#114 to #120 at Eynesbury, Victoria, January 28 2016

During daylight savings times I get to do some after work birding on a Thursday afternoon. Usually I go to the Western Treatment Plant, but today I headed to Eynesbury to find a few birds for the year list. I managed to pick up a good get with a pair of Southern Whiteface - a bird that is very infrequently reported here and that I've never seen at this location before. I did dip on two birds that I usually get here - Diamond Firetail and Speckled Warbler - so I dare say there will be a few more trips to Eynesbury this year!

#114 Southern Whiteface

#115 White-browed Scrubwren

#116 Brown Treecreeper

#117 Sacred Kingfisher

#118 Brown Goshawk

#119 Red-kneed Dotterel

#120 Freckled Duck

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27169169

After this visit:
2016 year list: 214
2016 photos: 120

#111 to #113 at Trin Warren Tam-boore, Victoria, January 27 2016

Our first day back at work this year was at the Melbourne Zoo doing professional development. Of course, this also meant that I got to see some of the animals as well, including some amazing behind the scenes sessions. Of course I had my camera, but unfortunately I was too busy "working" to use it to get some of the wild bird species easily found at the zoo. After we finished I decided to head to the Royal Park wetalnds, AKA Trin Warren Tam-boore to look for a Grey Goshawk that had been reported there earlier in the day. I didn't find it, but I did manage to pick up a few photos for the year photo list.

#111 Chestnut Teal

#112 Galah

#113 Red-rumped Parrot

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27150320

#104 to #110 at the Western Treatment Plant, Victoria, January 21 2016

I was planning to go and do some birding in the Toolangi forest today. But I had a lot of trouble sleeping as I was sweating profusely with a fever and a general unwell feeling. I turned the alarm off and stayed in bed. I eventually got up around 8:30am, way after the 4am alarm that was meant to get me to Toolangi at dawn! I was feeling slightly better, so I decided to go to the Western Treatment Plant and look for the Red-necked Phalarope that had been reported the day before.

I arrived at the T-section ponds to find it crawling with birders. They were all converged around pond 5 so I assumed that the phalarope must be there. And it most certainly was. I got much closer to it then I ever expected as it was feeding right at the edge of the pond. This is a very rare bird for Victoria and made for one massive LIFER!!!!

Unfortunately I was getting sicker and sicker by the minute with what was now clearly a bad case of gastro. Eeeewwww. Of course I pushed myself to stay far longer than I should have, but after almost three hours I decided to go home where I pretty much slept for the rest of the day (in between frequent trips to the toilet).

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27026997

#104 Red-necked Phalarope - LIFER!!

#105 Little Grassbird

#106 Australian Reed-warbler

#107 Yellow-rumped Thornbill

#108 Brown Falcon

#109 Golden-headed Cisticola

#110 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

After today:
2016 year list: 206
2016 photos: 110

#88 to #103 - Birding around Bendigo at Kamarooka and Crusoe Reservoir

I got up very early morning (4am) and drove through the pitch black and rain to get to Kamarooka National Park near Bendigo at dawn. I love Kamarooka - the bush here is beautiful. But at the moment it is VERY dry. A bushfire just waiting to happen it seems. And that's why I chose to go there today, on a day that was raining. I figured that a bushfire would be far less likely in the rain! Of course, that also meant that the light was absolutely shocking, and photography was difficult at best.

The birding today at Kamarooka was quite difficult. I've been there at dawn on a few occasions and the bird calls are relentless. But this morning it was eerily quiet. I really had to search quite hard for the areas specialities, and with luck and persistence I found a few. I did dip on three honeyeater species that I would have liked to have seen - Purple-gaped, Tawny-crowned and White-fronted. So I'll need to go back - probably in spring!

eBid checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27006538

#88 Common Bronzewing

#89 Shy Heathwren

#90 Inland Thornbill

#91 White-eared Honeyeater

#92 Yellow Thornbill

#93 Buff-rumped Thornbill

#94 Weebill

#95 Golden Whistler

#96 Brown-headed Honeyeater

#97 White-browed babbler

After a quick lunch I headed to Crusoe Reservoir where I managed to pick up a few more photos, including a young Southern Boobook that I should have taken way better photos of, and incredible close views of a Crested Bellbird.

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27010602

#98 Black-chinned Honeyeater

#99 White-winged Chough

#100 Grey Fantail

#101 Southern Boobook

#102 Yellow-tufted Honeyeater

#103 Crested Bellbird

After today:
2016 year list: 201
2016 photos: 103

#84 to #87 at the Kororoit Creek in Williamstown and Altona, January 17 2016

I went out for dinner in Williamstown with my wife and children, and of course I brought the camera for a quick stop at two locations along the Kororoit creek on the way home. I was looking for the Common Sandpiper that I've found here a few times before, but it wasn't anywhere that I was looking.

eBird Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26944420
eBird Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26944479

#84 Common Greenshank

#85 Black-fronted Dotterel

#86 Australian White Ibis

#87 Latham's Snipe

Year list: 170
2016 Photos: 97

#79 to #83 - Feral Species in my Backyard, Kealba, Victoria, January 15 2016

Today I spent some time in the backyard with the camera getting photos of the feral species that are all too common in the area. There are some of the rarer introduced species in the suburb as well. We have a resident Song Thrush family, which I frequently see and more frequently hear, but they are VERY good at avoiding the camera! We also have quite a few Eurasian Tree Sparrows that I can also see pretty much every time I go outside. So here they are, a collection of ferals. Some photos are a heavy crop though...

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26905056

#79 Eurasian Tree Sparrow

#80 Common Starling

#81 Common Blackbird (female)

#82 House Sparrow (male)

#83 Spotted Dove

After today:
Year list: 168
2016 Photos: 83

#68 to #78 around Anglesea, Victoria, January 14 2016

Ah, a nice cool day, fantastic after yesterday's cracking heat (it reached 43 degrees Celsius here). The weather app on my phone and the rain radar both indicated rain in the afternoon, so I got up early drove towards Anglesea. I love birding in this area, and I've been quite a few times times before.

The first stop was Anglesea Heath. Even though it was fairly quiet with very few birds were calling, I still managed to find some nice birds, including a male Satin Bowerbird (poor photo included).

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26879777

#68 Satin Bowerbird

#69 White-throated Treecreeper

#70 Australian King-parrot

#71 Striated Thornbill

#72 Blue-winged Parrot

#73 White-faced Heron

Then I had a quick look around for Southern Emu-wren at the Eumeralla Flora Reserve. I did manage to find a few, and I even got a good look at a female Southern Emu-wren hopping around in a shrub just a few metres in front of me. But sadly, no photo! I did find a few others though...

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26881001

#74 Striated Fieldwren

#75 Brown Thornbill

#76 Eastern Yellow Robin

My next stop was at Point Roadknight where I successfully found four Hooded Plover (and got rained on).

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26881509

#77 Hooded Plover

After that I went to the Ironbark Basin, which is on the road that leads to Point Addis. Not much around today!

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26882556

#78 Eastern Spinebill

And finally I made a last stop in the Point Addis carpark, where I found a single Crested Tern along with a lot of wind, cold, and rain! The rain radar indicated that I would sson get even wetter, so I decided that I would go home. As I backed the car out, a Rufous Bristlebird emerged from the bushes. I wound down the window but only got fuzzy shots. Bugger!

At the end of this trip:
Year list: 166
2016 Photos: 78