Regular readers will know that I put out a little seed for the king parrots, crimson and eastern rosellas, and common bronzewings that visit the garden. I have also noted that they don’t become dependent on the handout, eating some and then moving on to feed on naturally occuring food sources. Unhappily an adolescent criminal rosella decided that our correa was a component of that food source, and I looked out of the window to see it nipping off the flowers one by one for the taste of nectar in the base. By the time I moved it on there weren’t many left, and the ground beneath the plant was carpeted with flowers. We’d noticed previously that something had been busy pruning the Snowy River Wattle, and the crims would have to be the chief suspects there too, purely out of mischief as they would have derived no sustenance therefrom. The correa pruning vandal is on the left eating free seed, no gratitude at all…..

Click all to enlarge.

The lake area generally was very quiet birdwise apart from wrens that were in good numbers, a small party of yellow thornbills were the only other bush birds evident. Waterbirds were restricted to a few black swans, chestnut teal, swamphens and moorhens. The latter species is one of my favourites, and I’m always trying to get a picture that is that little bit better.

Click to enlarge.

Frog numbers have declined greatly in the area over the last sixty years, and it was a delight to hear several species filling the air with their mating calls. One call was new to me and I’ll have to spend a bit more time there to identify it. Another individual was also glad to hear the calls, a white-faced heron was working the shallows and frogs will certainly be on the menu….

The wetland has changed significantly during the years of drought, the main water body is now greatly reduced as sedges and other species have encroached when the water level has been low. There are two ways of looking at this, it’s a pity to loose the former large open area of water, but on the other hand the new vegetation provides excellent habitat for crakes, rails and the like. Judging by my brief look last season when incapacitated by injury, odonata have also benefited greatly by the changed conditions.

Much of the water is covered by azolla and a pair of pacific black duck found it hard going moving away while I was watching them from the bird hide.

Some years ago the hide had one end burnt out by vandals, I repaired it but someone has made another attempt, burning a hole through the floor below one of the seats, a guard rail was also broken away. I almost feel sorry for the perpetrators, if this is the best idea their brains can come up with they don’t have much going for them. Click pictures to enlarge.

We’ve had a little rain too, refreshing the swamp reserve and created ideal conditions for the Latham’s Snipe that are due to arrive towards the end of the month. Their favourite area has been rejuvenated and it will be extremely interesting to see how many return to their old stamping ground after many years of absence when the habitat was unsuitable due to dryness.
I did manage one brief trip to check a cliff for the birds that have left large areas of whitewash on the rocks below. None were in evidence, but their perching ledges were plain to see and I’ll be keeping an eye on them.

Bird life was scarce, a distant female scarlet robin and a kookaburra the only ones to pose for the camera. Eastern rosellas were as usual plentiful along the treed roadsides, and two grey butcherbirds flew before I could draw a bead.

The creek below the cliff is I think one of the prettiest in Gippsland,
am I right, or am I right. Click to enlarge.

Daryl would have had the currawongs for company year round, while for us they are an autumn/winter visitor, when they come down from the bush to spend the cold months around human habitation where food is plentiful. After a fall of rain I was pumping water from an underground holding tank on to the grass, and two currawongs were immediately on the scene. Tilting their heads as Daryl described, then driving their massive bills into the wet ground to seize a worm or grub. They were unworried by my nearness with the camera, and while I may not see them as noble, they are certainly intelligent birds and could see that I wasn’t a threat.

The name currawong comes from their call, but in this area their signature call may be written as “hark hark the lark”. In all my years of birding the only time I have heard the call curra-wong * was on an occasion in the Warrumbungle Ranges when some came to our picnic table to share our lunch. They also have a range of other calls, including what Graham Pizzey described as a wolf whistle, and to hear a flock performing the morning chorus can be quite an experience. The pied currawong has a most distinctive flight, being very economical with wing beats, utilising a flap and glide pattern that can be recognised from a distance. Click all pictures to enlarge.
* Audio file from VHS videotape.

King parrot in the morning light, click to enlarge.

This was one Gouldiae and I couldn’t find in our bird books on Sunday, when we did the annual orange-bellied and neophema parrot survey at Jack Smith Lake. When we topped the rise to run down to the reserve we saw dozens of 4wd vehicles, people in bright vests, and dogs. When we enquired what was going on we learned that the field and game society was conducting fox drives with the Parks ranger David, who we knew from a previous occasion. They had got ten on the previous day and were just about to start the first of several drives for the day. The big bird pictured flew over and did a circuit, doubtless wondering what was happening down on the ground.

But back to fair dinkum birds. After ascertaining that we wouldn’t be in the line of fire, we started our walk along the northern edge of the reserve and soon saw eight blue-winged parrots on the fence. A good start, but it got much better. When we neared the end of our traverse we started to see blue-wings in numbers, and our count rose to approximately one hundred and thirty. This flock flew past me as they circled around, and for once were reasonably close.

The next picture shows Gouldiae on the walk back to the vehicle, and gives an idea of the salt marsh to be covered, and this is only a fraction of the total area. Luckily, experience has taught us where parrots are likely to be found which makes the job easier.

The farmland adjoining the reserve is a favoured wintering area for flame robins, and sure enough there were small numbers in residence.

After lunch we started our second and final search, our usual third area was off limits due to the shooters. There were plenty of crested terns and a very large flock of chestnut-breasted shelduck on the permanent water, but no small waders even though the conditions looked good. However, more to the point, blue-wings were back along the boundary of the private property after an absence of some years. Sixty birds lifted the count to one hundred and ninety, and at the turn around point another twenty two brought us to two hundred and ten plus, the best count of blue-wings for years. No OBPs of course, but with the estimated wild population down to just fifty birds that was not surprising. Unhappily the prognosis is that the orange-bellied parrot will be extinct in the wild in a very few years. Apparently the main cause of the decline from its former number of around one hundred and fifty is that the females are not laying eggs. Whether this is climate related and/or due to a shortage of food is not yet known, but those two factors certainly are linked. At Jack Smith Lake the salt marsh plants on which the parrots feed are only a shadow of their former luxuriance, due entirely to a lack of rainfall. It was significant on Sunday that a little rain had freshened up the sarcocornia, and blue-winged parrot numbers were up, but even if normal rainfall returns it seems it will be too late for the orange-bellied parrot. Click the first four pictures to enlarge.