We were fortunate with another good day for birdwatching with some sun and light winds. There was a good turn-up for a local trip to the Aireys Inlet Treatment Plant. There is a wire fence around the ponds these days, but the distance to the water for viewing the birds is still okay. In addition, this can be a good place for seeing bush birds, and sometimes the bush birds are helpful and perch on the wire fence! There is also a concrete wall along the perimeter adjacent to the road, and in some places the height is not helpful for bird watching for people of shorter stature.
We parked at the southern end of the Treatment Plant, and walked north alongside the concrete wall. As usual, there was plenty of bird activity on the lower pond including Musk Ducks, Hardheads, and Australian Shelducks. The latter were doing some serious honking. We walked up to the small, natural pond past the northern end of the Treatment Plant. This is often a good spot for small birds looking for a drink, and today we saw a male Golden Whistler and Eastern Yellow Robin.
Yellow Robin (photo by Louise Price)
On the way back we saw a male and female Scarlet Robin sitting on the wire fence.
Some of the group left at this point, and the remainder drove to Distillery Creek, and walked around the picnic area. The Red Wattlebirds were in full raucous cry, and dominating the trees. Highlights were lots of Eastern Yellow Robins, and a pair of Bassian Thrushes, seen within a couple of metres of each other. I have seen Bassian Thrushes many times in the Distillery Creek area, but don’t remember seeing two together.
There was no morning tea, but it was a good morning of birdwatching, and a great opportunity to show a close location where interesting birds can regularly be seen.
Bird lists for the two locations below.
James Orton
Aireys Inlet Treatment Plant – Bird List
The table below shows the names and count of birds seen on the walk at the Treatment Plant. Note this list has been recorded in eBird, and shared with the Angair eBird account.
| Species | Count |
| Australian Shelduck | 7 |
| Grey Teal | 8 |
| Hardhead | 20 |
| Musk Duck | 3 |
| Eurasian Coot | 20 |
| Hoary-headed Grebe | 20 |
| White-faced Heron | 1 |
| Laughing Kookaburra | 1 |
| Sulphur-crested Cockatoo | 5 |
| White-throated Treecreeper | 2 |
| Superb Fairywren | 5 |
| Eastern Spinebill | 2 |
| Red Wattlebird | 5 |
| New Holland Honeyeater | 2 |
| White-eared Honeyeater | 2 |
| White-naped Honeyeater | 1 |
| Striated Thornbill | 3 |
| Brown Thornbill | 1 |
| Grey Shrikethrush | 3 |
| Golden Whistler | 1 |
| Australian Magpie | 1 |
| Grey Currawong | 1 |
| Little Raven | 1 |
| Scarlet Robin | 2 |
| Eastern Yellow Robin | 1 |
| Welcome Swallow | 5 |
Distillery Creek Picnic Area – Bird List
The table below shows the names and count of birds seen on the walk at Distillery Creek. Note this list has also been recorded in eBird.
| Species | Count |
| Laughing Kookaburra | 2 |
| Galah | 2 |
| Sulphur-crested Cockatoo | 15 |
| Crimson Rosella | 4 |
| Rainbow Lorikeet | 6 |
| White-throated Treecreeper | 2 |
| Superb Fairywren | 2 |
| Eastern Spinebill | 5 |
| Red Wattlebird | 25 |
| New Holland Honeyeater | 10 |
| Spotted Pardalote | 1 |
| Brown Thornbill | 3 |
| Golden Whistler | 1 |
| Australian Magpie | 2 |
| Little Raven | 1 |
| Eastern Yellow Robin | 6 |
| Bassian Thrush | 2 |