I hate to say it, but this was my first visit to Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve. I can understand why it has such a good reputation. Visually, the woodland is a lovely place to visit and the birdlife was wonderful. I am planning to head back very soon as I did not reach the big dam, which I really want to see. I get the feeling the reserve will be worth a number of repeat visits to see all it has to offer. Despite only spending an hour there I was so pleased with what I saw on this first visit. I saw my first Dollarbird. I also found this Noisy Friarbird, featured above, who put on a great performance. I saw a Masked Lapwing family, who, while alarmed, did not swoop me. I really enjoyed my walk that morning, but I know there is much more to see. I hope you enjoy the photographs below.
Upon entering the reserve I headed to the south, initially along the Old Coach Road. This took me past the unmistakable dirt embankment of a dam. Approaching the dam with the sun to my back, so as to make it easier to take photographs, I tried to use some small trees to hide my approach. There were two Masked Lapwings who saw me immediately. They started sounding an alarmed call which catalysed three balls of fluff on long legs, their chicks, to run across the dirt of the dam’s edge to the safety of the long grass. You can see the parent calling in the first picture below, while the baby dashes from the left to the right, with the parent between me and the chick. The babies’ camouflage was perfect for the mud, as well as the long grass. If I stopped looking at the small birds I found I really had to scan the mud and grass to see where they had gone. While I was at the dam embankment the parents kept their alarm call going. Once the chicks were in the grass both parents took to the air to circle the dam. I had no intention of moving closer to the young birds as I did not want to stress them more. If you look closely at the flying photograph below you will notice the spurs at the carpal (or wrist) joint of the wing. The adults would do a couple of circuits in the air before landing on the far side of the dam from me.
Adult lapwing on the right with its chick behind on the left, note the adult is calling
Adult lapwing in flight, with the spurs visible at the carpal joint
There was a lone Pacific Black Duck in the same dam where the lapwings were. It did not seem to be disturbed by the commotion of the lapwings but stayed in the centre of the dam.
Just before I turned to go further south I heard what I took to be the call of a female Australian Wood Duck. Since I was trying to get to the large dam I thought there was not much point stopping to take a picture of wood ducks as I already had so many photos of them. I then thought, why not, I may obtain a new angle so it is worth at least looking. In scanning for what I thought were ducks I realised I was actually listening to a Dollarbird. The bird stayed high up in the tree and I think there were at least two around with the other one also staying high up, in one case, on a dead tree, as seen in the photograph. They continued their calls regularly. I saw them fly low through the trees, unsure if this was part of the aerial displays I read about. I just thought the colours on the bird were spectacular.
A Dollarbird high on a dead tree
Still walking south I came upon this Noisy Friarbird on a branch just above head height. It was calling, then preening, calling, preening. The sun was hitting it just right. After taking a few photographs I moved closer to the bird but it took off. I thought I had disturbed it but it flew to the ground very near by before again returning to a tree very close to me. Unfortunately the tree was casting shadows over the bird but at least I understood why it flew to the ground, to the roots of a fallen tree; it had a juicy beetle in its beak when it landed in the new tree. It did not swallow the beetle whole but appeared to use its beak to crush it a little. It also continued calling while trying to eat the insect. At one time it released the beetle to call out before grabbing the insect in mid-air. It really wanted to call out but did not want to lose its food. It did eventually swallow the crushed insect. This bird was then joined by another friarbird. They moved between a few trees but always calling in unison. There was another pair, not far away, also in my visual range. The bottom photograph shows what I took to be mating behaviour.
The Noisy Friarbird calling
Two Noisy Friarbirds possibly in mating behaviour
There were two groups of White-winged Choughs not far from each other. This photo is of the southernmost group that was working its way up a slight rise.
White-winged Choughs sweeping an area for food
On my return walk I saw an Olive-backed Oriole. The sunlight hitting the bill quickly attracted my attention. I think it had been chased by a Noisy Minor as I saw another bird pursuing the oriole before it landed on the branch in the photo. It was calling repeatedly from this branch.
Olive-backed Oriole on a branch
Walking past another small dam my attention was attracted to a splash in the water where an Australasian Grebe, in breeding plumage, appeared. It seemed to be looking at something in the water, while swimming on the surface of the dam. It was content to stay in the middle of the dam.
Australasian Grebe swimming on a small dam
During my walk I came across this Swamp Wallaby, who did not seem to be that concerned about my presence. It stayed in one spot allowing me to move around it to take photographs. Usually these wallabies are very timid, hopping off as soon as they see a human. This one kept me under watch but made no effort to move away from me.