WELCOME SWALLOWS AT THE NEST

Ah, the swallow. If it weren't for them, there would be a lot more insects in this world (and since I don't really like insects, I'm glad that swallows exist). Australia has several kinds of swallow and martin, but by far the commonest of them all is the Welcome swallow. This brilliant bird is hard to dislike (unless, of course, you're an insect). Just today, I saw a nest of them at Anglesea. Here are some photos I took of the nest.

The nest was under the right corner of the sign saying JUMS

There were four nestlings in the nest, but you can only see three in this picture

The nest is made up of mud, sticks, leaves and similar, all glued together

The parent bird flew in regularly to bring little bits of food to the nestlings

The parent rests while its partner hunts for something to give to the nestlings

A VISIT TO POINT ADDIS

Today we woke up early in the morning and drove to Point Addis. Some birdwatcher friends of ours were coming over from Sri Lanka, and we were supposed to show them a few birding sites. This was one of the places we chose, but since we had never been there before we decided we would visit before the friends came over just to scout the place out. After a long drive, we finally reached the Point Addis Road.

The Mistletoebird, mainland Australia's only flowerpecker

The silvereye, Victoria's only species of white-eye

Point Addis is one of Victoria's better sea-watching sites, and the carpark is also home to the rare and secretive Rufous bristlebird, which I knew the friends would want to see. We arrived at the carpark, but couldn't see a thing. So we walked down the wooden boardwalk.
There was movement in the bushes. We looked and it was . . . A silvereye. We looked closer at the bushes and realised there were silvereyes, mistletoebirds, superb fairy-wrens and crimson rosellas everywhere. All nice, but where were the bristlebirds?
We searched and searched and searched again, but couldn't find anything. Just when we were about to give up, we looked around the carpark and there, dashing into the bushes, was a pair of Rufous bristlebirds! They chased each other around the carpark, letting me get just one photo before they finally darted into the undergrowth.

Probably the world's blurriest photo of a rufous bristlebird. 

Another lifer on the list!

LIST

1. Crimson Rosella

2. Superb Fairy-Wren

3. Rufous Bristlebird

4. Silvereye

5. Mistletoebird

6. Welcome Swallow
TOTAL: 6
LIFERS: 1 

FAVOURITE BIRDING SITES: Jawbone Reserve

This park is very close to the inner city, situated in Williamstown. It consists of several shallow lagoons, as well as some saltmarsh. A variety of different waterbirds can be found in the park, and it can be accessed by car (parking on one of the many roads overlooking the park) or bike (along the Bay Trail.)

Black-winged stilts are common throughout the park 

From the east of the park, there are several walks going down to the beach. At the far east, there is a short walk going down to a beach that people are allowed to use. Here there are few birds, only grey teal, black-winged stilts, common starlings, house sparrows and silver gulls. This walk eventually joins up to the other boardwalk.  Further west is a much better boardwalk that goes through saltmarsh before stopping at a place where you can see another beach people are not allowed to use. Watch for fairy martins, welcome swallows, superb fairy-wrens, sharp-tailed sandpipers, common mynas, house sparrows, sharp-tailed sandpipers, royal spoonbills, white-faced herons, pied cormorants, black swans, black-winged stilts, common starlings, silver gulls and Australian spotted crakes, among other birds.

A view of the ibis rookery in the evening

A bit further on from the boardwalk is a bird hide overlooking an ibis rookery. There are always a few Australian white ibis at the rookery, along with Australian pelicans, little black cormorants, grey teal, little pied cormorants and the occasional royal spoonbill. The mudflats near the hide can be good for Australian spotted crakes, black-winged stilts, Australian white ibises and red-kneed dotterels. There are also often superb fairy-wrens and New Holland honeyeaters in the bushes around the hide. Finally, a flock of black-tailed native-hens inhabits the area around the hide as well.

One of the black-tailed native-hens that inhabits the area around the hide

If you continue walking west you will pass a large lagoon where a variety of waterbirds can be seen, including little pied cormorants, grey teal, dusky moorhens, purple swamphens, Eurasian coots, blue-billed ducks, musk ducks, whiskered terns, black swans, Australian pelicans, silver gulls, black-winged stilts, little black cormorants, eastern great egrets, royal spoonbills and Australasian grebes. Walk west even further and you will come to Maddox Road. Down the road is a bird hide where a variety of other waterbirds and waders can be seen. While walking to the hide look for yellow-rumped thornbills.
Other birds common in the area include common mynas, common starlings, spotted doves, New Holland honeyeaters, little ravens, silver gulls, red wattlebirds and superb fairy-wrens. 
This is all from a site only a 15-minute drive away from the Melbourne CBD.

A VISIT TO JAWBONE RESERVE

In the afternoon, my dad decided that we should go to Jawbone Reserve and check out this boardwalk we hadn't explored previously. Thinking we might see a lifer, I agreed.

Silvergulls are very common around Williamstown

We parked the car near a playground and looked out at the lagoons. There were many silvergulls hanging around, as well as a black-winged stilt and some Eurasian coots swimming in the water. We walked on until we reached the ibis rookery hide, stopping to look at two black-tailed native-hens. 

A view of the ibis rookery

The hide no longer overlooks a rookery (the rookery is to the side) but it is near some rocks where several birds were resting. I saw many Australian white ibises and Australian pelicans, as well as a few little black cormorants, some chestnut teal and a single royal spoonbill.
We went a bit further on looking for the boardwalk. Unknowingly, we passed the boardwalk and went along this other track instead. The track ended at a beach which I scanned for waders, but there were only common starlings, silver gulls and a few black-winged stilts there.

We got close views of this black-winged stilt on the beach

We headed back and stopped to check a sign, then realising that we had actually passed the boardwalk! We got to the real boardwalk and walked along. The walk headed through a saltmarsh with many fairy martins and welcome swallows flying around. It got close to another beach where people weren't allowed to walk, and where I saw black swans, common starlings and two pied cormorants sitting on some rocks. Then we reached the end of the boardwalk, which looked over some pools of water. In one of the pools was a black-winged stilt, which flew into another pool. As I was photographing the stilt, I noticed a small, dark bird behind it . . .

AN AUSTRALIAN SPOTTED CRAKE!

Not bad, even if it wasn't a lifer. We headed back along the walk and stopped at the beach, where I noticed something. Two light brown waders were looking for food on the ground ...

 SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPERS, A LIFER FOR ME!

Then it was time to go, and we headed back, spotting purple swamphens, little ravens, common mynas, common starlings and all the birds in the ibis colony as we got back to the car.

A little raven, the commoner of Melbourne's two resident corvids

LIST OF BIRDS SEEN

1. Black Swan

2. Pacific Black Duck

3. Chestnut Teal

4. Pied Cormorant

5. Little Pied Cormorant

6. Little Black Cormorant

7. Australian White Ibis

8. Royal Spoonbill

9. Australian Pelican

10. Australian Spotted Crake

11. Dusky Moorhen

12. Purple Swamphen

13. Eurasian Coot

14. Black-Tailed Native Hen

15. Sharp-Tailed Sandpiper

16. Black-Winged Stilt 

17. Silver Gull

18. Spotted Dove

19. Superb Fairy-Wren

20. Red Wattlebird

21. Little Raven

22. Magpie-Lark

23. Welcome Swallow

24. Fairy Martin

25. House Sparrow

26. Common Myna

27. Common Starling

TOTAL BIRDS SEEN: 27

LIFERS SEEN: 1