KARKAROOK

As I drove along Warrigal Road, I listed the birds I wanted to see:  Blue-billed Duck, European Greenfinch and European Goldfinch.  I told myself not to be greedy.  Of course I'd love a snipe or a crake, but I wasn't going to push my luck.  I'd concentrate on my duck and my two introduced finches and anything else would be a bonus.

Heaven knows, birding has been difficult these last couple of years.  My monthly totals of species seen have never been so small.  Nowadays I get excited when I see a fairywren.  When the State Government increased the distance we were allowed to travel to ten kilometres from home, I got out my Melways and did a quick measurement.  I could make it to Karkarook!  So, on the first sunny weekday, I set off.

I drove slowly down Warrigal Road.  Last time I did this trip, I copped a speeding fine.  My first disappointment on arriving at Karkarook, was the large number of cars in the carpark.  It was ten past nine.  I'd hoped I'd beat the rush.  However, it is a large park.  Most visitors concentrate on the pavillions and the walk around the lake.  Few people visit the reedy lagoons where the crakes reside.  There's plenty of room for everyone, I told myself cheerfully.

Karkarook nearly made it into the top 100 birdwatching sites in Australia.  It is hovering in the wings:  if too many sites are forced off by future bushfires, I've always thought that Karkarook would slip in happily.  I've seen good birds here, most notably the Black-backed Bittern that turned up in August 2011.  There was another one (or the same one again?) in May 2014.  But I'm happy with Blue-billed Ducks.  It's always been nice to know that there's somewhere around Melbourne birders can see these lovely birds, officially classified as 'Near Threatened.'  In winter, birders visit Karkarook to add Flame Robin to their lists.  Then there's the water rats.  They run across the paths, quite oblivious to crowds.  

I set off happily on my quest for Blue-billed Duck.  Eastern Rosellas called from the gum trees and Silver Gulls swooped overhead.  I had eleven species on my list when I reached the little bridge where we'd seen the bittern some years ago.  Here I was distracted by a moorhen with two delightful fluffy chicks.

I wandered over the bridge and across to the lagoon where the Blue-billeds usually play. Nothing.  Not even a teal.  I glimpsed a Great Egret as I skirted the lagoon, hoping for a snipe or a crake or a rail.  Nothing.  Undaunted, I hurried on.  The greenfinch can usually be heard in the north-east corner of the park, where South Road and Warrigal Road meet.  Alas, all I could hear on this occasion was a Common Blackbird!

I walked on, thinking that if I couldn't get my three target species, some honeyeaters might be nice instead.  I heard an Australian Reed Warbler.  Why, oh, why did they change its name?  Clamorous Reed Warbler was so apt.  This one was calling from the dense reeds (of course) near the edge of the lake.  The path looked very muddy.  Did I want to get my feet wet?  Wimp that I am, I decided I did not really need to see the bird.  I knew what it was.  I wasn't influenced by the signs warning me of snakes.  Honest.

I walked around the lake, adding some cormorants to my list.  The only honeyeater I'd seen or heard was a Red Wattlebird.  I can't pretend I wasn't disappointed.  After an hour, I had a list of 26 species, which included the blackbird and the reed warbler that I'd heard but not seen.

I've never had such a small list at Karkarook on a sunny day.  There wasn't even a Willie Wagtail.  No Masked Lapwing, no Red-rumped Parrots, no fairywrens, no cisticolas.  Needless to say, no snipes or crakes.  The only ducks were Pacific Black and one, admittedly beautiful, Chestnut Teal.  Most disappointing.  No Blue-billed Ducks, no European Greenfinch and no European Goldfinch.

I came home thinking Karkarook would have trouble making it into the top 100 sites in future.  I hope this trip was an aberration, but what if it's not?  What if all these birds are becoming rare in our local parks?  

My recent trip to the Melbourne General Cemetery was very depressing.  I've birded there for many years and always used to have good sightings.  In 2002, when he did his Big Twitch, Sean Dooley, birded in the cemetery.  He wouldn't bother going there today.  The birds are simply no longer there.  Sure, you can see Rainbow Lorikeets and Noisy Miners and ubiquitous Red Wattlebirds, but forget about small honeyeaters, Willie Wagtails or fairywrens.  I used to rely on Yellow-rumped Thornbills and the cemetery, too, used to be a good site for greenfinch. Today I have to make do with Spotted Doves.  How I hope this is not happening throughout Melbourne!  How I hope that Melbourne General Cemetery and Karkarook Park are two odd examples - the only sites where our birds can no longer be seen reliably.  I fear I might be wrong about this.   Fingers crossed that my fears are not justified.