FEBRUARY

Birding in Melbourne in February is often a difficult month for me. I always start the year with a burst of enthusiasm, and when February comes around, I've seen just about everything Melbourne has on easy offer. I have to work very hard in February to see anything new. Or travel interstate. This February, I've had a particularly good month. I've seen 195 birds, which is pretty good for any month. I've had a (very expensive) trip to Tassie for a pelagic out of Eaglehawk Neck (always fun), a lovely day at Werribee's Western Treatment Plant, and a few days in Mallacoota, surely a birder's heaven. Now I'm having trouble deciding on the bird of the month. What an excellent problem to have!

This photo by Els Wakefield is a Salvin's Albatross, a bird I don't often see, and clearly the Bird of the Day for my Tasmanian pelagic. (My trip to Tassie was expensive because the weekend I'd chosen was, unbeknown to me, the weekend of three festivals, and all Hobart hotels put their prices up accordingly. I don't think I've ever paid $685 for one night's accommodation before. But perhaps I'm just out of touch.) I did enjoy the pelagic. It is a very friendly boat and it was a very pleasant day at sea. The Salvin's Albatross landed right beside me, giving me an excellent view. It really had no contest for Bird of the Day.

I had a lovely day at Werribee. As one of my NSW birding friends once quipped, "It's impossible to have a bad day at Werribee." I had hoped to see 100 birds that day at Werribee (something I have never achieved) but only managed 92. It was hot. We could have driven around some more, but common sense prevailed, and when all's said and done, 92 is not a bad day's count. I did not manage any of the rarities recently reported, apart from Pectoral Sandpipers (if I'm allowed to call them 'rare,' I suspect that 'uncommon' is a better adjective), but there were three birds, wandering around quite close to the car, not at all worried by our presence. They were fun. But my Bird of the Day was, perhaps perversely, the much more common Blue-winged Parrot. This lovely photo was not taken on the day. It is by Ken Haines. There were three Blue-winged Parrots (not everything was in threes that day!) which flew low overhead, then later, another three (or perhaps the same birds) landed right beside us on the fence, allowing us to absorb their beauty. So many of our parrots are truly gorgeous specimens. And another worthy contender for Bird of the Month.

I had good birds in Tasmania, at Werribee and at Mallacoota, but one bird which gave me as much pleasure as anything else, was an Eastern Spinebill in my front yard! (This beautiful photo is again by Ken Haines.) When I purchased my present house in Kew, about the first thing I did was to plant grevilleas in the front yard, in the hope of attracting Eastern Spinebills. Not many years ago, I often saw Eastern Spinebills in Kew. Now I never do. My planting has only attracted Red Wattlebirds. But one day this month, I had an Eastern Spinebill in my front yard. I love these birds (who doesn't?) A clear contender for Bird of the Month. It certainly gave me a great deal of pleasure. Unfortunately, it did not hang around and I have not seen it again since.

As always, I had quite a long wishlist for my recent trip to Mallacoota. This included any nightbird (the only one on my 2025 list was a Tawny Frogmouth), the Tawny Grassbird (which had recently been reported from Orbost, a bird I'd never seen in Victoria), Scarlet Myzomela (a bird, which although it is not rare, I do not often see) and Glossy Black Cockatoos, which I really wanted to see as I've only seen them once since the dreadful bushfires of 2019/20. This photo was taken on that occasion by Graham Barwell in Cranbourne Botanic Gardens. Last year when I visited Mallacoota, I did not see any Glossy Black Cockatoos, and I can assure you that it was not for want of trying. This year, I saw six. They were on Tower Road, Mt Raymond. And very beautiful they were too. Certainly worthy to be Bird of the Month. However, I have decided on something else as my Bird of the Month for February. I have decided on the Topknot Pigeon, which I saw at Cabbage Tree on my way to Mallacoota. It was my first Victorian sighting of this odd-looking pigeon. I wonder what I'll see in March.