Upon arrival, we walked across several pools surrounded by reeds using a bridge. Many Clamorous reed warblers were calling from the plants around us, and chestnut teals and Pacific black ducks were abundant. A few dusky moorhens and purple swamphens were seen, but there was no sign of the bittern.
CHESTNUT TEAL
Anas castanea
We walked on, following Skeleton Creek through the saltmarsh. A brown falcon watched for prey from atop a wire, while several distant flocks of curlew sandpipers were feeding. The creek itself was full of sharp-tailed sandpipers, many of which were quite approachable and gave great looks. Plants in the park to the left of the creek held crested pigeons, common starlings, Indian mynas, spotted turtledoves and many yellow-rumped thornbills, and an Australasian pipit was foraging in the grass.
SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER
Calidris acuminata
YELLOW-RUMPED THORNBILL
Acanthiza chrysohrrhoa
A short track headed into the saltmarsh, and here I got looks at a lifer: many singing striated fieldwrens. White-faced herons, superb fairy-wrens, singing honeyeaters and golden-headed cisticolas were also abundant here, and a single black-shouldered kite was watching the marshes from high up in a dead tree.
STRIATED FIELDWREN
Calamanthus fuliginosus
BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE
Elanus axillaris
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