IT IS WINTER AND I GO TO EDEN

On the first of the month, I like to go birding, to start the month's birdlist off appropriately. I often walk to Willsmere Billabong, then on to Darebin Parklands, which is what I did on 1 June 2023. I saw all the usual suspects, including a Common Bronzewing, ducks, parrots and a very vocal Grey Butcherbird. I dipped on Red-rumped Parrots - one of many birds I used to consider a certainty, but alas no longer so. I did see a Buff-banded Rail beside the creek, only my second sighting of this species on this walk. I ended the day with 35 species, which is acceptable for Kew in winter.

The next day I set off with my birding mate, Ken Haines, for Eden in New South Wales, where we were booked to do back to back pelagics on the M.V. Connemara on Saturday and Sunday. The highlight of the drive to Eden was three (perhaps four) Spotted Quail-thrush spotted by keen-eyed Ken beside the road. Unfortunately, they did not hang around to get acquainted, but they managed to get on my birdlist. We stayed in Reflections Holiday Park and arrived in time for a walk around Lake Curaio, where we met several very friendly Buff-banded Rail, who really did want to get acquainted. We also saw some Southern Emu-wren - always a thrill.

On Saturday morning, we arrived at the wharf in good time for our 7 a.m. departure. We met Julian, our leader, Mark, the captain, and Luke, the crew. There were twelve passengers in all, a perfect number for the size of the boat. It was cold, but we had only one or two drops of rain all day. The birds behaved well. One or two Brown Skuas accompanied us most of the day. There were lots of Australasian Gannets. They may be common, but they are very beautiful birds. We saw five species of albatross, which isn't bad. There were several people on board who were experiencing their first pelagic. How very special to see five species of albatross on your very first pelagic! The first (and most numerous) was a Shy, then Yellow-nosed, Black-browed, Buller's and finally, Campbell's.

The albatross were, for me, the highlight of the day. Others were more excited by the one Cape Petrel who put in an appearance in the afternoon. No birds were in big numbers. We saw a single Fairy Prion, one Grey-faced Petrel, one Providence Petrel, one Short-tailed Shearwater, a few Wilson's Storm Petrels (but not many), one White-chinned Petrel and two Northern Giant Petrels. There were some Grey-backed Storm Petrels, but they did not come very close to the boat. I dipped on the one Fluttering Shearwater, seen early in the day on the other side of the boat. Coming into port in the afternoon, we saw plenty of Black-faced Cormorants and several Little Penguins. There were White-bellied Sea Eagles (always very regal) and a few Pelicans. My list for the day totalled 25, which I thought was pretty good. We saw lots of Common Dolphins and a few Bottle-nosed. Some tail splashing Humpbacks right near the boat were quite spectacular - and a new experience for me.

The boat returned at about quarter to four, giving us time to explore Lake Curaio a bit further in the daylight. There was a noisy colony of Bell Miners which dominated, but didn't deter some inquisitive whipbirds (or a Brown Antechinus for that matter). The highlight today was undoubtedly a pure white Grey Goshawk, a bird I don't see often enough. (I think I'm correct in saying that I haven't seen one since June 2013.) I thought Sunday could not be as good as Saturday, and I was right. I did manage to add the missing Fluttering Shearwater to my list, but that was all.

The good photos on this page are by Ken Haines. That's the Southern Emu-wren, the Buller's Albatross and the Fairy Prion. The lousy ones are mine, taken with my phone. We spent the night at Lakes Entrance and arrived home in time for lunch on Monday. What better way to spend the first weekend of winter? I can't think of any.