It was a good day for bird watching weather-wise – sunny and light winds. There was a small but keen turn-up this month for the bird walk.
First stop was Blue Lake, which is in Ocean Grove. There is a good walking path around the lake of approximately 1.5 km. It is a popular spot, and there were lots of other people using the path. There were also lots of water birds and we recorded 36 species, with highlights as follows (complete list in table below):
- Australian Spotted Crake – very close and tiptoeing in the mud, as usual
- Little Grassbird – a bird that is often heard but seldom seen – this one was out in the open for a short time near the crake
- Great Crested Grebe – the grebe was diving out in the middle of the lake, but we had excellent sightings of the bird from both sides of the lake.
The only downer was a man with a whipper snipper who asks if we had seen the Snipe and Black-tailed Native-hen at the other end of the lake, which we had not!
Second stop was Lake Lorne, which is located at Drysdale and a 15 minute drive from Blue Lake. From our parking spot, we walked for around 30 minutes in an anti-clockwise direction, then returned for morning tea, and then walked for 30 minutes in a clockwise direction.
Plenty of birds including many swans, and 34 species in total. Highlights as follows:
- Pied (aka White-headed) Stilt – first year I have seen these at Lake Lorne
- Black-fronted Dotterel – pair sprinting along the edge of the lake – tiny birds compared to the surrounding water birds
- Blue-billed Duck – single bird
There were possibly Pink-eared Ducks on the edge of the main island, but hard to be sure given the distance. Sometimes Freckled Ducks can be seen at Lake Lorne, but none present that we could find.
Sorry to say, no photos of the birds available for this monthly report. However, an excellent morning of bird watching.
James Orton
Blue Lake – Bird List
The table below shows the names and count of birds seen on the walk at Blue Lake. Note this list has been recorded in eBird.
| Species | Count |
| Australian Wood Duck | 12 |
| Pacific Black Duck | 6 |
| Grey Teal | 7 |
| Chestnut Teal | 6 |
| Spotted Dove | 3 |
| Crested Pigeon | 2 |
| Australian Spotted Crake | 1 |
| Dusky Moorhen | 16 |
| Eurasian Coot | 56 |
| Australasian Swamphen | 8 |
| Masked Lapwing | 2 |
| Silver Gull | 2 |
| Great Crested Grebe | 1 |
| Australasian Darter | 1 |
| Little Pied Cormorant | 15 |
| Great Cormorant | 4 |
| Little Black Cormorant | 22 |
| Australian White Ibis | 3 |
| Royal Spoonbill | 2 |
| Great Egret | 1 |
| Australian Pelican | 2 |
| Little Corella | 7 |
| Sulphur-crested Cockatoo | 5 |
| Eastern Rosella | 9 |
| Rainbow Lorikeet | 6 |
| Noisy Miner | 18 |
| Red Wattlebird | 8 |
| White-plumed Honeyeater | 2 |
| Grey Butcherbird | 1 |
| Australian Magpie | 3 |
| Pied Currawong | 3 |
| Magpie-lark | 4 |
| Little Raven | 2 |
| Little Grassbird | 1 |
| Welcome Swallow | 4 |
| Common Starling | 3 |
Lake Lorne – Bird List
The table below shows the names and count of birds seen on the walk at Lake Lorne. Note this list has been recorded in eBird.
| Species | Count |
| Black Swan | 45 |
| Pacific Black Duck | 3 |
| Chestnut Teal | 5 |
| Hardhead | 2 |
| Blue-billed Duck | 1 |
| Crested Pigeon | 2 |
| Dusky Moorhen | 12 |
| Eurasian Coot | 150 |
| Australasian Swamphen | 5 |
| Pied Stilt | 4 |
| Black-fronted Dotterel | 2 |
| Masked Lapwing | 5 |
| Silver Gull | 51 |
| Australasian/Hoary-headed Grebe | 15 |
| Little Pied Cormorant | 13 |
| Great Cormorant | 1 |
| Australian White Ibis | 17 |
| Straw-necked Ibis | 6 |
| Royal Spoonbill | 1 |
| Australian Pelican | 3 |
| Rainbow Lorikeet | 4 |
| Superb Fairywren | 2 |
| Noisy Miner | 20 |
| Red Wattlebird | 5 |
| White-plumed Honeyeater | 2 |
| New Holland Honeyeater | 8 |
| Spotted Pardalote | 1 |
| Brown Thornbill | 2 |
| Australian Magpie | 2 |
| Willie Wagtail | 1 |
| Magpie-lark | 2 |
| Little Raven | 1 |
| Welcome Swallow | 3 |
| Common Myna | 1 |