Last month, blessed by still, sunny weather, we had a magical morning at Prue Acton’s lovely property.
Our bird count was low, 27 species, but we were surrounded by glorious bird song.
Walking through the property
Cuckoos, whistlers and bristlebirds were all identified only by their distinctive ringing calls. Many small bush birds flittered around but were hard to see, and difficult to identify by call.
We had morning tea by a delightful dam where some of the ‘invisible’ birds, such as White-eared Honeyeater, braved our presence to have a drink, and kookaburras called in the distance.
White-eared Honeyeater
No need to tell you the birds above!
A highlight for me was a dry creek bed inhabited by stunning twisted and gnarled ironbarks (I can’t help but look at plants also)!
Later we crossed over to the public cliff top pathway, to a lookout toward Point Addis.
The stile to be negotiated on the way to the clifftop pathway
On the lookout
The view towards Point Addis
We were very pleased to see some soaring Shy Albatross, and one Caspian Tern, only identified by the help of the zoom lens of Margaret’s camera. I thought it looked too large to be a tern, as I could not see its beautiful, robust red beak. However, it is in fact the largest of the terns with a 1.1 to 1.4 m wingspan.
Shy Albatross
We do appreciate being able to go birding on beautiful private properties like this, so thank you, Prue! (And we would welcome offers from other people.)
Below is a list of the identified birds:
- Shining Bronze-Cuckoo
- Fan-tailed Cuckoo
- Silver Gull
- Caspian Tern
- Shy Albatross
- Black-shouldered Kite
- Laughing Kookaburra
- Crimson Rosella
- Superb Fairywren
- Red Wattlebird
- New Holland Honeyeater
- White-eared Honeyeater
- Brown-headed Honeyeater
- Rufous Bristlebird
- Spotted Pardalote
- White-browed Scrubwren
- Brown Thornbill
- Australian Magpie
- Pied Currawong
- Gray Currawong
- Gray Shrikethrush
- Rufous Whistler
- Gray Fantail
- Little Raven
- Eastern Yellow Robin
- Welcome Swallow
- Silver-eye
Ellinor Campbell