BIRDING IN NORTH-EAST VICTORIA

I've just returned from three beaut birding days in north-east Victoria. Highlights were Swift Parrots, Hooded Robins and a stunning Azure Kingfisher. Disappointments were no nightbirds, no Painted Buttonquail and no Gilbert's Whistler (although I heard more than one, they were being very coy and would not show themselves). I love visiting this part of the world. Of course the main focus is the birds, and I clocked up a satisfactory 117 species over three days, but I'm also nostalgic about visiting places which have given me so much pleasure over so many years. And then, of course, there's the sherry! I confess we did make a mandatory stop at Pfeiffer's winery. We had an early start on Wednesday morning, but the sun was shining by the time we arrived at Mangarlore Flora and Fauna Reserve and the birding was good straight away. I admired Diamond Firetails and Flame Robins and heard Gilbert's Whistlers. There were lots of recent buttonquail platelets, but no buttonquail in sight. However, the honeyeaters were good, both pardalotes were present, as well as Sittellas. I'd seen 27 species by the time we set off for our next stop, Winton Wetlands. When we arrived, I'd added another 16 species to my list. The weather was quite good for the tail end of autumn and so was the birding. I always see Restless Flycatchers in the carpark at Winton Wetlands; I don't think they've ever let me down. We saw Grey-crowned Babblers right on cue (a great bird, that!) and a very handsome Pied Butcherbird. Add a few waterbirds and my list was growing well. At Warby-Ovens National Park, I saw my first Peaceful Doves for the year. There were White-throated Treecreepers and Silvereyes and some cute Yellow-footed Antechinus. It had been a good day and I had high expectations of an owl or two when we went spotlighting that night. Sadly, it was not to be. We saw Brush-tailed and Ringtailed Possums and some very sweet Squirrel Gliders, but no night birds at all. Can't complain, I had 71 species for the day, and with such specialties as Grey-crowned Babblers and Diamond Firetails, it would be churlish to mention the lack of owls and nightjars.

This is a photo of a soak in Barnawatha Depot Road in Chiltern National Park. Take my word for it, there were Swift Parrots drinking here. There were about 60 of them. If the entire population of Swift Parrots is 750 individuals, that's an impressive proportion of the population right there that morning. They were joined by even more colourful Turquoise Parrots. What a sight! And what a great way to start Thursday. Both Little and Purple-crowned Lorikeets flew over and my first Satin Bowerbird for the year joined the parrots in the soak. When an Eastern Shriketit landed overhead, I wasn't sure which way to point my binoculars. I'd seen my first Northern Shriketit last November, and my first Western Shriketit last month, so I was delighted to add their Eastern cousin to the set. Of course there were Yellow-tufted, Black-chinned, White-naped and Fuscous Honeyeaters, as well as an out of season Dusky Woodswallow. At Cyanide Dam, the Brown Treecreepers did not let me down, although they'd been playing hard to get until then. Bartley's Block is often full of surprises. This time, I saw two birds I really did not expect to see: Mistletoebirds and an Olive-backed Oriole. I had thought both these species were summer migrants, but when I checked Simpson and Day, I learnt that he classifies Mistletoebirds as 'uncertain sedentary' and Olive-backed Orioles as partial or annual migrants, so I should not have been so surprised at the oriole I had in Kew during winter last year. We drove to Number One Dam, where there were lots and lots of pelicans, then Number Two Dam, where I added Red-rumped Parrots and Masked Lapwings to the day list. I didn't see any Eurasian Tree Sparrows in the township. We drove on to Lake Moodemere, where I saw a very beautiful Azure Kingfisher. These birds are summer breeders, so I don't expect them to be dressed up in their very best in the last week of May. But he was. It is difficult to imagine a dull looking Azure Kingfisher, but believe me when I say, this bird was particularly handsome. The rain, which we had feared would curtail our birding, held off until night time. Then it poured heavily all night. Luckily, it had stopped by Friday morning. We returned to Warby-Ovens National Park to admire Jacky Winters, Hooded Robins and one happy Speckled Warbler. Great birds, all of them. We had another unsuccessful attempt at Painted Buttonquail at Mangalore on the way home, but I couldn't really be disappointed when we missed out. I count this as a very successful three day outing.

WONDERFUL WERRIBEE - AGAIN!

Yesterday, I had the most wonderful day birding I've had in a long time. Yes, I know I saw a lifer last month (the Western Shriketit in the Stirling Range) and, of course, that's always a thrill. But yesterday was a full day of superb weather, blue skies, sunshine, no wind, great company and lots of fantastic birds. Can anyone do better? This is the spot where we heard a Lewin's Rail.

Alas, we could not see it. What strange noises Lewin's Rails make! We did see several Australian Crakes, at least four, perhaps more. I saw just one Spotless Crake. I was with Tim Dolby, it's possible he saw more than one. We saw just a couple of Double-banded Plovers, fraternizing with (or perhaps hiding amongst) a flock of Red-capped Plovers. The male Red-caps looked absolutely splendid - at their breeding best I thought. In my ignorance, I would have said that they were summer breeders, but, after this sighting, I looked them up, and, although they may prefer the warmer months, according to Simpson and Day, they can breed at any time of year. I reckon these birds had breeding in mind. I wanted a sea eagle for my year list and my wish was fulfilled. One memorable sighting of the day was Brolgas. Yes, I know, you've seen Brolgas at Werribee lots of times. But have you ever seen eleven birds at once? I certainly hadn't before yesterday. I had to count them twice to convince myself that there really were nearly a dozen of them. One very handsome Black-shouldered Kite endeared himself to us by sitting quite close to the car and posing for his photo. I thought he was a young bird: some of his feathers were very fluffy. Here's one of Tim's photos.

A rather unusual sighting was an aberrant Straw-necked Ibis. He had lots of white on his wings, which, according to the field guides, should be all black. This is Tim's photo.

Towards the end of the day, after we had persuaded ourselves that the American Golden Plover really had vacated the Borrow Pits, we saw that the adjacent pond was brimming with ducks, mainly Pink-eared and Shovellers, but also some teal, Musk Duck and Pacific Blacks. It was the pinkies and the shovellers that stole our hearts. There were so very many of them so very close, it was breathtaking. I thought perhaps a thousand of each species, both in the water and on the bank. Unfortunately impossible to photograph, but very easy to admire. Although we were very close to them, the car was hidden by reeds. As soon as we attempted to get out of the car, the birds flew. But what a beautiful sight! Again, this is Tim's photo.

Another bird I wanted for my year list was a Singing Bush Lark. Bush Larks can be difficult and I didn't really expect to see one. Tim deviated up Beach Road to check out the Banded Lapwings, and there, on a fence post, wanting to be admired, was a Singing Bush Lark. I looked at it and didn't believe it. Its bill did not look thick enough; its plumage was too colourful. Its belly, in particular, looked a lemon colour. I expect my bush larks to be dressed in sparrow colours. I could not accept this colourful creature really was a Singing Bush Lark. Fancy being cheeky enough to question Tim Dolby! Tim took a photo, and there, unquestionably, sitting on a fence post was a Singing Bush Lark, just as I had ordered.

In my opinion, the Bird of the Day was none of the above. It was a dear little Stubble Quail, walking towards the car in Paradise Road as we were driving out. He looked like he wanted to be friends. A fitting end to a great day. We clocked up 81 species - of course I always want more! But that's not too bad for autumn. I don't believe I've ever enjoyed such perfect weather at Werribee. And I think I've proved that I don't really need rarities to have a good time birding.