The weather was cold, but some sunshine and light winds. We were off to Hospital Swamp which is at the western end of Lake Connewarre, and a good spot for both water birds and bush birds. Troy Zanker and Karyn Brown from Geelong Field Naturalist Club (GFNC) who often go bird watching at the swamp had kindly agreed to come along, and lead the walk.
We looked around near the parking area for ten minutes, and then headed off walking north along the side of the swamp towards Lake Connewarre itself. The path is rocky in places and a bit muddy at this time of the year. For those without gum boots, two wire fences had to be negotiated. Not lots of birds swimming on the water, but there were lots of swamphens (50+) busy on the bank across the water.
Many species seen including a Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater (see photo), Whiskered Tern, Great Crested Grebe, prowling Swamp Harriers, and various honeyeaters and parrots.
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
On the return trip there were two Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes sitting elegantly on the wire fence.
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
When we got back to the cars, a pair of Brown Falcons were sitting close by.
Brown Falcon
The bird list below highlights the range of birds that can be seen at Hospital Swamp.
We then headed off to Taits Point which is a good lookout over the lake. A highlight here were three Nankeen Night-Herons sitting in cypress trees on the nearby farm, and a fourth night heron sitting in a eucalypt. We also did a bird list at Taits Point, and counted 150+ Chestnut Teal. Also at Taits Point, a mobile phone was unfortunately dropped between slats of a wooden platform and couldn’t be retrieved, despite everyone’s best efforts. A friend was eventually called and subsequently rescued the phone using an electric saw. Aside from this drama, it was a very enjoyable morning of bird watching and thanks to Troy and Karyn.
James Orton
Photos by Karyn Brown
Hospital Swamp – Bird List
The table below shows the names and count of birds seen on the walk at Hospital Swamp. Note this list has been recorded in eBird, and shared with the Angair eBird account.
| Species | Count |
| Black Swan | 25 |
| Australian Shelduck | 2 |
| Pacific Black Duck | 8 |
| Chestnut Teal | 20 |
| Spotted Dove | 1 |
| Crested Pigeon | 14 |
| Eurasian Coot | 20 |
| Australasian Swamphen | 60 |
| Masked Lapwing (Black-shouldered) | 7 |
| Whiskered Tern | 1 |
| Hoary-headed Grebe | 50 |
| Great Crested Grebe | 1 |
| Australasian Darter | 1 |
| Pied Cormorant | 1 |
| Australian White Ibis | 2 |
| Royal Spoonbill | 1 |
| Yellow-billed Spoonbill | 1 |
| White-faced Heron | 5 |
| Great Egret | 1 |
| Australian Pelican | 7 |
| Swamp Harrier | 2 |
| Brown Falcon | 2 |
| Crimson Rosella | 5 |
| Eastern Rosella | 6 |
| Red-rumped Parrot | 5 |
| Rainbow Lorikeet | 5 |
| Superb Fairywren | 15 |
| Yellow-faced Honeyeater | 15 |
| Noisy Miner | 6 |
| Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater | 1 |
| Red Wattlebird | 2 |
| White-plumed Honeyeater | 8 |
| White-fronted Chat | 3 |
| New Holland Honeyeater | 8 |
| Striated Fieldwren | 1 |
| White-browed Scrubwren | 6 |
| Brown Thornbill | 2 |
| Black-faced Cuckooshrike | 2 |
| Grey Shrikethrush | 2 |
| Grey Butcherbird | 1 |
| Australian Magpie (White-backed) | 1 |
| Willie Wagtail | 1 |
| Magpie-lark | 3 |
| Little Raven | 10 |
| Flame Robin | 1 |
| Golden-headed Cisticola | 1 |
| Little Grassbird | 6 |
| Welcome Swallow | 40 |
| Common Starling | 18 |
| House Sparrow | 2 |
| European Goldfinch | 1 |
Taits Point – Bird List
The table below shows the names and count of birds seen at Taits Point. Note this list has also been recorded in eBird.
| Species | Count |
| Black Swan | 52 |
| Pacific Black Duck | 20 |
| Grey Teal | 7 |
| Chestnut Teal | 156 |
| Musk Duck | 2 |
| Eurasian Coot | 90 |
| Silver Gull | 12 |
| Hoary-headed Grebe | 2 |
| Little Pied Cormorant | 9 |
| Great Cormorant | 1 |
| Australian White Ibis | 2 |
| Royal Spoonbill | 3 |
| Yellow-billed Spoonbill | 1 |
| Nankeen Night Heron | 4 |
| White-faced Heron | 1 |
| Great Egret | 1 |
| Australian Pelican | 6 |
| Swamp Harrier | 1 |
| Nankeen Kestrel | 1 |
| Superb Fairywren | 3 |
| Noisy Miner | 3 |
| Red Wattlebird | 1 |
| White-plumed Honeyeater | 2 |
| New Holland Honeyeater | 3 |
| Spotted Pardalote | 1 |
| White-browed Scrubwren | 1 |
| Brown Thornbill | 1 |
| Australian Magpie (White-backed) | 2 |
| Welcome Swallow | 2 |