I spent the day at the Western Treatment Plant in the area
of Twenty-nine Mile Road which has general access for bird watchers. There are
several gates some leading to hides which require a key. Despite a few calls to
the water authority that controls the site I was unable to access the restricted
areas but there was plenty to see on the pools and fields surrounding the
restricted areas.
I spent some time looking through the ducks, shorebirds,
Ibis and both Spoonbills before heading to Beach Road in search of Striated
Fieldwren which announced its presence from a post at the edge of the small car
park which also had White Fronted Chat and a flock of House Sparrow.
I searched the area looking for Zebra Finch but none could
be found until I drove along Beach Road towards Twenty-nine Mile Rd where I
caught a small group of finches in my periphery vision as I crept along the
track in the SUV.
I spent the remainder of the morning looking at raptors that
were hunting over the fields. A Whistling Kite paid particular attention to
stealth photography in the area of the finches.
Australian Kite or Black Shouldered Kite were also present a
pair settling in the trees close to where I had parked up during my raptor
watch.
A couple of Brolga were found feeding in the area that was
dubbed Shelduck field. There must have been a thousand birds, with around a
hundred Straw Necked Ibis. This area is definitely worth putting top of the
list if you are paying a visit to Melbourne!
The freeway back to Melbourne reminded me of the M40 in
Oxfordshire loaded with Kites, Kestrel and other raptors. It was a shame I
could not stop to view and id some of them!
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