CAIRNS TRIP: DAY ONE

My family and I recently visited northern Queensland, specifically the area around Cairns, for a 5-day long trip. I will be blogging about the birds seen, as it was a very successful birding trip, with 13 lifers seen, as well as great views of some species I hadn't seen very well (eg. little shrike-thrush).
DAY ONE

A caspian tern, greater crested tern and common tern amidst a small flock

The first day in Cairns began uneventfully, but ended spectacularly. Since our Cairns accommodation was on the Esplanade, my mother and I walked down along the mudflats. It was low tide and not much was visible at first, but we soon picked up 3 bar-tailed godwits that had decided it wasn't worth migrating back to Siberia. Silvergulls, black-fronted dotterels and masked lapwings were, as always, common. A large flock of gulls and Australian pelicans was part-way down the Esplanade, however when I looked at this flock closely I noticed a Caspian tern, 2 greater crested terns and, best of all, my lifer common tern sitting slightly behind the flock. On the way back I also spotted a rather tame peaceful dove.

This peaceful dove was living up to its name and providing great views

After our walk we checked out of the hotel we were staying in (the Rydges) and began the long drive to Mareeba, where we would be spending the next night. Most of the drive was uneventful apart from lots of black kites overhead (I counted 26!), but as we neared Mareeba the car was suddenly stopped by my father, the driver, who pointed across the road to a flock of red-tailed cockatoos. They were feeding in a eucalypt, and were happy to allow some photos.

Two red-tailed black cockatoos feeding, the male showing off how he got his name

From there the road was fairly good for birds, I spotted several double-barred finches, as well as many forest kingfishers and laughing kookaburras perched on wires looking for lunch. There was also a brown falcon sitting high in a tree.
We arrived at Mareeba Safari Lodge soon after seeing the falcon. Almost immediately we went to the Visitor Center, which looks out over Clancy's Lagoon, a wetland, and had some lunch. On the way to the centre I saw two birds I couldn't identify (see next post for pictures). At the centre I saw a variety of birds. Feeders behind the centre were being visited by double-barred finches and chestnut-breasted mannikins, with a brown honeyeater feeding in the flowering plant near the feeder. Under the feeder were 3 peaceful doves eating seeds that had fallen on the ground. Two immature magpie geese frolicked in the water right in front of the visitor center, and further out were many green pygmy-geese and black swans. I could just make out a comb-crested jacana running on lotus lilies further out. An Australasian darter was drying its wings as it perched on a tree stump out from the centre. Several fan-tailed cuckoos (lifers!) were hiding in the forest around the centre. Finally, lifer white-throated needletails and welcome swallows and two rainbow bee-eaters were snatching insects from above the water.

A group of double-barred finches getting lunch at the feeder

A lone chestnut-breasted mannikin joining the finches at the feeder

One of the two magpie-geese that were in front of the center

Two male green pygmy-geese, much more beautiful than their rarer cousin

The beautiful fan-tailed cuckoo sitting in forest behind the visitor center

After having our delicious lunch, we did a short walk while waiting for our boat ride on the lagoon, but didn't see much, only getting better views of the aforementioned darter, and picking up more fan-tailed cuckoos, as well as a single lifer northern fantail that darted away before I could photograph it. Soon our tent was opened to us, and we spent the next 30 minutes enjoying the beautiful accommodation, and eating a few snacks. Then we had to walk to the centre for our boat ride.
The boat ride was great. Our guide, Kevin, was extremely informative and showed us both the flora and fauna of the lagoon. At the start Kevin immediately showed us some red-tailed black cockatoos far off in some trees, then told us about some of the many lilies of the lagoon: the Pac-Man lily which is shaped like the character, the Snowflake lily which has white flowers, and the Lotus. Among these lilies were many green pygmy-geese and a few Australian grebes, as well as a comb-crested jacana running across them. On the open water were about 12 black swans. Leafless trees on a small island held both little pied cormorants and little black cormorants. Finally, various egrets were flying over, and a lone jabiru was feeding on the bank of the lagoon.

A comb-crested jacana walking on dead lotus lilies

A female jabiru, Australia's only species of stork

On our way back to the terminal one of the other passengers of the boat spotted a pygmy-goose that looked slightly different. After about 6 minutes trying to find the bird, it was spotted, and all agreed it had to be a cotton pygmy-goose, a species I had tried for both in Australia and in Sri Lanka. An amazing lifer, though much drabber looking than its green cousin.

It may stand out here, but that cotton pygmy-goose was pretty hard to see from the boat

As soon as we returned we all boarded a safari jeep, with Kevin as the driver. As we went along we initially didn't see much, apart from one rainbow bee-eater shining brightly in the sun.

The true beauty of the rainbow bee-eater is really brought out by the sunlight

As we reached the second lagoon, Pandanus Lagoon, it started to rain, this slowed things but we still managed to see double-barred finches in shrubs nearby, a rainbow bee-eater looking for bugs, an unidentified honeyeater calling in the treetops, many Australian pelicans, many green pygmy-geese, a few straw-necked ibis and some egrets. After the lagoon we went on through some woodland but didn't really see too much until we reached some flowering trees, there were many blue-faced honeyeaters, lifer horn-billed friarbirds, lifer silver-crowned friarbirds and rainbow lorikeets going for the nectar in these trees. Two black kites were also perched on a nearby eucalypt. We were going to continue along a dam wall, but there was a large pond stopping us that had formed in the rain. However we did see a white-necked heron perched on a post near this pond.

Black kites were extremely common in the area

Even further on we saw more double-barred finches. Finally, the passenger who had spotted the cotton pygmy-goose saw some movement in a tree. Kevin immediately identified it as a pheasant coucal, hidden behind some large leaves. It took a while for it to come out a little, but it was still extremely hard to spot and took me several minutes to get my eyes on.

Can you spot the pheasant coucal? 

We eventually headed back along the trail and to the centre. I had a great dinner, then slept in the tent. I slept well, apart from the fact I woke up at 1 am and was awake for about 5 minutes, during this time I heard a southern boobook calling.

BIRDING ALTONA: TRUGANINA SWAMP AND CHERRY LAKE

Today my father and I went birding in the Altona area. We hadn't been to any wetlands for a while, so thought this would be a good chance to return to wetlands we hadn't visited for several years. Since our last trip was very successful we returned to the same spot.
The first site we visited was Truganina Swamp. This saltmarsh consists of many sandy spits and mudflats, and is where the Laverton Creek meets the ocean. A variety of birds from the nearby wetlands can be seen resting here during high tide, and feeding along the nearby beaches during low tide.

Royal spoonbills and Australian white ibises flocking together

A massive group of male and female chestnut teals

This black-shouldered kite was probably watching the wetlands for an easy meal

A huge flock of red-necked avocets was one of the highlights of the visit

White-headed stilts were all over the wetland

This eclipse-plumage male superb fairy-wren is one of many in the parklands nearby

On the way back we spotted these two beautiful sooty oystercatchers

Almost immediately the first spit we saw was covered in birds. Hundreds and thousands of silver gulls were flying everywhere, accompanied by a few Pacific gulls. Along the spits were Australian white ibises, royal spoonbills and white-faced herons. Finally, swimming in the water were lots of chestnut teals and a few black swans. As we continued on we spotted more and more birds bunched together on the spits: white-headed stilts and red-necked avocets made an appearance. A single large flock of about 400 avocets was sitting with some teals on a mudflat. The nearby shrubs also held a few birds: lots of superb fairy-wrens, house sparrows, New Holland honeyeaters, magpie-larks, Australian magpies and white-plumed honeyeaters, as well as a single black-shouldered kite that was probably looking for breakfast. All in all it had been a fantastic success. As we were driving to the next site, we also spotted some sooty oystercatchers: a species I hadn't seen for about 4 years!
The next site we visited was Cherry Lake. The lake is a large wetland used to 'drain' stormwater and reduce the risk of floods. It is fringed with reeds that are supposedly a nice place to see Lewin's rail, though we didn't see any on this trip. There is a walk that circumnavigates the lake.
The lake was not as good for birds as the swamp, but we still saw a decent amount of species. Throughout the lake dusky moorhens, Eurasian coots, purple swamphens, Pacific black ducks, black swans and Australian pelicans were swimming around, with little pied cormorants perched on branches protruding up from the lake. A variety of small bush birds were also in the area: New Holland honeyeaters, house sparrows, superb fairy-wrens, red wattlebirds, little wattlebirds and white-browed scrubwrens. The walk itself was also very nice.
In all the trip was really successful and showed the birdlife living so close to the city.
SPECIES SEEN:
1. Black Swan
2. Chestnut Teal
3. Pacific Black Duck
4. White-Faced Heron
5. Australian White Ibis
6. Royal Spoonbill
7. Australian Pelican
8. Little Pied Cormorant
9. Little Black Cormorant
10. Black-Shouldered Kite
11. Dusky Moorhen
12. Purple Swamphen
13. Eurasian Coot
14. Masked Lapwing
15. Sooty Oystercatcher
16. White-Headed Stilt
17. Red-Necked Avocet
18. Spotted Dove
19. New Holland Honeyeater
20. White-Plumed Honeyeater
21. Little Wattlebird
22. Red Wattlebird
23. Superb Fairy-Wren
24. White-Browed Scrubwren
25. Little Raven
26. House Sparrow
27. Common Starling
TOTAL: 27 species
LIFERS: None

VISITING PHILLIP ISLAND

For Easter we decided to travel to Phillip Island. Though it was mostly my sister's idea and she mostly went to tourist spots, I still got to do a bit of birding at the Nobbies and at Swan Lake.

A white-faced heron stands next to the boardwalk at the Nobbies

The Nobbies was the first place we visited. However, it was really quiet. All we saw were 6 Pacific gulls, 2 little penguins hiding under the boardwalk and a lone white-faced heron. However, when we were about to leave I saw a bird flying quickly toward the rocky island offshore, too quickly for a gull. I zoomed in on it with my camera and took a pretty bad-quality photo (too bad to show here) and realised it was a peregrine falcon! Cool, but not that surprising since they have apparently been recorded nesting on the cliffs of that island.

2 Australian Shelduck swimming around in Swan Lake

The second place we visited was Swan Lake. We saw much more birds there. At the first bird hide overlooking a stretch of grassland a variety of birds were present. All the usual suspects like chestnut teal, Pacific black duck, masked lapwing, dusky moorhen, Australian white ibis, straw-necked ibis, hoary-headed grebe and Australian wood duck were there, but the birds of the day were about 10 Australian shelduck peacefully feeding just near the hide. There was also an Eastern great egret flying overhead, which eventually landed at the far bank of the lake. White-browed scrubwren and brown thornbill were also flying around in the shrubs next to the hide. Since we were on Phillip Island there was no shortage of Cape Barren geese: we saw many around the hides. Finally, there were purple swamphens flying around the lake. The other hide had basically more of the same, but also had 2 black swans. As we were walking back we spotted little wattlebird, red wattlebird and New Holland honeyeaters in flowering trees near the carpark.

A white-browed scrubwren in one of the shrubs near the hide

SPECIES SEEN:
1. Pacific Black Duck
2. Chestnut Teal
3. Australian Wood Duck
4. Australian Shelduck
5. Cape Barren Goose
6. Black Swan
7. Hoary-Headed Grebe
8. Australian White Ibis
9. Straw-Necked Ibis
10. Australian Pelican
11. White-Faced Heron
12. Eastern Great Egret
13. Peregrine Falcon
14. Purple Swamphen
15. Dusky Moorhen
16. Pacific Gull
17. Silver Gull
18. Brown Thornbill
19. White-Browed Scrubwren
20. Red Wattlebird
21. Little Wattlebird
22. New Holland Honeyeater
23. Little Raven
24. Australian Magpie
25. House Sparrow
26. Common Myna

MUSK DUCKS AT LAKE WENDOUREE

Today we went out to Lake Wendouree. We didn't see much of interest, however there were many Musk Ducks. While walking around the lake we saw literally 15 Musk Ducks! I got a lot of photos of them, and here I will share them.
The Musk Duck is one of Australia's many endemics, meaning Australia is the only place on Earth to see them. They are rather uncommon, and Lake Wendouree is one of the best places to see them, as well as the blue-billed duck, though we didn't see any blue-billed ducks today. The male Musk Duck can easily be told apart from the female by the 'wattle' that hangs down from its bill.
Now enough writing, let's get to the photos!

Here you can see the distinctive wattle of the male

A juvenile puffs out its chest as it swims

A female swimming through waterweed

A juvenile shoots its head up

A shot of the male from before, but at a distance

BIRDING THE ZOO

Today my family and I travelled to the Melbourne Zoo. We were there so my sister and I could see the captive animals, but I was also keeping a look out for the many native birds that hang around the zoo. 

Throughout the zoo, Indian mynas, white-plumed honeyeaters, rainbow lorikeets and house sparrows were common, as well as bell miners. As most of you probably know, there is a colony of bell miners in the zoo's carpark and in the Outback Area: this colony seems to have extended throughout most of the zoo, which is odd as bell miners don't normally 'extend' territories. 

A greater comorant, a common sight at Pelican Lake

Nankeen night herons have been recorded roosting at the lake for a long time

The main birding spot within the zoo is Pelican Lake. This lake is next to the orang-utan exhibit, and has captive Pelicans. However, wild greater cormorant, dusky moorhen and Nankeen night heron also frequent the lake. On other occasions I have also seen chestnut teal, Pacific black duck and little pied cormorant here. The night herons have been recorded roosting in the area quite some time ago, and the zoo's lake remains one of the best places in Melbourne to see them. There are also captive eastern snake-necked turtles in the lake. The trails near it are also an OK spot to see song thrush and blackbird hiding in shrubs, though I didn't see any today.

A bell miner perched on a branch at the Outback Area

Two female Australian wood ducks in the Outback pond

The Outback area is an area containing various Australian marsupials and 'bush' birds: wombats, koalas, kangaroos and wallabies are exhibited, as well as a variety of bird species in a large aviary. The eucalypts all around the Outback area make it good for honeyeaters and lorikeets. Bell miners are always everywhere in the area, and both species of wattlebird, as well as most of the commoner honeyeaters, can be seen here as well. A big surprise was spotting an Eastern spinebill in shrubs outside the aviary: I haven't seen this species in the zoo area before. The eucalypts of the Outback area can attract rainbow lorikeets, musk lorikeets, white-plumed honeyeaters, red wattlebirds, bell miners and little wattlebirds. A large pond in the Outback area attracts many ducks: grey teal, Australian wood duck, chestnut teal and Pacific black duck can easily be seen. On one occasion I saw a wandering whistling-duck there, though it was probably a captive bird. On this occasion the whistling-duck was gone and a blue-billed duck was there. Most likely these were both captive birds.

There isn't much else to see in terms of birding the zoo: though rarer species sometimes visit the Outback area in summer (at one point an olive-backed oriole was supposedly nesting in this section), and Eurasian tree sparrow are sometimes seen around the Japanese Garden and end of the 'Asian Forest' section.

BIRDING THE BOX-IRONBARK

For this Sunday's birding trip my father and I decided to go on a walk in the Rise and Shine Bushland Reserve, organised by a friend of his, Clauda. The walk was in Castlemaine, and would travel through the fairly dry box-ironbark forests common to that region. I thought I might be able to get a few new birds on the trip and I was not disappointed.
First off we stopped at Clauda's father's house to have some drinks. Massive flocks of sulphur-crested cockatoos and feral pigeons were flying around, as well as house sparrows in the garden. After a quick tea we all went off to the walk, lead by Geoff Park.
We started off with a quick talk about the forest. Almost immediately around the carpark I spotted yellow-tufted honeyeaters, lifer fuscous honeyeaters and lifer rufous whistlers.  2 lifers in the first five minutes! Not a bad start. As we walked on the calls of crimson rosellas could be heard. Darting through the bush were more honeyeaters, as well as white-browed babblers, a black-faced cuckoo shrike and a lifer striated pardalote. An unidentified raptor flew over, a possible goshawk or sparrow hawk. As we came to a more open stretch of forest, along the edge of the forest next to a grassland, Geoff explained about the different species of tree in this area and how storm damage shaped the forest. Several magpie-larks and musk lorikeets were also flying around the grassland.

The fuscous honeyeater, one of the commoner honeyeaters of the Box-Ironbark

A young male rufous whistler, with the characteristic orange-brown underparts visible

A pretty bad photo of a striated pardalote

We stopped for morning tea in a rather productive clearing. As soon as we arrived a lifer female hooded robin was seen, sadly it didn't hang around and flew off too quickly for me to get photos. Fuscous honeyeaters and white-plumed honeyeaters were flying around, feeding on nectar from one tree. A large dead tree was holding 4 dusky woodswallows, including some younger birds. We continued on along the circuit, spotting a scarlet robin and hearing some weebills. Some people spotted some diamond firetails but by the time I got there they had flown away. We stopped for lunch and Clauda offered to take us to her cottage in the bush. The cottage was beautiful, and several lifer yellow-faced honeyeaters were flying around the front. Finally, we returned back to her father's house for lunch, before heading back to Melbourne.
BIRD LIST: (birds in bold are lifers)
1. Feral Pigeon
2. Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo
3. Musk Lorikeet
4. Crimson Rosella
5. White-Plumed Honeyeater
6. Yellow-Faced Honeyeater
7. Fuscous Honeyeater
8. Yellow-Tufted Honeyeater
9. Dusky Woodswallow
10. Hooded Robin
11. Scarlet Robin
12. Weebill
13. Magpie-Lark
14. Australian Magpie
15. Black-Faced Cuckoo-Shrike
16. Striated Pardalote
17. Rufous Whistler
18. House Sparrow
19. Little Raven

EDIT: Later going over my photos I spotted this one bird I can't identify. Does anyone know what this is? Sorry for the out of focus picture, but by the time I tried to get another pic the bird had flown off. At first I thought male hooded robin, but the belly is jet black. There is probably some obvious mistake I am making. Any ideas? (the image is cropped to show the bird).

BIRDING IN PHILLIP ISLAND

For the long weekend we were planning to re-visit French Island but the ferries had issues so we travelled to Phillip Island. Since we had our bikes that we were going to bring to French Island we decided to do a bike ride on Phillip Island, and we chose Churchill Island. 

The island, although small, was very scenic. Along the beach there were black swans swimming in the water and flying past. Perched on the rocky beach were little pied cormorants and little black cormorants. Nothing too special, but the grassy fields were full of Cape Barren geese! They were walking across the track and feeding on seeds. Masked lapwings, purple swamp hens and Australian magpies were also feeding on insects in the field. While having lunch, I saw an Indian peafowl wandering across the island: I believe this bird is rather well-known to the staff, who have named him Gregory. In the trees nearby I also saw white-plumed honeyeaters, grey shrike-thrush, little wattlebirds, red wattlebirds, superb fairy-wrens and silvereyes. Finally there were Welcome swallows flying around everywhere. Not good, but not bad either. As we left we saw lots of Australian pelicans flying over. We stopped over at a wetland on the side of the road, which had chestnut teal, white-faced herons, more geese and more pelicans. 

A Cape Barren Goose at Churchill Island

After visiting Amaze-n'Things (I spotted a laughing kookaburra flying above the maze, and several were calling as we tried and failed to get through, and there were also some galahs in the nearby pine trees) we went across to Swan Lake. Though the shearwater nests were everywhere, there was no sign of them: at that time the shearwaters would still be at sea. We saw three swamp wallabies hopping around, including one drinking water! A decent amount of waterbirds were there: lots of chestnut teal,  masked lapwings, little black cormorants, little pied cormorants, hoary-headed grebes, Pacific gulls, purple swamphens, and Eurasian coots. A mudflat in the distance also held black-winged stilts and black-fronted dotterels, but sadly none of the migrant plovers. Finally the grassland next to the lake was filled with feeding Cape Barren geese: Phillip Island must be one of the best places to see them. On our walk back we also saw a grey currawong and some brown thornbills.

A Welcome Swallow perched on a fence at Churchill Island

A Swamp Wallaby drinks water from Swan Lake (only freshwater lake on the island)

A juvenile Pacific Gull tries out a little freshwater

SPECIES LIST:

1. Chestnut Teal

2. Cape Barren Goose

3. White-Faced Heron

4. Little Black Cormorant

5. Little Pied Cormorant

6. Australian Pelican

7. Dusky Moorhen

8. Purple Swamphen

9. Silver Gull

10. Pacific Gull

11. Galah

12. Laughing Kookaburra

13. Superb Fairy-Wren

14. Brown Thornbill

15. Grey Shrike-Thrush

16. White-Plumed Honeyeater

17. Little Wattlebird

18. Red Wattlebird

19. Little Raven

20. Silvereye

21. House Sparrow

22. Eurasian Starling