4 Nov bird survey

The park is becoming very dry after little or no rain over the last 2-3 weeks, but the water in all the main water bodies – large freshwater lake, saltwater lakes, dam and Horseshoe Lake remain at a high level.

Although the Rufous Whistler was the only unusual sighting today, there were a lot more seen during October including a Great Crested Grebe in the freshwater lake, covey of of elusive Brown Quail which were seen with 8 chicks crossing the walking track alongside the container terminal, a Common Sandpiper along the Yarra River, a Sacred Kingfisher reported twice during the month and a White-necked Heron.

Ursula Dutkiewicz observed on an earlier visit a large mob of Noisy Miners by the Large Freshwater Lake. Hopefully this does not happen frequently as smaller birds could be driven off by too much Noisy Miner intrusion and activity.

On the night of Sunday 3 November vandals lit a fire alongside the entry track. Apparently, it was quickly extinguished, as there were no hotspots the next morning when the survey team arrived.