Had a chat with Travis, the Bandicoot Hilton concierge, the other day, and he was really excited to announce that they had taken out the last fox from the fenced off area. It had finally taken a bait. (Which is some ways is really cheating don’t you think) Subsequent bait layings had not been taken so it may be that foxy loxy is no more, and the serious business of putting untrained bandicoots into the area can proceed.

Well done.

But, of course that leaves the gates well and truly locked and the area inaccessible for us over the rest of the Flame Robin season. I suspect they’ll be well on the way home before we get past the first of the bandicoot sentries.

So I took a wander today down the other end of Moonee Ponds Creek. It can be accessed from Mickelham Road, and followed back up toward the old quarries.

Didn’t find much, but then my expectation level was pretty low anyway. After all it was simply to see what could be seen.

A Wedge-tailed Eagle was harassed by some Ravens, and then not satisfied they turned their collective attentions to a Whistling Kite, for good measure.

There is a dam just south of the Bandicoot Hilton, and it has a good collection of water birds and today was sporting a Hoary-headed Grebe, (my first in the park) and a very smart looking Zorro bird – Black-fronted Dotterel.

On the way back to the car, I wandered to the wrong side of some pretty thick box thorn, and was amazed to see not one, two, but three female Flame Robins hard at work in the early morning sunshine. Had I known that earlier I might have stayed there and then popped round to the Coffee  and Pie shop, just around the corner.  Mmmm  Lamb, rosemary, curry and vegetable.  But I had the Veggie Pastie and smiled in the sunshine.