Bass Coast Post - Notes of a bird watcher

The joy of birds

7/10/2021

Striated pardalote. Photos: Sue Woolley

By Sue Woolley

OUTSIDE our four walls is a wonderland of nature constantly enticing me. I walk daily in the local Wonthaggi area, and make the walk more interesting and fun by counting and recording the birds along the way, enjoying their antics and looking out for those elusive less common birds. Exercise for the body and the mind!

It’s a fascinating and rewarding hobby that involves quite a bit of detective work. First, you need to look for birds and then try to recognise them from their shape, size and colour. You will be surprised how many birds you already know, such as kookaburras, galahs, fairy wrens, rainbow lorikeets, blackbirds, cockatoos and robins.

Bird heaven

13/10/2020

Rainbow lorrikeets make short work of the sunflowers.
All photos by Liane Arno

By Liane Arno

IT WON’T take many guesses for you to work out why we named our newly purchased home, Blackberry House. The blackberry canes completely covered the quarter acre block.

They crept up over the enormous fig tree in the back yard as they sought the sun and crested at around 4 metres off the ground.

On quite a steep block, we looked out from the back verandah and thought that the blackberries stopped at the shed we could see poking out the back. A shed we thought was on the next door property – but no, it was on ours – but there was no way we could reach it without machete in hand! It was something out of Sleeping Beauty.

The birdman of Cape Paterson

16/9/2020

Falcon attacking a galah at dusk, using a stag as a launch point. The Galah survived. The Cape, August 2020. Photo David Hartney

By Catherine Watson

A FRIEND first alerted me to David Hartney and his newsletter. “There’s a chap here who’s a birder and photographer,” Jenny wrote. “I think you should have a look at what he’s doing.”

She emailed me several editions of Cape Chatter, which David has been compiling since he arrived to live at The Cape just over a year ago.

Cape Chatter is full of brilliant photos and descriptions of the wildlife – particularly the birds – around the eco village. In the most recent edition, number 18, David comments that he’s just recorded his 99th bird species in less than 12 months

The solace of birds

15/7/2020

In troubled times, Patsy Hunt turns to the comfort of a garden alive with birds.

I The residents
March 20, 2020 – If you have a supply of water and a garden that provides a food supply the birds will come.

III The visitors
May 15, 2020 - The koalas are gone from Cowes, writes Patsy Hunt, but so far the birds are hanging in there, thanks to people who still treasure their gardens.

V Occasional visitors
July 17, 2020 - Patsy Hunt celebrates occasional visitors to the garden: the silvereye, the brown goshawk, the yellow-tailed black cockatoo and the powerful owl.

II The regulars
April 17, 2020 - When the sound of a chainsaw jangles the nerves, Patsy Hunt returns to the comfort of her garden and the birds that call it home.

IV Birds that make a splash
June 19, 2020 - You don't have to be an expert to appreciate birds, writes Patsy Hunt. Enjoy their beauty, their tenacity and their ability to enjoy life despite all the threats they face.

VI Look to the skies
Aug 13, 2020 - Look to the skies near Rhyll and you may spot a white-bellied sea- eagle, writes Patsy Hunt in the final part of her series on Phillip Island birds.

Winging it

6/2/2020

Juvenile grey butcherbird. Photo: Mike Young (Creative Commons)

Pamela Jacka has a ringside seat for the adventures of a young magpie and butcherbird.

By Pamela Jacka

WHILE watching some tennis, I saw out of the corner my right eye a vision of a magpie hurtling down my path. Well, I don’t think I’ve seen a bird hurtle down a path before. It was then I realised that it was being helped in its hurtle by the young male cat from next door!

I flew out my front door (no pun intended) and saw one of the magpie parents loudly admonishing the cat, who had dumped his catch on the driveway next door. Young Billie/Billy (as in Billie the Kid) was lying prostrate on the next door driveway, swearing rather loudly. I carefully folded her/his wing against its body and noticed that its right foot was in its mouth. I don’t think I’ve seen a magpie with foot in mouth disease but who knows!

A family affair

26/9/2019

By Miriam Strickland
Photos: Pauline Wilkinson

WE HAVE been adopted by a family of magpies. An adult male started visiting in late winter two years ago, and occasionally we’d toss a bit of extra something his way; a few crumbs, a bit of cheese, a worm-sized bit of mince before it disappeared into the meatball mix. So of course he started appearing more often.

Out for the count

1/11/2018

Nola Thorpe missed out on the massive flock of little corellas that fly over Wonthaggi twice a day. Photo: Geoff Ellis

By Nola Thorpe

THE backyard bird count organised by Birdlife Australia in October each year is over for 2018 with a total of 2.6 million birds counted and 82,780 lists submitted.

Although it says “backyard” you are able to do a 20-minute survey anywhere in your local area. I was able to just sit on my back veranda and watch the bird world go by. I was never lucky enough, though, to log the flock of some hundreds of little corellas that fly over in the early morning or late in the afternoon.

There is a wonderful app that can be downloaded onto your phone or tablet which has a timer and a field guide to make the whole process very simple

I was able to submit sightings from My Backyard, The Wonthaggi Cemetery, Tank Hill, Wonthaggi Wetlands, The Rifle Range and McMahon’s Reserve.

As it was only for 20 minutes it didn’t take much of your day. It’s a great way to spend a bit of time appreciating the wonderful birdlife in this area.

New chicks on the block

4/7/2018

Cape Barren geese, The Nobbies, June 2018, Photo: Paul Cummings

On a recent visit to Phillip Island, Paul Cummings sighted this Cape Barren goose family between the Nobbies and Summerlands beach. The nest from which the chicks had recently hatched was still lined with down.

The elusive scarlet honeyeater

2/11/2017

The scarlet honeyeater. Photo: Greg Miles

The scarlet honeyeater. Photo: Greg Miles

They seek him here, they seek him there … Nola Thorpe goes in search of a rare bird.

My bathroom bird hide

6/5/2017

The bathroom view

By Nola Thorpe
May 6, 2017

BACK in the 1980s, when we bought our current house, the bathroom windows were the usual bathroom frosted glass but because I really like to see through my windows we had them replaced with clear glass. Privacy was not an issue as the bathroom is well down the side of the house with a high fence between us and the next door neighbours. Anyway we installed good blinds and any one sneaking down the side of the house would first have to negotiate with a very noisy dog.

Backyard birds

17/2/2017

A white-headed pigeon found its way to Nola Thorpe's garden, a long way from its usual territory.

By Nola Thorpe

THIS year I’ve been lucky enough to see two birds in (or at least from) my backyard that are not usually seen in this area.

Visitor from the south

14/11/2016

A Tasmanian boobook owl spotted at Cape Liptrap, Saturday night, October 31. Photo by Pauline Wilkinson

A Tasmanian boobook owl spotted at Cape Liptrap, Saturday night, October 31. Photo by Pauline Wilkinson

By Nola Thorpe

MANY birdos in the local area are talking about a Tasmanian boobook owl sighted around Cape Liptrap recently.

Have wings, will travel

8/10/2015

Yellow-tailed black cockatoos. Photo: Wayne Butterworth

Galahs, ibises, ravens and black cockatoos were once rare visitors to Bass Coast. Nola Thorpe charts the changing face of our birdlife.

Winter wonderland

26/7/2015

Cape Barren geese. Photo: Pauline Wilkinson

By Nola Thorpe

ALTHOUGH the forecast was anything but promising, nine keen birdos decided to take the risk and spend the morning walking around the tracks at the Wonthaggi desal plant.

Return of the robins

23/5/2015

By Nola Thorpe

AT THIS time of the year some people are lucky enough to notice small black and red birds sitting on fences or in low shrubbery around the outer edges of the built-up area.

These could be either scarlet robins or flame robins and they come back to our area at this time of the year after having spent the breeding season (spring and summer) in the rainforests.

The gorgeous little male flame robin has a bright flame-red colour that extends from its belly right up to its beak. The female is a uniform light brown with a small white spot over the bill.

The scarlet robin is not seen as often but has the same visiting routine. It has a scarlet breast and a black throat with a white spot on the head and some white feathers on its wing. The female is brown with a pale red wash on its breast.

Another robin that is occasionally seen in ferny gullies is the pink robin. Where the scarlet robin is red, this one is pink. I have seen them at Walkerville and Tarra Valley. Rose robins can also be seen in these forested areas.

Flame robins. Above, the flamboyant male. Below, the much plainer female. Photos: Pauline Wilkinson

Shorebird heaven

9/5/2015

Stockyard Point: Australian pied oystercatchers, gull-billed terns, whimbrels, eastern curlews, red-necked avocets, Caspian terns, silver gulls. Photos: Jack Airey

By Jack Airey

Jam Jerrup to Stockyard Point

ON A cool, overcast and windy morning in January, 27 members of the Ringwood Field Naturalists Club and two guests from the Peninsula Field Naturalists Club met at Jam Jerrup for an excursion to Stockyard Point, identified by BirdLife Australia as an important bird area in Western Port.

Western Port is the summer home to large numbers of international migratory shorebirds – birds that breed in Siberia and Alaska during the northern hemisphere summer and migrate south to Australia for our summer.

While in Australia, the birds spend most of their time living on intertidal mudflats and the edges of shallow bodies of water, hence the name shorebirds, feeding on the invertebrates, molluscs, gastropods and small crustaceans that inhabit these areas. Birdwatchers in Australia will regularly travel to good “shorebird sites” during the summer months to observe these beautiful and amazing birds.

Shorebird heaven

9/5/2015

Red-necked avocets and banded stilts at Jam Jerrup. Photo: Jack Airey

Red-necked avocets and banded stilts at Jam Jerrup. Photo: Jack Airey

By Jack Airey

ON A cool, overcast and windy morning in January, 27 members of the Ringwood Field Naturalists Club and two guests from the Peninsula Field Naturalists Club met at Jam Jerrup for an excursion to Stockyard Point, identified by BirdLife Australia as an important bird area in Western Port.

Surprise visitor

7/2/2015

White-headed pigeon. Photo: Glen Fergus

By Nola Thorpe

I HAVE started 2015 with a new bird app (The Michael Morecombe eguide to Australian Birds) for my phone so I am filling in my year's lists with fresh enthusiasm. I have lists for The Rifle Range, Campell Street Bush, Baxter's Wetland, the cemetery, Tank Hill, Screw Creek and home.

My longest list so far is at home and you never know what might turn up next.

For instance, last Friday I just happened to glance into the back yard and spotted a very unusual bird sitting quietly on a garden stake At first I thought it looked like a common pigeon that happened to be passing through but on closer inspection decided it was something I hadn't seen before.

A box of birds

6/12/2014

Laughing kookaburra. Photo: Leon Wilson.

By Nola Thorpe

A FEW years ago we decided to put some wooden nest boxes in the trees that line the back lane that runs between our house and McMahon's Reserve in Wonthaggi. Eric had a great little book about birds and the type of nest boxes they like to use. We chose a great kookaburra box in the hope that a pair of kookaburras we often saw in the area would like to make the reserve their home.

We placed it so we could see it from the sun deck and the house, and waited. Sure enough, they took a look and decided it was for them.

For three years we were privileged to enjoy the comings and goings of the kookaburra families, as sometimes the previous year's chicks would be still around for the new hatchlings.

A visitor from the north

13/9/2014

Beach stone-curlew. Photo: Summerdrought

By Nola Thorpe

FOR a month or so I had been hearing reports of a beach stone-curlew being seen around Inverloch. A beach stone-curlew would normally be found around the shoreline of northern states from Shark Bay in WA to Nambucca Heads in NSW.

It is a very large thick-set wader that is readily distinguished from all other waders by its size, massive bill with yellow patches at the base and a bold black and white pattern on its head.

I had been down three times to see if I could catch a glimpse but with no luck. Then
one sunny Sunday we had been down to Inverloch to one of the markets and I thought,
“Here goes, I’ll try again”.

The lonely pardalote

5/7/2014

Photo: Aviceda

By Nola Thorpe

One day last week I received a call from a friend who lives in North Wonthaggi. She had a bird in her garden that she didn't recognise. Did I have time to come over and have a look? So armed with my trusty bird books and my iPod, I went over immediately. Usually when someone makes that request, the bird is well and truly gone by the time I arrive but this time I was lucky.

The ibises of Campbell Street

10/5/2014

Australian White Ibis in flight at Serendip Sanctuary, Lara, in June 2009. Photo: Fir0002/Flagstaffotos".

By Nola Thorpe

At the western end of Campbell Street in Wonthaggi there is a patch of bush commonly referred to as the Campbell Street Bush.

As well as natural vegetation there are some very tall cypress trees and it is here that the ibises like to roost at this time of the year

One morning recently when I went for my walk with the whippet, the sun had barely risen and the air was chilly and still. The ibises, both Australian white and the straw-necked, were there in their hundreds.