I got up early for the Mudlarks Bird Survey along the Cooks River but found it had been cancelled due to bad weather. But the weather did not seem too bad a bit later, and I had been in touch with friend Valerie and Sue and we decided to meet up and head to Barton Park for the morning to see what birds were out.
Brown Goshawk
It turned out to be a great visit. We spotted quite a few interesting birds.
The first I photographed was a Heron flying overhead. I snapped off a few shots, and did not realise till I got home that it was a White-necked Heron, not one of the more common White-faced Herons. Perhaps it was the same one that had been recorded recently at Tempe?
Then a White-faced Heron did fly in.
Then we saw a lot of the ducks in the wetland take to the air. We looked up and saw a Brown Goshawk fly overhead.
It didn’t stay long. The ducks settled back in the wetland. We then spotted a Double-barred Finch. I have seen these birds once or twice before at Barton Park.
And here is a more common resident, a Superb Fairy-wren –
And a pair of Pacific Black Ducks.
There were about six White-faced Herons scattered around the wetlands. Here is one hunting for food.
Walking along the Spring St Canal, we spotted a Striated Heron. It soon flew off.
Up on the higher area near the old stadium, west a flock of Red-browed Finches.
Amongst them were a few Double-barred Finches.
And here is a Yellow-rumped Thornbill that has just caught an insect –
I managed to catch a Double-barred Finch in flight.
And there were plenty of Welcome Swallows.
Then a second Brown Goshawk flew past. This one had an injured talon.
We then continued our walk around the precinct. Back near the Spring St Canal, we spotted a distant Grey Goshawk.
A Grey Butcherbird was perched on a pole –
We walked out to the Cooks River and looked for the Osprey. No sign of it. We did see this dead frog –
Back in the old sporting fields, we spotted another raptor. This time a Nankeen Kestrel.
It dived down and caught a small insect.
It was time to head off to our lunch venue. We had one last look at the wetlands. We saw a family of Chestnut Teals.
