The site was selected a month earlier, on the suggestion of Janet Stephens. On the day that Christine and I checked out the location, there were thousands of birds, with large numbers of Chestnut Teal and “flotillas” of Grebes, a highlight being one small group of Red-necked Avocets.
On 8 June, the weather was fine, calm and sunny for our modest crew of six. We started our recordings where we parked, at the end of Foreshore Road, which is the beginning of a bitumen, walking and cycling track that runs north on the west side of the Bay. It is slightly elevated, which makes it easier to view birds across the expanse of water using our telescopes.
There were a large number of birds at hand, and our list of species swelled by the minute! Early recordings included Pied Oystercatchers, Banded Stilts, Pelicans, Chestnut and Grey Teal and Royal Spoonbills. After some time, we moved along the walking track, and continued to see new waterbirds.
Whilst we didn’t see any Avocets, we did see a Wedge-tailed Eagle being harassed by a Whistling Kite. The large numbers of Chestnut Teal seen a month earlier, were mostly absent, but more Grey Teal were noted in groups of about twenty birds each.
As we walked along the track, some open grass/farm land birds were spotted, including a pair of Brown Falcons and one White-fronted Chat on cultivated land. The mostly exotic grass land area also contained many introduced bird species.
While we didn’t walk to the north end of the Bay the raptors disturbed the waterbirds and the number and variety of birds that took to the air was impressive from a distance. I am sure our list would have expanded if we had gone the extra distance!
I would recommend this spot to anyone with an interest in waterbirds. While a telescope and stand is handy you can see a lot of birds with a good set of binoculars. You can walk the entire western side of the Bay and then under the freeway to Lara if you are fit enough!
Below are all the birds identified on this walk:
1. White-plumed Honeyeater
2. White-faced Heron
3. Banded Stilts
4. Pied Oystercatchers
5. Little Pied Cormorants
6. Masked Lapwing
7. Pelicans
8. Chestnut Teal
9. Grey Teal
10. Magpie Larks
11. White (Sacred) Ibis
12. Royal Spoonbills
13. Silver Gulls
14. Great Egret
15. Caspian Terns
16. Ravens
17. Australasian Grebes
18. Little Black Cormorant
19. Pacific Gull
20. Black Swans
21. Red Wattle Birds
22. Magpies
23. Superb Blue Wrens
24. Starlings
25. Crested Pigeons
26. Galahs
27. Whistling Kite
28. Spotted Pardalote
29.Yellow-rumped Thornbills
30. Willie Wagtails
31. White-fronted Chat
32. Brown Falcon
33. New Holland Honeyeater
34. Blackbirds
35. Sparrows
36. Butcherbird (heard )
37. Wedge-tailed Eagle
38. Pied Cormorant
Peter and Christine Forster