WILSON'S PROM: LILLY PILLY WALK

The main walk we did in the park was the Lilly Pilly Nature Walk, departing from the Lilly Pilly Gully carpark and being 2.6 kilometres one way (with a 600 metre boardwalk circuit at the far end also). The reason I picked this walk was that it went through a variety of habitats (going through various eucalypt forests and ending in temperate rainforest) and was apparently a reliable site for brown gerygone (an uncommon bird in Victoria that I hadn't seen yet).
The first section of the walk didn't provide too many birds, with a single grey butcherbird, many red wattlebirds, many brown thornbills, an olive whistler, two overflying forest ravens, a grey shrike-thrush and many grey fantails.

This grey butcherbird was perched in a tree at the beginning of the walk

However as we went on the birdlife became more evident, with eastern yellow robins, superb fairy-wrens, white-browed scrubwrens, scarlet robins, golden whistlers, white-throated treecreepers and a single rufous whistler all visible.

This eastern yellow robin was extremely friendly and allowed close looks

At one point in the walk there were about 5 golden whistlers in trees around us

As the walk moved into rainforest these birds slowly stopped appearing and the forest was rather quiet. Then I realised that there was a small flock of lifer brown gerygones around us, and through the remaining rainforest and boardwalk we saw many of these. Heading back didn't really provide anything extra.

Brown gerygones appear quite common in the Lilly Pilly Gully rainforest

A view of a stream bridged by the rainforest boardwalk

SPECIES SEEN:
1. Superb Fairy-Wren
2. White-Browed Scrubwren
3. Brown Thornbill
4. Brown Gerygone
5. Red Wattlebird
6. Scarlet Robin
7. Eastern Yellow Robin
8. White-Throated Treecreeper
9. Australian Magpie
10. Grey Butcherbird
11. Grey Shrike-Thrush
12. Olive Whistler
13. Rufous Whistler
14. Golden Whistler
15. Forest Raven
TOTAL: 15
LIFERS: 1

WILSON'S PROM: TIDAL RIVER

Tidal River is the main settlement in Wilson's Prom and it is where we stayed. We stayed in Wilderness Retreat tents at the top of Tidal River, which were very comfortable and out of the way. Though Tidal River's wildlife wasn't as amazing as that of the surrounding area, the birds were extremely tame. In the mornings I spotted grey shrike-thrushes, crimson rosellas, brown thornbills, white-browed scrubwrens, Superb fairy-wrens, laughing kookaburras, rainbow lorikeets, silvergulls, welcome swallows, eastern yellow robins, grey fantails, red wattlebirds and galahs in the area. There were also often pied currawongs and forest ravens on the roadsides. A big surprise was seeing two olive whistlers make their way past our tent, birds supposed to be extremely secretive.

This is one of the two olive whistlers I spotted near the tent

Two of these grey shrike-thrushes were running around while we ate breakfast 

This immature crimson rosella was feeding next to the general store

This puddle was being used as a bath by this brown thornbill and superb fairy-wren

The forest raven can be told apart from other ravens by its much deeper call

Several galahs were hanging around in the lawn near the caravan park

The roads near Tidal River were also pretty good for birds, and I mention them because I spotted one of the 4 lifers of this trip along one. Early in the morning of our last day, I saw a brush bronzewing walking along the road. Other roadside birds included forest ravens, pied currawongs, grey fantails, black-faced cuckoo-shrikes, grey butcherbirds, yellow-faced honeyeaters, a bassian thrush in an area of wet forest and, of course, both species of wattlebird.

This sad excuse for a photo was the best I could get of the brush bronzewing

Finally, Tidal River was also rather good for mammals. Throughout the day there were often swamp wallabies around, with eastern grey kangaroos on the roadsides. Most importantly there were wombats everywhere. The grassy lawns of Tidal River were being used as grazing areas for many wombats.

Swamp wallabies like this one can be found throughout southern Victoria

In my opinion the common wombat is one of Australia's most adorable animals

This eastern grey kangaroo was watching our car from the roadside

We did most of our birding at Tidal River around our accommodation and at Norman Beach (a beach where the Tidal River flows into the ocean).

The mouth of Tidal River. Notice the brown water- that colour is caused by a compound named tannin.

I saw a variety of birds in Tidal River, and they were all rather photogenic.
SPECIES SEEN:
1. Brush Bronzewing
2. Silvergull
3. Pacific Gull
4. Galah
5. Rainbow Lorikeet
6. Crimson Rosella
7. Laughing Kookaburra
8. Superb Fairy-Wren
9. White-Browed Scrubwren
10. Brown Thornbill
11. New Holland Honeyeater
12. Red Wattlebird
13. Little Wattlebird
14. Yellow-Faced Honeyeater
15. Magpie-Lark
16. Australian Magpie
17. Forest Raven
18. Grey Butcherbird
19. Pied Currawong
20. Grey Shrike-Thrush
21. Black-Faced Cuckoo-Shrike
22. Olive Whistler
23. Willie Wagtail
24. Grey Fantail
25. Welcome Swallow
26. Eurasian Starling
27. Blackbird
28. Bassian Thrush
TOTAL: 28
LIFERS: 1

WILSON'S PROM: SQUEAKY BEACH

Recently I went on another family trip, this time to Wilson's Promontory National Park ('the Prom') for 2 nights. I did a lot of birding on this trip and saw 4 lifers, as well as spotting 3 of my 4 target species (the one I missed was the southern emu-wren).
For this trip report I'm going to try something different: instead of reporting the day by day events, I will report each location visited separately.

A view of part of Squeaky Beach

The first location we went to was Squeaky Beach. This beach is known for its odd sand, which makes a squeaking sound when walked on. Though the beach wasn't extremely good for birds, I did manage to pick up 2 lifers on the first visit to the beach.
Squeaky Beach was the first site we explored. Immediately upon arriving I spotted my lifer beautiful firetail perched in a tree. As I walked further on I saw some white-browed scrubwrens and New Holland honeyeaters. Finally, when I got to the beach I saw another lifer, a crescent honeyeater, in a shrub on a sand dune. Pacific gulls, silver gulls and forest ravens were also feeding on the beach.

This beautiful firetail is one of the easiest lifers I've ever gotten

Several Pacific gulls and silvergulls were feeding on the beach 

After playing around in the rocky area at one end of the beach, we left. The second visit was much the same, though the honeyeater and firetail did not reappear. 

A rare kind of lichen found at the Prom makes these rocks appear orange

On our third visit it was low tide, and many rocks that had previously been submerged were revealed, covered in barnacles, seaweeds, mussels, Australian periwinkles and limpets.

Clusters of mussels like this were everywhere on the rocks

These periwinkles were perched very high up, at points where they were visible during high tide

Two limpets next to a small cluster of mussels

The black areas on the rocks are where the mussels are

SPECIES SEEN:
1. Silvergull
2. Pacific Gull
3. White-Browed Scrubwren
4. New Holland Honeyeater
5. Crescent Honeyeater
6. Red Wattlebird
7. Beautiful Firetail
TOTAL: 7
LIFERS: 2

A TRIP TO TORQUAY

For the school holidays my family recently spent 2 nights in Torquay. I didn't get to do much birding, but I did manage to visit Point Addis, and also take a walk around the mouth of Spring Creek, the creek that flows through Torquay. Also, in the drive in to Torquay I saw several wedge-tailed eagles, some overflying Australian pelicans, and a black-shouldered kite. 

Point Addis is a small area in-between Torquay and Anglesea, accessed via a turnoff along the Great Ocean Road. It is well known as one of the best places in Victoria to see the rufous bristlebird. I had seen the bird before at this site, but I wanted better photos of it, and seeing a bristlebird is always a good thing.

We only spent a short amount of time at Point Addis, just walking along a boardwalk and checking around the carpark, yet managed to get great views of two rufous bristlebirds, and much better photos than I had gotten on the first sighting.

This rufous bristlebird was very photogenic, and not as shy as the first bird I had seen

The second rufous bristlebird was less accommodating, but still allowed several good pictures

There were several other birds at the point as well, including great cormorants, many superb fairy-wrens, a single grey fantail, a few pied currawongs and some crimson rosellas.

Crimson rosellas are rather common throughout the area around Point Addis

These great cormorants were sitting on a large rock below the boardwalk

We saw many pied currawongs, both around Point Addis and along the road towards it

We re-visited the point later, but saw much of the same, with the bristlebirds reappearing (but giving much worse views). 

We also saw quite a few birds around Torquay, and along the banks of Spring Creek. Our hotel overlooked a large golf course, and from our rooms we could spot chestnut teals, masked lapwings, Pacific black ducks and black swans in and around the lakes of the course. Red wattlebirds, common starlings, little ravens and sulphur-crested cockatoos were also seen in the gardens around the resort. While walking along Spring Creek we also saw several birds, including a white-faced heron, a eastern great egret, many welcome swallows flying over the creek, lots of silver gulls near the mouth of the creek, a single black-fronted dotterel, and some Pacific black ducks, dusky moorhens, little pied cormorants and Eurasian coots. 

A white-faced heron hunting on the muddy banks of Spring Creek

I am rather happy about this shot of a red wattlebird

Welcome swallows were everywhere in Torquay, with a pair nesting in the carpark of our hotel!

All in all the trip was rather good, and I got great photos of a fairly rare bird.

BIRDS SEEN:

1. Black Swan

2. Pacific Black Duck

3. Chestnut Teal

4. Little Pied Cormorant

5. Great Cormorant

6. Australian Pelican

7. White-Faced Heron

8. Eastern Great Egret

9. Black-Shouldered Kite

10. Wedge-Tailed Eagle

11. Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo

12. Crimson Rosella

13. Masked Lapwing

14. Black-Fronted Dotterel 

15. Superb Fairy-Wren

16. Silvergull

17. Rufous Bristlebird

18. Red Wattlebird

19. Little Raven

20. Australian Magpie

21. Pied Currawong

22. Grey Fantail

23. Willie Wagtail

24. Welcome Swallow

TOTAL: 24 Species

LIFERS SEEN: 0

BUFF-BANDED RAIL GALLERY

The buff-banded rail, Gallirallus philippensis, is a species of rail. It is a rather beautiful bird, and in Australia it is normally found near wetlands. Being a rail, it is usually extremely secretive, however on Green Island these rails were everywhere! They behaved like rails on Tonga and the other Pacific Islands do: they really don't care about people! I got some of my best views of this species on the island, and many, many photos. Here are some.

A rail takes a bath to escape the hot Queensland sun

Rails were everywhere, running across the boardwalks

Deeper in the rainforest this rail was foraging in arm's reach of me!

Another rail in a more natural setting

This preening rail looks somewhat like it has been possessed

I hope you enjoyed these photos of a normally secretive bird!

MYSTERY BIRDS

On day one I saw two birds I could not identify. Images of them are down below. Do you have any idea what they are? If so please leave a comment. Neither species gave any call, and the habitat I saw them in was dry woodland on the edges of a wetland in northern Queensland, at Jabiru Safari Lodge in Mareeba.

BIRD 1

BIRD 1

BIRD 2

EDIT: Bird 1 has been identified as a great bowerbird. 

CAIRNS TRIP: DAY FOUR (last full day)

DAY FOUR
In Cairns we woke up early, as at 7:45 am we would have to leave for a cruise to Green Island. The cruise left at 9:00 am and arrived on the island at 10:30 am. The cruise was fairly uneventful, with the birds mostly the same as previously noted: common terns, silvergulls and greater crested terns. However I did see a single brown booby fishing in the water. When we arrived on the island I immediately noticed a nest on a pole sticking up out of the water, being attended by two ospreys! A great start.

A pair of ospreys nesting, you can see one bird feeding the chick

As I walked along the jetty towards the island, I saw several eastern reef egrets of both the pale and dark morphs perched high in a tree. The island itself was covered in rainforest, and there were abundant buff-banded rails everywhere. On one particular walk from the change rooms to the showers I counted 31 different rails! We walked the boardwalk through rainforest but saw nothing but more rails, a few silvereyes, about 3 bar-shouldered doves and a single olive-backed sunbird.

The unmistakable dark morph eastern reef egret

In a short while it was time for our semi-submersible ride, a boat with the bottom half submerged, kind of like the ultimate glass bottom boat, with a great guide. It was extremely enjoyable. I saw a lot of fish, and at the end there was a fish-feeding session where teira batfish, spangled emperors, threadfin trevally, chevron fusilier and a single great trevally were all providing great views.

Two threadfin trevally next to the much larger great trevally

A school of chevron fusillers

These spangled emperors are apparently sought after as a food fish

A lone teira batfish swims over some seagrass

A view of some of the reef's corals: note the spaghetti coral in the bottom left corner

As I was walking back along the jetty I spotted two green turtles swimming and feeding on seagrass. After this we snorkelled around the beach, but saw little, only another batfish and a few fusiliers.

Green sea turtles are apparently fairly common around the island's beaches

As we were about to leave we saw a fish-feeding demonstration, again with many teira batfish, but they were jumping out of the water a little so I took some photos.

Many teira batfish were eating right in front of the boat

The cruise back was again rather uneventful, however there were many brown boobies perched on a pole, and I saw a single unidentified tern, otherwise birds were similar to those on the way to the island.