Port Macdonnell, French Point, Piccaninnie Swamp CP, Piccaninnie Ponds CP, Nelson in Victoria, Lower Glenelg River CP, Piccaninnie Ponds CP, Donavon's and Dry Creeek, South Australia.

A day along the coast down in the South East.

Australia, Day Sixty Seven.

Ebird List for Pic Swamp.

Ebird List for Piccaninnie Ponds / West end.

Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor).

Deb and I were up and out early as we wanted to get to a few good sights today, around Port Mac we started things with Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula), Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen), Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), Forest Raven (Corvus tasmanicus), Swamp Harrier (Circus approximans), Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles), Willie-wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys), European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris), Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena) and Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis).

The Western end of this brilliant Park.

Down at French Point we parked and checked the rocky reef like area but it was amazingly quiet and we only found Singing Honeyeater (Gavicalis virescens), Sooty Oystercatcher (Haematopus fuliginosus), Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae), White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae), Australian Ibis (Threskiornis molucca) and Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea).

90 odd Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus) at a Roo-in.

Southern Emuwren (Stipiturus malachurus) Female.

Southern Emuwren (Stipiturus malachurus) Male.

We carried on along the coast to Pic Swamp (Western end of Piccaninnie Ponds CP), on the way we saw Australasian Swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus), Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa), Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla), White-necked Heron (Ardea pacifica), Great White Egret (Ardea alba), Grey Teal (Anas gracilis), Little Pied Cormorant (Microcarbo melanoleucos), Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata) and Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor).

White-necked Heron (Ardea pacifica).

White-necked Heron (Ardea pacifica).

We parked and walked out to the Eastern side of the reed beds, on the way we saw Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus), Straw-necked Ibis (Threskiornis spinicollis), Australasian Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae), European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis), Black Swan (Cygnus atratus), Musk Duck (Biziura lobata), Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa), Magpie Geese (Anseranas semipalmata), Great White Egret, White-necked Heron, New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae), Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida), a flying Australasian Bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus) which dropped into the reeds all too quickly, Striated Fieldwren (Calamanthus fuliginosus), Willie-wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys), Forest Raven (Corvus tasmanicus), Australasian Swamphen, Welcome Swallow, Grey Shrikethrush (Colluricincla harmonica), Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus), Australian Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides) and around a 100 or so Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus).

Olive Whistler (Pachycephala olivacea).

White-fronted Chat (Epthianura albifrons).

We reached a spot where the path narrowed as it went in between some scrub on the left and reeds on the right, here we picked up Blue-winged Parrot (Neophema chrysostoma), Southern Emuwren (Stipiturus malachurus), Brown (Acanthiza pusilla) and Yellow-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa), White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis), Australian Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus australis), Golden-headed Cisticola (Cisticola exilis), Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis), Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa), Common Starling, White-fronted Chat (Epthianura albifrons) and a more showy than usual Olive Whistler (Pachycephala olivacea) which was a lifer for me.

Great White Egret (Ardea alba).

Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida).

We turned around and walked back towards the car, on the way we saw Little Wattlebird (Anthochaera chrysoptera), Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus), Australian Hobby (Falco longipennis), Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax), Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus), Small White (Pieris rapae) and Australian Emperor (Anax papuensis).

Shingleback Lizard (Tiliqua rugosa).

Shingleback Lizard (Tiliqua rugosa).

We reached the car and then headed for Piccaninnie Ponds CP, on the way we saw Black-faced Cuckooshrike (Coracina novaehollandiae) and at the ponds we picked up many of the species seen at Pic Swamp but added Australian Crake (Porzana fluminea), Little Grassbird (Poodytes gramineus), Brown Songlark (Cincloramphus cruralis), Brown Falcon (Falco berigora), Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia), Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) and a Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) which was off into cover before I got the camera on it.

The start of the track.

The habitat above the river.

We drove down to the beach nearby but as we passed through some scrub on the way we heard more Olive Whistlers calling so we walked back fro the parking spot to check them out and had 4 birds fly from one side of the road to the other, they were all calling noisily and chasing each other during what we assume was a bit of a territorial dispute.

Common Brown (Heteronympha merope).

Red-bellied Black Snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus).

Red-bellied Black Snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus).

We returned to the car park and then walked up onto the beach where we saw Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris), Silver and Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus) and along the coastal path a couple of Shingleback Lizards (Tiliqua rugosa).

Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus).

Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus).

We headed over the border to Nelson in Victoria where we refueled and got a late breakfast at a nice cafe down by the river mouth, we decided to take the coffee and finish it sat on a bench over looking the river where new species for the day list were Nankeen Night-Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus), Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia), Hoary-headed Grebe (Poliocephalus poliocephalus) and Caper White (Belenois aurota).

Shining Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx lucidus).

The spot was a woodland side in the Lower Glenelg River CP where we walked a trail down to the Glenelg River, during the walk new species included Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans), Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus), Shining Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx lucidus), White-throated Treecreeper (Cormobates leucophaea), Yellow-faced Honeyeater (Caligavis chrysops), Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis), Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis), Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae), Rufous Bristlebird (Dasyornis broadbenti), Red-bellied Black Snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus), a second Short-beaked Echidna, Common Brown (Heteronympha merope) and several Blue-spotted Hawkers (Adversaeschna brevistyla).

Lower Glenelg River near Donavon's

Blue-spotted Hawker (Adversaeschna brevistyla).

Blue-spotted Hawker (Adversaeschna brevistyla).

We returned to Nelson for a late lunch but the cafe by the river was closed so we went elsewhere, BIG MISTAKE as the steak sandwich from the cafe at the Mobil service station on the main road was by far the worst food I have ever had in Australia, absolutely disgusting.

Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis) male.

Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis) male.

Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis) female.

Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis) female.

On our way to what was going to be our final stop of the day at the Snow Gum Block in Dry Creek we popped in at Piccaninnie Ponds and Donavon's Landing but added nothing new at either so we carried on into the forests. 

Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus).

Rufous Bristlebird (Dasyornis broadbenti).

Rufous Bristlebird (Dasyornis broadbenti).

Rufous Bristlebird (Dasyornis broadbenti).

On the edges of the Pines we saw Red-necked Wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) and around the Snow Gum Block more Swamp Wallaby's and Western Grey Kangaroo's but we only added Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina) to the bird list before the weather put pay to any more birding.

Red-necked Wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus).

Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor).