Maned Duck – Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER doesn't mean I'm LOST

We joined the Eynesbury Environmental Group for a walk in the local Grey Box Forest as part of the ongoing Swift Parrot Surveys.
Swifties are highly mobile, nomandic and unpredictable in location. And today was quite a successful Survey day, as we conclusively proved they were Not in the area. 🙂

But a day in Grey is not be be missed and Chris L, put on another of his now famous, “Sunshine” days.
Here’s a selection from the walk.

Enjoy

Maned Duck, commonly know as Wood ducks, presumably because of their tree dwelling habits

Tree Martins. Recently returned and no doubt hard at work at selecting the best real estate for their nesting operations. Soon there will be hundreds of them through the forest

Little Eagle, no trip is complete without at least one sighting of the resident Little Eagles. This one circled over us in the open

Red-rumped Parrot, a male who is busy, I suspect waiting, waiting waiting, for his mate that would be on a nest somewhere in a branch nearby. He keeps in contact with her with lots of cheery calls and wing displays.

The Eynesbury Box Forest Signature bird. We found several Diamond Firetails working through the native grasses collecting seed. Their numbers seem somewhat unpredictable, but it’s good to catch up with them on a day out.

If I had a signature bird, it would be Jacky. There is something about these little birds that says Grey Box Forest to me, and their often approachable nature makes for great portraits.

Jacky Winter and I could do this all day

One of our sharp-eyed group found these tiny Greenhoods by the side of the track—not much more than a few centimetres high.

Fashionista Eurasian Coot is dressed to impress.

A very handsome Maned Duck showing of his impressive mane, and his lovely vermiticulation on his body.

Eastern Rosellas were in abundance, this was one of a flock of twelve or more that were working through the forest.

And just as we were leaving, another pair of Jacky Winters stopped by for a chat.

The monthly Bird Walk at Eynesbury rolled around and the calendar clicked over the last Sunday in the month, so we looked out the window, and sure enough Sunshine!
So Sunshine, we headed out to Eynesbury to catch up with the group of locals in their exploration around the Grey Box forest.

Chris had initially planned on being away, and asked another local, Leigh, to take the day. As it turned, Chris turned up anyway. Nice to catchup.

The sunshine added to the recent rain made the open areas around the housing estates glow in most impressive green with lots of new growth coming on.
So we set out for a looksee along the river gorge to the east. In times past before the housing establishment, a small creek drained water outward the gorge and as it tumbled over the rocky edge a wonderful waterfall would suddenly appear. And. Today was such a day. The little creek has now been somewhat controlled to a drain-way through the estate, but in the last few hundred metres runs over the rocky ground, forming little pools as it goes. Then. Taking is self to the edge, it plunges down the 30 or so metres to empty into the creek, that runs toward the Werribee River. And spectacular it would be too in full flood and great light, but I was just a bit late as early morning shadow hid the sparkle of the water.

For a birding day, it was a bit quiet, even for me and my missing bird karma as Mr An Onymous puts it.

We did manage a fine Eastern Yellow Robin, an Eastern Spinebill and a couple of Crested Shriketits as we strolled along one of the forest tracks. And so another birding morning came to a close, lots to talk about, plenty of things to share about the few birds we did see, and to get a perspective of the area from Leigh’s point of view. He has been in the area almost since its inception and gave a fine running commentary of points of interest along the way.

EE and I took a cuppa by the lake, and then headed down to see the Tawny Frogmouths in the local park-area. See the May report for details. Sure enough, dependable as clockwork there they were. One has added an additional extra piece of camo to the perch as a branch has broken off higher up and now obscures the perching branch very well.

Off to look for Flame Robins, but no luck there either, and it was time for home, just as we went past the old shearing shed area a small shape darted into the tree. A Speckled Warbler. And to make its point is warbled away quite merrily. Just about managed to get off a couple of shots before it was gone. Looking at it the shots, it’s no wonder they are so hard to spot given the wonderful markings on the feathers that blend into the scrub so well.

Thanks to Leigh and Chris for the day, and also to everyone who turned up and enjoyed both the sunshine and the birds. Looking forward to the July Sunday.