Hello Birding-Ausers,
It is 6 months or so already since the "superflood" which hit the Kerang region
of northern Victoria during the summer just gone.
The birdlife in the region has been booming and things are only going to get
better as we come into this spring and summer.
I deliberately avoided visiting the various wetlands duing autumn/winter, while
the duck shooting season was in swing, but headed up for a quick fying visit
this weekend.
The Kerang Lakes region has something in the region of 80 wetlands ( almost
merging to one his summer !) , and its safe to assume that they all have water
at present. But whats more there are many low lying areas which only receive
water once in a generation. There are still many of these areas around,
gradually drying up.....too many to mention but they are dotted around all over
the place.
As is the case with wetlands, their conditions can change quite quickly as
water levels fluctuate.so it will be hard to keep track of where the hot spots
are as the weeks go by.
In my flying trip on Sunday I called in at Hirds and Johnsons swamp to start
with. The roads we wet and mushy. The track around Hirds was impassable...so
I walked and the birdlife was prolific. In the 300 hundred metres I walked from
the northern point down, I saw many hundreds of duck.....mostly Grey Teal.
Various Cormorants were ever present in the sky, especially Little Pied in good
numbers. Pelicans were floating in the distance, Black-tailed Nativehens were
calling from the flooded lignum areas...no doubt preparing to breed again.
Grassbirds and Reed Warblers were calling........the whole flock of Fairy
Martins that live under the bridge across the Pyramid Creek have returned, and
a Sacred Kingfisher was either a very early return, or a wintering bird. I'm
sure Bitterns will be breeding here this spring/summer and just about any other
waterbird you can think of !
Next I drove up Day Lane to Johnson's swamp nearby. It is a gravel road up to
the swamp but from there it was walking only. The birdlife here was even more
prolific. Just from one spot at the southern tp of the swamp which is many kms
across, there were large numbers of all sorts of species. 150 Purple Swamphen
were feeding in a grassy field whilst a Flame Robin sang nearby. The sky was
full of birdlife.........Cormorants eg 54 Greats,, Duck, Kites, Spoonbillls and
Egrets, Ibis and Harriers......absolutley flat out !
A Little Egret was feeding in the shallows.....a rare bird in the area, and an
adult Sea-Eagle suveyed the scene....clearly happy with what it was seeing .
The second part of the morining I spent west of Kerang around Lake Bael
Bael/Lake Lookout/the Avoca River and the Bael Bael grasslands. The wetlands
on the Avoca ( Bael Bael, The Marshes etc ) are all very full still and fairly
quiet birdwise ( including Cullens Lake )..but still worth a look. Their time
will certainly come. Out on the plains various open floods and low lying
ephemeral swamps are attracting plenty of birds. Nativehen and Red-kneed
Dotterel, various Duck, the occasional wintering Whiskered Tern. Rarely filled
saline depressions are filling off ground water, and attracting Avocets and
Plovers.
Around the grasslands Spotted harriers were sighted here and there,
White-winged Wrens in good numbers, still lots of Stubble Quail, and some
Banded Lapwings are returning.
I ran out of time to go further north and explore Lakes Tutchewop and Kelly,
but I imagine that they are primed and ready for an explosion of life this
summer. The Avoca river is still running, albeit slowly, so the Avoca floodway
should still be very interesting. .
I tallied up 91 species in the 5 hours I was birding....without even trying.
You could kill a long weekend in the area without a trouble!
Getting the hint ;-)
Cheers,
Simon Starr.
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