Melbourne Adventures

We haven't been to the Western Treatment Plant f(WTP) or a while, mainly due to traffic concerns as work continues on the "improvements" to the M1 west of the Westgate Bridge.  It is finally beginning to look as though the end is near although the continually changing speed limits were a pain in the bum.  The drive wasn't too bad however.   On getting to the WTP a first issue was that my key didn't seem to work on the Paradise Rd gate.  So we went to the T section ponds first.  Where the key worked fine!   Getting the big picture out of the way first we ended with 55 species and a useless "shorebird sp" over 3 checklists. A summary is in this eBird trip report https://ebird.org/tripreport/332603. The most obvious sighting there was a flock of Australian Shelduck which I estimated as about 1000 birds.  This image includes about 1/3rd of the flock. Later, having got the key to work at Paradise Rd we found another big flock gathered in a dense m...

 We have visited Elsternwick several times recently chasing a reported Black-tailed Native-hen  (BTNH) at Yalukit William Nature Reserve.  This is apparently a redevelopment of the Elsternwick Golf Course.  The trip began with spotting a very young Australian Swamphen with its parent. We then met up with Danny Fog who appears to be one of the principle birders active in the Reserve.  He explained where the BTNH was to be seen and then showed us a family of Tawny Frognouths.  Here are Dad and Junior ... ... and Mum nearby. A close up of Mum, showing the tawny elements of her plumage. We then went in search of the BTNH and Frances spotted it! Mission accomplished we then went for a walk along Glen Huntly Rd with a specific focus of visiting the Coles supermarket: one of the few in the chain with a 'kosher' aisle.  I'm not sure how the ultra-orthodox would accept that the aisle was in line with dietary law, but the company has tried.   Heading o...

 We went to Williamstown this morning mainly hunting Great Crested Grebes, being promised lots of them by our friend Elke.  They delivered for her, and us!  But first a map of our route at Jawbone, and some other species. There were lots of Pied Cormorants perched on rocks etc. 3 Male Blue-billed Ducks were nice to see. So were some Pied Stilts and Royal Spoonbills. We saw one Great Crested Grebe pretty much as soon as we looked at the liquid.  Then another 11 as we crossed a small bridge on to a wee island.  (I have missed one from this snap.) A couple of portraits. Overall I wrote down 35 species here.   We then moved on to Point Gellibrand where a few more birds were seen.  More Pied Cormorants and lots of Crested Terns were the feature species. This is the Ball Tower at Point Gellibrand.  The history of this site i s extremely intersting and we must make sure we are there when the ball drops! Our final call was at the very pleasant Will...

 The day did not start well (but cutting to the chase, ended very well): My computer seemed to be fixated on delivering a notification from McAfee.  Had I been hacked?  All seemed good when I started up in Portland so just a weirdness. Frances couldn't find her keys to the apartment when we got down to the basement.  On checking a bag when we got into Portland it had got mixed up in the packing process. The freeway from the Westgate Bridge to Geelong (about 60km) was set to 60kph rather than 100 due to the Round the Bay bike ride.  It was a mess because the ride had passed so it some places the 100 limit appeared to be back (or signs for both limits appeared  together). Whatever: we got to Geelong and headed towards Mortlake.  The drive was OK although the road seemed in average condition with lots of potholes.  A few small and unremarkable towns were traversed.  We came across a few crops of canola, and a wind farm. The only exciting scenery...

 We needed to get the car serviced today so headed for City Mazda, with a plan to walk back to 505.  Here is the intended route.  The basic route is Montague St; York St; Kingsway; St Kilda Rd. To get the weather out of the way.  It used to be said that if you don't like Melbourne weather wait 5 minutes and it will change.  Not this day: a foul wind at 0805 and it was still howling at 1500hrs. The first - but not the last - graffiti was under the tram line on Montague St.  This also features in today's second adventure. I am unsure what to call this decoration on the Golden Fleece Hotel.  It doesn't have the look or feel of graffiti: perhaps it is just decoration? This joint, when approached from the direction we came, definitely appeared to be a venue where affection could be negotiated.  However the building is very large and this is the back entrance: the front bit looks much more like a remedial massage operation (with the photos all of female...