After a wet and windy couple of days at The Grampians, our final morning at Halls Gap was still and dry giving me an opportunity to record at the nearby Silverband Falls walking track. The location of the recording was beside a relatively quiet section of Dairy Creek.

When we walked to the Falls the previous afternoon we'd noticed that there were large numbers of White-browed Scrubwrens in the area and these were very active at dawn. Also prominent are Eastern Yellow Robin and White Eared Honeyeater. The bell like and harsher flight calls of Crimson Rosella can be heard from 36 seconds. The low repetitive call of Brush Bronzewing pigeons can be heard in the background.

Lake Surprise

Lake Surprise is a large lake formed by three craters on the edge of Mount Eccles National Park. This area of the park can be reached via the township of Macarthur. Several walks lead around the lake, we decided to take the 'lake rim walk' to enable us a close look at the lake and also the forest within the crater. We took the many stairs that lead down from the picnic ground inside the crater to the lakes edge. In the lake were Musk Duck, Grey Teal, and Australian Shelduck, also coots and cormorants. The forest here is a thick Manna Gum woodland with Cherry Balart, Blackwood and bracken, all of the usual bush birds were present including Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Eastern Yellow Robin, Golden Whistler, White-throated Treecreeper and Crimson Rosella. Long-billed Corella and Sulphur-crested Cockatoos wheeled around overhead.

At this point on our walk it started to rain heavily so we cut our walk short and doubled back along the edge of the lake to take a peak at what was in the other end before heading back to the car park. To my surprise four Spotless Crakes were foraging around the sandy exposed banks of the Northern end of the lake. Once we arrived back in the car park the rain cleared so we took a walk around the picnic ground to see which other birds were around. We could hear Spotted Pardalote and a White-naped Honeyeater nearby. Suddenly two Wedge Tailed Eagles could be seen through a clearing in the trees, we watched them thermaling around for a few minutes. Near the picnic tables a large flock of Red-browed Finches were foraging.

This is a beautiful area worth spending more time at when the weather is better.

Fitzroy River Estuary

The Fitzroy River Estuary can be reached by Thompsons Road, off the Great Ocean Road near Tyrendarra. Take the road to the end where you will find a boat ramp and picnic ground. A path leads from the picnic ground through coastal dunes, a 15 to 20 minute walk will take you to the mouth of the Fitzroy River. Ducks, Cormorants and other water birds were seen in the river, a group of around 30 Masked Lapwings were huddled together in the sand dunes, its unusual to see such a large group together. Looking out onto the open beach from the sand dunes it appeared there were no birds present, however we noticed a few plovers fly up from the beach. On giving them Tracksa closer look we could then see what looked like hundreds of Red-capped and Double-banded Plovers huddling behind clumps of seaweed sheltering from the wind.

This area is definately worth a look with the type of habitat some really interesting birds might turn up in.

Trip list for Fitzroy River Estuary

Griffiths Island

Griffiths Island is a small island reached by a causeway from the township of Port Fairy . The island is famous for its colony of Short-tailed Shearwaters which nest on the island and can be seen returning each night to feed their chicks during the breeding season from September to April. It takes around one hour to complete the walk around the island.

Crossing the causeway Black Swan, Pied Oystercatcher, White-faced Heron and Chestnut Teal could be seen in the shallows. The island was covered in shearwater burrows and the occasional calling chick could be heard from within, singing Honeyeaters flitted out from the low shrubs.

On the ocean side there was a Pacific Gull and Crested Tern on the beach. Walking out onto the Moyne River breakwater gave us a view back onto one of the sandy beaches of the island, from here we could see a flock of Sanderling running back and forth on the waters edge with ebb and flow of the sea.

Trip List for Port Fairy

More information on Port Fairy shearwaters

Lighthouse

Doug Fenwick Reserve

The Doug Fenwick Reserve is a 40 hectare remnant of Damp Heathy Woodland. From our observations much of the surrounding countryside is almost devoid of native vegetation which makes this piece of forest quite precious. To reach the reserve turn south onto Baileys Road from the Great Ocean Road, just near Nirranda . The reserve appears to be situated on both sides of Baileys Road, we could only find one pathway in on the east side of the road and needed to step over a very low fence to access the reserve. Once inside we found many tracks leading though the forest. There might be a better entrance although we could not see it.

On the day we visited it was cold and overcast but there was still plenty of bird activity in the forest. Many of the usual bush birds were present including Yellow Robin, Golden Whistler, White-eared Honeyeater, Mistletoebird and Yellow Honeyeater. A Collared Sparrowhawk made a quick dash through the trees and landed in the canopy long enough for us to identify him.

The reserve is worth the visit if you are in the area and need a break from the cliffs and beaches.

Trip List for Doug Fenwick Reserve