Friday, December 16, 2022

Anglesea

 

Check my birding map for specific location. 

I first visited this area in 2019 and I was fortunate to meet the incredible artist and ornithologist Richard Weatherly He gave me some great advice on where to go birding in South Victoria. One spot was near the seaside town of Anglesea. He gave me precise directions down to the correct lamppost. I was dubious but verntured forth and was amazed that the spot was indeed bursting with birds. It was a small patch of bush next to an unsealed road. I loved it there. I watched a Fan-tailed Cuckoo preening was first.

Fan-tailed Cuckoo (Cacomantis flabelliformis)

Next were a couple of Gang-gang Cockatoo. Rare and very unusual, this is the only time I have ever been able to photograph them.

Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum)

This year, it was great to return to the same spot and find the same array of birds. However, the sun wasn't kind and I got no photos in the gloom. So I moved on to Coogoorah Park in Anglesea itself. The sun was shining by now and it was a lovely walk through the waterways and the bush. I was trying to tell the difference between the Rufous and Golden Whistler calls when the answer alighted right in front of me. 

Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis)

As the whistler disappeared a White-eared Honeyeater flew in and sat in the sunlight right in front of me. At last!

White-eared Honeyeater (Nesoptilotis leucotis)

Over one of the bridges I heard the Little Grassbird. It has a haunting call which I always think belongs in the rainforest rather than open country. I spent the next 20 minutes dashing back and forth across the bridge chasing a pair of them as they darted around underneath it. I must have looked a bit mad! Worth it though, I finally got the shots.

Little Grassbird (Poodytes gramineus)

The Superb Fairywren were dashing around everywhere as usual. I just couldn't resist (again!).

Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus)

eBird Lists
https://ebird.org/australia/checklist/S60491157
https://ebird.org/australia/checklist/S124027065

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