#174 and #175 at the Melbourne Botanic Gradens, Victoria, April 10 2016

We had a wonderful family outing today including a picnic lunch at the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. I also managed to get a few sneaky bird photos, as well as a heap of my kids!

#174 Nankeen Night-heron

#175 Bell Miner

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S28848658

After today...
2016 year list: 245
2016 Photos: 175

#171 to #173 at Woodlands Historic Park, Victoria, April 3 2016

I went for my first visit to Woodlands Historic Park for the year today. It's a close to home location that usually has some great birds. But lately it's been a not-so-good because it has really dried out. The last time that I was there I struggled to find much at all. Today I was looking for robins - scarlet and red-capped to be precise. I did manage to find a female Red-capped Robin, but she was in the distance and back-lit resulting in far less than average photos. There was not a lot around as it is still quite dry. I did get three more photos for the year list though!

#171 Crimson Rosella

#172 Laughing Kookaburra

#173 Rufous Whistler

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S28710083

#166 to #170 around Port Fairy, Victoria, March 31 2016

I decied to go on a bit of a road trip today. The target was Sanderling, and the destination was Killarney Beach. I contacted my friend Bill Twiss who lives in the area and asked him for some pointers, and he was generous enough to offer himself as a local guide for the day. And I'm very lucky that he did, because without his help I would never have found the target species because they weren't at Killarney Beach - instead, they were around the bay a bit at Reef Point!

I managed to pick up three lifers for the day. The first was a Kelp Gull that was sitting offshore on some rocks at Reef Point (our first stop). Unfortunately they were too far away for photos, but Bill assured me that we would see some up close at Port fairy - and he was right! This was followed up by a large group of Sanderling. The third life tick was a bird that I've actually seen in the wild a few times before, but not since I've been keeping bird lists. And it's a dodgy tick too - Emu at Tower Hill. Clearly a sustainable wild population, yes. They're not fed, and they could wander off elsewhere if they wanted. But I'm pretty sure that they're descendants of some captive birds from long ago. And they're not at all afraid of the visitors either. Still, it seems that they're a legitimate tick, so, I ticked them!

#166 Ruddy Turnstone

#167 Sanderling

#168 Kelp Gull

#169 Sooty Oystercatcher

#170 Emu

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S28653983
eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S28654005
eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S28654014

After today
2016 year list: 244
2016 photos: 170

#165 at Toolangi, Victoria, March 30 2016

I had a very difficult day at Toolangi with very few birds making themselves visible. I managed to track down a few species for the year list, but I didn't get a photo of anything other than some dodgy shots of Brown Thornbills and a Flame Robin. Just as it was time to go I found this Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo, so just the one photo for the day. I'll just have to go back, but I doubt that I'll venture out this way at this time of year again...

#165 Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S28631826

#164 at Mt Macedon, Victoria, March 25 2016

I decided to go and look for a few birds in the Mt Macedon area, but unfortunately I mostly found fog and rain. I did manage to find a few Flame Robins for the year list, but with a high ISO in the dank conditions the photos leave a lot to be desired...

#164 Flame Robin

#161 to #163 at The Boulevard, Maribyrnong, Victoria, March 13 2016

My wife and I decided to go for a Sunday morning walk around the Maribyrnong River. Of course, I took the camera and found a few more birds for the year list! Not the best photos in the grim overcast conditions though...

#161 Little Wattlebird

#162 Rock Dove

#163 Long-billed Corella

#156 to #160 at the Western Treatment Plant, March 3 2016

For this Thursday's after work outing I considered going to a few different places to track down a species or two for the year list. But I ended up doing what I always do and went to the treatment plant! I was hoping to get some better views and photos of the Broad-billed Sandpiper, but I couldn't even find it amongst the well in excess of 1000 stints. I did, however, manage to get a few more photos for the year.

eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27938777

#156 Whistling Kite

#157 Australian Pied Oystercatcher

#158 Swanp Harrier

#159 Brown Quail

#160 Black-shouldered Kite