Fresh fields and pastures new.
Sep 20th, 2009 by Duncan
What a delight to get back amongst large numbers of birds again, especially in new territory, thanks to my mate Gouldiae. We revisited the Tyers River, new to me, where his recent group outing encountered less than favourable weather, but we had perfect conditions, calm and sunny. As soon as we got out of the car we could hear Wonga Pigeons calling across the river, and when we walked to the river we found 6 species of honeyeater feeding in the sweetly scented flowers of the Pittosporum undulatum. Most were very familiar species like the white-naped, yellow-faced, new holland, yellow-tufted, and eastern spinebill, but after hearing the machine gun rattle call of our first Lewin’s I managed to get a distant shot of this fast-flying often elusive honeyeater. Later I missed a close shot in bright sunlight, too slow on the draw.
A good walking track follows the river into the bush and we continued to add to the bird list as we walked upstream. A lyrebird was performing but the outstanding feature was the number of Golden Whistlers, and we were rarely without the sound of their sweet song in our ears.
The river flat was carrying a heavy growth of stinging nettles, and I’ve never seen as many Admiral butterflies as on this occasion. The nettle is the food plant of their larvae, and they were obviously going to make the most of the plentiful food supply.
On the higher ground a Bluetongue lizard was soaking up the sun, and G observed that it must have been just out of its winter hibernation as it was quite slim. It was content to let us step over it as we continued upstream.
The Tyers river is very beautiful up in the bush, it runs through a steep-sided valley clothed with statuesque trees and an interesting understory. The Wonga Vine and Clematis were both in full flower and a range of other plants was starting to come into bloom. One of the iconic birds of this type of habitat is the Eastern Yellow Robin, and in fact it is the first native bird that I remember seeing, in the late thirties when a small boy on holiday at the foot of Arthur’s Seat beside Port Philip Bay. This picture catches one in a very characteristic pose, clinging to a shrub while scanning the ground for something to eat.
The track along the river is called the Pipeline Track, and follows the old pipeline that used to supply drinking water to Traralgon in the early part of the twentieth century. The pipe is still visible here and there, and is very interesting in that it is a ten inch wooden stave pipe, constructed of strips of wood bound with a spiral winding of quarter inch steel rod. What a job it must have been to install that pipe by hand in those early days. We finished the day’s birding at the Traralgon Railway Conservation Reserve, another reminder of the old days when the water body was the source of water for the steam trains on the Gippsland run. It’s now a great place to see water fowl close up, visitors feed them and they have become very tame, which makes photography easy.
Pictures from top, click to enlarge.
Lewin’s Honeyeater.
Golden Whistler.
Admiral Butterfly, Vanessa itea.
Common or Eastern Bluetongue Lizard, Tiliqua scincoides.
Eastern Yellow Robin.
Purple Swamphen.
Pacific Black Duck with ducklings.
Dusky Moorhen.