THE QUEST FOR THE NORTHERN SHOVELER- PART 1

Today my dad and I went off to try and find the northern shoveler that has recently turned up at the Western Treatment Plant in Werribee.

On the drive to the treatment plant we just saw some silver gulls and sulphur-crested cockatoos flying above the road- nothing much of note.

As we entered the treatment plant, my dad opened the gate with the key. There was a problem with the key, but we managed to open the gate in the end. There were a few small fairy-wren like birds around the gate and a bird of prey (probably a black kite) flew over the car. We closed the gate and headed for Lake Borrie, where the shoveler had been seen. While driving to Lake Borrie, we saw a house sparrow, a willie wagtail and a few welcome swallows, plus a yellow-billed spoonbill and white-faced heron that were both flying over the car.

A yellow-billed spoonbill flies over the farmland section of the treatment plant

At the first wetland of the Lake (the lake is actually made up of a series of wetlands) I saw the largest flock of red-necked avocets that I have ever seen in my life before (not saying much, since I had only seen 1 single avocet before). Still, this was just the second time I have ever seen this bird, so I took some photos!

A flock of red-necked avocets

In the same wetland I also saw 2 black swans and an eastern great egret overhead. In the section opposite to the wetland with the avocets, there was a large raft of Eurasian coots on the surface of the water.

Eastern great egret flying over Lake Borrie

A raft of coots

However, there were no shovelers, so we continued exploring the wetlands. We saw a few purple swamphens and black swans, but nothing really that much of note until we reached what I believe is known as Pond 24. Here we saw large mixed flocks of chestnut teals, grey teals, little black cormorants, Australian pelicans and similar. There were also a few small duck-like birds on the water that I believe were hoary-headed grebes- a lifer for me! However, I couldn't spot the shoveler, despite scanning through gigantic flocks of birds that could have easily contained over a hundred individuals. I also saw a swamp harrier around the lake and a few white ibises, as well as 2 little pied cormorants perching on a submerged log.

A mixed species flock- mostly chestnut and grey teals, with a black swan

A pelican stands out among ducks at Pond 24

Unfortunately, at this time we had to go home and fix up something on the computer, without the northern shoveler sighting. Don't worry northern shoveler, I'll be back!