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Go Birding Tour - 3 Days , January 2010 To fully experience the range of interesting bird zones around the Geelong area takes several days, so it was nice to be able to show a couple visiting from the UK the sights and birds. The only down side was that the days included a "scorcher" when the temperature hit 45oC. Our first day started early and a stop-off on the western side of Port Phillip Bay was productive. Banded Lapwings with 3/4 grown young were noted and the shoreline gave sightings of Common, Whiskered and Crested Terns. Golden-headed Cisticolas were numerous and we caught a glimpse of the Striated Fieldwren. Pressing on into the Otways, the temperature was in the mid-20s and very pleasant compared to the higher temperatures experienced in other parts of Victoria. Birds were easy to spot as they came in to drink at a waterhole along a creek. By standing quietly and watching, we were delighted to see Superb Fairy-wren, White-browed Scrubwren, Striated Thornbill, Brown Thornbill Eastern Spinebill, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, White-naped Honeyeater, Olive Whistle, Rufous Fantail, Grey Fantail, Eastern Yellow Robin, Bassian Thrush and Red-browed Finch. A walk along the scenic tracks turned up more species - Blue-winged Parrot, Satin Bowerbird, Crested Shrike-tit, Golden Whistler and Forest Raven. A male Satin Flycatcher landed in the sunlight on a patch of dirt, giving us great views of the electric blue sheen of its plumage.
We returned to Geelong via the The Anglesea Treatment Plant where we added Musk Duck and Hardhead.
The forecast for the last day of the tour was not good - a day of catastrophic fire danger - so steering clear of bush areas was important. We started very early along the coastline and were rewarded with some co-operative Rufous Bristlebirds perched on top of the coastal heath, singing to the world. Australian Gannets were cruising past out to sea and there were some new species seen in the drier scrub, including Common Bronzewing, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, White-eared Honeyeater and Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike. By 9:00am the temperature had started to climb, so we moved on to some of the local wetlands. Royal Spoonbill, Brolga and Black-tailed Native-hen were present at Lake Connewarre. We were also lucky to see a Rufous Songlark and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters in the bushes surrounding the lookout area. By mid-day, the temperature was nudging 40oC, so we took a break for the afternoon. The hotel pool was very popular.
The worst of the heat had gone by 5:00pm (it reached 45oC), so we ventured out to some more wetlands. Near Point Lonsdale, we saw several migrant waders including Red-capped Plover, Common Greenshank, Red-necked Stint Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Curlew Sandpiper. At Drysdale we noted Blue-billed Duck, White-necked Heron, Eastern Great Egret and Latham's Snipe. Towards dusk, the Balyang Sanctuary wetlands in Geelong added Darter, Cattle Egret, Australian Hobby, Baillon's Crake, Australian Reed-Warbler and Little Grassbird. The total over the three days was more than 140 species. Given the unusually hot conditions, this was a good tally. During three days I get a chance to really get to know those participating in the tour. As usual, I found that people who are interested in birds are also interesting people. It was great spotting all the various species, but it was most entertaining for Bernie and I to share a meal and a few glasses of good wine with travellers who are experiencing the Geelong region for the first time. Back to Birding trip reports index
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