Tychum Lake, Watchem Lake and Lake Buloke
A starved Fox was spotted at Tychum Lake on 24th March 2013. Is it due to hot summer?
North and west of Lake Buloke were dry. A Southern Whiteface was seen on the ground among Yellow-rumped Thornbills. It was the highlight of day and adds an additional specie to my bird list. Unfortunately no photo was taken.
The bird species from Lake Buloke last winter were much abundant and a lot more water in the lake then than now.
North and west of Lake Buloke were dry. A Southern Whiteface was seen on the ground among Yellow-rumped Thornbills. It was the highlight of day and adds an additional specie to my bird list. Unfortunately no photo was taken.
The bird species from Lake Buloke last winter were much abundant and a lot more water in the lake then than now.
Boort - Smoke from the hill
Boort is known for its native birdlife. Boort is a local Aboriginal word meaning "Smoke from the hill". It is located 252 km north-west of Melbourne, in the Mallee region. This small town lies on the shores of Lake Boort where swans, ibis, pelicans and other birds can be observed.
Goschen - Lake Boga outing with Echuca Birdlife
Wedge-tailed Eagle, Raven and Rabbit
We got up at 7am on 13th Oct and by 8am we were on the way to Lake Boga to meet Echuca Birdlife at 9am. It was very fruitful day. By the end of day my bird list numbers increased from 202 to 213 and The list for the Mallee went up to 127. Highlights of the day included first sighting of Wedge-tailed Eagle on the road on the way to Lake Boga. The picture of this event is shown on the left. Several ravens were giving it very hard time and forced the Wedge-tailed Eagle took off without its dead rabbit. eh... Breakfast is gone. How such a big bird can be bothered by small birds who were only less a half of its size.
Second sighting was a flock of Cockatiels. They are so beautiful and graceful. I noticed that a couple of them were different from others with her tail feathers heavily barred. After checking with Morcombe's bird list, I learnt that female cockatiel has outer tail and rump barred yellow and grey. The photos below would show the difference between male and female. Another exciting sighting worth mentioning was Orange Chat at the lake near Kerang. At Goschen we saw Pied Honeyeaters, White-browed Babblers, Hooded Robins, Budgerigars etc. It was so good. We decided to come back the following weekend. Then I took photos of Rainbow Bee-eater, Red-backed Kingfisher. A colleague from work is keen bird watcher. She has told me she sighted Red-backed Kingfisher around Culgoa on the telephone wire. We have been to the nearby place and looking for the bird. We did not see one at Culgua. Surprisely we saw one at Goschen. Vairegated Fairy-wren are common at the Mallee than Superb Fairy-wren. They are so colourful but quite shy. I have tried to take clear pictures of them but seemed that they always make sure some sticks or grass are between you and them. Ok here are some photos for you to enjoy.
Second sighting was a flock of Cockatiels. They are so beautiful and graceful. I noticed that a couple of them were different from others with her tail feathers heavily barred. After checking with Morcombe's bird list, I learnt that female cockatiel has outer tail and rump barred yellow and grey. The photos below would show the difference between male and female. Another exciting sighting worth mentioning was Orange Chat at the lake near Kerang. At Goschen we saw Pied Honeyeaters, White-browed Babblers, Hooded Robins, Budgerigars etc. It was so good. We decided to come back the following weekend. Then I took photos of Rainbow Bee-eater, Red-backed Kingfisher. A colleague from work is keen bird watcher. She has told me she sighted Red-backed Kingfisher around Culgoa on the telephone wire. We have been to the nearby place and looking for the bird. We did not see one at Culgua. Surprisely we saw one at Goschen. Vairegated Fairy-wren are common at the Mallee than Superb Fairy-wren. They are so colourful but quite shy. I have tried to take clear pictures of them but seemed that they always make sure some sticks or grass are between you and them. Ok here are some photos for you to enjoy.
Lake Buloke - Over 1,000 Black-tailed Native-hens
Black-tailed Native-hens
Finally we have some decent weather coming. Here we were at Lake Buloke watching over 1,000 Black-tailed Native-hens scattered around the Lake. Back in Melbourne if we see 5-6 Native-hens we were getting really excited. Now we are seeing them in thousands. A very good news! Our sightings today are one Pelican, one Yellow-billed Spoonbill, eight Red-kneed Dotterels, one Black-fronted Dotterel and a plenty of teals, ducks.
Little Friarbird - they have beautiful and musical loud calls
Little Friarbird
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon at Avoca River near Charlton on 7th Oct 2012. We were struggling to decide where we were going for bird watching because of unsuitable weather conditions. Then we decided to go local. We climbed a few fences and finally were able to walk closely along the Avoca River. Despite concerning snakes in the long grass, as I heard a girl from work complained seeing snakes at her farm house last week, I kept alert but calm. Luckily no snakes but little friarbirds were spotted on our way back near a decent water hole. Firstly we were attracted by a very loud and melodious call. What was that?! And I saw over the bank were fairly big birds flying around gum trees at the edge of the water hole. It initially looked like Blue-faced Honeyeater to me as they were around our camps during the winter. As I haven't seen little friarbirds for over ten years but I am aware of their funny shapes. The next thing was to let Jim to confirm my signting. We waited for a little while until we spotted one in the gum tree and was reasonally still. Of course I took a few photos from far distance. Here it was. Another new species on my digital bird list since I had Michael Morcombe's Aus. Birds App. since November 2011. So far I have 202 species recorded in total and 96 in the Mallee region.
Australian Owlet-nightjar - Beware there is always someone looking over your shoulder
.
It was my happy day on 29th July 2012. It was around 11am in the morning at Wycheproof Cemetery. As always I was searching for all the tree hollows hoping I could see something like owls. Finally I got Australian Owlet-nightjar in my camera alive and awake shown on the picture on the left. It watched me for a while and then decided to duck down. I waited for a few minutes hoping it would come out again, It did. So I took a few more shots.
It was my happy day on 29th July 2012. It was around 11am in the morning at Wycheproof Cemetery. As always I was searching for all the tree hollows hoping I could see something like owls. Finally I got Australian Owlet-nightjar in my camera alive and awake shown on the picture on the left. It watched me for a while and then decided to duck down. I waited for a few minutes hoping it would come out again, It did. So I took a few more shots.