Our first day started with a walk around the house we were staying in. This turned up only a few common birds, like New Holland honeyeaters, common starlings, a gigantic flock of feral pigeons, a red wattlebird (heard but not seen) and Willie wagtails, along with some more interesting birds, like a brown thornbill and a flock of Crimson Rosellas. After the walk, we started the real birding.
First, we went to the information centre to get some info about birding hotspots. While my mum and dad did that, I explored a small beach with my grandma and grandpa, who had come along for the trip. The rocks there were covered in algae- mostly green, but some red. While I looked at this, my mum and dad came as well, with my sister. Mum pointed out a large, white bird flying above. It was too small to be an albatross, but too large to be a silver gull. Soon I realized what it was- my lifer AUSTRALASIAN GANNET!
However, there were more gannets to be seen as we headed for Point Danger- Australia's largest inland gannet colony. While heading for the colony, we expressed fears that the gannets wouldn't be there. Those fears and worries disappeared in an instant as we saw the rocks nearby- parts of them were white, that was how much gannets there were! And, as if that wasn't enough, gannets kept on closely approaching land, giving us good opportunities to photograph them! Yet more fished in the rough seas and my mum says she saw one with a fish in its mouth!
My photograph of the rock really does not do the sight justice. I highly recommend this place to all birders in the area, at least during the breeding season. The gannets truly are a sight to be seen!
However, we still had more birds to find and we headed for Cape Nelson State Park. Along the way we saw a large wind turbine which my mum took a photo of. Near the turbine I saw a bird that looked similar to a juvenile white-breasted sea eagle taking off as it was pursued by a raven. This gave us high hopes for the cape, but the only two birds I photographed there were grey fantails and a gannet- the other birds either hid or fled at the sight of us!
Disappointed, we drove to Cape Bridgewater, stopping at two farms to see a white-faced heron, Pacific black ducks, chestnut teals, Australian white ibis, straw-necked ibis and little ravens, and at Bridgewater Lakes to spot some fairy-wrens and 2 masked lapwings.
At the Cape we visited a place called Petrified Forest- a limestone formation overlooking the sea. At the 'forest' we saw some gannets in the water and some interesting plant life.
ABOVE- A mixed flock of ibis species- Australian white ibis dominating with a few straw-necked ibis as well.
Before going home, we stopped one last time at Fawthrop Lagoon, where I saw some chestnut and grey teals, 3 black swan and 2 'manky' or domestic mallards, along with one purebred mallard and a masked lapwing on a football field.
No comments:
Post a Comment