|
The Pied Heron was still at McLeod's Morass this morning
(Tuesday 12th). After being stuck behind a desk for the last two weeks I
was finally able to get down to Barinsdale to have a look. It took me over an
hour to find the bird which was with a group of around ten White-faced
Herons in the northern section of the wetland which also happened to be
shallower and more densely vegetated than the open water body in the southern
section. It was only seen after it, the other herons and Masked Lapwings flushed
when I was about a hundred metres away. I'm not sure if it was me that flushed
them as they eventually settled closer to me than where they had started.
There were plenty of other good birds around in the hour and a
quarter leading up to my successful sighting with Spotless Crake feeding
unconcerned out in the open, White-breasted Sea-Eagle and a Peaceful Dove flying
off the entrance track, a bird that I'm not sure is too common in these parts.
On the way back to Melbourne I stopped at Lake Guyatt in Sale
where there were at least 130 Freckled Ducks.
Another stop at Tarra-Bulga National Park in the wet forests
of South Gippsland got me Pilot Bird, Olive-backed Oriole and Bassian Thrush
amongst others.
The absolute highlight for the day was watching a male Superb
Lyrebird have a crack at a passing female. As I stood gobsmacked on the track
with the birds only five metres from me, she kept feeding ignoring his advances.
He didn't do the full tail display but fired off a good five minutes of song at
her. Most interesting of the calls was a clear Boobook Owl call interspersed at
regular intervals.
It also had another call which at first I thought may have
been mimicking Satin Bowerbird, a bird rare in the Strzelecki Ranges but was
wondering whether this was what is referred to as its "Long Plik Song". It had a
slightly metallic quality and repeated the rhythm with such regular intervals
that I wondered whether it has of human inspiration. It actually reminded me of
the muted sound of a song on a car stereo as it drives past. The road is a
few hundred metres away as is the picnic ground. An interesting idea- Destin'y
Child as performed by Superb Lyrebird.
Pied Heron, Freckled Duck, Pacific Gull, Pilotbird- I don't
think those four birds would have appeared on the same day list all that often.
Sean Dooley
| 