Australia Victoria Part One

Victoria 23rd November to 2nd December with Inala Nature Tours.

Words are mostly by Angus McNab our excellent tour guide.

23rd November Melbourne to Lorne
We started just west of the city at Jawbone Reserve on the edge of the bay. Hoping for some particular waterfowl we started by getting most of the ferals and a few natives on our walk to the pond. Crested Pigeon, Spotted Dove, Superb Fairywren, Australasian Swamphen, Common Myna, European Starling, House Sparrow, European Greenfinch, and Silver Gull before the water's edge. There were Pacific Black and Chestnut Teal before we spotted our first of many Blue billed Ducks. 

Pacific Black Duck

Blue-billed Duck

There was quite a lot of activity, as it was a very warm morning, in what was to be a very warm day. The first set of rocks in the water produced Pied Stilt, Australian Pied Cormorant, Hoary-headed Grebe, and Pink-eared Ducks up close. 

Pink-eared Duck

Pink-eared Duck

Hoary-headed Grebe

Australian Pied Cormorant

A few pairs of Blue-billed Ducks added to the mix nicely. Further around the pool we had multiple Great Crested Grebes at a distance, and we were lucky enough to get them up close sleeping, preening, swimming, and diving. There was even an immature bird (the first time our guide had seen one). We could hear the call of Little Grassbird from the reedbed and followed until we were close, we watched and waited and it appeared and disappeared just as quickly. Some quick water crossings weren’t really enough to give us a good feeling for the bird but it's all we got. 

Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Welcome Swallow

Our excellent Inala guide, Angus McNab and the Tiger Snake

A young Tiger Snake crossed the path as we watched for grassbirds which was a great ending to our time here. 

Our next stop was Serendip Sanctuary, a small government-run wildlife facility with more wild birds than captive ones. We started with the Emus which pecked at the ground in the grassland areas before moving onto finding what is always a huge highlight, the Eastern Shriketit! Great spotting from the team! 

Eastern Shrike-tit

There were a number of birds flitting through the vegetation, but the combination of Magpie Geese and Cape Barren Geese is always an odd one. Both birds are wild but enjoy the relatively safe confines of the kangaroo enclosure. This season's baby Cape Barren Geese are not so babyish anymore and aren’t likely to stay put much longer. 

Magpie Goose

Purple-crowned Lorikeets and Red-rumped Parrots made sure we worked for them in the tree tops as we worked our way through. The two bird hides gave us some nice views of common birds, but also of an Eastern Long-necked Turtle and a Little Grassbird. White-winged Chough eventually showed themselves but it took longer to find them than expected. We took a look at some Eurasian Tree Sparrows, a necessity for Australian birders as there are so few places they can be seen. Before leaving John spotted a pair of Tawny Frogmouths in an ironbark which was very exciting. After looking for a while Heather noticed another bird in the same tree, then a fourth bird was seen showing how incredibly well they can hide in plain sight. 

Little Grassbird

Little Grassbird

Red-browed Finch

Black-fronted Dotterel

Tawny Frogmouth

Swamp Wallaby

Swamp Wallaby

Avalon Beach was hot and windy, and many of the pools had dried up limiting our options for shorebirds, but both White-fronted Chat and Striated Fieldwren were seen in the samphire heath. Shorebird-wise we had Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, and Curlew Sandpiper along the shore in small flocks which was nice but not the numbers we had hoped for. An Australian Crake running along the edge was nicely spotted by Penny, and some Whiskered Terns roosted in a low log which were nice additions to the day’s list. 

White-fronted Chat

White-fronted Chat

Red-necked Stint

Red-necked Stint

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Australian Crake

A couple of hours drive and we hit Lorne and had our first foray at the Lorne pier. There were good numbers of Greater Crested Terns, Great Black and Australian Pied Cormorants, along with Silver Gulls and a Pacific Gull, but the Black-faced Cormorant would have to be searched for another day.   

24th November Great Ocean Road

Buttongrass Moor

We started our morning where we had dropped in to see Blue-winged Parrots the afternoon before and were again fortunate enough to see Blue-winged Parrots again. 

Blue-winged Parrot

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Walking towards the buttongrass moor we didn’t get far before Penny spotted an Australian Crake. We waited for it to come back out from the grass when a very odd sound came from the vegetation behind us, a grunting horse type sound, the call of a Lewin’s Rail. We backed away and waited, watching the vegetation until the bird came out shyly. It came in and out a few times before dashing across the path giving us all great looks at it. The day’s highlight and we were only 5 minutes in. 

Lewin's Rail

Lewin's Rail

Very excitedly we continued along the trails with Superb Fairywrens and White-browed Scrubwrens throughout the grasses. Their calls made it hard to pick up the sound of Southern Emu-wrens had they been calling but fortunately across the creek 35m away a pair of emu-wrens appeared in a small dead shrub. They moved up and down independently seeing unaware of our presence before an Australian Reed Warbler, and then Tawny Grassbird both appeared in the very small shrub. 

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos and Gang-gang Cockatoos flew past and we were only half way around the walk. Hitting the woodland section it got hectic for a few minutes with a juvenile Brush Cuckoo being fed by a White-browed Scrubwren, Eastern Yellow Robin, Rufous Whistler, Australian Golden Whistler, Striated Thornbill, Brown Thornbill, Red browed Finch, and Crimson Rosella, all appearing in a 10x10m area one after the other. Ravens chasing a young White-bellied Sea-eagle and a pair of Sacred Kingfishers weren’t too far away. Our next stop was in Anglesea Heathlands, we made two stops in the heath, the first had Sacred Kingfishers, Brown Thornbill, and Forest Raven, the second had Buff-rumped Thornbill, Scarlet Robin, and Grey Currawong – so not a bad group of new birds. 

Grey Currawong

We then headed down to Point Roadknight where we hunted for Hooded Plovers. Being a weekend the main beach was packed but the back beach had only a single person on it. The tide was well out and we walked the rocky shoreline a short distance before spotting two adult and a juvenile Hooded Plover. Three more adults were spotted before we left and we had distant views of an Australasian Gannet. 

Beach signage at Point Roadknight informing visitors of the Hooded Plovers included this '!realistic!' Hooded Plover picture.

Hooded Plover

Hooded Plover

Hooded Plover

We tried one last heath spot for Chestnut-rumped Heathwren unsuccessfully before heading to the Split Point Lighthouse. 

Split Point Lighthouse

A fog had rolled in but the bird we wanted would be on the ground, which was fortunate as the lighthouse was hard to see in the fog above us. We got a Rufous Bristlebird right at the lighthouse but it was hard to see below the vegetation, so we checked out the view before looking for more bristlebirds. A small clearing had a bird in it, and we saw it cross the track twice – at speed. It did pause long enough to look at us before zooming away. Some were able to get photos, other got photos of where the bird had been. Its appearance and behaviour reminded many of the roadrunner. 

Rufous Bristlebird

A Singing Honeyeater finished our time at the lighthouse, perching beautifully on top the shrubs. 

Singing Honeyeater

Our final stop of the afternoon was at Kennett River where we hoped to see Koalas. Driving up the hill we stopped and were informed there were two Koalas in a tree just up the track. We found a Koala whilst walking up the hill, and then found the two we’d been told about. A number of Eastern Grey Kangaroos were also present making for a very Australian experience!

Koala

Koala

Koala

Koala

Spotlighting in some nearby woodland out from Lorne resulted in great views of Common Ringtail Possum and an incredible find by Angus of a tiny Eastern Pygmy Possum. 

Common Ring-tail Possum

Eastern Pygmy Possum

25th November Lorne to Bendigo 

We had a slower start today after a later night last night. Today was similar to yesterday in that we found a lot of birds but seeing them was a little harder today. We started in the rainforest behind Lorne at the She-oak Falls Picnic Area. 

She-oak Falls Picnic Area

There were a lot of birds calling, Striated Pardalote, Crimson Rosella, Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, Gang-gang Cockatoo, Striated Thornbill, Brown Thornbill, White throated Treecreeper, Eastern Yellow Robin, Eastern Spinebill, and Australian Magpie. We saw most of these as we walked the nature trail, though many were high up or through vegetation. Our first highlight was a male Pink Robin who was shy at first calling nearby and constantly moving that did eventually perch in a few places that we could see its bright pink belly. As we watched we could hear a flycatcher zitting, and some saw it but we couldn’t get any identifying features before it vanished. A few hundred meters up the track we stopped for a Bassian Thrush and as we watched the flycatcher and it partner flew by, and gave full calls, identifying it as a Leaden Flycatcher. The remainder of the walk was spent with Grey Shrikethrush, Australian Golden Whistler, Brown Thornbills, and the sounds of Swamp Wallabies jumping through the undergrowth. We visited the Lorne pier one last time in the hope of a Black-faced Cormorant, initial looks weren’t promising but a juvenile bird got our attention. We walked down to the rock shelf for a closer look and there was a single juvenile Black faced Cormorant with the Australian Pied and Great Black Cormorants. Silver Gulls, Greater Crested Terns, and a pair of Pacific Gulls were on the rocks as well. We had one last unsuccessful go at Chestnut-rumped Thornbill before lunch and started the journey towards Bendigo. We made a stop for Spotted Quailthrush at Steiglitz (Brisbane Ranges National Park) which was successful in that we found the bird but it was challenging to see. It flushed from the ground up into a tree where it could be seen at the right angle, but then it moved, and dropped, and later appeared in another tree. In this tree we could see it, but we all lined up and could see it slightly obscured through some leaves. Challenging, but a very camouflaged bird that is cryptic at the best of times. 

 Our final stop was the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens for Powerful Owl. There were two birds that we could see in the top of their regular tree. They were very high up and sleeping but they were visible and at least one of them looked down to see what we were doing. There was likely a third bird present or nearby, but two Powerful Owls was exciting to see. We wandered the gardens which was full of Maned Ducks, Pacific Black Ducks, Crimson Rosella, and we saw both Yellow and Striated Thornbills. We finished just before the rain started to lightly fall, arriving at our accommodation dry.

Brown Falcon

Little Black and Little Pied Cormorant

Maned Duck and ducklings

Musk Parrot

Powerful Owl

Australasian Swamp Hen

Australian White Ibis

Magpie Lark

Galah

26th November Inland Woodlands 

We started at Distillery Dam, Kamarooka this morning, and as we got nearer the dam the rain from the night before seemed more evident. Suddenly it was really evident as we slipped our way down the road, but it was too late to stop so we kept going. Leaving the vehicle on the side of the road we went birding. There were a number of smaller birds about, but out first was a single Black-tailed Nativehen. Then it was Red-capped Robin, Weebill, Brown-headed Honeyeater, Varied Sitella, and Rufous and Western Whistlers. Red Wattlebirds and Black faced Cuckooshrikes were spotted as we tried to track down the Crested Bellbird that called distantly. We headed back to the main road and got onto a few new honeyeaters, but missed some others for now, White-eared and a beautiful Tawny-crowned that sat perched for longer than any other honeyeater ever has. 

Brown-headed Honeyeater

Unfortunately, the Shy Heathwren lived up to its name, and was shy, we got glimpses and could hear them singing but never got the best look at them. Our next stop was Crusoe Reservoir, we planned to walk a lap of the reservoir (3.3km) and we did, though it took a lot longer than expected. This wasn’t a bad thing, there were lots of birds. So much bird watching happened it took an hour to walk the first kilometre. We slowly meandered our way around the reservoir, and it became apparent that every second bird was going to be a Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, which wasn’t a bad problem to have. There were Spotted Pardalotes, Rufous Whistlers, Brown Treecreepers, Dusky Woodswallows, Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Eurasian Coots, and high-flying Black-fronted Dotterels. We hit a little hive of activity with lots of Fuscous Honeyeaters, Olive-backed Oriole, White winged Triller, Striated Pardalote, Crimson Rosella all buzzing in a small area. It was a few minutes of intense, enjoyable, bird watching. It was nice to watch Eastern Rosellas moving through the bush, while a Great Egret, Australasian Darter, and Macquarie Turtle shared a perch. 

Fuscous Honeyeater

Eastern Rosella

Yellow-tufted Honeyeater

The later section of the walk was highlighted with reptiles, a small Eastern Brown Snake, Jacky Dragons, and an Eastern Striped Skink. 

Jacky Dragon

White-fronted Honeyeater

Varied Sitella

Red-capped Robin

We headed to Lake Weerona for lunch and arrived just in time to miss the rain. We spent half an hour in a picnic shelter eating lunch whilst it rained around us. The ducks didn’t seem fussed but many other birds hid under vegetation. The rain stopped as we finished eating and we wandered the lakeside looking at coots, swamphens, teal, Black Ducks, Maned Ducks, and an island full of Australian White Ibis. At this time of year baby birds are everywhere and the Dusky Moorhen and Australasian Swamphen chicks were abundant, from little fluffballs in the reeds to gawky teenagers running across the grass. In the reedbed Australian Reed Warblers called and called, and oddly there were a number of reed warblers in trees… potentially young being kicked out of what is a limited abundance of reeds. At the far end of the lake Nankeen Night-herons hid from the sun in the shade of a large dense tree. We spotted three birds in the tree, none of which paid us any attention. We finished the day near where we started, this time at Diamond Dove Dam. The temperature had gone up a lot since this morning, it was hot and humid. Honeyeaters were still active and white-eared and yellow-tufted were commonly spotted. We were parked between two groups of White-browed Babblers who both came to investigate us. We walked the old trails through the woody heath, spending much of our time following the sounds of a Crested Bellbird again. We may have glimpsed it but we certainly couldn’t see it, as it kept moving away from anywhere we were. We got onto some good other birds as we walked, White-fronted Honeyeater, Purple-backed Fairywren, Rufous Whistler, as well as a very large Jacky Dragon. The heat was a limiting factor and we headed back to the safe section of the morning’s muddy road to try again for birds we had missed. Whilst some stayed in the aircon others had a quick look for the Shy Heathwren and Purple-gaped Honeyeater. Neither was found but we certainly tried. 

Purple-backed Fairy Wren

Pallid Cuckoo

27th November Bendigo to Deniliquin

We took a trip out to Mt Korong this morning and it was worth the slightly longer drive. 

Mt Korong area

Upon arrival we had both Masked and White-browed Woodswallows, a calling Gilbert’s Whistler and Painted Honeyeater that we’d come back to, Diamond Firetails, and Hooded Robin. A pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles flew overhead and we had barely left the car. We walked the area and spent time following the Gilbert’s Whistler that just wouldn’t come out from cover other than to move away from us. Black-chinned Honeyeaters were being harassed by White-plumed Honeyeaters, and Galahs were regularly flying by. In the cutting of the roadside a pair of Red-backed Kingfishers were nesting and continually feeding a nestling, and as we watched a Painted Honeyeater fed in the mistletoe just metres from us. We walked along the fire break and found Brown-headed Honeyeaters, Mistletoebird that got a resounding sound of approvement when it showed us its red breast, Southern Whiteface, and a Rainbow Bee-eater. Everything had gone to plan and before it ended, we had a Gilbert’s Whistler feeding at eye level in the roadside vegetation. 

Masked Woodswallow

White-browed Woodswallow

White-browed Woodswallow

Wedge-tailed Eagle

White-plumed Honeyeater

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

Hooded Robin

Diamond Firetail

Red-backed Kingfisher

Painted Honeyeater

Gilbert's Whistler

 We headed northeast to Lake Cullens and whilst there was a hug abundance of birds across the lake most required a scope to view. Australasian Shelduck, Grey Teal, Pied Stilt, Black Swan, and Chestnut Teal were the more common birds but scanning through we found Red-necked Stints, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Red capped Plovers, Masked Lapwings, Whiskered Terns, and Silver Gulls. There was a lot to see but the strong wind was keeping birds low to the ground. We walked a small portion of the lakeside before moving on to our next stop. 

The largest Ibis rookery in the southern hemisphere didn’t live up to its name… We did see three individual Ibis but that’s hardly impressive, particularly when we’d seen hundreds in the fields earlier in the day. The rookery was almost empty of birds, Australian Pelican, Little Black Cormorant, Chestnut Teal, Whistling Kite, and the sounds of Little Grassbird were about all we could get onto from the bird hide. The walk in did produce Grey-crowned Babblers, White-breasted Woodswallow, and Nankeen Night-herons which were good to get onto. 

Nankeen Kestrel

Red-rumped Parrot

28th November Plains Wanderer 

We headed out early this morning and ventured into Island Sanctuary. We were prepared for a lot of parrots, and we found a lot of parrots. As we walked in we had Crimson (yellow) Rosella, Long-billed Corella, Rainbow Lorikeet, and Galah in the first large tree we came across. There were a number of birds spotted along the creek line, Red Wattlebirds, Rock Doves, Brown Treecreepers, Welcome Swallows, Pacific Black Ducks, and Maned Ducks. Walking through the big eucalypts we could see tree Hollows everywhere and there were birds going in and out of all of them. We took our time walking the small ‘island’ with lots of Sacred Kingfisher, Noisy Friarbird, Common Bronzewings, Magpie-larks, and more parrots including Eastern Rosella, and Rainbow Lorikeet. There was the odd flyby from a Superb Parrot, but we really didn’t get onto them. Australian Ravens, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, and Noisy Miners were spotted, but it was the constant presence of parrots that was most impressive. Across the river we did a similar walk in similar habitat, trying for the Superb Parrot. The temperatures were going up and we had much less activity. There are also many fewer tree hollows, that reduces parrot interest but there was more than enough to keep us going. The birds were much the same as in the island sanctuary but we got onto a pair of Oriental Dollarbirds that are semi-recent arrivals from Papua New Guinea. Whilst we watched the call of the Superb Parrot could be heard and only a little further down they flew into view. The two Angus’s were both looking at a bird but had very different thoughts as to whether it was male or female…turns out they were looking at different birds! We all got onto a beautiful male that sat in the open, which was really a sight to see. The female was more cryptic but most of us saw her before they flew away. We were able to get onto another male before we completed our mornings walk. 

Brown Treecreeper

Common Bronzewing

Crimson Rosella (ssp flaveolus - yellow rosella)

Dollarbird

Grey Shrike-thrush

Laughing Kookaburra

Long-billed Corella

Maned Duck

Pacific Black Duck and ducklings

Rainbow Lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeet

Azure Kingfisher

Superb Parrot (male)

We took a long rest in preparation for a long afternoon/night. Then Phil Maher met us, and we headed out to bird across the Hay Plain. 

The Hay Plain

Our first stop was on a property rehabilitated by Phil over the past 15 years and as such there were lots of birds. Brown Quail were seen by one vehicle before we stopped for the main star here, the Australian Owlet-nightjar. The bird was at its hollow as we arrived, but hid quickly as we approached, before long it came back up and looked out as us. 

Owlet Nightjar

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters flew about and we continued along some irrigation lines stopping for a cracking view of Greater Bluebonnets! We stopped again at what was a magical tree. Looking around the tree we found Purple-backed Fairywrens, Mistletoebird, Yellow Thornbill, these and others were found in the magical tree. The other highlights were Chestnut-rumped Thornbills, Painted Honeyeaters, Striped Honeyeaters, and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters. We made a brief stop at a second site rehabilitated by Phil, and came across a single White backed Swallow over the birds nesting site, again only possible due to work by Phil. The drive from here to the sheep station was slowed by Emus, Singing Bushlarks, Brown Songlarks, Wedge-tailed Eagles, and Red, Eastern Grey, and Western Grey Kangaroos. 

Singing Bushlark

Eastern Grey Kangaroo

Red Kangaroo

Emu and chicks

Striped Honeyeater

White-winged Fairy Wren

White-winged Fairy Wren

Eastern Blue-bonnet

Eastern Blue-bonnet

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill

Mistletoebird

Painted Honeyeater

Purple-backed Fairywren

Purple-backed Fairywren

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

White-winged Triller

Yellow Thornbill

Sunset at the Hay Plain

Once it was dark we headed off on foot to find frogs, and we found some stunners – Holy Cross Frog and Sudell’s frog!

Holy Cross Frog

Sudell's Frog

Sudell's Frog

A Southern Boobook was calling and spotted in the tree as we walked. We then drove out into the fields and the Giant Banjo Frog was quickly found on the trail. 

The night drive and a Brown Hare

Giant Banjo Frog

Scanning for Plains Wanderer

Tesselated Gecko

As we tried for Plains Wanderers, we found Australian Pipits and Fat-tailed Dunnarts, energetic little Dasyurids that didn’t want to sit still. 

Fat-tailed Dunnart

Fortunately, we didn’t have that trouble with the Plains Wanderers. The two males and female we found were as well behaved as any animal could be. They sat still watching us watching them. In plain view with nothing blocking our views we were able to get great looks and great photos. 

Plains Wanderer (female)

Plains Wanderer (male)