WERRIBEE'S WESTERN TREATMENT PLANT

There is no doubt that the Western Treatment Plant at Werribee is Victoria's best birding spot. Other states can argue about their best spot; in Victoria, Werribee is such a superb place that there is no room for debate. I visited Werribee on Tuesday this week and I had a wonderful day.

As I left home, the sky was blue and the sun was shining. This did not last. It was very cold all day. Every time I had to open or close a gate, the rain squalled. The wind kept many of the small birds under cover. I came home disappointed that I had not seen Striated Fieldwren, Greenfinch or Zebra Finch. I also dipped on Freckled Duck and Great Crested Grebe. But I did see 72 species, including 8 Brolga and more Australasian Swamphen than I ever remember seeing in one place. There must have been thousands of them.

The last time I visited Werribee - in April on my unsuccessful Black Tern twitch - I saw lots of Australian Crakes. This time, I saw none. I had a wishlist of course: a list of birds I hoped to see that I had not yet seen in 2023. They included a couple of 'easy' birds that I expected to see, and several difficult birds that I hoped to see, but didn't really expect to. The easy birds were Eurasian Skylark and Yellow-billed Spoonbill. Of course I saw (and heard) several skylarks throughout the day, weather notwithstanding. The spoonbill was more difficult. I saw some Royal Spoonbills, but a Yellow-billed proved to be harder than I'd expected. I did see one in the end, just one bird, flying overhead, which could have been missed easily. So-called 'easy' birds aren't always easy! I managed to see two of my difficult birds: Black-tailed Nativehen (two birds hiding under shubbery on the river crossing) and best bird of the day, an Australasian Bittern! With an estimated total population of 1,300, Australasian Bitterns are endangered and it is always a thrill to see one. This bird flushed and flew away quickly, never to be seen again.

Raptors performed well throughout the day, with lots of Black Kites and Swamp Harriers (such as the one pictured). There were several Black-shouldered Kites, Whistling Kites and Brown Falcons and just one Brown Goshawk. Alas no Black Falcon which I had rather rashly put on my wishlist. Two birds I did see that were new to the year, but hadn't made it onto my list because I thought seeing them was so unlikely, were: Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo and Caspian Tern. I thought it unlikely to see a cuckoo in July (in fact I also saw a Fan-tailed Cuckoo on the Point Wilson Road). This was the first Caspian Tern I've seen at Werribee this century. I'm sorry I dipped on Double-banded Plover and Striated Fieldwren. I've no doubt someone with better eyes would have scored both. But I did see both Red-browed Finches and Yellow-rumped Thornbills These birds used to be very common, but I find they are becoming more and more difficult to add to my list. It is possible that my count of eight Brolgas included some duplication, and there were in fact only six birds. What I actually saw was a pair of Brolga on four separate occasions. I am sure, however, that there were at least six. One bird was sitting on a nest, with her mate standing close by. The others were well spread throughout the farm, and I believe that there really were eight different birds. It was a great day. In winter, on a cold, windy day, a total of 72 species is fine by me, especially when it includes one Australasian Bittern.