A VISIT TO BRIMBANK PARK AND A LITTLE PONDING

Yesterday my dad and I went to Brimbank Park again. We saw pretty much the same birds as yesterday, except this time, one of the fords wasn't flooded. We crossed the ford, but discovered the path led to a more residential area. On the river from the ford, we could see wood ducks, dusky moorhens and a few manky mallards. From the path along the other side of the river, we could see wattlebirds, a few pacific black ducks and another manky mallard.

In the area where we saw red-browed finches last time, we managed to spot a few white-browed scrubwrens and an unidentified bird of prey soaring far in the distance- so far that I couldn't focus on it with my camera. Plus, I managed to get some good images of a male superb fairy-wren.

All in all, it was a good visit.

A white-browed scrubwren in a tree

A dusky moorhen from the ford

A male superb fairy-wren

After visiting Brimbank Park, we had a snack at the Leaping Lizard Cafe and we went to a pond near my house and looked for pond bugs which we kept in our fish tank. We found an Ischura sp. damselfly nymph, a mosquito larvae, some water snails and some small water skaters. These were all identified using a book that I have. I recommend this to other people with an interest in wildlife, for it is quite fun and interesting to look at what might be lurking in the water.

BIRDING BRIMBANK PARK

The day before yesterday, my mother and I went to Brimbank Park in Keilor to do some birding.

First we headed to the first ford, only to find it flooded (as usual). We walked to the second ford, seeing lots of fairy-wrens, only to find that it too was flooded (as usual), so we headed to the path and decided to continue following the Maribrynong River. We saw four Australian magpies and two wood ducks while walking to the path. Along the path, I managed to spot three red-browed finches on a tree stump, some more finches on the ground, a sulphur-crested cockatoo nesting and a grey fantail.

This short outing was well worth it for these images and the birds I saw.

A red-browed finch

Grey Fantail on a branch

Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo

Australian magpie on a branch

A male superb fairy-wren

SPOT THE SEA SNAIL

In THIS image taken at Altona Beach there is one sea snail without a shell that was washed up by the water. Can you spot it?

SMELL THE SEAWEED

When I went to Altona Beach yesterday, I could smell the seaweed rotting in the sun. It stank like rotten eggs! So there is no wonder that Altona Council are planning to create A GIANT HOVERCRAFT TO VACCUM UP THE SEAWEED! Other ideas are being proposed to get Altona rid of the seaweed. Apparently, Altona has so much seaweed because it is positioned near some seagrass fields.

The seaweed in action

TREE SPARROW FINALLY SHOWS ITSELF AWAY FROM MY BIRD FEEDER

Garden history happened yesterday. For the first time, a EURASIAN TREE SPARROW flew away from my bird feeder and started eating the grasses BY ITSELF! Unfortunately, I couldn't get very good images. My best one is below. Notice how it is different to the house sparrow.

There's the sparrow!

P.S: You may need this image later

SILVER GULLS, SILVER GULLS

Though many people believe that the silver gull (also known as a seagull) is a mangy, trash bird that we shouldn't pay attention to, I believe that silver gulls can be beautiful. If you doubt that statement, well, look at these images and tell me what you think!

Well, what do you think?

P.S: I still don't like silver gulls when I go to a beach specially looking for terns and the little birds are everywhere! I did find the terns though. Similarly, I don't like it when I try to find at least one swift parrot and end up with just rainbow and musky lorikeets.

LAVERTON CREEK MOUTH

Today my dad and I went to Laverton Creek Mouth to try and see the singing honeyeater, bar-tailed godwit and striated fieldwren at this site.

It took about half an hour to get there from the house. We parked along the road that goes along the foreshore of the ocean here. From the road we saw lots of silver gulls and a white-faced heron on the large clumps of floating seaweed out to see. Closer examination revealed a few more herons, two Pacific gulls and an Australian pied oystercatcher. Walking left from the carpark, I spotted some black-winged stilts (actually, they are a seperate species from the black-winged stilt that should be called the white-headed stilt, but here in Australia, we just call them black-winged stilts) with a flock of silver gulls, as well as a single little egret.

Black-winged stilts

A little egret (bottom) with a white-faced heron (top)

Continuing on, I saw some little pied and little black cormorants, more silver gulls, a few superb fairy-wrens and hundreds of chestnut and grey teals. On the way back, I spotted a lifer singing honeyeater in a bottlebrush tree.

Singing honeyeater

While returning, we also came across three pacific gulls within a flock of silver gulls. This is one of my dad's photos. The pacific gull is the largest bird in the image, with the big, yellowy bill. Notice how the tip of the pacific gull's bill is red on BOTH MANDIBLES- this distinguishes it from the similar but less common kelp gull.

Pacific gull with silver gulls- compare and contrast

All in all, this was a very nice trip and I would have returned again if not for the overpowering stench of seaweed.

P.S: The location is on Altona Beach, near the mouth of Laverton Creek, in Altona, Victoria, on the shores of the Port Phillip Bay