Wader-Watching at the WTP

For Australia Day, my father and I decided to visit the Western Treatment Plant. Though we didn't get any lifers, we did still see a fair amount of birds in the short time that we were there.
We began the trip from Gate 5. As we drove down Paradise Road, several whistling kites, a distant swamp harrier and a black kite soared overhead. As usual, superb fairy-wrens, golden-headed cisticolas, magpie-larks, Australian magpies, common starlings, zebra finches, crested pigeons and house sparrows were abundant in the grassland. We came to a small hut, the roof of which was encrusted in the nests of fairy martins! Though most of the martins flew off as soon as we arrived, a few birds flew in and out of the nests while we took photos.

The fairy martin is an uncommon summer migrant to Victoria

We saw a wide variety of waterbirds in Lake Borrie and the surrounding ponds. Chestnut teal, hardhead, purple swamphen, Eurasian coots, hoary-headed grebes, Pacific black ducks and Australian shelduck were all present in large numbers. Small pools by the roadside held many Australian white ibis and a lone white-faced heron. Little ravens, Australian magpies, zebra finches and magpie-larks were perched on fences beside the road. A small flock of Cape Barren geese were grazing beside the road. We were prevented from getting good photos by large swarms of midges and mosquitoes, which covered the road. A lone crake of unknown species also dashed across the road at one point.

Cape Barren geese breed only on secluded islands in the Bass Strait

Our next stop was the bird hide at the mouth of the Little River. Here, we saw distant flocks of waders, Australian pied oystercatchers, common and whiskered terns, silvergulls, black swans , Australian pelicans, Australian shelduck and chestnut teals. Shrubs around the hide hid white-fronted chats, superb fairy-wrens, Willie wagtails, golden-headed cisticolas and white-browed scrubwrens. A lone swamp harrier was also seen soaring over the hide.

Whiskered terns are resident in Victoria, but common terns are summer migrants

The Western Treatment Plant is probably Victoria's best site for Australian shelduck

The superb fairy-wren belongs to a family endemic to Australasia

The white-browed scrubwren is Victoria's commonest scrubwren species

As we headed towards Beach Road, we stumbled across a large flock of waders. Many hundreds of red-necked stints and curlew sandpipers were feeding and resting extremely close to the shore, allowing for some nice photos.

The red-necked stint is Australia's smallest wader species

The flock was mostly made up of these curlew sandpipers

On arrival at Beach Road, we searched the rocks along the foreshore for any roosting waders. Not much of note was seen, with only a few pied cormorants, Australian pied oystercatchers, chestnut teal, silvergulls and Australian pelicans present. The bush around Beach Road held many Australasian pipits and a few tree martins. As we headed back along Point Wilson Road, we saw a huge flock of migrating Australian shelducks flying in the air. At least a thousand shelducks must have been present, with even more grazing behind a low ridge.

This was only a small section of the Australian shelduck flock!

All in all, for the cold, overcast weather and limited time we spent at the treatment plant, we saw a good deal of birds.