One of our favorite walks at the Long Forest Nature Conservation Reserve starts at the Happy Valley car park on the Happy Valley track. A few hundred metres from the car park are a couple of dams, Speckled Warbler are supposed to be easy to find in between the car park and the dams ,although we have'nt seen one in this area. Birds in the Long Forest can be a bit sparse, especially in the Mallee areas, so our usual tactic is to walk quickly until we see or hear a flock of birds, usually thornbill, and then spend a while looking to see how many other species we can see, as the flocks are usually mixed species feeding together. On our walk along the track today we were lucky enough to flush a Boobook Owl which must have been roosting in a low bush near to the track.

On reaching the Gravelly Track we turn left, this section of the track provides great views out over the creek valley and is a great place to look out for raptors, the only raptor for today (other than the owl) was a Wedge-tailed Eagle.

A small track leads off from the end of Gravelly Track alongside the Coimadai Creek, exotic garden plants grow along this section of the creek which seem to a attract a variety of birds. Today we saw Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Red-browed Finch, White-eared Honeyeater, Scarlet Robin and Speckled Warbler (on the top of the slope beside the creek). On other occasions we have seen Shinning and Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo here. After checking out the creek we take the Old House track, we have most success at finding Speckled Warbler along this section of the track. Today we saw three different pairs here, all associating with Buff-Rumped Thornbill, but this might be exceptional as after all of the rain this year the heath is looking very healthy. We then turn left and take the Mallee track back to the road. From here we normally walk the last 200 metres off track through the bush back to the car park but you can also walk alongside the road.

Pectoral and Sharp-tailed SandpipersThis summer has been a great summer for shorebirds at the Western Treatment Plant, with low numbers of the more common species it has been easier to pick up on the unusual ones. Today's visit didn't disappoint with a distant view of the now regularly seen Stilt Sandpiper at the Western Lagoon Pond 4, a lone Double Banded Plover and mostly camouflaging behind some convenient placed rocks and grass were a couple of Pectoral Sandpiper mixing with some Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. Unfortunately no sign of Ruff, Long-toed Stint or Grey-tailed Tattler which have recently been seen here. Also interesting was a Grey Plover standing out on the Spit.

As we were travelling around Paul photographed this Golden-headed Cisticola carrying a piece of spiders web on her head. We guessed the web was being carried off for nest material as Golden-headed Cisticola have the unusual skill of being able to stitch together their nest of grass and leaves with spiders web. Another name for this bird is the Tailorbird.

We made a half day trip to the Western Treatment Plant in Werribee today to see the Stilt Sandpiper, this bird has only been seen in Australia on a handful of occasions. We found the sandpiper at the T-section lagoons associating with a few Common Greenshank and Curlew Sandpiper. The Stilt Sandpiper looked very like the Curlew Sandpipers and similar in size however its bill was longer and legs were a yellowish colour unlike the black legs of the Curlew Sandpipers. After viewing the Stilt Sandpiper we took a drive down to Kirk Point, although it was high tide the rocks on the point were exposed and we were happy to find a couple of Pacific Golden Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, a Red Knot and a few different species of tern, including White-winged Black Tern and Common Tern. There was also two White-Bellied Sea Eagles perched at Lake Borrie.

Most parts of the Western Treatment Plant are accessible only with a permit, however the road to Kirk Point is open to the public so no permit is required to visit this area. The T-section lagoons can be visited with a day permit and key, which can be obtained by contacting Melbourne Water. Other areas of the plant require a special access permit which can only be acquired after attending an induction session.

Attachment: 

Western Treatment Bird Watching Map

Old map showing WTP place names (west)

Old map showing WTP place names (east)

Western Treatment Plant Bird Checklist

Salt Marsh

We went to look for the Hudsonian Godwit today, which according to Birdline reports, is frequently seen feeding at the mouth of the Laverton Creek in Altona.

We parked our car in the car park off Maidstone Street and walked along the pathway running alongside the foreshore, when we arrived at the creek mouth we were surprised at the profusion of birdlife feeding around the sandbars at low tide. There were hundreds of ducks mixed Chestnut and Grey Teal, a Royal Spoonbill, a Great Egret and many Black-winged Stilts present. Out on the sandbar a single godwit was feeding, we wondered if this was the Hudsonian but after checking with another more experienced birdo who was also out for the morning to see the Hudsonian Godwit we discovered that this was a Bar-tailed Godwit. Accompanying the godwit were many Red-capped Plovers.

We decided to go for a walk out to the sandbar while waiting for the hudsonian to show. To get out nearer to the sandbar and beach we walked along the north side of the Laverton River to the foot bridge that crossed the river, on the way we saw a Little Eagle and Nankeen Kestrel soaring overhead and other smaller birds were in the bushes including, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Yellow Thornbill and Silvereye.

After crossing the bridge we headed out to the salt marsh, navigating this area proved to be a bit tricky as there were lots of little rivulets and soggy areas to cross which meant our feet got wet (we wished wed brought our gumboots). Raptors were stirring up the birds out on the sand dunes, a couple of Whistling Kites flew over head and landed on the waters edge, as we looked we saw five Whistling Kites sitting out the beach. On another section of the beach was a flock of around 100 Little Black Cormorants huddled near the shoreline. On our return we walked along the cyclone fence bordering Cheetham Wetlands and saw a couple of Striated Fieldwren through the fence.

Heading back to the creek mouth we could still see the Bar-tailed Godwit feeding but unfortunately no Hudsonian Godwit for us today.

Laverton Creek Mouth Trip List

Laverton Creek Mouth

Little Black Cormorants

Werribee grasslands with You Yangs in the distance

Some interesting birds can sometimes turn up on the roadsides of the Werribee grasslands and beyond, so when we heard that Banded Lapwings had been seen around the Bulban Road area we decided to go and have a look. We drove out along Greens Road in Mambourin and saw a large flock of Shelduck congregating in an ephemeral wetland that had developed in the middle of a paddock. Along the roadside we saw Superb Fairywren, Australasian Pipit, Skylark and an Australian Hobby on a fence post. We drove on a little further west until we saw what we were looking for on the north side of the road, there were about 20 Banded Lapwing which were fairly well camouflaged amongst the rocky paddock. On the fence nearby were White-fronted Chats.

Banded Lapwing site

We drove on further and turned left onto Edgars Road. About four kilometers down Edgars Road on the west side was a small waterhole which was close to the road. Here a small flock of Zebra finch were drinking. A Masked Lapwing, Yellow Rumped Thornbills and Galahs were also taking advantage of the water. We headed back to Melbourne via Bulban road passing the area close to Newtons Road where we had seen a Little Curlew amongst a flock of Banded Lapwing in January 2008.

On another trip in the area we drove along Sandy Creek Road, in the forest along side the Ford Proving Ground were Diamond Firetail, Brown Falcon and Collared Sparrowhawk.

Map of Werribee area