| Birding
On My Own - Australia and New Zealand 2002 Emmalee Tarry |
Comments | Table of Contents |
Phillips IslandPhillips Island Swan Lake Penguin Parade Phillips Island Beaches Short-tailed Shearwater Colony Churchill Island Wilson's Promontory |
 New Holland Honeyeater |
Phillips Island is about a 2 hour drive from downtown Melbourne. It is hard to get to Phillips Island without getting caught by the new Melbourne toll system called CityLink. Driving along the freeway you may notice a sign that says " Start EToll". There are no toll booths and they somehow record your license number as you pass. If you have a monthly Epass you are all set. Without the pass you have 24 hours to call in (13 2629 ) and charge a AU$9 day pass. If you fail to do this you are given a ticket for about AU$75. If you are driving a rental car, the ticket will be sent to the rental agency who will pass it on to you. I used my cell phone to call the number and the call took about 10 minutes forcing me through several menus. It was voice recognition and it didn't recognize my voice when I gave my license number "R" "O" "M" "654" so each time I had to hold on for a real operator. I should have been able to say "Romeo" "Oscar" "Mark" , but I kept forgetting that M is Mark. Be prepared for the toll system. You can buy day passes somewhere, but I never figured out where to do that.
Phillips Island has many campgrounds. I stayed in the first one over the bridge. It had just been inspected by the "Big 4" people and may be included as one of their campgrounds in the future. One big advantage of Big 4 is that dogs are not allowed. I like pet free campgrounds because the birding is better. In the campground I saw a Brown Thornbill.
At the Phillips Information Center I bought an evening ticket to the famous Penguin Parade. This is not necessary as they are also sold at the visitors center. The Information Center has a bird list and a descriptive list of birding locations which they can find if you insist.
Swan Lake
Swan Lake is the only fresh water lake on the island. There is a 1/2 mile walk from the parking lot to the bird hide on the lake and it is good birding all the way. Common Blackbird, Little Wattlebird, Silvereyes, Grey Fantail, Superb Fairywren, Red-browed Finch.
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This is the lake from the bird hide. The drought has shrunk
the lake to about 1/3 its former size. There were many domestic Geese, Black
Swans, European Coots, Black-winged Stilt, Black-fronted Dotterel, Grey Teal, ,
Chestnut Teal, Australian Grebes. White-fronted Chats were walking along the edge of the lake looking like shorebirds. The first time I saw this bird it was in a weedy field near the Grampians. Around the bird hide the slopes are covered with Short-tailed Shearwater burrows. The Shearwaters are just this month returning for the start of the breeding season. A decapitated Shearwater lies at the mouth of one burrow. |
I reported dead shearwater to the ranger at the visitor's center who was very alarmed. She thinks the bird was killed by a fox. This colony is not protected by an electric fence. A poison control program is in place to keep fox and feral dogs out of the nesting colony. The next day I went back and the dead bird was gone. I copied this information from a sign at the entrance warning people not to bother the predator control devices set in the area. The devices are placed off in the bush and I did not see one. One happy thought is that if people allow their domestic dogs to wander off leash here, they may get into the poison.
| M44 Ejector is registered with the USDA for control on canids
( Coyote, Fox, Wild Dogs). It is designed so that when the predator chews off
the top a poison injector is shot into the animals mouth. The injection
contains a sedative to reduce the pain of death and a poison to kill the
animal. |
Penguin Parade
I went on to the visitor's center for the Penguin Parade. The weather report predicts rain for the evening. After seeing the low level of the lake I have to be happy for the rain, but does it have to rain on my Penguin Parade. Admission is AU$13 for an adult.
At the visitor's center I watched a video on the Penguins, looked at the exhibits and shopped in the gift shop.
About 6 PM they open the gates to the Penguin Stadium. They don't call it that, but what other term could one use. The Penguin colony covers a hillside between the center and bay. Huge concrete bleachers have been built on the lower part of the hill by the beach. They must seat 1000 people.
Cameras are not allowed at all and spectators are asked to sit down on the concrete bleachers so those behind can see. The Rangers tell you that the best seats are in the front row on the right side. People are started to come most on tour buses from Melbourne. There are tour buses full of Japanese, British, French, German tourists all with guides speaking their language. There was a van full of people from China. Not Hong Kong but mainland China. There are not many children as it is now October in the Northern Hemisphere and the kids are back in school.
Soon there is a river of people walking down the concrete path to the bleachers and the bleachers are starting to fill. It also starts to rain. I have a raincoat and an umbrella, but I am soon soaked from the waist down. It isn't cold so I just stay wet. It is now 6:30 and with binoculars I can see thousands of Shearwaters circling over the ocean some distance from shore. By 6:45 the shearwaters are closer and visible with the naked eye.
A Ranger with a microphone gives a short talk about the Penguins. She never mentions the Shearwaters. Rangers in red coats watch the crowd looking for hidden cameras. About 7 PM, the first Penguins arrive at the edge of the water. These guys are so small you don't really see them until they reach the beach. The Little Penguin feels safe in the water. What is scary is the walk across the open beach until they can get in the grass and start the climb to their burrows.
The Penguins gather in the surf. One or two stand up on the beach and then roll back into the water. Finally one little bird dashes across the sand. He is followed by others. The little girl next to me announces " I want to go home." Her grandmother lets her hold the umbrella and she immediately starts waving it around hitting people on either side. I can't really move so I sit there wet getting hit with the umbrella every few minutes. The wind destroys my own umbrella.
Little groups of Penguins continue to arrive. Once across the sand they start climbing the hills on either side of the concrete bleachers. I've had it and start walking up the steps toward the visitors center. The best way to see the Penguins is as they climb the hill some within feet of the boardwalk. Every now and then one stops. People line the boardwalk. I see a few cameras. The Rangers can't stop everyone.
When I reach the visitors center, I realize that I have not seen a single Short-tailed Shearwater land at a burrow. Either I didn't look hard enough or the Shearwater burrows are not near the boardwalk.
People are now streaming up the boardwalk and into the gift shop. The cash register is ringing. Penguins are big business. The restaurant is open and busy. I go back to Willy and change clothes in the parking lot. Campervans are really nice.
The Penguin Parade is a bizarre birding experience. Don't miss it even if Little Penguin is not a life bird.
Phillips Island Beaches
Most people come to Phillips Island to enjoy the beaches. Since it is only 2 hours from Melbourne there are many vacation homes here and of course everyone wants to build on the water. One of the first beaches I visited was Woolami Beach near the campground looking for Hooded Plover. The wind was very strong and a couple of surfers are hanging out in the parking lot .I am not sure if they are waiting for better waves or just think the waves too big. I suspect they are not very experienced surfers. In my experience really dedicated surfers never think the waves too big. With my scope I can see a long way up and down the beach and I do not see any birds others than gulls.
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| At Smith's Beach there is a colony of Short-tailed
Shearwaters. Their burrows are easily seen and there is also an odor associated
with the colony which shows they are active. There is a housing development near this beach and the only protection for the colony is a sign that asks people to stay on the boardwalk to beach and to keep their dogs on a leash. While I was there a woman walked her dog to the beach off leash. The people who own the houses undoubtedly have dogs and those dogs must roam the colony. Smith's Beach is certainly an area to come to at night to try to see the Shearwaters return to their nests. |
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A short dirt road takes you to Berry Beach. There are signs warning that this is a very dangerous surfing beach. On the wooden viewing platform a family has placed a memorial plaque for their daughter lost here. I was here because the Ranger at the visitors center had mentioned that Hooded Plover had been seen here recently. The wind is still strong, but hunkered down on the beach by some rocks is a Hooded Plover. It was my first for the trip.
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