Hi All,
At least one Bittern is present in Mill Park Lakes, a new northern suburb of
Melbourne. Originally seen on 23 February and then March 4 March by Colin
Mulvogue, I saw a Little Bittern at about 4:00pm yesterday. Despite being in a
new housing estate, the habitat of this small lake is perfect for Little
Bittern, being dominated by Giant Rush and Common Reed. As the crow flies, it
not that far (and the habitat not dissimilar) from the Moonstone Walk in
Bundoora where a Little Bittern was recorded a few years ago.
If you're interested in having a look for the bird access to Mill Park Lakes is
slightly tricky i.e. it wasn't shown lakes on my street director, and in Google
Map the lakes are shown as a blank area. I got there via Plenty Rd to McDonalds
Rd to Civic Dr to Flindon Rd to The Lakes Boulevard, and then parked on The
Promenade near Vautier Place! I saw the Little Bittern directly opposite the
housing estate main office on The Promenade. Looking south-east from the lakes
boardwalk, it was sitting in Giant Rush just above the waterline in the area
behind a man-made structure in the centre of the lake. (The structure had a
female Darter sitting on it at the time). Note that this is a different spot to
where Colin saw the bird on Wednesday i.e. in the central lake area. There were
some other interesting bird present on the lake, including breeding Black Swan,
Buff-banded Rail, Black-winged Stilt, Yellow-billed and Royal Spoonbill,
Darter, and Colin Mulvogue has also recently recorded Baillon's and Spotted
Crake.
Cheers,
Tim Dolby
==============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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