Southern Emu-wren at Deen Maar

Another Port Fairy Folk Festival meant another trip to Deen Maar. This is a gorgeous coastal wetland area centred on the Eumeralla River and Yambuk Lakes. It is an Indigenous Protected Area which means that permission must be gained before entry. This is currently arranged through the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust.

It is cited as a spot to see bittern so I am always hopeful but have remained disappointed in this regard! However I have found it a reliable spot to see Southern Emu-wren (see, but not photograph)! These birds give just distant glimpses and seem to spend most of their time in the middle of, or on the other side of a bush!

Here are the few shots I managed that at least show some identifiable features!

GOTCHA! Heard something that sounded a little like Superb fairy-wren and after a minute saw lilac/brown instead of black/blue! 

Southern emu-wren, Deen Maar, Yambuk, Vic

Another distant view of a pair of birds just showing the tail's six long "emu feather" plumes

 As in previous visits to Deen Maar the cisticola provide some great poses ….

Golden-headed cicticola, Deen Maar, Yambuk

White-browed scrubwren

Willie wagtail

"Ummm… Whaddaya say we add bird watching to the list?"

Eumeralla River looking west

Eumeralla River looking East (downstream towards Yambuk Lake and the estuary)

I heard what might be an Emu-wren somewhere in there! 

The Codrington Wind Farm turbine provides a constant backdrop. A cisticola and silvereye are perching on the shrub. 

Bird on!

Caspian terns, Phillip Island

These pictures were all taken last weekend while walking along a stretch of beach which extends from Cowes to Observation Point at the northeastern corner of Phillip Island.

This is the closest I have been to a Caspian tern (near Silverleaves, Phillip Island)!

Five things I have learnt about Caspian terns 

• I believe that their name relates to the region of the Caspian Sea. The name Hydroprogne caspia was given in 1770 by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas who led expeditions into "The East" visiting the Russian provinces, Ural Mountains and Caspian Sea)
• Their distribution is widespread, but scattered, occurring in Eurasia, North America, Africa and Australasia
• They are the world's largest tern with a wingspan of up to a 1 metre
• They can be quite dispersive. In Victoria we see them a little less in the winter months.
• Males and females are alike. Non-breeding birds have lighter flecks in that impressive black cap

They are a pretty regular sighting at Rhyll Inlet's Observation Point which I visited at the weekend (ostensibly to see if any migratory waders had arrived).

Looking towards Rhyll from Observation Point

This Caspian tern dwarfs these Red-necked stint while sharing a bath

Observation Point often has good numbers of Pied oystercatcher

Red-necked stint, Red-capped plover and a lone Hoodie (blurred top left) making use of the seaweed

Hooded plovers

I caught up once again with some of my banded friends. I have been photographing the bird at bottom right for some 5 years - What a trooper!

Red-capped plover

Australian White ibis crossing Westernport Bay from French Island

Grey fantail are often seen where the trees meet the beach

On this day Willie visited the beach as well

I have not noticed Willie wagtails with such brown on the wing before. I am wondering if these indicates an immature bird.

A few other beach scenes follow. The return trip had me looking into the setting sun. The clear waters of the bay were lent a metallic sheen and there were ships to be seen.

The container ship Ambrosia

What's that I spy? A tall ship at the Cowes jetty?

Closer inspection reveals the Sydney based Soren Larsen.

You can find out more about the history of this restored tall ship (and star of The Onedin Line BBC television series) here.

Sharing with Wild Bird Wednesday

Bird on!

Cisticola, Fairy-wrens & other Woolamai smalls

If these birds had hung around together a little longer then I may have made a better fist of capturing their moment together. These Golden-headed cisticola and Super fairy-wren shared the same patch of coastal heath when I visited Cape Woolamai recently.

Golden-headed cisticola and Superb fairy-wren, Cape Woolamai

Superb fairy-wren

Superb fairy-wren (female)

Golden-headed cisticola

There are few clues to the correct pronunciation of the name cisticola! It is one of those bird names that has to be heard before an attempt should be made. Sean Dooley does an excellent job in his book "From Anoraks to Zitting Cisticola":

Nothing gives a beginner away more quickly than mispronouncing the names of birds. It shouldn’t matter, but it does, and when I hear an experienced old-timer pronounce ‘plover’ so that it rhymes with ‘clover’ (it should rhyme with ‘lover’), I can’t help but give a misplaced smirk of superiority.
So for the record, if you want to avoid the sniggers of other birders, cisticola should be pronounced ‘sis-tick-er-la’ with the last syllables running together so that it sounds as though you are saying you have tickled your sister, not as if it was the latest flavour of Coke. And certainly try and avoid, as one friend used to say, ‘cisticular’. Particularly with the Zitting before it; people will think you are suffering from a medical condition. 'Sean was a healthy young man until he went to Darwin and picked up Zitting Cisticulars. Now it hurts when he pees.'

In my mind this male Golden-headed cisticola appears distracted by the flight of his love...

A few more Woolamai "smalls"....

Willie wagtail, Cape Woolamai (A "Woolie wagtail" perhaps?)

White-fronted chat

The scene where these shots were taken. Cape Woolamai, Phillip Island. The cape is at the eastern  most point of the island. Here is the view looking west across the rest of the island.

Bird on!

Bird construction Inc. (nests, tunnels, bowers)

It appears that summer in Wee Jasper is still family time with many juvenile birds around and still much evidence of nesting activity.

I am always a little excited to come up from Melbourne and see the Rainbow Bee-eaters. These are distant views taken across the Goodradigbee River but they show the bird leaving and approaching the nesting tunnel.

Rainbow bee-eater, January 2013

Fairy martin bottle nests

This Willie wagtail nest was built over the water. 

It was pointed out by the kids who had noticed it while floating down the river on tyre tubes. 

What works best - the feather or the cap? Not a nest of course but the bower of the Satin bowerbird.

And finally Marj K has some nice shots of Leaden flycatchers nesting at nearby Micalong Reserve.

Bird on!