May 2018 bird survey

Diving feeders – Hardheads, Australasian Grebes and Hoary-headed Grebes – in better than average numbers suggest aquatic invertebrates and other small prey are plentiful in Freshwater Lake. With levels of both main lakes remaining fairly high, conditions are good for supporting birds. 

Visiting nectar feeders, especially Rainbow Lorikeets, Musk Lorikeets and Red Wattlebirds, abound in the park’s large Spotted Gums, which have flowered since April. 

Our resident observer recorded a diverse range of visiting raptors during April. One Brown Falcon may be staying on, as it was also seen today in Howe Parade Extension south of the bridge.

The frequency of spoonbill sightings on Freshwater Lake last month provides more evidence of suitable food available for wetland bird species.  

Also of interest is the increasing range of honeyeaters in the park, with White-naped Honeyeaters recorded this survey.

SpeciesNo. seenSpeciesNo. seen
Brown Quail Galah 
Black Swan    2 + 6DLittle Corella 
Australian Shelduck Sulphur-crested Cockatoo 
Australian Wood Duck Rainbow Lorikeet65+ (*15)
Pink-eared Duck Musk Lorikeet 42
Australasian Shoveler Little Lorikeet  
Grey Teal 2Purple-crowned Lorikeet 
Chestnut Teal 28 (*1)Eastern Rosella 
Pacific Black Duck22Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo 
Hardhead21Fan-tailed Cuckoo 
Australasian Grebe16Sacred Kingfisher 
Hoary-headed Grebe      13Superb Fairy-wren 55+ (7 blue)
   Rock Dove  White-browed Scrubwren 
   Spotted Turtle-Dove5Brown Thornbill 
   Crested Pigeon6Spotted Pardalote3
Darter Striated Pardalote 
Little Pied Cormorant (*3)Yellow-faced Honeyeater 
Great Cormorant*1White-plumed Honeyeater 70+
Little Black Cormorant2Noisy Miner 
Pied Cormorant Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater6
Australian Pelican3Little Wattlebird1
Eastern Great Egret Red Wattlebird 90(*10)
Cattle Egret New Holland Honeyeater 20+
White-faced Heron 1White-naped Honeyeater2
Nankeen Night-Heron Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike 
Australian White Ibis White-winged Triller 
Straw-necked Ibis Golden Whistler  
Royal Spoonbill Grey Shrike-thrush 
Yellow-billed Spoonbill Grey Butcherbird 
Black-shouldered Kite Australian Magpie4
Brown Goshawk Pied Currawong 
Little Eagle Grey fantail 
Nankeen Kestrel Willie Wagtail9
Brown Falcon1Little Raven7
Australian Hobby Magpie-lark10
Peregrine Falcon Flame Robin 
Purple Swamphen3Rose Robin 
Buff-banded Rail    Golden-headed Cisticola 
Baillon’s Crake    Australian Reed-Warbler 
Black-tailed Native-hen    Little Grassbird 
Dusky Moorhen27 Silvereye 
Eurasian Coot 120 + 3DWelcome Swallow50+ 
Black-winged Stilt 3Fairy Martin 
Black-fronted Dotterel5Common Blackbird12
Red-kneed Dotterel Common Starling270+
Masked Lapwing   Common Myna6
Latham’s Snipe Red-browed Finch 
Crested Tern*1House Sparrow1
Pacific Gull Australasian Pipit 
Silver Gull125 (*70+)European Greenfinch3
  European Goldfinch3

Number of Bird Species – Wetland dependent & Raptors 20   Land based  23 Total 43 species

Other animals:Common Froglet heard in dam and How Parade Extension Wetlands, Brush-tailed Possum

* seen at/along Yarra River only.  D- Denotes dependent young plus number of separate broods.

Note: For species seen in large numbers, or for which accurate counting was difficult the number seen is rounded off to the nearest of tens or fives followed by a +.

Habitat: The Large Freshwater and Saltwater lakes are at a similar level to the previous month, and conditions in both lakes continue to be good for supporting birds.  Diving feeders, comprising Hardheads Australasian Grebes and Hoary-headed Grebes are present in better than average numbers suggesting aquatic invertebrates and other small prey are plentiful in the Large Freshwater Lake. 

With a number of Spotted Gums in flower during April and this month there are large numbers of visiting nectar feeders in the park, especially Rainbow Lorikeets, Musk Lorikeets and Red Wattlebirds. 

Interesting/notable sightings:

  • A diverse range of visiting raptors recorded by George during April. One of them, a Brown Falcon may be staying for a while as it was seen today in the Howe Parade Extension Area south of the big bridge.
  • The frequency of spoonbill sightings on the Large Freshwater Lake over the last month are yet more evidence of suitable food available in the lake for a range of wetland bird species.