Check my birding map for specific location.
Avalon Beach is on the coastline between Geelong and Melbourne. When I got there it was foggy and gloomy but the sun burned it off quickly and the heat arrived. It was a very pretty area with lots of pools of water and walkways inbetween. Parts of it had been ruined though, with lots of rubbish in the water. Why come to somewhere so beautiful and chuck empty beer bottles around? I'll never get it.
Anyway, I was looking for the elusive waders that should be all along this coast at this time of year. No immediate sign of them but once I had got past the rubbish and into the reserves, it was really lovely. Skylarks were singing high in the air, an occasional pelican flew past and the fairywren were chuckling away in the shrubbery.
First up were some White-browed Scrubwren. I was hoping for fieldwren or heathwren but I soon learned there were only scrubwren here, easily identifiable by their distinctive buzzing from low down.
White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis)
Also chattering away were the White-fronted Chats who, most obligingly, will sit on fence wire for you fairly frequently. The female is duller than the male but they are both very pretty little birds.
White-fronted Chat (Epthianura albifrons)
There were lots of raptors around this morning. I saw 2 enormous Wedge-tailed Eagles sitting stop pylons. They wouldn't tolerate me even stopping half a kilometer away. I also saw Black-shouldered Kite, Australian Kestrel, Collared Sparrowhawk and Brown Falcon.
Brown Falcon (Falco berigora)
Australian Kestrel (Falco cenchroides)
As I was getting a drink from the van, a pair of European Goldfinch landed right in front of me. Such gorgeous plumage and a lovely song too.
European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus)
Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis)
I had seen some teal and shelducks at a distance but all of a sudden the whole lot went up. I had thought there were about 20 ducks but it was more like 200. Fabulous to watch as they flew past.
Australian Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides)
As I was on my way out, I saw a young Skylark sitting on a post. Just for once, it stayed still and the sun was right on it. The bird had a bug which it kept picking up and putting down. It didn't seem to know what to do with it. I took some photos and left it alone to figure it out.
Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis)
eBird Lists
No comments:
Post a Comment