There’s been some great birds seen around Geelong over the past few weeks.
Ocean Grove locals George and Chrissy spotted a very unusual bird on Beach Road near the Western Treatment Plant (WTP), namely an oriental plover.
This bird was seen in a cow paddock mingling with a flock of banded lapwings. This species of plover breeds in northern China and Mongolia and then migrates to Australia in the late spring and early summer.
During the non-breeding season this species is usually seen in open grasslands of northern Australia, particularly in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Gulf of Carpentaria of Queensland.
Occasionally they fly further south as this bird has done. Since the bird was spotted it’s been a bit of a huge attraction around Beach Road with many birdwatchers travelling from far and wide to see it. Pete Sullivan and I were lucky to spot it, but it was seen from around 500 metres, so my photos were very ordinary.
We saw more than 60 species of birds WTP, including many pink-eared ducks, a few blue-billed ducks, some bar-tailed godwits and red knots. It was lovely to go to the WTP after a pretty long layoff.
George and Chrissy also saw another migratory bird at Queens Park in Geelong, namely a channel-billed cuckoo, which migrates to Australia at this time of year from Indonesia and New Guinea. This bird was initially seen in a large fig tree in Queens Park but seems to have moved on quickly.
Pete and I tried to find it on our way back from WTP, but it was nowhere to be seen. I have seen these birds along the southern NSW coast, but Pete had never seen one, so it’s a shame that it didn’t hang around for much longer on the large fig tree.
Pete told me that there are freckled ducks currently at Lake Lorne, Blue Waters Lake and Begola Wetlands, as well as pink-eared ducks at Lake Lorne. I must try and get there with my camera as these duck species are so beautiful.
On the theme of migratory waders, Alan spotted a Latham’s snipe at Blue Waters Lake during the week. These birds migrate to Australia from Japan. He also saw a royal spoonbill in breeding plumage with long nuptial plume feathers. There was a recent Latham’s snipe count at Begola Wetlands and it has once again proved to be a bumper spot for snipe, with more than 70 counted there.
There is a pair of hooded plovers nesting on the dog beach in Ocean Grove, where they successfully fledged a chick last year. This chick was the only one to survive on the entire Bellarine Peninsula.
Please take note of signs and keep your dogs under control around the nesting area. The beach will be blocked off once the eggs hatch. There was an incident this week where a dog owner allowed her out of control dog to chase the adult hoodies for at least 10 minutes despite a volunteer being present on the beach.
This was traumatising for the bird and the volunteer, plus this behaviour contravenes the Victorian Wildlife Act, so please take note of signs and respect those trying to help these endangered birds survive. Thanks so much.
Happy Christmas to all and have a wonderful 2026.
