Many Australians know the sound of this bird's call but would not know what the Eastern whipbird looked like. The resonating whip-crack call can emanate from a patch of bush right in front of you but the bird(s) may never appear. I "out waited" this bird in the Sherbrooke section of the Dandenongs recently and finally got a photo - it took a good 20 minutes!! The dim light added to the difficulty and even with a clear view through my monopod-perched camera I still only managed one photo with which I was happy.
I do enjoy field guide quotes when well-written. Here is a selection relating to the Eastern whipbird:
Pizzey: Noisy but secretive (!) Morcombe: Loud ringing whip-crack call of this species is one of the most common, widely recognised eastern bird calls. From male, a long whistle building up to an explosive whip-crack; instantly answered with sharp "tchew-tchew" from female. Australian Bird Names (Fraser & Gray): Psophodes olivaceus (Latham 1802) so-FOH-dehz o-li-VA-se-us "olive-green noisy-bird"
Near Sherbrooke Falls, Dandenong Ranges, Vic
While this audio piece by "Wild Ambience" doesn't really do the explosive whip-crack justice (compared to hearing it at close range in the forest) it is a beautifully presented narration which demonstrates the male-female interaction well. Four minutes well spent!
The explorer and navigator George Bass (1771-1803) lived for only 32 years but is well-remembered across Southern Victoria (and indeed northern Tasmania) through the naming of geographical features and modern infrastructure. It is my impression (from reading the book Australian Bird Names by Fraser & Gray) that the Bassian Thrush is named in honour of the man only indirectly in that the bird's range falls in a biogeographical region that attracts the "Bass-ian" name. When translated literally the scientific name for Bassian Thrushtranslates as "crescent animal-hunter". Lunulata is clearly a reference to those wonderful "dark half-moons" (Pizzy). I actually reckon the incantation Zoothera lunulata could do some damage at Hogwarts!
For me Bassian Thrush are an "occasional" bird. I have only identified them on four occasions and I can clearly remember each encounter. This year I have seen two - one in the Huon region of Tasmania and now this one in the Dandenongs. I came across this fellow while exploring the forest between the Silvan Reservoir and Olinda the other day. When the low and feeble winter sun actually shines in Victoria the whole forest seems to breathe more happily!
I had wanted to explore the trails around the Eagle Nest Picnic Ground for some time but was always thwarted by closure of the vehicular tracks. Bizarrely the access track was again closed to cars the sign reading "Total Fire Ban". Anyway a check of the map suggested it was worthwhile parking the car at the blockade and walking 1-2km into the forest.
Eagle's Nest picnic area - perhaps with fresh landscaping. Maybe "current" works being the possible cause of road closures .... it's just easier without the public hooning around.
I placed a coffee on the picnic table at the left of shot, turned around and behind me was this Bassian Thrush! Well we poked around for 20 minutes or so. It showed me how well it could camouflage itself ....
.... and showed off its bold scalloped stripes.
I can't even see it now, but it is my recollection that I took this iPhone shot with the bird in there somewhere!
The Canon EOS has a video setting but I'm not really set up for video (& there's a bit of a familial tremor sneaking in as the years go by)! On this occasion some of the frames are sharp so I was inclined to share it. The birds calling in the background are Sulphur-crested cockatoos....
Eastern yellow robin, Dandenong Ranges National Park, Sherbrooke
Eastern yellow robin are really at home in the Sherbrooke Falls area of the Dandenongs east of Melbourne. They are readily seen and are enchanting to watch as they perch in classic robin poses!
I love to photograph them - they are both handsome and obliging. They tend not to fly too far away while hunting. On occasions a curious bird won't mind perching right in front of you if this allows a good view of a potential feed (see above!). They may only perch briefly but generally long enough to get settings and focus correct! Most importantly when perched they are extremely still - a blessing given that their preferred habitat often involves shaded forested areas with dull light!
I have not been at Sherbrooke's picnic areas on busy days but the local Crimson rosellas must be receiving food from the visiting public. They are extremely tame around the picnic tables.
A new bird for the blog and my Victorian life list is the charming Large-billed scrubwren.
I knew there was something different about this bird. At the time of viewing my only ID conclusion was "not a Brown thornbill". In my experience of this area, this is what nine out of ten small brown birds in the under-storey turn out to be! It's always good to be reminded that it's worth a second look to check for the "10 percenters"
White-throated treecreeper
The feeble winter sun shone briefly in Melbourne earlier this week!
What better way to break the winter birding hiatus I seem to experience than to immerse myself in the tall forest and wet gullies of Sherbrooke Forest in the Dandenong Ranges National Park. This is on the outer eastern fringe of the city of Melbourne and is well known for its Superb lyrebirds.
The conditions are tricky with dull light and dense vegetation. The photos can be a poor record of a wonderful experience! Lyrebirds have amazing mimicry skills. You cannot tick-off any bird relying on its call at Sherbrooke as you may well be listening to a male lyrebird.
Here a male tries to intimidate another male with a barrage of calls and display - I endeavoured to catch some of this on video ....
The mimicry in this short grab includes calls of Golden whistler and what I think may be introduced species Common myna and European Blackbird. There happens to be an actual White-throated treecreeper calling above me. Today I also heard excellent mimicry of Yellow-tailed black cockatoo, Red wattlebird and Laughing kookaburra (one lyrebird mimicking the call of two duelling kookaburras!).
The video also shows a female foraging at the side of the Sherbrooke Falls trail. Each time I have seen a Lyrebird foraging in my recent visits, there has been a White-browed scrubwren getting in on the action.
iPhone shot showing a very tolerant female Superb lyrebird, Sherbrooke Falls
You sort-of "had to be there" but I felt immersed in bush and birdsong at the Doongalla section of the Dandenong Ranges earlier last week. The video doesn't really do it justice (you may turn your speakers up a little ....)
What can you hear?
I do remember the first time I heard a Crimson rosella making its "Honky tonk" call. "What was that?" This was the first time I had been able to watch a bird at close range make the call. I was intrigued that such little bill movement was required for such a resonant piping!
Crimson rosella
Laughing kookaburra perching and stretching a wing. Another flew to the ground having spotted something of interest.
Australian King-parrot
Eastern yellow robin not far from its nest
Not a great shot of a Red-browed treecreeper but I see these infrequently so this was a good day!
You can read more about the history of the Doongalla homestead here (go to page 3 of this pdf file which is a chapter from a local history written by a Richard Coxhill). The house was destroyed by bushfire in 1932 and the property eventually bought by the State Government. I cannot believe that it once looked like this:
Doongalla Homestead c1910 from Richard Coxhill's "History of the Basin" (photo credited to a Fergus Chandler)
