Shovelers and Crakes at the WTP

Once again, my friends and I decided to celebrate the holidays with some birdwatching. Early in the morning, we headed out to the Western Treatment Plant, to see what we could see.
An initially quiet drive through grassland provided no species of note, until we reached Lake Borrie. Here, the skies were thick with flocks of Australian shelducks, and the lake itself held a wide variety of waterbirds: purple swamphens, hoary-headed grebes, Australian white ibis, pink-eared ducks, chestnut teal, grey teal, Pacific black ducks and a few Australasian shovelers. As we drove along the shore of the lake, a nearby cattle egret caught our attention. Stopping here provided a few more species: white-naped stilts and a yellow-billed spoonbill. 

AUSTRALIAN SHELDUCK

Tadorna tadornoides

AUSTRALASIAN SHOVELER

Anas rhynchotis

PURPLE SWAMPHEN

Porphyrio melanotus

CATTLE EGRET

Bubulcus coromandus

As we drove to the bird hide, we observed a few more species: golden-headed cisticolas in the reeds, Eurasian coots in lakes, and white-faced herons and Australian pelicans flying overhead. At the hide itself, a large flock of birds was present: various waders, along with silvergulls and crested terns, sat on a distant sandbar. Shrubs around the hide held white-fronted chats and Willie wagtails, along with a skulking Australian spotted crake that eventually provided good views.

WHITE-FRONTED CHAT

Epthianura albifrons

AUSTRALIAN SPOTTED CRAKE

Porzana fluminea

We stopped to observe a Musk duck and a nearby flock of waders, within which were Australian pied oystercatchers, red-necked stints, curlew sandpipers and a lone Lesser sand plover, before heading home.