Victoria Dam 25th Nov 2019

I decided on a trip to my local patch today, it was a bit windy which is never the best for woodland birding but otherwise it was a pleasant morning. Victoria Dam is (if you don't already know) one of the best sites to see many of the endemic bird species of the sw of Western Australia. Add that to being situated only a couple of kilometres from my house and you can see why I visit it often. 

White-breasted Robin

In fact the first 3 species I saw were endemics (Western Wattlebird, White-breasted Robin and Gilbert's Honeyeater), I could also hear the mournful call of the Red-eared Firetail along with the busy chattering of a flock of Varied Sitella. I made my way along the path to the dam where I was greeted by a Pied Cormorant sitting on the plastic pontoon on the lake, not a rare species but it is the first one I've seen at Victoria Dam (the 96th species I've seen there.) and it's always nice to see something out of the ordinary.

Pied Cormorant

Further down towards the base of the dam, I cam across a couple of family groups of both Splendid and Red-winged Fairy-wrens feeding on the parched lawn. Another obliging White-breasted Robin came out the dense vegetation surrounding the stream at the bottom of the dam and a young Scarlet Robin was quietly drinking from a small puddle under a leaky pipe.

Red-winged Fairy-wren

Splendid Fairy-wren

I walked over to the base of the dam to look for ducks that often sit in the pond at the base of the dam wall, but no luck today. As I turned around to set off home, I noticed a Western Rosella had landed briefly on the lawn, I managed to get one photo off before this notoriously skittish species took flight back into the scrub. 

Western Rosella

I walked slowly back to the car, noticing a Wedge-tailed Eagle circling on the thermals about the carpark. A good two hours of birding, seeing 48 species (10 southwest endemics)


My ebird checklist