Laverton Creek

I had wondered about going to the WTP today, but decided that I would be worrying about wasting diesel the whole time so it would not be much fun.  Instead we went to the mouth of Laverton Creek (aka Apex Park, Altona Beach).  

Traffic was generally light on the drive over and Google Maps took the twisty route using Grieve Parade delivering to the end of the Esplanade.  As soon as we emerged from the Mazda we had an interesting bird in the form of an Egret which appeared to have a shortish neck and plumes.  Sorry, nice try, no cigar: the dark bill shouts Great Egret.

While common, Crested Pigeons are very pretty birds.

There were a few Stilts around, but I couldn't find any bands or all-white heads.

A Singing Honeyeater was nice to see.  I always think of them as inland birds but they are easy to find in coastal Adelaide as well as the shrubby areas in Western Melbourne.

One of my favourite birding books is "The complete birder" by Jack Connor.  Although about North American birds the ideas he covers are pretty universal.  One of his tales id seeing a funny sheet of black plastic on a fence while driving.  When he stops and looks more closely it is a Caracara - the bird he has been searching for.  A little further down the road he sees another Caracara.  When he stops and looks more closely it is a funny sheet of black plastic.  We saw what looked like a strange Heron feeding on the far side of the creek, but after unpacking the scope and peering closely it was a sheet of plastic fluttering in the wind.

The key point is to look at every bird  - or possible bird!  We ended with 23 species which was better than seemed likely with hardly any waders around.