A few weeks ago, Sarah and I tagged along on a Birdlife Melbourne outing to Woodlands historic park. It's a place that has been on my list to visit for a while and to have experts show us around was the perfect opportunity.
There were about 20 of us and I was doubtful that we would see much with such a big noisy group - how wrong I was! We saw so many more species than if we had been there by ourselves thanks to some amazing birders that could identify any bird from just their call or body shape in flight.
First up was a tree filled with quick, tiny birds. I immediately assumed Thornbill but no, it was in fact a Weebill which is even smaller! It's actually Australia's smallest bird - and quick. No wonder I couldn't get a decent shot.
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| Weebill, Smicrornis brevirostris |
White-naped and Brown-headed Honeyeaters flew high up in the canopy - once again making it difficult to photograph. This is when we started to realise that there is usually more than one species hanging out together and we should take more time to look and identify before moving on.
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| White-naped Honeyeater, Melithreptus lunatus |
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| Brown-headed Honeyeater, Melithreptus brevirostris |
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| Brown-headed Honeyeater, Melithreptus brevirostris |
In an open area we saw Flame and Red-capped Robins together. Unfortunately we didn't see any Pink or Rose Robins which have also been reported in the area.
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| Red-capped Robin, Petroica goodenovii |
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| Flame Robin, Petroica phoenicea |
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| Brown-headed Honeyeater (juvenile), Melithreptus brevirostris |
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| Brown-headed Honeyeater (juvenile), Melithreptus brevirostris |
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| Red-capped Robin (female), Petroica goodenovii |
Another highlight was seeing a Speckled Warbler happily sit on an exposed branch long enough for everyone to get some nice photos.
I was pretty excited to see a Crested Shrike-tit. It's only the second time I've seen one but this time I was able to get some clear shots of it as it devoured a spider.
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| Crested Shrike-tit, Falcunculus frontatus |
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| Crested Shrike-tit, Falcunculus frontatus |
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| White-plumed Honeyeater, Lichenostomus penicillatus |
We saw two Little Eagles soaring high in the sky - one was a light morph and the other was dark. Apparently they are a breeding couple so it will be interesting to see what color their offspring take.
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| Little Eagle, Hieraaetus morphnoides |
The Striated Pardalote was my 3rd new species for the day. They were also high up in the canopy so not my best shots of the day.
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| Striated Pardalote, Pardalotus striatus |
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| Striated Pardalote, Pardalotus striatus |
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| Golden-headed Cisticola, Cisticola exilis |
69 species were recorded that day. I was only able to photograph a handful of those but I did manage to pick up 3 new birds for my list - Weebill, Striated Pardalote and Little Eagle - bringing my total up to 221.
It was a beautiful place to walk around and definitely somewhere I would like to go back to.
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