurasian Coot

Black-fronted dotterel

Masked Lapwing

Pacific Gull

Silver Gull

Rock dove(feral pigeon)

Spotted Turtle Dove

Crested pigeon

Rainbow lorikeet

Superb Fairy wren

White-browed Scrubwren

Red wattle bird

White plumed Honeyeater

New Holland Honeyeater

Magpie-lark

Willie Wagtail

Australian Magpie

Little Raven

House Sparrow

Red-browed finch

Welcome Swallow

Goldfinch

Common Blackbird

Common Starling

Common Myna

 

We are off to Broome and beyond on Sunday!

 Shirley Cameron
Werribee
03 9741 2997