A day on Phillip Island

I spent today on Phillip Island, primarily visiting friends and the National Vietnam Veterans Museum (if you have not been there, go!) but found some time for birding at a few of my favourite locations.

Fisher's Wetland
This is a great place for birdwatching and easily accessed from the road to Churchill Island Heritage Farm via walking tracks, boardwalk and viewing platforms. Birds commonly seen at the wetlands include ducks, swans, geese, coots, grebes, pelicans and swamp hens. This morning most of these were clustered on several small islands in the middle of the wetland

Eurasian Coot, Fisher's Wetland, Phillip Island

but a few Black-tailed Native-hen provided closer views (albeit fleeting - these birds are rarely still and seem to have a much lower tolerance for humans than their close relatives, coots, swamp hens and moorhens).

Black-tailed Native-hen (adult and juvenile), Fishers Wetland, Phillip Island

The island's population of Cape Barren Goose has grown rapidly in the past decade and this is one of the best places to get up close and personal with them as they appear to be quite undisturbed by people. 

Cape Barren Goose, Fishers Wetland, Phillip Island

The Boulevard, Summerland

The 'back road' along the south coast from the Nobbies to Summerland (access is from the Nobbies car park and is one way for most of the way to Summerland) has several pull out points with lookouts providing panoramic views of Bass Strait and the basalt cliffs and rock platforms of the Phillip Island south coast. These lookouts also present great opportunities for viewing and photographing birds in flight as several species of gulls and raptors exploit the updrafts along the cliff face to propel them along the coast.

This male Nankeen Kestrel (males have pale grey crown and tail; in females the head and tail are rufous-coloured like the back and shoulders) was roosting on a rock outcrop just near Seagull Rock. I've seen kestrels on exactly the same location several times before. As I was walking up the road to get a better view with the sun behind me, the bird took off and flew past and just below me giving this great close-up view.

Nankeen Kestrel (male), Seagull Rock, Phillip Island

The Silver and Kelp Gulls usually found at Seagull Rock lookout were all roosting on the rocks far below, so I moved on towards Summerland where I found several Pacific Gulls and one surprise flying past the lookout.

Pacific Gull, Summerland, Phillip Island

...the highlight this morning was this Little Raven - not a view you often get of these striking birds.

Little Raven, Summerland, Phillip Island

Kitty Miller Bay

The combination of beautiful weather, surf and the 'long weekend' meant that most of the usual beaches I visit to look for shorebirds were heavily populated with human tourists today so I opted for a stop at the beautiful Kitty Miller Bay. This bay is surrounded by rocky reefs so does not have the attraction of the surf or easy access for swimming but is a great spot for a fossick among the rocks and for birds along the shore.

There were not many small shorebirds on the beach today but a small flock of Red-necked Stint did allow me to get fairly close;

Red-necked Stint, Kitty Miller Bay, Phillip Island

in fact, I almost tripped over two of them while I was stalking this Eastern Great Egret

Eastern Great Egret

The strong wind was playing havoc with the usually beautifully groomed plumage

Eastern Great Egret, Kitty Miller Bay, Phillip Island

but did give me the opportunity for a few shots of the egret leaping around, wings spread.

Easter Great Egret, Kitty Miller Bay, Phillip Island

A pair of Kelp Gulls landed nearby

Kelp Gull, Kitty Miller Bay, Phillip Island

and sat on the water, posing for photographs.

Kelp Gull, Kitty Miller Bay, Phillip Island

A day at Phillip Island - Part 3 Rhyll

After stops at Fisher's Wetland and The Nobbies and Swan Lake, we headed for Rhyll on the NE 'corner' of Phillip Island (see map). Rhyll is a great place for birding. At low tide in spring and summer thousands of birds (wading birds, ibis, herons) feed on the mudflats at 'The Nits' (in the entrance to Rhyll Inlet) and in Swan Bay. The sandier shore along Beach Road between the sailing club and the boat ramp often provides good views of gulls, terns, cormorants, pelicans, herons and oystercatchers.

We got there today on a rising tide so decided not to walk around to The Nits but were treated to some great views of oystercatchers.

Australian Pied Oystercatcher, Rhyll, Phillip Island

A small flock (I can't bring myself to use 'dread', the generally accepted collective noun for terns) of Crested Terns sat preening on the sandy shore near the boat ramp. There were various stages of advancement towards breeding plumage on show and all displayed their characteristic crest. Interestingly, most were banded.

Crested Tern, Rhyll, Phillip Island

Conservation Hill overlooks Rhyll Inlet and is often a good place for birding with a variety of habitats: coastal woodland, farmland, swamp, mudflats and mangroves all close by. We got there in the late afternoon and there was not much bird activity (probably due to the cold and windy weather) but it did provide the opportunity to see several Black Wallabies.

Black Wallaby, Conservation Hill, Rhyll, Phillip Island

Part 1 Fisher's Wetland
Part 2 The Nobbies and Swan Lake

A day at Phillip Island - Part 2 The Nobbies and Swan Lake

After Fisher's Wetland we travelled to the other end of the island to the The Nobbies.

The spectacular basalt coastline here is constantly being assaulted by the Bass Strait surf and is worthy of a visit just for the scenery.

However, it also offers some great birding opportunities. Shy Albatross and Black-browed Albatross were seen cruising over the waves. The strong NW wind meant they were too far offshore for good photography but it's always great to see these majestic birds.

Shy Albatross, off The Nobbies, Phillip Island

Black-browed Albatross, off The Nobbies, Phillip Island

Swan Lake (just east of the Penguin Parade) has a track and boardwalk through coastal bush to the back of the dunes of behind Summerland Beach. There are two bird hides here offering great views of the lake.

Most of the avian activity this afternoon was on the other side of the lake but there were a few swans swimming around in classic swan pose

Black Swan, Swan Lake, Phillip Island

and I was very happy to capture this Eurasian Coot among the reflections on the water.

Eurasian Coot, Swan Lake, Phillip Island

The hides also provide good viewing of two small islands frequented by nesting and roosting birds. This Black Swan was sitting on a nest on the island just in front of one of the hides.

Black Swan, Swan Lake, Phillip Island

The boardwalk provides good viewing of the birds of prey commonly flying overhead and along the dunes. There's nearly always one or two Whistling Kite.

Whistling Kite, Swan Lake, Phillip Island

Part 1 Fisher's Wetland

Part 3 Rhyll

A day at Phillip Island - Part 1 Fisher's Wetland

A great day of photography with the Birdlife Australia Melbourne Photography Group at Phillip Island today.

First stop was Fisher's Wetland where there were several pairs of Cape Barren Goose with goslings

Cape Barren Goose, Fisher's Wetland, Phillip Island

One family was almost oblivious to the crowd of photographers, walking close to and even among us, requiring a rapid removal of the tele-extender from my lens. 

Cape Barren Goose, Fisher's Wetland, Phillip Island

 A few Black Swans cruised around the lake,

Black Swan, Fisher's Wetland, Phillip Island

others preened and stretched.

Black Swan, Fisher's Wetland, Phillip Island

Australian Pelicans were resting in the middle of the swamp while Masked Lapwings stood on watch.

Australian Pelican, Masked Lapwing, Fisher's Wetland, Phillip Island

White-plumed Honeyeaters and New Holland Honeyeaters chased each other noisily through the surrounding bush. Their rapid and continuous movement and the backlighting made photography challenging but I managed to capture one White-plumed that sat relatively still for a few seconds.

White-plumed Honeyeater, Fisher's Wetland, Phillip Island

Part 2 The Nobbies and Swan Lake

Part 3 Rhyll

Oswin Roberts Reserve: Fairy-wrens and Fantails

I spent the late afternoon walking the tracks of Oswin Roberts Reserve on Phillip Island.

 

For most of the walk, the best description of the birdlife was high density but low diversity. I saw only five species of birds and heard another two in the first 30 minutes BUT I have never been anywhere with as many Superb Fairy-wrens and Grey Fantails.

I saw at least 10 male Superb Fairy-wrens along the path, each with its accompanying females and non-breeding males.

You don't really notice, until you manage to photograph it serendipitously, that small birds such as fairy-wrens don't flap their wings to take off, they leap into the air first.

Some of these birds got very close while I just stood on the track. These two shots are almost full frame (I just did some minor cropping to clean up the edges).

Superb Fairy-wren, Oswin Roberts Reserve, Phillip Island

I saw at least 50 Grey Fantails, with as many as 20 seen from one location

Grey Fantail, Oswin Roberts Reserve, Phillip Island

including some very fluffy juveniles.

Grey Fantail, Oswin Roberts Reserve, Phillip Island

As the clouds covered the sun, the low light became a challenge working with such fast moving birds but it did give some nice muted colours

Grey Fantail, Oswin Roberts Reserve, Phillip Island

  and another one of these shots...

Grey Fantail, Oswin Roberts Reserve, Phillip Island

With such tame birds, I took the opportunity to try out the flash in the low light.

Grey Fantail, Oswin Roberts Reserve, Phillip Island

I don't really like the harshness and shadow of the full TTL flash at this distance. Here's the same shot take a few seconds later without flash--not as sharp but more pleasing to my eye.

Grey Fantail, Oswin Roberts Reserve, Phillip Island

Obviously I still need to do some work on getting the flash settings right...

This Australian Magpie continued the theme of tame birds when it walked along the track about 15-20 metres in front of me for at least 400 metres. Eventually the sun came out so I took a few shots (I see magpies nearly every day but rarely photograph them).

Australian Magpie, Oswin Roberts Reserve, Phillip Island

The last section of the track, looping back to the car park through denser woodland, proved more productive with some rarer birds, including this Satin Flycatcher, the first I have photographed on Phillip Island.

Satin Flycatcher (male), Oswin Roberts Reserve, Phillip Island

Not a great shot because of the severe backlighting (which took a lot of work in Lightroom to make it usable) but good for a record of the sighting.

Right at the car park, I found this Grey Currawong (again, not a great shot but happy to finally see this bird having heard calls for most of the way around the track)

Grey Currawong, Oswin Roberts Reserve, Phillip Island

and, of course, it wouldn't be a bushwalk on Phillip Island without the mandatory wallaby shot...even if this one does have grass stuck up its nose...