WALKING ALONG THE MARIBYRNONG

Yesterday, early in the morning, I decided to walk some trails that I'd last walked several years ago with some friends.
Our journey started at Valley Lake. The lake itself was fairly devoid of birds, but as we climbed up to a viewpoint looking over it, several welcome swallows, some Eurasian tree sparrows and a distant peregrine falcon were seen.

WELCOME SWALLOW

Hirundo neoxena

AUSTRALIAN MAGPIE

Gymnorhina tibicen tyrannica

We then began to walk through PA Kirchner Reserve. Here we got our first taste of a few species that would prove common throughout our walk: white-plumed honeyeaters, blackbirds, superb fairy-wrens, little wattlebirds, Willie wagtails, Australian magpies and noisy miners. A highlight of this particular section of the walk was the presence of many bell miners, and two pied currawongs.

PIED CURRAWONG

Strepera graculina

BELL MINER

Manorina melanophrys

WILLIE WAGTAIL

Rhipidura leucophrys

Eventually we came to the Maribyrnong River itself, and began to walk along it. Here we saw several different waterbirds. Chestnut teals, dusky moorhens and Pacific black ducks were swimming in the river, while little pied cormorants, little black cormorants and an Australasian darter sunned themselves on branches overhanging it. The trees around the river also held a few new species: red-rumped parrots, sulphur-crested cockatoos and several dusky woodswallows were present. At times, white-faced herons and rainbow lorikeets flew overhead.

AUSTRALASIAN DARTER

Anhinga novaehollandiae

DUSKY MOORHEN

Gallinula tenebrosa

PACIFIC BLACK DUCK

Anas superciliosa

SULFUR-CRESTED COCKATOO

Cacatua galerita

DUSKY WOODSWALLOW

Artamus cyanopterus

We walked until we reached a rock-crossing, and then headed home.

SPECIES SEEN:
1. Pacific Black Duck
2. Chestnut Teal
3. Dusky Moorhen
4. Little Pied Cormorant
5. Little Black Cormorant
6. Australasian Darter
7. Spotted Turtledove
8. Feral Pigeon
9. Crested Pigeon
10. Red-Rumped Parrot
11. Rainbow Lorikeet
12. Galah
13. Sulfur-Crested Cockatoo
14. Long-Billed Corella
15. White-Faced Heron
16. Dusky Woodswallow
17. Little Raven
18. Australian Magpie
19. Pied Currawong
20. White-Plumed Honeyeater
21. Little Wattlebird
22. Red Wattlebird
23. Noisy Miner
24. Bell Miner
25. House Sparrow
26. Eurasian Tree Sparrow
27. Common Starling
28. Indian Mynah
29. Willie Wagtail
30. Superb Fairy-Wren
31. Peregrine Falcon
32. Blackbird
TOTAL: 32