Bird walk: Lot 2 and Distillery Creek – 11 April 2026

The weather was threatening but in the end the wind was ok for birdwatching, and no rain. There was a reasonable turn-out of eight people to visit Lot 2, which is a property on the Bambra Road (Aireys Inlet) that has been revegetated over the past 8 years. The Painkalac Creek runs along one side of the property, and this provides for some water birds, in addition to the bush birds on the property itself.

We initially walked around the mowed path on Lot 2. The soil quality must be excellent since the trees have grown to many metres high in a relatively short time. There were some Yellow-faced Honeyeaters moving through above the trees in a group of about 20 birds. And two Golden Whistlers in amongst the trees. One of the whistlers was doing the drawn-out seep, seep, seep call which you only hear (locally at least) occasionally, and easy to forget it is coming from a Golden Whistler.

A highlight were some Dusky Woodswallows sitting on the branches of dead trees along the creek. Also some Striated Pardalotes and White-naped Honeyeaters but these were high-up in the eucalypt leaves and harder to see. As usual, we walked down the east side of the creek in a southerly direction. There were 40+ Wood Ducks in the farmyards on the other side of the creek. Highlights walking alongside the creek included three Wedge-tailed Eagles overhead, a couple of White-plumed Honeyeaters (this is the only spot in Aireys Inlet where you can regularly see these birds), and a Yellow-billed Spoonbill up in a tree above the creek.

Yellow-billed Spoonbill (photo by Conrad White)

It was a big day for Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, and plenty of screeching up above, and in the paddocks. On the way back from the creek walk, we searched for Southern Emu-wrens in the open area of Lot 2. There were Superb Fairy-wrens, but no Emu-wrens – perhaps the sun was a bit weak to lure them into the open?

We drove to the Distillery Creek picnic area for morning tea, and there were lots of nice things to eat. We also did a bird list at Distillery Creek, but it was a relatively quiet day in terms of different species, and the bird list has not been included below.

Overall, a good day of birdwatching, and highlighting again that Lot 2 and the Painkalac Creek are an excellent spot to see local species. Full bird list below.

James Orton

Lot 2 – Bird List

The table below shows the names and count of birds seen on the walk at Lot 2. Note this list has been recorded in eBird, and shared with the Angair eBird account.