After driving to Angelsea through wind and rain, I was amazed to arrive at the Angair office and find seven enthusiasts raring to go on the February bird walk.

It turned out to be a great day (with 51 birds identified) as the rain mostly kept away, and the wind brought hundreds of shearwaters swooping and diving within our view right along the horizon at Point Impossible…a really memorable sight.

On Breamlea Beach we were really pleased to see two Hooded Plovers in a rocky area near the water’s edge.

Minya winery was a delight, with a range of birds in clear view including Nankeen Night Herons, a lone Darter and a family of Dusky Woodswallows.

A worrying sight was a large flock of Common Mynas, as well as the usual flocks of Starlings. At the end, after coffee on the balcony overlooking the billabong, we were entertained by a Whistling Kite swooping on a Wedge-tailed Eagle, giving us a good idea of their difference in size.

Ellinor Campbell

 

Below are all the birds identified on this walk:

1.  Grey Teal

2.  Chestnut Teal

3.  Pacific Black Duck

4.  Australasian Grebe

5.  Common Bronzewing

6.  Short-tailed Shearwater

7. Australasian Gannet

8. Australasian Darter

9.  Little Pied Cormorant

10. Great Cormorant

11. Little Black Cormorant

12. Eastern Great Egret

13. White-faced Heron

14. Nankeen Night-Heron

15. Australian White Ibis

16. Yellow-billed Spoonbill

17. Whistling Kite

18. Wedge-tailed Eagle

19. Brown Falcon

20. Purple Swamphen

21. Australasian Coot

22. Black-winged Stilt

23. Red-capped Plover

24. Black-fronted Dotterel

25. Hooded Plover

26. Red-kneed Dotterel

27. Masked Lapwing

28. Common Greenshank

29. Crested Tern

30. Pacific Gull

31. Silver Gull

32. Galah

33. Red-rumped Parrot

34. Superb Fairy-wren

35. Yellow-rumped Thornbill

36. Noisy Miner

37. Little Wattlebird

38. Red Wattlebird

39. New Holland Honeyeater

40. Dusky Woodswallow

41. Australian Magpie

42. Grey Fantail

43. Willy Wagtail

44. Little Raven

45. Magpie-lark

46. Silver eye

47. Welcome Swallow

48. Common Starling

49. Common Mynah

50. Red-browed Finch

51. House Sparrow