WERRIBEE ONCE MORE

It is always difficult to resist an opportunity to visit Werribee's Western Treatment Plant. When I learnt that Melbourne Birdlife's March weekday outing was going to Werribee, I was eager to put my name down. It was, of course, a most enjoyable day. As my Sydney birding friend, Brook Whylie, says: "It's impossible to have a bad day at Werribee." Even if the weather is unpleasant, there's always something special about a trip to the Western Treatment Plant. And last Wednesday, the weather was perfect. There were five cars in our group, each with four passengers, so of course that slowed things down. We started at ten, and finished at three, with a generous break for lunch, so in that time it was not possible to visit all the interesting spots Werribee has to offer. I think everyone had a great day, and several people managed lifers. We saw lots of ducks and waterbirds, but surprisingly few waders, several unusually cooperative Australian Crakes, one very bold Black-tailed Nativehen, few raptors, and not too many passerines. We saw all the ducks you'd expect. (I dipped on Blue-billed and Hardhead, but others saw them.) There were still thousands of Australian Shelducks, which must be getting ready to move on after their moult. I think Pink-eared Ducks are very handsome, but I do prefer their former name, Zebra Duck. After all, who can see the pink ear in the field? We all had excellent views of several Freckled Duck, which is always uplifting. We saw all three grebes, just one Pacific Gull and not many terns. What the terns lacked in numbers, both of species and individual birds, they made up for with spectacular flying displays right in front of us. These were Fairy Terns, splashing into the sea, sometimes emerging with prey, more often not. There were also a few Greater Crested Terns loafing nearby and fewer Common Terns. One person saw Little Terns. We saw many cormorants, but few herons and egrets. Someone claimed Cattle Egrets, but I did not see them. We saw both spoonbills, always a welcome addition to the birdlist. I had hoped for Double-banded Plover, but we did not see any. Nor did we see Red-capped Plover. In fact we saw very few waders at all. Perhaps they've all left - it is March after all - or perhaps we didn't go to the right spots. We saw thousands of Red-necked Stints, but not much else. Just a sprinkling of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and that's it for the northern hemisphere migrants. Of course the Red-necked Avocets made up for this in spades! What beautiful birds! I never tire of admiring them. There were also stilts and Pied Oystercatchers. (Sooty Oystercatchers seem to be fewer in numbers these days.) Raptor numbers were down too. We saw a couple of Brown Falcons, a few Swamp Harriers and one particularly handsome Hobby. Of course there were Whistling and Black Kites and just a couple of Black-shouldered Kites. I used to call Werribee the Raptor Capital of Victoria. It did not deserve the moniker last Wednesday. The Black-tailed Nativehen was very welcome: just one bird, wandering around by himself on the beach, right out in the open, quite undeterred by twenty silly birders staring at him. We saw a few Cape Barren Geese, again always a welcome addition to the birdlist.

What we didn't see were just as interesting as what we did see. I did not see any pipits or any skylarks. Surely this must be the only time I have ever visited Werribee and come home without these two species on my list. I had hoped to see a Greenfinch, as I'd missed them on my earlier trip to Werribee this year. No luck. I didn't see any Yellow-rumped Thornbills either. I saw just a couple of cisticolas - I was looking out for them as one of the group was particularly eager to see one. Lots of White-fronted Chats as usual, and Welcome Swallows of course. Most of the Fairy Martins must have left, we saw just one bird. I didn't see any fieldwrens or bushlarks or songlarks, but that's not surprising. These are birds it is great to see, rather than things you expect. We did hear, then glimpse, one Little Grassbird. And of course there were fairywrens and scrubwrens. My Bird of the Day was the Pacific Swift, which put in an appearance at the very last moment. We were doing the birdlist in the carpark just prior to leaving, when several swifts flew overhead. A new bird for me for the year. It's always fun to bird at Werribee. And it's fun to bird with like-minded people. I think I can say with confidence: a good day was had by all.