Nankeen night herons

I have some good photos of nankeen night herons from yesterday's Melbourne Zoo trip that I would like to share.

An immature leans down at the water

An angry-looking juvenile

The graceful adult in breeding plumage

The immature

Various birds from the Melbourne Zoo

To top up the previous post, here are some photos of various birds from the Melbourne Zoo.

Little wattlebird

Dusky moorhen young

Chestnut teal male and female

Pair of great cormorants

Birding the Melbourne Zoo

What many people do not realize is that wild birds can often be found in the vicinity of zoos or zoological parks. Taking this into note, this post is about birding the Melbourne Zoo.

From the front of the zoo, where you get your map, there is not much life. However, parts of the carpark are home for various birds, like the noisy miner and the bell miner.

A noisy miner, one of Australia's commonest honeyeaters

As you enter the zoo silver gulls, feral pigeons and house sparrows swoop and feed around you- so far, just the common city birds. Then, dusky moorhens reveal themselves. There are many in the zoo and if you come at the right time you can see the mothers guarding their chicks. But beware getting close to the chicks, because the mothers will swiftly chase you away!

Your first stop should be the Asian Elephant Trail. As you walk in, bird life is scarce, until you come to Pelican Lake. While the pelicans here are part of the zoo's collection, the great cormorants, nankeen night-herons, grey teals, dusky moorhens and Pacific black ducks who frequent the lakes are wild birds. As you continue down the trail, a flock of white-browed scrubwrens might reveal themselves to you, chirping and fluttering across the path.

A white-browed scrubwren

Continuing down, you head to the Orangutan Sanctuary. From here, a better view of the lake can be obtained and those same birds viewed at closer quarters. If you look carefully you can see the nankeen night-herons in the trees, roosting and building their nests. Below, great cormorants build their nests and Pacific black ducks dabble in the water.

An adult nankeen night-heron

As you finish the trail, you head to the giraffe enclosure, to enter the Australian Bush sector. The wild birds here consist of little and red wattlebirds, bell miners, white-plumed honeyeaters and similar. At the waterhole in front of the wombat enclosure, you may see wild Pacific black ducks and chestnut teals dabbling, occasionally accompanied by a few captive blue-billed ducks or whistling ducks. The collection of captive birds is also quite interesting.

A bell miner

If you still aren't tired, you may continue to the Japanese Garden, where dusky moorhens and Pacific black ducks, with the occasional nankeen night heron, live side-by-side with a collection of captive waterbirds.

That is what it is like birding the Melbourne Zoo.

A VISIT TO AFTON STREET CONSERVATION PRESERVE- EVENING BIRDS

Yesterday my dad and I went on a late visit to Afton Street Conservation Preserve as it was getting dark. There were only a few waterbirds hanging around- two Pacific black ducks and an eastern great egret perched on a branch, plus a few yellow-rumped thornbills, New Holland honeyeaters, red wattlebirds, spotted paradalotes and white-plumed honeyeaters in the grassy and forested areas.

The real surprise came just as we were about to leave the park. I heard a strange bird call and noticed a bird on the fence. I slowly approached the bird to discover that it was a lifer, a horsefield's bronze-cuckoo!

The cuckoo on the fence

It just goes to show that the most unexpected birds can be found in places you wouldn't expect them to be in.