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.