BIRDING BANDARAWELA AND THE SURROUNDS

In the early mornings of every day I was staying at my grandfather/grandmother's place, I looked around for birds. I used to be able to spot the endemic Sri Lankan scimitar babbler very easily here, along with some other birds. Now these birds appear to be less common or more secretive in the area. Even so, I still managed to pick up this lifer early one morning, a forest wagtail.

Other birds that are fairly common/possible in the surrounding forest are great (cinereous) tits, greater coucals, scarlet minivets, spotted doves, rose-ringed parakeets, common mynas, feral pigeons, large-billed crows and black-rumped flamebacks. There is a flowering plant in the garden which purple-rumped sunbirds frequent. Finally, a pair of Sri Lankan junglefowl inhabits the forest and can usually be seen crossing the road. 

A greater coucal that was sitting in a plant next to the road

This species, the cinereous tit, was recently separated from the great tit Parus major

The female purple-rumped sunbirds in the garden are very tame, and even stayed in the garden while we were having our very noisy New Year festival!

On the first day I went on a quick walk in the tea plantations of the hills above and below the house. Previously this was a great place to see many chestnut-headed bee-eaters, but I only saw a single one. I did see red-vented bulbuls, large-billed crows, common mynas, rose-ringed parakeets, brown-headed barbets and scaly-breasted munias, as well as a single black-rumped flameback. We went on several trips to relatives, cousins and friends. At their houses I saw some of the above birds, along with white-throated kingfishers and white-vented drongos. One of my cousins lives right next to a paddyfield, where great coucals and large-billed crows have been seen in the past along with cattle egrets. All those above birds, except the coucal, were all seen this time along with my lifer white-browed fantail and an ashy prinia.

This white-browed fantail was sitting in a tree next to a path going through part of the paddyfield

And this ashy prinia was right behind the house

That is birding in Bandarawela, with a great deal missed out on. 

BIRDING THE SRI LANKAN HILL COUNTRY, OR HORTON PLAINS NP

It has been a while since I posted about my Sri Lankan trip, so here I am again. Today's post is about the Sri Lankan hill country, where we were staying with family in the town of Bandarawela (not sure if I spelled that correctly). On our first morning my father and I decided to go on a trip to Horton Plains National Park, one of the best places to go birding in the hill country where a lot of the endemic birds can be seen. All endemics are in bold.

This Sri Lankan wood pigeon surprised us on the road, giving great views

The drive was short but a little bumpy, with a stop-over for a Sri Lankan wood pigeon along the road as well as some more Jerdon's leafbirds, scaly-breasted munias and plain prinias, and soon we arrived at the park. As soon as we got to the park gates I spotted two endemics, a yellow-eared bulbul and a dull-blue flycatcher, with hundreds of Pacific swallows flying around in the sky! Three lifers within five minutes of staying in the park! And it only got better.

This yellow-eared bulbul was feeding in a tree next to the park gates! 

There were dull blue flycatchers everywhere, feeding on the ground and perching in trees

We continued our walk along the trail. There were dull blue flycatchers pretty much everywhere, flitting from tree to tree, feeding on the ground, basically showing off for the camera. In trees were a few shyer Sri Lankan white-eyes as well as some great tits, a single rufous babbler and a giant squirrel. Finally, on the ground were indian blackbirds. As we went further along we managed to tick off more of the hill country endemics. We saw yellow-eared barbets flying off into the trees far too quickly for us to get a photo, and soon the only endemics we were missing were the arrenga (Sri Lankan whistling thrush) and Sri 

A Sri Lankan white-eye staying still on a branch

A very lousy shot of a rufous babbler I spotted 

Lankan bush warbler.  Eventually we came out of the forest and passed into the grassland. Paddyfield pipits were everywhere, along with pied bushchats, Pacific swallows, a grey wagtail and a single brown shrike, but no bush warbler. Soon we arrived at the visitor center in the middle of the park. 

Paddyfield pipits were everywhere

Less common, but still there, were these pied bush chats

We spotted this brown shrike near the visitor centre

Again, dull blue flycatchers were basically everywhere. This time, large-billed crows and feral pigeons joined them. Though there were not many good birds around the center, there were many tame sambur deer foraging on the grass, as well as a rather shy mongoose.

Sambur deer are common throughout Horton Plains

Indian brown mongooses can be very shy, so it was nice to finally get a photo of one that wasn't dashing into the bush

A zitting cisticola, also known as a fan-tailed warbler

We drove further along, in search of the endemics we hadn't seen. We came into more grassland, where all the above birds were seen along with a zitting cisticola and a soaring brahminy kite. Suddenly the car we were in slowed down dramatically. We stopped and leaned out to get a very, very lousy picture of what was a . . .

SRI LANKAN BUSH WARBLER!

(the photo is way too lousy to be showed on this blog)

We drove further along, spotting more of the birds above. We then came to the end of the road and headed back, not able to find the 'Arrenga Pool' (a pool of water the whistling thrush or arrenga apparently can often be seen at). We saw most of the endemics, but that arrenga will have to wait for another visit. 

A Trip To Long Forest

My dad had the Sunday off work and I wanted to go birding, so we decided to go to Long Forest National Conservation Reserve in Bacchus Marsh, to see what we could see. The reserve is home to the only mallee forest south of the Great Dividing Range, so even if we did not see anything it would still be a good day out. The plan was to get there at 7:15, but we ended up leaving at that time. After a few wrong turns we eventually got there, but couldn't find the carpark, taking up even more time. Eventually we found the carpark and walked along the Long Point Track.
At the start of the track was an information booth where two superb fairy-wren females were hopping around on the ground. The birds here were mostly very quick to hide and shy, but we still saw several good birds. We walked further on and stumbled into a feeding flock of birds.
Most of the birds were striated thornbills, with a single buff-rumped thornbill darting away much too fast for me to get a picture. In a tree next to the track was one of the specialties of the reserve, the dry country or yellow-rumped form of the spotted pardalote.

A 'yellow-rumped' pardalote

Walking further on, we saw several eastern yellow robins and a few more thornbills. Soon we came to an area where there was a gully on one side of the track, with several tall trees stretching up. A bird with a yellow belly flew into one of these trees and my first thought was 'it's another yellow robin, lets forget about it'. Then I got a closer look and almost jumped out of my shoes. I reached for my camera, I zoomed in, I took a photo and . . .

A YELLOW-TUFTED HONEYEATER!

It was one of my target birds! We walked on further and startled a fox that was trying to have a bath in a creek. There were many, many eastern yellow robins. Finally we came out of the forest and into a grassland area, climbing up a hill to see a male scarlet robin in a tree nearby and a few superb fairy-wrens on the ground.

We walked further along the grassland, seeing more superb fairy-wrens, a crimson rosella, two eastern rosellas and three eastern grey kangaroos. Soon it was time to head back and we walked back along the path, stopping to eat some snacks. We got back into the mallee and soon spotted another feeding flock, again mostly of striated thornbills. On the forest floor I spotted a grey bird that stayed along for some time, which I could not identify. In a tree I saw a weebill, Australia's smallest bird, its body almost completely hidden by the leaves. It stayed for a few seconds before quickly flying away, far too quickly for my camera. Soon we were back in the car. We headed home, spotting a red wattlebird in a tree and a little raven on the way. This is a place we must visit again. 

The mystery bird

French Island

We had a whole day spare, so my dad and I decided to go to French Island. Initially we were planning to stay the night, but we had something on the next day so we had to just do a day trip. It all started early Sunday morning, at about 6 am. We woke up, got ready, had a bit of breakfast and drove off to Stony Point, where the ferries to the island go . . .
Before I continue, I will explain what exactly French Island is. French Island is Victoria's largest offshore island, just a few kilometres north of Phillip Island (see previous posts) in the waters of one of the two bays in the Greater Melbourne Area, Western Port (the other bay is Port Phillip Bay). It is well-known for being the only place in Victoria that is not governed by any shire and thus does not have a council. There are about 80 people who live on the island. Though the people who live on the island can use cars, other cars cannot be brought onto the island from the mainland. The only transport visitors can bring are bikes. The only way to get to the island is on the Island Packers ferry that operates between Cowes in Phillip Island, Tankerton in French Island and Stony Point on the mainland.
Now that my explanation is complete, let's get on with the trip report!
Soon, after about two hours, we were at Stony Point. It was almost 8 o'clock, when the first ferry would go, so we swiftly ran up to the jetty and boarded the ferry. As we left, I noted eastern rosellas in the trees, and several birds on the beaches. Pacific gulls, silver gulls, little pied cormorants, hoary-headed grebes, little black cormorants and white-faced herons were all on the mudflats (it was low tide). We would  have gotten to the island at 8:15, but my dad forgot to get off the boat. We had to wait until
the next visit, at 9:00. When we got onto the island, we first had a look around from the jetty. On rocks and flying above us were silver gulls, caspian terns, little black cormorants, little pied cormorants and

Three pied cormorants

A Caspian tern flying past the jetty

pied cormorants. Then, we walked the 2.5 kilometres to the General Store. This, the island's only shop, is basically a cross between a cafe, supermarket, souvenir shop and bookshop. It also hires out bikes. It
was a very long, very cold walk, but there were birds. At the start of the walk, we could see many brown thornbills in trees on the sides of the road. These thornbills were very common all over the island. Along with the thornbills were New Holland honeyeaters, eastern yellow robins and white-browed scrubwrens, though they were slightly less common. Perched on fences, we could also see a few grey shrike-thrushes. We came out of a small forest and into a more grassland-like area, where I saw an Australasian pipit flying. In a tree we spotted a koala. Soon, we were at the General Store.

Brown Thornbills were common all over the island

After eating some lunch at the General Store we decided to see if we could spot any more birds. First we rode a short distance down Clump Road. We saw two Australian shelducks and a grey currawong, the second of which was a lifer. We rode back and spotted another grey currawong. Then we rode four kilometres down Coastal Road. We spotted blue-winged parrots, New Holland honeyeaters, eastern rosellas, eastern yellow robins and brown thornbills, as well as a juvenile white-bellied sea eagle which soared over the track. We then rode back and left our bikes at the General Store, heading to the jetty to

Eastern rosellas were seen both at Coastal Road and Stony Point

White-bellied sea eagles breed on French Island, here is a juvenile one

wait for the ferry. While at and walking to the jetty we looked for waterbirds and we saw Pacific gulls, grey teals, black swans, masked lapwings, pied oystercatchers, silver gulls and pied cormorants. We decided to take a short walk on the rocky beach and saw starlings, black swans, masked lapwings, pied oystercatchers and a black-shouldered kite in a tree. All too soon it was time to head back from a successful birding trip. We boarded the ferry and went back to Stony Point, where as the sun set I spotted an eastern great egret, a white-faced heron, some Pacific gulls, many silver gulls and a little pied cormorant.

Near the jetty were several pied oystercatchers

Further along the beach we spotted a white blob that turned out to be this black-shouldered kite

BIRD LIST
1. Grey Teal
2. Australian Shelduck
3. Black Swan
4. Hoary-Headed Grebe
5. White-Faced Heron
6. Eastern Great Egret
7. Little Black Cormorant
8. Pied Cormorant
9. Little Pied Cormorant
10. Black-Shouldered Kite
11. Masked Lapwing
12. Pied Oystercatcher
13. Silver Gull
14. Pacific Gull
15. Caspian Tern
16. Eastern Rosella
17. Blue-Winged Parrot
18. Brown Thornbill
19. White-Browed Scrubwren
20. New Holland Honeyeater
21. Eastern Yellow Robin
22. Grey Shrike-Thrush
23. Australian Magpie
24. Grey Currawong
25. Little Raven
26. Australasian Pipit
27. Common Starling
28. White-Bellied Sea Eagle
29. Purple Swamphen

MAMMALS
1. Koala

A walk in the park

It was a very sunny, clear day, so my sister, my mother and I all decided to go on a long walk around the suburb I live in, Avondale Heights. Thinking that we might see some birds to blog about, I decided that I would take my camera. We were all ready, so off we went.
As we headed along the walk, we walked down Buckley Street. In the eucalyptus trees along the sides of the path were little wattlebirds, red wattlebirds, New Holland honeyeaters, white-plumed honeyeaters, mynas and blackbirds. We came to a steep hill which we go down every day on our way to school. We crossed the road to get to the footpath going down the hill. In the eucalyptus trees beside the top of the hill were many New Holland honeyeaters. We went down the hill, spotting a black-faced cuckoo shrike in the eucalyptus trees as we went. Unfortunately, the cuckoo-shrike quickly flew off and I could not get a photo of it. We started to climb the hill until we reached a tunnel that goes under Buckley Street. We walked through this tunnel and came out to the second part of our walk, the Steele Creek Track.
So we walked along this track. On both sides of the track was grassland, dotted with many eucalyptus trees. In the trees were many willie wagtails, and in the sky tree martins and welcome swallows swooped and soared. It was a beautiful day, as red wattlebirds fed in the trees, their cackling and coughing calls filling the air.

White-plumed honeyeaters are very common in Avondale Heights and even visit my garden.

Willie wagtails are also very common in Avondale Heights

Then we reached a bridge over Steele Creek, and the best bird of the day showed itself.

AN EASTERN GREAT EGRET!

We watched the egret for a while, then kept on walking. I wanted to try and get a better view of the egret, so I followed a path that would take me near the egret's position. In the bushes and reeds around the track, I could see many white-plumed honeyeaters and superb fairy-wrens. As I got close, I was disappointed. A thicket of reeds was blocking my view of the egret. I walked back and continued on the track. We headed down a steep hill until we reached the Maribrynong River. The track continued to follow the river. In the bush I saw common starlings, rainbow lorikeets, house sparrows and superb fairy-wrens. In the river were most of the common waterbirds in the area, namely chestnut teals, dusky moorhens, little pied cormorants, little black cormorants, hoary-headed grebes and Eurasian coots. We reached a picnic table and ate some snacks we had brought with us. In the grass around us were red-rumped parrots and a single white-faced heron.

Red-rumped parrots are very common in the Maribrynong parklands. The male is on the left-hand side and the female on the right

White-faced herons are not that common in the suburb. They can sometimes be seen along the river and on grasslands and lawns. 

We continued our walk, listening to the maddened screeches of many sulphur-crested cockatoos. We quickly ran up a few hills and we were home.

Sulphur-crested cockatoos are fairly common in the parklands.

ULAGALLA RESORT: A SLICE OF HEAVEN

We spent most of our first three days of the Sri Lanka trip relaxing in the Ulagalla Eco Resort. As well as lots of comforts, there were lots of nice birds around the property. Endemic birds are highlighted in bold.

Most of the birding I did was along a short bike track. The track started in a grassy area with a small stream, on the sides of which I saw a white-breasted waterhen. In the grassy area was also a helipad, and red-wattled lapwings were often resting on the helipad. The track then passed into an area of forest. In this forest I spotted Jerdon's leafbirds, a Sri Lankan junglefowl, oriental white-eyes, white-rumped munias, pale-billed flowerpeckers, purple-rumped sunbirds, rose-ringed parakeets, oriental magpie-robins, red-vented bulbuls and more white-breasted waterhens. The red-vented bulbuls were very common throughout the eco resort, as were spotted doves. After passing through the forest the track came to a paddyfield with wooly-necked storks, Indian pond herons, median egrets, little egrets and openbill storks, before going into more forest. In this last bit of forest, Ceylon green pigeons and green imperial pigeons could be seen eating fruit in trees. While eating dinner, I also observed more birds in a huge dead tree near the swimming pool, and a large, living tree next to the pool. The birds I spotted in the trees were brown shrikes, coppersmith barbets, Indian peafowl, spotted doves, red-vented bulbuls, jungle crows, white-throated kingfishers and blue-tailed bee eaters. Soaring above the property were brahminy kites. Finally, in front of the restaurant was a small lake in which I saw purple herons, openbill storks and plain prinias, and a lawn where I saw a single paddyfield pipit.

RED-VENTED BULBUL

WOOLY-NECKED STORK

WHITE-RUMPED MUNIA

INDIAN PEAFOWL male

SRI LANKAN JUNGLEFOWL male

GREEN IMPERIAL PIGEON

CEYLON GREEN PIGEON

In short, Ulagalla Resort was a perfect place for birding. 

THE AVONDALE HEIGHTS AREA

Though I have blogged about several of the places in the area where I live where I birdwatch, I have not given a whole list of birds and birding places. This post is trying to make up for that.

New Holland honeyeaters, a species of bird very common in the suburb

Around my house, a few birds can be seen. Most of these are described in earlier posts. Near my suburb are the parklands of the Maribrynong area, where there are several good birding spots. Afton Street Conservation Preserve is one of these, and again, there are many previous posts about this place. In the river itself, waterbirds include dusky moorhens, Pacific black ducks, grey teals, chestnut teals, little pied cormorants, hoary-headed grebes, mallards, Australasian grebes, white-faced herons and great cormorants, though a few of these are not usually sighted. Queens Park is a good place to see a lot of these waterbirds, and the other waterbirds not usually seen there can be spotted at Afton Street or in the river.  Common in most of the riverside parklands are birds like willie wagtails, red wattlebirds, Pacific black ducks, red-rumped parrots, rainbow lorikeets, Australian magpies, magpie-larks, little wattlebirds, little pied cormorants, dusky moorhens, white-plumed honeyeaters, superb fairy-wrens, New Holland honeyeaters and little ravens. In Afton Street Conservation Preserve, some other birds can also be spotted as well. Another good spot for forest birds, and a few waterbirds, is Brimbank Park. Some of the birds from these places include yellow-rumped thornbills, brown thornbills, grey fantails, buff-rumped thornbills, long-billed corellas, spotted paradalotes, grey currawongs (vagrant), red-browed finches, flame robins,crimson rosellas, eastern rosellas, Clamorous reed-warblers (I'm not completely sure whether or not they are in the area, but I think there could be some at Afton), silvereyes and Horsefield's bronze-cuckoos.

A dark phase Brown Falcon, one of the commoner raptors of the area

Raptors are not that common in the area, but I have spotted a few. Black-shouldered kites are fairly common in Afton Street, and brown falcons are also found here. Wedge-tailed eagles, little eagles, black kites, whistling kites and Australian hobbies also occur at Afton Street, but are far more uncommon. In the parklands, I have also seen swamp harriers and brown goshawks, but those two species are not common and are rather rare in the area.
One 'bald' myna also lives in my suburb, a myna with a mutation that has caused the feathers to fall off or not grow on its head. This, again, is described in previous posts.

Two introduced House Sparrows with a native Rainbow Lorikeet

A female Flame Robin, a possible vagrant to Afton Street (though they could be residents in the area)

Several introduced birds can also be found in the area. Song thrushes, blackbirds, common starlings, common mynas, rock pigeons, spotted doves, house sparrows and Eurasian tree sparrows are all recorded from the area. Most of the above birds can be found in my garden. The tree sparrows used to be found along a walking track that heads toward the river, but are now sparsely distributed throughout the suburb after some construction work was done on the area near that path. Sometimes they come to my bird feeder and eat with the house sparrows.
Along the river there are several good spots for birding, mostly providing the birds listed for most of the parklands, along with a few of the Brimbank or Afton birds.
Those are the birds of my suburb.