Birding Killarney Beach

Dull but dry! Looking west from Killarney Beach towards the Port Fairy lighthouse. Low tide exposes the weed covered rocks which protect the beach from the surf.

Aahh, not enough time! Precious few moments to take in some serious birding, even less time for blogging. However I so enjoyed some birding moments at the weekend, I feel inspired to pen a post or two.

Labour Day long weekend in Victoria generally finds me at the Port Fairy Folk Festival. This year was no exception and I tore myself away from the music for a few hours to Killarney Beach, a reasonably reliable spot for Sanderling and other shorebirds, so I have read.

Being a long weekend I was sharing the beach with horse-riders, dog walkers, fisherman (a few of each) and a lone swimmer (yikes - it's the Southern Ocean for goodness sake!).

I was keen for Sanderling and I spent some time (read "45 minutes") watching a group of waders trying to convince myself that they weren't Red-necked stint and failed - they were. The low-tide had revealed seaweed-covered rocky reefs and patches of exposed seagrass. This underwater garden was laid bare for the camouflaged shorebirds to feast upon.

Several Red-necked stint and two Ruddy turnstone (look hard!)

The stints in particular loved the patches of sea-grass. There was also a pair of Pied oystercatcher and a young Kelp gull hanging around.

  

Oystercatcher, stint and turnstone

Kelp gull

These seagrass patches and reefs are just 50 metres to the west of the car park. Heading further west along the beach towards Port Fairy we come in to some serious Hooded plover territory. I saw six birds including a chick.

Distant view of an adult Hooded plover sending its chick to the safety of dune shrubs - away from the approaching photographer

Meet Hooded plover (Orange flag YY), proud parent doing its thing distracting me away from the chick "Come hither!"

Volcanic rock forms the reefs protecting the little bay from the Southern Ocean surf. White-fronted chat forage

  

Black swan and gulls including this Kelp gull were among the fly-bys.

Looking east, low tide Killarney Beach. You can see two small "islands" of sea grass

Now if you want Sanderling try heading East from the carpark! More to follow ...

Bird on!

The intriguing Musk Duck - Swan Lake, Phillip Island

Musk duck sit low in the water "platypus like". The presence of the leathery flap under the bill indicates that this is a male

As Pizzey says "A very strange duck". This one was swimming and diving quite close to our vantage point at Swan Lake's northern bird hide. The flow of "water off the duck's back" was quite impressive.

That tail flick again in case you missed it....!

This female bird was giving itself a belly rub (the back half of the bird is twisted belly-up)

Little black cormorant - love that eye colour!

Black swan

As usual there was good numbers of Eurasian coot

We surprised a Royal spoonbill who left the water to perch somewhat precariously on the ti-tree.

A very curious Brown thornbill was actually too close to the camera!

In the bird hide Welcome swallow chicks were excited by a camera flash until a "grown-up" came to settle things down 

Bird on!

Swans versus Hawks - The birds behind the teams! #aflgf

Well I do love my Aussie Rules Football and it's Grand Final week in Melbourne so here's a post about one of the best games in the world!

The birding link?

Well, this year's Grand Final combatants are the Sydney "Swans" and the Hawthorn "Hawks". The birder in me wanted to understand a little more about the choice of team mascot and logo design for these clubs. Would I be satisfied that they have a worthy connection with Australian birds? If not, why not?

(If you have 5 minutes you can watch the highlights from the classic 2012 Grand Final also played between the Hawks and Swans....)

We'll start with the Sydney Swans. The Swans were originally the Victorian-based South Melbourne Football Club. The club was transferred to Sydney in 1982 as the League was trying to expand to become a national competition. South Melbourne was originally founded in 1874. They played with a red and white jumper (red sash on white) and were known as "The Bloods".

It was not until the 1930s that the name "The Swans" came about. A journalist (Hec de Lacy) referred to the club as The Swans in articles written having a dig at an influx of Western Australian players at the time (the state of Western Australia has always featured Australia's Black Swan on its flag and coat of arms).

Black Swan, Cygnus atratus, Lake Wendouree, Ballarat, Vic

South Melbourne Football Club (1930s)

Why white swans and not black then? The club's home ground (Lake Oval) was at Albert Park Lake which was home to some introduced white swans. This fact as well as the prominent white background in the team colours meant that the Black swan was overlooked when designing logos! A Wikipedia article says that the "Feral white swans were removed from the park between the 1980s and 1990s".

Here's a few of my favourite shots of Australia's Black swan!

Deen Maar, Victoria 

Cygnets aboard, Swan Lake, Phillip Island

Keeping an eye on the raptors, Fisher's Wetland, Phillip Island

Not so graceful when landing

Bruny Island

Black swans among the godwits and oystercatchers at Observation Point, Phillip Island

The Hawthorn football club was nick-named the Mayblooms after a plant that apparently flowered profusely in the local area. A transformation followed a newspaper report of a pre-match address at which the coach Roy Cazaly urged the players to play like hawks.

My Australian Bird Names book (Fraser & Gray) says of the name:

"Hawk, from the old english hafoc, just meant any raptorial bird. it is still used today with much imprecision."

When logos arrived in 1977 the initial design featured a fairly non-specific raptor in flight.

I am pleased to say that the modern logo happens to strike a semblance with that pair of the most "hawkish" of Australian raptors - the Brown Goshawk and Collared Sparrowhawk. This is no doubt due to that piercing eye. The designers (Cato Purnell Partners) said of their creation:

"A modern integrated logotype combined with a sharply drawn, predatory hawk and a modern take on a traditional shield, forms the club's new brand."

Again the colours aren't true to any Australian bird but there's not much you can do when your team's colours are brown and gold (immature Brown goshawks get pretty close)!

Collared sparrowhawk or Brown goshawk? Due to only occasional exposure to these birds I have little confidence when differentiating between the two. I have read the guides and studied my photos but have very little confidence in the field. Any tips on the shots below greatly appreciated!

This bird just appeared at our powered site at Cable Beach Caravan Park in Broome! It's bulk and eyebrow had me tending towards Brown goshawk

I was looking for arty in this distant shot - again I was leaning towards Brown goshawk, Summerlands Peninsula, Phillip Island

Cropped view (click for larger)

My local experts were leaning towards Collared sparrowhawk, Alice Springs

No idea! Attempt at an ID shot through foliage #1. Hulls Road Wetlands, Lilydale, Vic

No idea! Attempt at an ID shot through foliage #2. A Silverleaves garden, Phillip Island - again click for a larger view

Sharing with Wild Bird Wednesday

May the best team bird win!

Bird on!