Port Macdonnell, French Point, Pick Swamp, Piccaninnie Ponds, Robe (Fox Lake Bird Hide and Beach), Salt Creek and along the Coorong, South Australia.

Heading back to Eagle View.

Australia, Day Fourty Seven.

Ebird List for Martins Wash Pool area.

 

Musk Duck (Biziura lobata).

We popped up to the Harbour at Port Mac but as the weather was a tad rough we only saw several Musk Ducks (Biziura lobata), Grey Teal (Anas gracilis), Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae), Great Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii), House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) and Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles).

Galah's (Eolophus roseicapilla).

Galah's (Eolophus roseicapilla).

Galah's (Eolophus roseicapilla).

We dropped back South West along the coast to a spot on the roadside near to French Point where we checked the rocky shoreline for waders and found a couple of Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris), 14x Double-banded Plover (Charadrius bicinctus), 50+ Red-necked Stints (Calidris ruficollis) along with my first Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis) of the trip, Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) and more Silver Gulls.

Australasian Bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus).

Australasian Bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus).

Australasian Bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus).

Our nest stop was a little further west at Pick Swamp, on the way there we saw Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen), Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca), Australasian Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae), Black Swan (Cygnus atratus), Magpie Geese (Anseranas semipalmata), Australasian Swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus), Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula), Willie-wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys), Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus), Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) and Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena).

New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae).

We parked by the gate and went onto the site, we walked along the field edge to start with where we picked up a strange Grey Currawong (Strepera versicolor) which sounded like a Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina) so Deb suspected that it might be a Hybrid between the two species.

New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae).

Also seen were Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides), Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla), White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae), flocks of Galah's (Eolophus roseicapilla) and out on the main track around the pools Musk Duck, Black Swan, Superb Fairywren, New Holland Honeyeaters (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae) and then the first of two Australasian Bitterns (Botaurus poiciloptilus) which was the main reason for our visit to this spot along with the elusive Striated Fieldwren (Calamanthus fuliginosus) which we got next but it did stay elusive and only gave us brief views in a bush full of dead sticks.

Swamp Harrier (Circus approximans).

Other species included Australian Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides), White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis), Masked Lapwing, Grey Shrikethrush (Colluricincla harmonica), Tree Martin (Petrochelidon nigricans) and Swamp Harrier (Circus approximans).

Swamp Harrier (Circus approximans).

We returned to the car and went a little further back west along the coast to Piccaninne Ponds where we checked the first of the ponds from the walkway and then we went to have a walk along the coast and into the scrub to reach another area of water but half way there we found that the path was closed for maintance (sign at the start of the path would have been nice), However we still saw Australian and Forest Raven (Corvus tasmanicus), Black Swan, Brown Thornbill, Swamp Harrier x3, Pied Oystercatcher, Little Grassbird (Poodytes gramineus), Golden-headed Cisticola (Cisticola exilis), Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus) and a fly passed Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx basalis).

Forest Raven (Corvus tasmanicus).

We set off heading back to Eagle View, as we drove towards Robe we had a flock of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo's (Calyptorhynchus funereus), Long-billed Corella (Cacatua tenuirostris), European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis), Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax) and Emu's (Dromaius novaehollandiae).

Forest Raven (Corvus tasmanicus).

At Fox Lake hide we had some smart Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea), Little Pied Cormorant (Microcarbo melanoleucos), Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa) and down by the beach lots more Silver Gulls and a heard but not seen Rufous Bristlebird (Dasyornis broadbenti).

Long-billed Corella (Cacatua tenuirostris).

Again we carried on North to our next stop off at Salt Creek Road, on the way we had more Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo's and Emu's, as well as Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides) and Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris).

Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae).

We didn't go into the reserve as we found the main species we had come for right by the gate, first of all we had a single female Flame Robin (Petroica phoenicea) but this was soon followed by two stunning males, as well as Red-rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus), Spotted (Spilopelia chinensis) and Peaceful Dove (Geopelia placida), Common (Phaps chalcoptera) and Brush Bronzewing (Phaps elegans), Superb Fairywren, Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata) and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater (Acanthagenys rufogularis).

Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae).

Again we continued on back North, on the way up the side of the Coorong and Lake Alexandrina we picked up Cape Barren Goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae), Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus), Australian Ibis (Threskiornis molucca) and Brown Falcon (Falco berigora).

We arrived back and after taking Renate home we collapsed in heaps, knackered but feeling good after yet another great adventure.