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The day was overcast and very humid and it appeared as if it was going to downpour. Unfortunately (as the land needs rain) we only had a light shower, but it was easier for birdwatching.

Six keen birdwatchers arrived at Shiny Eye Track in the Anglesea Heath. However, there was very little bird activity. Spotted Pardalotes and Wattle Birds were heard calling. There were the usual suspects of Sulphur-crested cockatoos, Pied Currawongs, and Magpies.

Bird watchers

We walked a way along Shiny-Eye Track and saw and heard Grey Fantails, White-eared Honeyeaters and Brown Thornbills. Despite quite a few gumtrees in flower, the only honeyeater was the white-eared.

Throughout the walk we could hear Fan-tailed Cuckoos calling and a Horsfield Bronze-Cuckoo calling. We went in search of it but it kept out of sight. We walked in a loop and turned onto Honeypots Track. Here we had good sightings of a male Scarlet Robin and a Varied Sittella high up in a dead tree. We had a little excitement when 2 of our party sighted a small bird near a grasstree which had rufous colouring on its chest. Its manner of flying low in the vegetation and how it disappeared through the vegetation on the ground, did make me think it could have been a Southern Emu-wren. We went through the heath but did not flush it out.

Two days earlier I had been in the same area and had seen and heard an Oriole and a pair of Blue-winged Parrots. Neither were seen on this visit.

Although not a bird, we did get a good look at an Imperial Jezebel butterfly when it landed lowdown on a tree near the track. It opened its wings and stayed for some time and we could identify its markings as that of an Imperial, not the Painted Jezebel.

List for this area:

  1. Spotted Pardalote
  2. Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
  3. Red Wattle Bird
  4. Australian Magpie
  5. Pied Currawong
  6. Grey Shrike-Thrush
  7. Golden Whistler (female)
  8. Scarlet Robin (male)
  9. Varied Sittella
  10. White-Browed Scrubwren
  11. Raptor sp. (passing overhead)
  12. Grey Fantail
  13. Brown Thornbill
  14. Fan-tailed Cuckoo
  15. Horsfield Bronze-cuckoo
  16. Crimson Rosella
  17. White-eared Honeyeater
  18. White-throated Treecreeper
  19. Superb Fairy-wren

We then went to Harrison Track South off Gum Fats Road. We only spent a short time here and again there were only a few birds visible. We had good views of a flock of Spotted Pardalotes in the trees and a WhiteBrowed Scrubwren, who was feeding on the ground and didn’t appear that concerned about us.

List for this area:

  1. Pallid Cuckoo (heard calling)
  2. Spotted Pardalote
  3. White-browed Scrubwren
  4. Grey Fantail
  5. Brown headed Honeyeater (heard calling)
  6. Superb Fair-Wren
  7. Grey Shrike-Thrush

Cheryl West Lau