Our third New Year's Day down-under was spent on a bird-watching 'big-day'. As in previous years, both in England and Australia, we limited ourselves to an area within 10 km of home. During our first year in Australia we lived in Seaholme and spent our first new years day (1997) birdwatching within 10 km of Seaholme station. Although we moved during 1997 we decided to use the same area for our New Year's Day bird-watch in 1998, and again on 1 January 1999.
Seaholme is a small suburb, sandwiched between Williamstown and Altona, to the west of Melbourne, Victoria. Taking Seaholme Station as the centre of our home range, Melbourne's western suburbs occupy the north-eastern quadrant while much of the south-eastern quadrant is covered by the waters of Altona Bay. The coast and Marybyrnong River form the southern and eastern boundaries with Point Cook R.A.A.F. base the southernmost point. The western border was formed by the Derrimut/HopkinsRoad (north of Werribee) while to the north we did not cross the Western Highway. This area offers a range of habitats including suburban gardens, grassland, wetlands and coast but little in the way of woodland. In this area, on the first days of 1997 and 1998 we recorded 74 and 85 species respectively. This year our aim was to beat our 1998 score and our dream was to record 100 species which should be possible if our luck held.
To maximise our chances we changed our strategy from last year. We would still start with a walk round Truganina Swamp, my local patch, followed by a drive around various sites such as Newport Lakes and Laverton grasslands before ending the day at Point Cook and Laverton saltworks. Andrew and I surfaced at about 05:00 on a cool, calm new year's morning while Jenny, my wife and Matthew, our younger son opted for a lie-in. By straining our ears we picked up the call of a Willie Wagtail for our firstbird of 1999 followed shortly by the carolling of an Australian Magpie. Breakfast of a crunchy muesli bar was taken while wandering around a still dark garden but nothing was heard until the munching abated. Rule 1 for the aspiring big-day birder, forget the crunchy muesli bars. Then, Skylarks could be heard singing from nearby Truganina Swamp and Blackbirds from closer rooftops while Silver Gulls called as they flew overhead. As the sky slowly lightened other birds gradually joined the dawn chorus; the raucous calls of Common Mynas, the soft coos of Spotted Turtle Doves and the whistles of White-plumed Honeyeaters from surrounding gardens were joined by the harsher calls of Red Wattlebirds in trees bordering the swamp. House Sparrows feeding in a neighbour's garden as we made our way towards Truganina Swamp became the first birds seen on new year's day.
The swamp has been my local patch since we moved to Altona Meadows in mid-1997 and forms part of Melbourne Water's drainage system acting as a retarding basin to prevent flooding. Laverton Creek flows through the middle of the swamp and has been widened to facilitate flood control. For much of the time the swamp has been dry grassland due to lack of rain but currently the north-eastcorner is flooded. There are areas of salt marsh and reed-bed, the latter mainly to the east of the creek, and a small freshwater pond/swamp behind Mount St. Joseph's school which in contrast to last year is full of water. Kooringal Golf course, to the south-east, is well wooded but there is no access from the swamp. The Western Purification Plant, to the south-west, is similarly out of bounds but the settling tanks can be viewed through the fence and often hold concentrations of ducks and gulls.
As we approached the swamp Superb Fairy-Wrens were heard calling from the long grasses and a flock of mostly immature Common Starlings, some moulting into winter plumage, flew out from the housing estate and settled in some boxthorn bushes before dropping to the ground to feed. We were still hearing more birds than we were seeing so we stopped at the edge of the swamp for a listen. A Purple Swamphen squawked from the reeds growing alongside Laverton Creek; Magpie-Larks called from nearby suburbia; Golden-headed Cisticolas buzzed and Little Grassbirds whistled from the taller stands of grass and reeds while Masked Lapwings complained, I don't know what about, from the centre of the swamp. Rabbits are common around here despite various control measures and were the first mammal seen followed shortly after by a solitary Hare, the only other mammal we recorded all day. New birds were coming much slower than at the same stage last year. As we followed the cinder track down the west side of Laverton Creek a party of Little Ravens flew over, heading towards the trees of the golf course. Where the creek broadens out there was a flock of six Greenshanks standing in the shallows, plus our first wildfowl of the morning; a couple of Black Swans, a pair of Grey Teal and Chestnut Teal plus a few Pacific Black Duck. Three White-headed Stilts waded amongst the duck delicately picking items from the surface of the water and 4 White-faced Herons foraged along the creek bank while a Common Tern in non-breeding plumage patrolled over the creek. The wheezing song of a Greenfinch was heard from the pines bordering the golf course and a pair of Little Lorikeets screeched overhead. As last year the settling ponds and surrounds of the Western Water treatment plant brought a rush of species. Australian White Ibis and Straw-neckedI bis stood on the grassy banks where a pair of European Goldfinch fed at a thistle head. The tanks held numerous Grey and Chestnut Teal plus Hoary-headed Grebe, Eurasian Coot, a small flock of Hardheads and a lone Australasian Shoveler. A single Little Black Cormorant and an Australian Pelican sat on the pontoons separating the ponds. We paused just long enough to complete a count for the Victorian Wetland database before continuing towards Queen Street. As we crossed the bridge over Laverton Creek a party of Musk Lorikeets exploded noisily from a flowering tree where they had been feeding and a pair of Feral Pigeons circled over the nearby netball and basketball centre. Following the edge of the golf course northwards we disturbed a flock of Yellow-rumped Thornbills and then some Crested Pigeons, the latter flying away with an audible whirring of their stubby wings while overhead an Australian Hobby soared on stiff wings. From the golf course woodland we heard the calls of Galah just before two flew over and then had our first surprise of the day when an Eastern Rosella, only previouslyr ecorded once, was seen clambering through the casuarina trees that edge the golf course where there were also several New Holland Honeyeaters. Welcome Swallows and Eurasian Tree Sparrows belatedly put in a welcome appearance, they are normally common around home, where had they been earlier? As last year Red-capped Plover and Marsh Sandpiper were the only new birds seen on the shallow salt marsh. At 07:42 a burst of Clamorous Reed-Warbler song from the reed bed in the north-east corner of the marsh brought up our half-century, some 34 minutes later than last year. Two juvenile Black-shouldered Kites, still showing some pale rufous markings on the underparts, perched on top of a tall pole near Mount St Joseph's pond where only Dusky Moorhen was added to the list. In contrast to last year the pond remained full of water and this year there were no muddy margins to entice crakes into the open. However, a portion of the north-east corner of Truganina Swamp has been flooded and during December I had regularly seen Buff-banded Rails here. We were not disappointed on New Year's day. As we headed home across the northern end of the swamp a Striated Fieldwren popped up onto the fence bordering the track. This is a species that has eluded us on previous big days and is only irregularly recorded from the swamp, so it was doubly pleasing to see it this time. The mournful whistle of a Brown Quail was heard from the grassland where a party of White-fronted Chats fed on the shorter sward. Nearer home Purple-crowned Lorikeet, the commonest of the three smaller lorikeets fed in a flowering eucalypt where there was also a Little Wattlebird. Although birds seemed to be coming at a slower pace than in 1998 we had completed a circuit of my local patch at about the same time and with about the same number of species, 58 in 1999 cf 61 in 1998.
After breakfast, Jenny and Matthew joined Andrew and I for a drive to more distant parts of our home range. A Song Thrush perched on the overhead wires near home was the first new bird. This species can be surprisingly elusive so it was nice to get it under the belt without too much hard work. A small flock of Fairy Martins swooped over rough grassland south of Laverton and a shallow stretch of Skeleton Creek in Hoppers Crossing held a Black-fronted Dotterel and a Latham's Snipe. Richard's Pipits were common in the grasslands north-west of Laverton where we also found some Banded Lapwings near their regular site. Singing Bushlarks were back in residence and where one had imitated a Galah for us last year, this year we were treated to a fine rendition of a Goldfinch calling. Continuing west along ? road we could not repeat the luck of last year when we discovered a male Brown Songlark but were treated to a fine collection of raptors. Every other telegraph pole seemed to offer a perch for a Brown Falcon but one had been claimed by a magnificent Peregrine which allowed us two minutes to admire his finery before effortlessly powering away over the fields. A pale-phase Little Eagle soared over the Derrimut-Hopkins road which marks the western edge of our territory and nearby another smaller bird of prey also soared on high - but too far away for me to identify. A Nankeen Kestrel was our last new bird from the grasslands.
Newport Lakes is an old quarry that has been made into an attractive park featuring wetland and some native bush. We visited it as a guaranteed site for Australasian Grebe, but we also pleased to add Darter and, our second surprise of the day a Great Crested Grebe in immaculate breeding plumage. At Jawbone Point, part of the Williamstown wetlands on the north shore of Kororoit Creek we saw Pacific Gull, Pied Cormorant (our 75th species at 11:39) and Little Pied Cormorant perched on rocks just offshore and a Royal Spoonbill roosting in the reeds with its bill tucked under its wing. Crested Terns off Altona were our last new birds of the morning.
Only Andrew and I ventured out after lunch, first visiting Cherry Lake, where we recorded Silvereye and Red-browed Firetail in the waterside vegetation and numerous Australian Shelducks on the lake. Next we visited a lower section of Skeleton Creek, near where it enters Laverton saltworks, but saw no new birds. Finally we drove to Point Cook Metropolitan Park where we intended spending much of the remainder of the day. Singing Honeyeaters were numerous around the picnic site car park and a male Swamp Harrier flew over Spectacle Lakes where there were a pair of Wood Duck. Sadly, the Pink-eared Duck and Black-tailed Native-hen that I had seen at this site on Christmas Day were no longer in evidence. At the gate to Laverton saltworks we met the ranger Bernie McGarrick who kindly offered to drive us around, so saving us a fair amount of leg work. Most of the waders were roosting on one pond where we saw Red-necked Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Pacific Golden Plover but, disappointingly, could not pick out any other species. However, with 87 species we had now beaten our 1998 total although we were struggling to think where new birds were going to come from. A Whistling Kite in wing moult soared over the saltpans; the buzzy calls of a White-browed Scrub-Wren were heard near the Point Cook Homestead and an adult Gannet was seen off-shore from Point Cook. So we ended New Year's Day1999 on 90 species. We were a little disappointed not to have made the ton, especially as this will probably be our last new year down under (at least for a while), but we really could not think where we could have found another 10 species.
Post Script: On 23 January 1999, on one of my regular walks around TruganinaSwamp, I recorded six species that we did not see on New Year's Day. These were Musk Duck, Pink-eared Duck, Little Egret, White-necked Heron, Great Cormorant and Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo.
