In late summer we had, in modern parlance, an ‘awesome’ visit to Melbourne Water at Werribee on a glorious sunny day, fortunately not too hot.
Stilts
Initially, on the inland sewage ponds we saw thousands of ducks and other of species of year-round shorebirds, such as the oh-so-handsome Pink-eared Ducks, also many Stilts , mostly Black-winged, three Maned Stilts, and a few Avocets.
Lots of birds on the ponds
Pink-eared Ducks
Stilts
After we had our fill of these we moved on to the bay waters for the migratory waders.
Lots of birds on the bay
We were not disappointed as flocks of them wheeled around, and, after landing, fed non-stop running around the mud flats. We worked on identifying the three most common species, but were not sure if there were less common species in amongst them.
We often were not sure exactly where we were on the map, but there were so many birds to see that everywhere was good.
Checking species and numbers at the end
We departed in the late afternoon happy with a total of 58 species.
Ellinor Campbell
Below is a list of all the birds identified:
Black Swan
Australian Shelduck
Pacific Black Duck
Australian Shoveler
Gray Teal
Chestnut Teal
Pink-eared Duck
Blue-billed Duck
Musk Duck
Hoary-headed Grebe
Little Black Cormorant
Pied Cormorant
Little Pied Cormorant
Australian Pelican
Great Egret
White-faced Heron
Australian Ibis
Straw-necked Ibis
Yellow-billed Spoonbill
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Swamp Harrier
Black Kite
Whistling Kite
Australasian Swamphen
Eurasian Coot
Pied Stilt
Banded Stilt
Red-necked Avocet
Masked Lapwing
Common Greenshank
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Red-necked Stint
Silver Gull
Whiskered Tern
Spotted Dove
Crested Pigeon
Galah
Superb Fairywren
Red Wattlebird
Singing Honeyeater
White-plumed Honeyeater
White-fronted Chat
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Australian Magpie
Willie-wagtail
Magpie-lark
Little Raven
Sky Lark
Welcome Swallow
Tree Martin
Australian Reed-Warbler
Little Grassbird
European Starling
Common Myna
Australasian Pipit
European Goldfinch
House Sparrow