April 17, 2005
Afternoon
After the wineries, we stopped at Lake Monger, very near Helen & Daniel’s home. There, we discovered a big lake just PACKED with great birds. OMG so many birds, including several new species for me!
I was pleased to see a new species of grebe: Hoary-headed Grebe swimming and diving in the lake. I saw both Australasian Grebe, and a Great Crested Grebe, as well. There were lots and lots of ducks, as well. It took me a while to identify the Musk Duck, because at first, I thought perhaps the male was a mutant, with a strange flap of skin hanging beneath the neck, until we saw others that looked just like it. A look at the book after I got home confirmed that they are supposed to look like that. These like to dive a lot, too, and seem to stay under for a long time. Blue-billed Duck are small and pretty, and reminiscent of the Ruddy Duck back home. We saw a few of them, although their bills didn’t look very blue. I love the reddish brown color of the body, though.
I also managed to get close-up looks at birds I’d only seen at a distance previously. (YAY)! Black Swan were begging for food, close enough that I could have reached out and touched them. They seem to have a much longer and more flexible neck than the Mute Swans I’m used to seeing – they can bend those necks into a lot of different shapes. I also had a chance to photograph Australian Pelican at close range, allowing me to see how different they look from the pelicans in North America, with eyes that look overly large for the rest of the bird. Still, they’re so cool, especially in flight. This one begged a bit for food, but soon gave up and flew away.
Another new bird today was the Southwestern Australian Swamphen, much bigger than the other coots and moorhens, with a huge, brightly-colored beak, and plumage in gorgeous shades of blue and purple. A really cool bird, but reasonably shy.
Strange-looking Pink-eyed Duck were first spotted in a large flock flying out over the lake at a distance. Fortunately, later I saw a pair of them closer to shore. A shoveler, but even stranger in appearance than our North American variety. There were also Australian Shoveler here, wonderfully colored and similar in profile to our North American shoveler, but with completely different plumage. Very pretty.
Another favorite of the day were Black-fronted Dotterel. So pretty, and I might have missed them, but Helen pointed them out as they foraged on the tiny strip of beach. Lovely color on the beak and around the eye, and very tiny – no bigger than the Red-necked Stint we’d seen earlier in the trip. I was also pleased to see a large flock of Red-necked Avocet and a few Banded Stilt, although they were a bit far away to get any close-up photos. The Pied Stilt were more cooperative today, coming much closer.
This was a great location for birding, plus some playground equipment for Eclipse.
Species List
Hoary-headed Grebe (Poliocephalus poliocephalus), Musk Duck (Biziura lobata lobata), Blue-billed Duck (Oxyura australis), Black Swan (Cygnus atratus), Pacific Black Duck x Mallard (Anas superciliosa x platyrhynchos), Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus), Grey Teal (Anas gracilis), Australian Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides), Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra australis), Australasian Grebe (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae), Southeastern Australian Swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus bellus), Mallard (Domestic) (Anas platyrhynchos domestica), Greylag x Swan Goose (Anser anser x cygnoides), Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca), Pink-eared Duck (Malacorhynchus membranaceus), Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus), Australian Shoveler (Spatula rhynchotis), Black-fronted Dotterel (Elseyornis melanops), Pied Stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus), Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa tenebrosa), Red-necked Avocet (Recurvirostra novaehollandiae), Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus), Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena carteri), Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus moluccanus), Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata woodwardi), Willie-wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys), Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides perplexus), Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae novaehollandiae)
Let me know what you think!