There have been some unusual migratory waders (known as rarities) that have found their way to southern Australia this summer and I’ve been lucky to spot one or two of these amazing birds.
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to see the white-rumped sandpiper that is still inhabiting the T-section ponds at Western Treatment Plant (WTP). This species has not been seen in Australia since the 1970s.
In the same area of WTP, there have been a few long-toed stints and pectoral sandpipers.
My friend Kylie, who is a very keen birdwatcher, came to visit me from Sydney and we had a WTP, where we saw the ‘rarities’, plus brolgas, pied stilts, red-necked avocets and, the highlight for me, a close encounter with a black-tailed godwit, which is another migratory shorebird.
Closer to home a Siberian sandplover has been seen at Breamlea at Thompson Creek Estuary. According to the records that I have that were compiled by the late Tom Fletcher, this species was last seen by the Geelong Field Naturalists Bird Group at Swan Bay in 2011. This migratory shorebird is a medium-sized plover with a pale throat, brown back, and white a belly. Nonbreeding and immature birds are brownish above and white below, with a variable white forehead and eyebrow.
This bird closely resembles the greater sandplover which I have seen at Buffalo Creek in Darwin. To distinguish these two species the Siberian sandplover has a smaller head, darker legs and a shorter bill that has a small bulge at the tip.
I received an email from Su from Ocean Grove, who reported that a sacred kingfisher has been seen in Anglesea recently. I’ve seen a few around the Bellarine as well this summer and it’s always great to spot one or two of these beautiful birds.
I received an email from Robyn, who told me that on January 7 around 9.30pm, she saw a tawny frogmouth perched on the Powell St West sign in President’s Avenue, just outside Ocean Grove Park. It looked fairly small, so it was probably a female bird. It was the first one that Robyn had seen here.
On the same topic I received an email from Marianne who was excited to find a tawny frogmouth feather near her garden. Marianne would like to think that there are a few tawnies in the tall eucalyptus trees in the park and footy oval in old Ocean Grove and she hopes that they drink from the water dishes in Marianne’s garden at night.
Marianne is about to read the Jennifer Ackerman book ‘What An Owl Knows’. Marianne also informed me that the six cygnets on Blue Waters Lake are thriving and are nearly fully grown despite the blue-green algae.
I received an email from Andrew, who reported a couple of not unusual recent sightings which may be of interest – a superb fairy wren at Breamlea and a yellow-tailed black cockatoo feeding at Ocean Grove Nature Reserve.
I also heard from Andrea Dennet from Barwon Heads, who had morning tea at her house watching a sizeable flock of yellow-tailed black cockatoos in the trees around her house.
