Lake Bunga and the Lakes Entrance Waste Water Treatment Plant

Lake Bunga and the Lakes Entrance Waste Water Treatment Plant

I have been wanting to write a blog post on the  Lakes Entrance Waste Water Treatment Plant (hereafter referred to as "treatment plant" ) for some time, but there is not enough interesting information for a single post.  However, after Birdlife East Gippslands' outing to Lake Bunga on Monday,  I had the perfect match for the treatment plant. 

Male Scarlet Honeyeater

Lakes Treatment Plant and Lake Bunga

Lake Bunga is a tiny inlet that is fed from Bunga Creek and a few surrounding gullies. The lake is surrounded with pittosporum, banksia and Coast Tea-tree. This habitat is ideal for a wide range of birds, especially Eastern Whipbirds, Bassian Thrush, Eastern Yellow Robin and a variety of honeyeaters.

Lake Bunga, looking "upstream"

Lake Bunga, Looking "downstream"

Lake Bunga is accessed from Princes Hwy, 4.5 Km from Lakes Entrance. Turn right onto the Lake Bunga Beach Rd, and follow it until you come to the car-park. The last few hundred metres is gravel, and quite narrow, but is 2wd accessible. 

Eastern Spinebill

From the car-park, you can either walk to the surf, or through the Tea-tree towards Lakes Entrance. 

The walk towards Lakes Entrance takes you to the Treatment Plant. The Treatment plant is a 3 pond treatment plant that treats waste water from Lakes Entrance, Lake Bunga and Lake Tyers. These ponds are a favourite spot for ducks, teal and grebes. Pink Eared Ducks can often be seen here, as well as Blue Billed and Hardheads. 

A walking track skirts around the southern edge of the treatment plant, from which most of the treatment plant can be viewed from. The vegetation between the walking track and treatment plant often has Eastern Whipbird and Eastern Yellow Robin in it. 

Bassian Thrush

Superb Fairy Wren

The Treatment Plant can also be accessed from Lakes Entrance on Golf Links Rd. Follow this road until you come to the treatment plant.

***For those who have asked me where I saw the Scarlet Honeyeaters, here is a map.

The squiggly line is where the Scarlet Honeyeaters were.

Victoria Lagoon

Victoria Lagoon

Victoria Lagoon is a large body of water located just behind Hollands Landing. This lagoon is a popular spot for Red Necked Avocet and Stilts, as well as migratory waders. 

The best way to get to Victoria Lagoon is by parking at Rucker Avenue, off Hollands Landing Rd. You can then either use a spotting scope to scan out over the mud flats and water, or if the water level is low, you could walk around the lagoon. Be aware, that there is private property around the lagoon, so stay out of the fences. 

Victoria Lagoon-Google Maps

I had visited Victoria Lagoon several times in the last 12 months, but I hadn't seen a great deal. However, when checking the lagoon out a few days ago with some fellow Birdlife birders, a good number of birds were sighted. We didn't have much time, so I went back on the Saturday to check it out. 

It was about 1:30 PM when we arrived at Victoria Lagoon. We parked at Rucker Ave, and scoped the opposite shore line. I could faintly make out some small terns and some small shorebirds. 

Victoria Lagoon is notorious for its heat shimmer and glare from an afternoon sun, making it practically impossible to clearly see birds on the water and shore. So, I had to move around the southern end of the lagoon to get the sun behind me, as well as get closer to the terns. 

Trying to photograph birds from a distance of 400 metres with a heat shimmer.

We walked towards the south end of the lagoon, and then turned west. Here, we found a number of small areas of water, surrounded by vegetation. These mini "lagoons" were teeming with shorebirds. At first, I could see Red Necked Stints and Red Capped Plovers. However, I could see a noticeably larger bird, which I moved closer to for a better look. This bird turned out to be a Curlew Sandpiper, and after some searching, I was able to see 7 of them. I was also able to pick up 2 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers.

Red Necked Stint

Red Necked Stints

The Curlew Sandpipers were behaving noticeably different to the Stints. While the Red Necked Stints were feeding on the exposed mud, the Curlew Sandpipers were feeding in the shallow water. While the water would have only been a few centimeters deep, the stints were avoiding it.

Curlew Sandpiper

Sharp Tailed Sandpiper

After photographing the waders, we moved around the edge of Victoria Lagoon some more. Here, we came across a large number of Red Necked Avocets, with a few Banded Stilts. The few days before when I was there, the stilts had far outnumbered the Avocets, but this time if was the opposite. I don't know where the rest of the stilts had gone, perhaps to another part of the lagoon?

Red Necked Avocets and Banded Stilts

After walking another few hundred meters, I was able to get withing photographing distance of the terns. There was a couple of Caspian, 1 Crested and about 17 Little and Fairy Terns. The Caspian took flight while I was a great distance away, but the others were very tolerant of me. 

 One of the terns had an orange leg flag. I have been informed that a Fairy Tern had been photographed with a leg flag similar to this on the Gippsland Lakes last year. Maybe this was the same bird?

Eventually the tern took flight, and I quickly withdrew. They settled back on the mud when I had walked away only a few metres.

My visit to Victoria Lagoon was a great time. It was great to be able to see the shorebirds, particularly the Sharp Tailed and Curlew Sandpipers.

Snowy River Estuary Walk

Snowy River Estuary Walk

The Snowy River Estuary is formed where the Snowy River flows into the Tasman Sea. The lake system that has formed here harbors many types of birds. The beaches and sand-flats are a favourite spot for migrating waders, terns and oystercatchers, while honeyeaters, Eastern Whipbird, Bassian Thrush and thornbills inhabit the gullies around the lakes.

Pelicans in flight

The bird-life around Marlo is well described in the Emu in 1919. "On the points and headlands of these great sands great numbers of water loving birds assemble. Hooded and Red Capped Dotterals and Pied Oyster-catchers patrol them; every submerged bank has its quota of Black Duck and Teal; cormorants and Darter ply ceaselessly to and fro, and Gulls and Terns circle overhead. Curlews cry plaintively along the muddy margins of the river, and the barking of the Little Penguin is hear further out, and at dusk long lines of Black Swan "honk" their way to their feeding-grounds."  [ Dr. Brooke Nicholls , F. Nicholls , W. B. Alexander & Tom Tregellas  (1919) "Down Marlo Way. " Emu-Australian Ornithology, 18:4, 265-272.  http://www.publish.csiro.au/mu/MU918265 ].

Today, some of this wonderful bird-life can be seen from the Snowy River Estuary Walk. This walk starts at Marlo, and ends at Mots Beach Car Park, though you can keep walking until you come to French Narrows. The Walk is 5.1km, and takes around 1 hour 40 minuets one way. (Parks Victoria)

Map of the walk

Imm Pacific Gull

Along the walk, there is a lookout that gives excellent views over the lake and beach. From here you can see many birds feeding and resting on the sands below. 

The lookout

View from the lookout

A good place to start the walk is Sampson Lookout. There you can park your car, and then either head down the steps to the water, or walk along the cliff top on the Snowy River Estuary Walk. This walk soon crosses the Marlo-Conran Rd. You then walk though a stand of Mahogany, Banksia and Wattle. This is a popular location for White Throated Treecreeper, Eastern Spinebill and thornbills. The walking track then crossed over the Marlo-Conran Rd again, and runs along the cliff top again.

The track ends at Motts Beach carpark, but there are steps going down to the lake, and a boardwalk/walking track that continues to French Narrows. This walk is definitely worth doing, as here you can see Egrets, Azure Kingfisher, cormorants and spoonbills.

There are a number of informative signs along the way. 

Pelicans

Great Egrets

Great Egret

Little Egret

Black-tailed Godwits in East Gippsland

Black-tailed Godwits in East Gippsland

Black-tailed Godwits are a very rare visitor to East Gippsland. There are no eBird reports, and only a handful of Birdata reports. In fact, I didn't know they even occurred  in East Gippsland until local birders told me.  Therefore, when John Hutchison ( Avithera ) informed me of a small flock that had turned up, at the end of July, in East Gippsland, I made it a priority to have a look. 

Black-tailed Godwits

The godwits had been reported on the sand island at The Cut, one of my favorite birding places.  I wasn't able to make it until nearly a week after they were originally sighted, but I wasn't disappointed. Through the spotting scope, I saw three godwits feeding some distance from me. It was early morning, so I had to work my way around the birds so that I could get some decent lighting.  Thankfully the godwits were engrossed with feeding and preening, so I was able to move into position. It was then that I discovered that there was actually five godwits. 

The godwits allowed me to approach within 10 metres without even moving, which allowed for good photographing. They were very sedentary, and only moved a few metres the whole time I was there. 

Azure Kingfisher

There were many other birds around, including an Azure Kingfisher that allowed me to get quite close. 

Little Pied Cormorant

Royal Spoonbills in morning light

The next day, I decided to got back for another look. This time it was late afternoon, with a stiff breeze. 

The five godwits together

The godwits in flight

Seeing the Black Tailed Godwits was a great experience, especially in East Gippsland and it makes a great break during the winter months while waiting for the migratory shorebirds to come back.

A Winter Afternoon in East Gippsland

A Winter Afternoon in East Gippsland

Lately I have been unable to get out birding, so I haven't had any new blog posts coming out. However, I was able to do a bit of birding on Saturday, 22 July, so I headed down to Eagle Point for a look.

The first place I headed for was Eagle Point Reserve. The reserve is located off Rivermouth Rd, which comes off Forge Creek Rd.

Eagle Point Reserve - Google Maps

Eagle Point Reserve - Google Maps

I arrived at the Eagle Point Reserve around lunch time, and started at Gate 4. The bird-life was quite prolific, with Grey Fantail, Golden Whistler, Eastern Yellow Robin, Black-Faced Cuckoo Shrike and Silvereye. ( eBird Checklist )

A nest

Male Golden Whistler

After walking though the Reserve, I headed to The Cut.  The Cut is one of my favorite birding places, and as usual, it did not disappoint.  There were a number of Red Kneed Dotterals, Australasian Shoveler, thousands of Coots and hundreds of Black Swans.

Great Egret

Red Kneed Dotteral

Eagle Point Reserve and The Cut are both great places for birding. They are less than 25 minutes apart and cover a good range of species.

Bendoc

Bendoc

Ice in morning sun

Bendoc is a small town 10km kilometers from the Vic/NSW border. In the 1800's, Bendoc was a mining centre, but today it is primarily farming and forestry.

Bendoc is 103Km from Orbost, along the Bonang Hwy. Bendoc can also be accessed from Bombala in NSW.

Routes to Bendoc

While the Bendoc area is not noted for its bird-life, there is a considerable range of bush species. Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo are quite common in the area, as are Satin Bowerbirds and Lyrebirds. Brown Thornbill can be abundant in the right habitat, as well as White Browed Scrubwrens, Superb Fairwrens and Flame Robin.

The Bonang Hwy is  also a good spot for birding. White Throated Nightjar and Barn Owl can be seen in the early morning, and Wonga Pigeon, Eastern Yellow Robin and Lyrebird during the day.

Crimson Rosella

Eastern Yellow Robin

The Bendoc area is definitely worth checking out for birds. Try driving on the bush tracks, and stopping regularly and listen for bird calls.  Log trucks operate in the area, so pay attention to signs and keep you UHF radio on channel 40.

Frosty morning near Bendoc

*I haven't actually taken my big camera to the Bendoc area, so the bird photos are from other locations.