I have been out and about a few times lately, which I’ve enjoyed.
I drove to Bendigo where I found myself sitting under a shady tree in 42 degree heat looking at an unusual bird, namely a southern scrub-robin.
The first sighting I had of this species was at Monkey Mia in Western Australia. This ground dwelling bird is mainly brown in plumage, with a vertical black mark through the eye. The upper tail is rufous brown in colour. The eye is dark brown and the bill and legs are black.
These birds can be seen in dense, dry Mallee scrublands, and coastal tea-tree locations, in southern Australia and in various locations in southwest WA.
My friend Denis told me that this particular southern scrub-robin has been in the same habitat for around two years and is always solitary. It was difficult to photograph as it ran between bushes and hid under them.
We also went to Mount Korong where the first bird I saw was a painted honeyeater, but I was disappointed with my photos as the sun was right behind the bird. I enjoyed seeing the bird as I’ve always wanted to spot a painted honeyeater and they are such pretty birds.
I also heard from Barry and Bernie that there was a grey goshawk (white morph) hanging around Blue Waters Lake.
We walked around and eventually saw it, but my photos were not great as the bird was trying to hide in the trees while noisy miners and magpies were harassing it. Voice reader Alan luckily took much better photos of the magnificent bird compared to mine.
I received an email from Carole who travelled to Queenscliff a couple of times during the week and noted a single little egret and royal spoonbill in the tree near the corner of Symons Road and Gellibrand Street.
Later in the week signalled the arrival of more little egrets and royal spoonbills. Carole looked up the collective noun for a group of egrets and found out they can be considered a congregation, a siege, a wedge or a skewer.
If the spoonbills arrive in a group they are named a bowl, a canteen, a clatter or even a cutlery. Carole rather likes to tell people that she has seen a cutlery of spoonbills and a congregation of egrets.
Kevin also visited Queenscliff and also spotted little egrets and nankeen night herons. There has been a colony of Little Egrets nesting in the same tree in Queenscliff for the last approximately 10 years, and apparently there are around 30 nestlings in the tree this year.
Kevin also informed me that after hearing a laughing kookaburra at the Barwon River in Winchelsea, he was pleased to see it perch in a nearby tree. To his surprise, a second, then a third came to the same tree.
