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Zooboy28 in Australia

Discussion in 'Australia' started by zooboy28, 25 Mar 2013.

  1. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Location:
    Christchurch, New Zealand
    Day Eighty-five

    My alarm clock died a couple of weeks ago, and I have yet to get around to buying new batteries for it, but that didn’t matter on this Sunday morning. Not because we were sleeping in, but because a flock of 100+ long-billed corellas descended on the roadside outside out house at 6.45 am and woke up the neighbourhood. Obviously there were some differences between neighbour’s perceptions of this event; while we were outside taking photos, the lady opposite stomped out in her dressing gown and chased the birds off with her broom.

    Today’s zoo mission involved heading west, out along the sun-drenched highways and past the dry paddocks and small settlements in this rural area. Unfortunately, the roads weren’t currently sun-drenched, just drenched, as we were out on another drizzly day. We arrived at our destination, Ballarat Wildlife Park, around 10.30 am, paid $21 each (I think that was the student price), got a map and bag of kangaroo food ($3) and headed in. Immediately inside we saw our first species – Kangaroo Island kangaroos and emus, which are free-range throughout the park. There are around 100 of these kangaroos actually, which was very cool to see.

    The first actual exhibit in the park is for tortoises – Aldabran giants and some very large Burmese browns, in a modern exhibit with a large lawn and two indoor rooms with windows for cold days. The tortoises were inside today, unsurprisingly. And we rushed into the next building as the next downpour commenced, the excitingly named “Tropical Reptile Building”. This had a good assortment of native and exotic snakes, as well as a few lizards and turtles, generally in good exhibits, and some crocodiles in poor enclosures. Hopefully the saltwater croc will soon have a new enclosure, there seems to be extensive work being done behind the reptile house currently.

    This house, and the nearby reptile exhibits, were the highlights of the park, with the exception of the generally poor American alligator enclosures, which were extremely ‘functional’. The rest of the park was a mix of rather rundown and relatively nice exhibits for standard native mammals and a minimal bird collection (three species). Nothing stunning here really, although the thylacine display next to the Tasmanian devil enclosure was interesting. The large wedge-tailed eagle aviaries for rescued birds were also interesting in that they had “camera ports” to stick your lens through to get better photos, which was a nice touch. Overall, not really worth visiting except for the reptiles.

    After leaving the park we had lunch at the Pancake Parlour, which was a bit sickening and extremely fattening, and then had a drive around the town. The major attraction is Sovereign Hill, an open air museum focusing on the town’s gold mining history, but it was now a bit late and too wet to do this justice, so we will come back for this and the nearby Ballarat Bird World. As such, we spent the afternoon driving and walking around Lake Wendouree and the local botanical gardens. The lake had a large variety of birdlife, but I only saw a couple of species for my year list, and one lifer – the black-tailed native hen (which I may have seen previously but not recognised as distinct from the dusky moorhen). On the way back I saw my first wild kangaroos, three (presumably eastern in Ballarat?) greys lying in a paddock, most exciting!

    New Species: Siamese Spitting Cobra, Rough-scaled Python, Black-tailed Native Hen.
     
  2. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    I would like to do both these parks, as both seem to be quite interesting in their own ways, and obviously Altina has some rather exciting exotic species. They are quite far away, so I think I will organise a multi-day trip out there at some point, its not likely to be in the next few months though.
     
  3. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Days Ninety-eight and Ninety-nine:

    We spent the weekend driving the Great Ocean Road, which runs west from Melbourne, obviously along the coast. On the first day we visited Bell’s Beach, Erskine Fall’s, and various lookouts, beaches and small coastal towns. We had lunch in Lorne, surrounded by huge numbers of cockatoos and tourists. Highlights of the day included our first spotting of a wild koala, and two new robin species.

    The second day we saw another 20+ koalas (including one running down the road towards us!) on the road to Cape Otway. We spent a couple of hours at the Otway Fly Treetop Adventures, where we followed a trail through the “rainforest”, including a walkway that took us up past the trees, eventually giving views across the forest from a 45m high tower. We then visited the Twelve Apostles, a series of limestone stacks clustered near the coast. We turned inland at Port Campbell, and drove north, checking out the farmland before reaching Camperdown and heading back to Melbourne, stopping for views over the large crater lakes in the area. We drove a total of 777 km, and saw around 30 species, although only a few were new for the year.

    New species: Pink Robin, Scarlet Robin.
     
  4. boof

    boof Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    sorry if ive missed it elsewhere but whats your year tally for birds this year? I started keeping a year list a couple of years ago. It's a great way to keep my bird watching passion going. I'm on 224 this year. I will be happy if i get another 30 to get me around the 250 mark. I'm not planning on travelling to far from home so I think i might struggle to pick up that many in the next six months. I've got my fingers crossed for some new birds on a pelagic trip off Wollongong later this year. A pink robin is a great bird. It's high on my wish list and would be a lifer for me.
     
  5. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    hey, join this thread: http://www.zoochat.com/65/zoochat-2013-big-year-304885/

    Currently the last post is zooboy's with his total.
     
  6. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    I'm on 83, which isn't a huge number obviously, but I've been a bit limited in where I've been and I've also seen a few species I've been unable to identify. You should add your impressive list here (mines there too): http://www.zoochat.com/65/zoochat-2013-big-year-304885/, with 224 you would have the second highest tally!

    I was pretty happy to see the pink robin, it was sitting on some rocks at the bottom of Erskine Falls, so maybe that would be a good place to try and spot them?
     
  7. boof

    boof Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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  8. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Day One Hundred and Twelve:

    Our third visit to the Melbourne Zoo today, and not much to report – have posted updates here: https://www.zoochat.com/community/posts/682457 Some parts of the zoo are growing on me, but other areas (especially Wild Seas) I still want to demolish! The only species I saw today that I hadn’t seen previously were Nanday Conure and Sacred Kingfisher, although I did also see two new wild species, one of which I have yet to ID and have attached a photo of below for help.

    New species: Little Wattlebird, unknown bird.
     

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  9. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    that looks like a white-plumed honeyeater
     
  10. nanoboy

    nanoboy Well-Known Member

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    I'll second that. They seem to be everywhere. Just last week, I saw one on Lygon Street: one if the busiest streets in the Melbourne CBD.

    I have been reading of more frequent sightings of a blue-faced honeyeater in the park near MZ. Zooboy28, keep an eye out for it the next time you visit.
     
  11. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Thanks guys, :cool: I didn't really have a clue what it was, but I'd assumed it wasn't a honeyeater, so actually skipped that section of the field guide and just looked at the rest of the passerines!

    I'll keep an eye out nanoboy, I haven't actually had a look around that park yet, must do so on my next visit.
     
  12. nanoboy

    nanoboy Well-Known Member

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    Check this thread: http://www.zoochat.com/755/mill-park-lakes-victoria-australia-320786/
     
  13. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Day One Hundred and Twenty-One:

    The morning of this day dawned long after I woke, as I was catching a very early flight to Brisbane, as I was attending a course-thing with a colleague. On arrival at Brisbane airport, we caught the train to the city, and from this I saw a number of new bird species, including Torresian Crows. We stowed our bags in some central city lockers, and then caught a train back to very near the airport, but on a different line, to Boondall Station, from where we walked 2 km (past the tempting Disney on Ice production at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre) to the Boondall Wetlands (Boondall Wetlands - Brisbane City Council - note that the QLD govt. has an "Environment and Waste Department", which appears to some up Australia's attitude basically).

    This large reserve (1500 ha) includes a number of coastal and wetland habitats, and is definitely a birding hotspot in Queensland’s capital. From the visitor’s centre, we first did the Billai Dhagun circuit (although half of it was closed, so we had to walk back the way we had come). We saw a number of bird species in this area, mostly larger water birds, including a Brahminy Kite. I should mention here that mu colleague is an experienced birder, which was extremely useful, as I was having enough trouble distinguishing birds from planes.

    We then followed the bikeway to Nudgee Road, a ~5 km walk through wetlands and scrub, from which we saw a number of interesting birds, large spiders, and even butterflies. New species included Scarlet-headed Honeyeater and Spangled Drongo, both of which were very cool to see. At the Anne Beasley lookout, which gives excellent views over the wetlands, we saw Double-barred Finch, Variegated Fairy-wren, Grey Fantail and Rufous Whistler all in the same tree! And I found a piece of shed snake-skin, very cool!

    From here, we walked down to Nudgee Beach, a small beach community, with a small shop where I bought a Passiona and some lollies, and saw Scaly-breasted Lorikeet and Blue-faced Honeyeater. We then explored the Tabbil-Ban Dhagun Boardwalk, which took us through mangrove forest and beaches, where we saw an unidentifiable kingfisher and a White-bellied Sea Eagle, which we initially mistook for an Osprey. By now it was 5 pm, so we got a taxi to the nearest train station (Nudgee) and then headed back to the CBD for tea, to collect our bags and check in to our accommodation.

    New Species: Torresian Crow, Brahminy Kite, Variegated Fairy-wren, Scarlet Honeyeater, Rufous Whistler, Grey Butcherbird, Spangled Drongo, Tawny Grassbird, Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike, Intermediate Egret, Crested Tern.
     
  14. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I've been to the Boondall Wetlands. That was where I saw my first Australian darter, osprey, intermediate egret, spangled drongo and scarlet honeyeater.
     
  15. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Wow, we saw like exactly the same species! Although I sadly didn't see an Osprey, and was rather gutted by this fact that the osprey we thought we saw wasn't actually an osprey, sigh. It was an interesting place, although it rained a bit and my umbrella was disappointingly tempramental. And we may have interrupted a drug deal between an elderly couple with a golden retriever and a heavily-tattoed bald man in a Holden ute.
     
  16. nanoboy

    nanoboy Well-Known Member

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    Sounds like a very productive day of birding. Now that you have blue faced honeyeater checked, there is no need to go looking for the lone bird near the Melbourne Zoo.
     
  17. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    unless he's keeping state lists as well
     
  18. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Na, that sounds too difficult, and a bit unnecessary. Do people actually do that? I can kind of understand country lists.
     
  19. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    if you let it, listing gets out of control. I have heard of people keeping lists of birds they have seen in movies, birds seen while driving, birds seen mating....

    The most common lists (sort of in descending order I guess) are:
    *Life list
    *Year lists
    *Garden list
    *Country lists
    *State lists

    I have never kept a Garden List but I've got the others (e.g. I have an overall Australia list as well as separate lists for Victoria, NSW, Tasmania, Queensland and WA; I also have a full Malaysia list, as well as separate lists for Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak; and same for Indonesia except there I have island lists [Timor, Flores, Java, etc]). It just helps keep track of all the birds, although it does sound rather pedantic when you describe it. But of course I'm renowned for being pedantic.

    It depends on the country though, because I would never keep regional lists within NZ. It tends to be more where you get a lot of variation between regions (e.g. between islands in Indonesia).
     
  20. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Ok, that makes sense, especially for larger scale regions. And a garden list would be a good idea if you lived in the same house for a decent period of time. Since I left high school I haven't spent more than 12 months in any one house, so that would mean seven garden lists!

    I think I'll stick with Life (all species and just wild species) and Year Lists, although I do have some lists for some countries I've been to (all very short though).