Trevor's Birding

2007 Victorian trip report #4

The obligatory Superb Fairy-wrens were everywhere, along with numerous White-browed Scrubwrens. The latter is infuriatingly hard to get to sit still in the open with plenty of light for a photo, but I still managed a reasonable shot. This is not the greatest photo I’ve ever taken, but it’s the best so far of this infuriating little bird. They move so quickly and love to skulk in the undergrowth, thus frustrating me immensely.To see the little brown bird in the centre of the photo, it might be more easily seen if you click on the photo to enlarge the image.

White-browed Scrubwren

Red Wattlebirds were abundant but I only heard one Little Wattlebird. A single Black-shouldered Kite soared over the trees near the picnic ground and Australian Raven could be heard in the distance; I later saw several flying overhead.

After a few minutes a Fantailed Cuckoo began its downwards trill call nearby and later a Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo added to the chorus of calls. I saw neither species. As I was trying to get a good photo of an uncooperative Eastern Yellow Robin several White-naped Honeyeaters came zooming past, too active to pose for a shot. This was another new species to add to my growing trip list. My records show I haven’t seen this species many times, the last being about seven years ago. I must get out more.

Wildflowers in Cranbourne Botanic Gardens

Our cabin in Traralgon, Victoria

2007 Victorian trip report

We stayed the night in a wonderful cabin at Traralgon. Next morning I did a quick survey of the area immediately around our cabin in the caravan park. There was nothing to really get excited about. I saw several Australian Ravens and Australian Magpies, one Magpie Lark, some Red Wattlebirds and a small flock of Common Starlings. Several Striated Pardalotes called from the trees in the park and Welcome Swallows swooped around hawking for their breakfast of insects.

A couple of Pied Currawongs passed through the park and I heard a Grey Fantail off in the distance. A flock of White Ibis flew overhead and two Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes landed in the tree nearby.

As we left the park I noted a Black-shouldered Kite near the road. It was my turn to drive and I didn’t take all that much notice of the birds along the way. I was concentrating on looking at the new territory we were travelling through. I did notice the increasing number of Common Mynas along this part of the highway.

We stopped at Cranbourne to visit people we know. We spent more time in their garden than we had anticipated. While there I added Little Corella for the first time on the trip.

Correa flower in a Cranbourne garden

2007 Victorian trip report #1

Yesterday I described how we left Canberra and headed south on our way to Melbourne. From the point where the road crossed the Great Dividing Range we began a long steady descent to sea level. We began driving through increasingly dense rainforest which was in complete contrast with the barren area on the top of the ranges. Soon we crossed from New South Wales into Victoria.

Picnic lunch spot in Coopracambra National Park

We stopped for a picnic lunch at a likely looking parking bay in the Coopracambra National Park. It showered lightly while we ate and the air was still very cold. We found several beautiful wildflowers to photograph, but the birds were very quiet and inconspicuous. I saw a single Australian Raven, about a dozen Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and two Pied Currawongs. Several Striated Pardalotes called from the tree-tops somewhere nearby. A Laughing Kookaburra called briefly and I think I heard a Grey Fantail calling from down in the gully somewhere. In all it was a disappointing lunch from a birding viewpoint.

After lunch we drove further south towards Cann River and then west through Lakes Entrance, Bairnsdale, Sale and Traralgon. The only interesting sighting during this long part of the journey was a male King Parrot sitting by the side of the road. We stopped briefly at Lakes Entrance to refuel both the car and ourselves, again sitting in the car because of the bitter wind. I did manage to add Pacific Gull to the list and I was very interested in seeing White-backed Magpies in this area.

Correa flower in Coopracambra National Park, Victoria

We travelled rapidly through this area without investigating any of the national parks and the many rivers, lakes and inlets along the way. We plan an extended holiday in this area sometime in the next year or so. The region deserves our attention for several weeks at least. This was just a small taste of what it has to offer.

A major downside of the day was to see three dead wombats on the roadside.

An interesting feature of the last section of our journey that day was seeing Ben Cruachan in the distance. This is the mountain featured at the top of Duncan’s blog of the same name. I was disappointed that we didn’t have time for a detour in to meet up with Duncan. Perhaps on our next trip over that way? (Keep the billy on, Duncan.) And thanks to Duncan for confirming my wife’s identification of the wildflower shown below.

Nodding Blue Lily (Stypandra glauca)