A birdy walk at Albert Park

 I hadn't been to Albert Park for a while and having paid for a tram ride to town and back in the morning it would cost me nothing to ride the rail to MSAC.  Well, nothing except a lot more time than expected and a rise in blood pressure.  The 16 tram took forever to arrive at 505 and then, at St Kilda Junction, the driver announced that as he was running late he was avoiding St Kilda and going along Dandenong Rd.  So half the passengers, including me got off and climbed on another #16 which was following. The #96 to get to MSAC turned up on Fitzroy quite quickly.

Here is the route of my birding walk.

The driving range was well covered with balls, but no indication how many shots were birdies.
As soon as I got to the edge of the Lake (point1) I spotted the cocked tail of a Black-tailed Nativehen. A very good addition to my year list.
The I spotted another bird of the same species.
Eventually I got the two together.
With some coots for comparison.
Moving on around the Lake a few Australian White Ibis were positioned in some trees on an island.
Passing the sailing club sheds (point 2) I heard the twitter of Red-rumped Parrots, which I haven't seen for a while.  Sorry about the naff photograph.  This is the male.
And here is the pair together.
Getting to the first set of reedy ponds (point 3) an Australasian Darter posed well.

As usual Pied Stilts (4 of them today) wandered around the shallow water.
Getting to the SE Conservation Ponds (point 4) a Spotless Crake strolled out of the reeds and wandered about in the mud and garbage.  The eBird Bar chart shows few records of this species but I am finding them just about every time I visit these ponds.
I totalled 34 species for the outing.


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