Lake Gwelup Nankeen Night Heron

These birds frequent many of the lakes around Perth. Despite the name, Nankeen Night Heron, they are often seen during the day. This one held its pose while I zoomed in for a close-up. Thanks Heron.

Lake Gwelup Tawny Frogmouth

At Lake Gwelup today there were two Tawny frogmouths, one sitting on a nest and this one perched close by.
 

Pink-eared ducks at Lake Claremont

Pink-eared ducks

The Pink-eared duck gets its name from the pink patch behind the eye. They have become a sort of emblem for Lake Claremont in Perth's western suburbs. They are reasonably common there and easy to photograph.

Australian white ibis

Australian white ibis at Lake Gwelup

Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca) never used to be seen in Perth. Apparently, they turned up here in the 1950s. I can recall being very excited when seeing them for the first time soaring high over South Perth near the Zoo. This was in the 1980s. Later, I travelled to Sydney and was horrified to find a White ibis picking through a rubbish bin in a city park, the Domain. These days they are common all around Perth and gather in large flocks, gazing on open parklands.

At dusk you can see them returning to their roosts, flying in a characteristic V-shaped formation, much like the Canada geese.

Their normal food is invertebrates, such as locusts or mollusks. Unfortunately, the ibis has taken a liking to human scraps.


There are three ibis species in Perth

The White ibis  also known as the Sacred ibis

Another large ibis common around the city, the Straw-necked ibis

The Glossy ibis, a smaller ibis, which is less common in Perth

Purple swamphens at Herdsman's Lake

Purple swamp-hen

Purple swamp-hens at Herdsman's Lake in Perth today, shining in the afternoon sun

Purple swamp-hen

Reed warblers at Lake Monger

Australian Reed Warbler

There are plenty of reed-warblers calling loudly at Lake Monger at this time of year, but getting a photograph is another matter. They move very quickly in and out of the reeds, so you just have to keep snapping and hope for the best. This turned out better than I expected but I had several photos of just reeds!

Reed warblers are found on most Perth lakes.

This photo was taken today on a BirdLife WA excursion at Lake Monger from the bird viewing platform at the north side of the lake.

Eric Singleton Bird Sanctuary

Eric Singleton Bird Sanctuary is a re-vegetated urban bush and wetland located just 8kms from the Perth CBD on the Swan River in the suburb of Bayswater. It’s at 31°55'37"S 115°55'37"E in case you are interested in checking it out.

Yesterday morning Birds Australia WA group organised an excursion there. I went along and volunteered to write it up. Here’s my report for the next issue of WA Bird Notes which is the newsletter for WA Birds Australia members.

Spending a glorious winter’s morning at this Bayswater bush and wetland area rewarded fifteen birders with some interesting sightings. The highlight was a group of White-naped Honeyeaters feeding in the flowering eucalypts surrounding the western border of the lake. This was the first recording of the White-naped at this site. All up five species of honeyeater were seen, the others being the Brown, Singing, White-cheeked and New Holland. The vantage point of the bird hide over the wetland provided some excellent views of Pink-eared Ducks. We saw five species of ducks altogether. Setting up nesting boxes has been successful in attracting five duck species to breed in the area. The white plastic nesting boxes themselves are quite ugly, but the ducks are not bothered, so that’s the main thing.



Eric Singleton Bird Reserve is adjacent to the Swan River and has been extensively revegetated. It encompasses a variety of habitats: bush, fresh water wetland and estuarine river. All up we saw a total of 45 species. Other interesting sightings were a Richard’s Pipit, a Black-fronted Dotterel, a Little Grassbird and a distant view of an Osprey, nesting on the top of a mast across the river, near the Ascot racecourse.

Little pied cormorant and glossy ibis

To add to the list I posted recently of birds seen at the fast drying out Lake Gwelup...two more I saw last week were the little pied cormorant and the glossy ibis, both less frequent visitors.

More birds at Lake Gwelup

Today I spotted a few more birds to add to Tuesday's list at Lake Gwelup:

a pair of black fronted plovers
welcome swallows
pink eared ducks
Australian shelduck
Swamp harrier

The pink eared ducks are quite rare on this lake and they were mightily disturbed by the harrier passing overhead.

Lake Gwelup drying out...birds gathering

Lake Gwelup never used to dry out in the summer, but has done now for the last few years. This means that before the dry, birds gather there and the number of species seen is impressive. Over December 28-9 2010 I have spotted 34 species:

Pacific black duck
Grey teal
Wood duck
Australasian shoveler
Eurasian coot
Black swan
Purple swamp hen
Australasian grebe
Yellow spoonbill
Black winged stilt
White ibis
Straw necked ibis
Great egret
White faced heron
Reed warbler
Laughing turtledove
Spotted turtledove
Western gerygone
Twenty eight
Rainbow lorikeet
Galah
Short billed Corella
Rainbow bee-eater
Sacred kingfisher
Red wattlebird
Singing honeyeater
Brown honeyeater
Yellow rumped thornbill
Magpie lark
Grey butcherbird
Willie wagtail
Rufous whistler
Striated pardalote
Silver eye

Lake Joondalup, late summer

As the hot summer of 2010 drags on, many Perth wetlands are drying out. So waterbirds are moving to those lakes that still contains water.

Lake Joondalup is a haven for waterbirds all year round. In February Birds Australia members counted around 40,000 waterbirds on the lake.

It's a fabulous spot for bush birds too and approximately 69 species have been recorded here.