Check my birding map for specific location.
I have made my way into Victoria and it is cold, windy and a little wet. I am house sitting in Geelong, south west of Melbourne for the next 3 weeks. It will be a change after over 9 months living in the van. I am looking forward to a decent washing machine and giving the van a good clean.
Anyway, I digress. I have chosen Geelong as I visited the area in 2019 and it has some fantastic birding spots. My first day and I am at a rather chilly Balyang Sanctuary in the city's south. The car park is adjacent to the water and I could immediately see lots of ducks and cormorants. There are 2 small islands with bridges in-between and it is a lovely walk.
Flying all around were Little Pied Cormorants. There were juveniles and adults in the tree in the middle of the pond and on the side. While they all took off as I approached, they soon returned. These cormorants are easy to distinguish from their bigger cousins as they are the only Australasian cormorants (shags in New Zealand) with a small, yellow stubby bill. The young ones have black and yellow bills.
Little Pied Cormorant (Microcarbo melanloleucos)
There was as much activity in the trees as the water with cockatoo and lorikeets making their customary din. As I crossed one of the bridges I found a juvenile cockatoo sitting in a hollow. Looking much like an adult but it had a very small crest and it allowed me to approach really closely. When I returned later, it had been joined by another and later another. You wouldn't really describe these birds as being cute but these 3 were absolutely so.
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita)
In a tree close to the cockatoo were a pair of Rainbow Lorikeet. They squawked loudly as I approached and I could see a hollow at head height that they were obviously protecting.
Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus)
eBird List
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