Briars Park

The next outing was the furthest south I’ve been for a Birdlife activity, along the Mornington peninsula. I hadn’t realised it was the same place that I had seen on a travel TV programme. A homestead there housed some Napoleon artifacts, as the owners were friends with him. Sadly, a week after that programme aired, some artifacts were stolen, and the once open home was now closed to the public for good.

Anyway, it was a very cold, cloudy morning as we gathered to head in the other direction away from the homestead. We spotted some Eastern rosellas in a field adjacent to the car park,

and a crested pigeon.

A great egret posed for us as we headed towards a wetlands hide.

Among the birds on or in the pond was a yellow spoonbill, a first for me. I didn’t know there were yellow spoonbills. I had only ever seen royal spoonbills.

Other birds seen included Pacific black duck and a willy wagtail. Also posing nicely was a white-faced heron.

We then headed to a bushier track which meandered up a hill, on the way passing a swamp wallaby. We spotted a white-eared honeyeater.

As we looked back from the other side of the pond we spotted a black-fronted dotterel. Long-billed corellas and galahs were up in the trees. The light was in the wrong direction, so I didn’t get good shots.

There were some lovely views from the track and the sun had finally appeared.

Coming back down the track, we had to side step a massive emu poo. We didn’t see it, sadly, but as it is not classed as wild (there being a fence somewhere on the property), we could not count it if we had.

After lunch, surrounded by crested pigeons and ravens, we headed towards the homestead.

It was now a glorious day. The clouds were stunning.

On the property they grow heritage fruit and vegetables and have what you might also class as heritage animals – big chooks and pigs. I have forgotten the breed names, as I didn’t note them down.

I thought of my sisters-in-law (both ex and current) as they would have loved to have browsed the heritage vegetable garden, both being gardeners.

Spotted on the way back to the cars, a grey butcherbird,

and, to put a smile on my face, kookaburras.

Not a great photo. My next camera will have manual focusing. My eyesight isn’t great now, after years of staring at computer screens all day for work, so I can’t see the images properly on the camera. It’s only when I get home and upload them to the computer that I see the slight blurriness of what I thought was a good photo. C’est la vie.

Finally, I just wanted to share a photo of beautifully-coloured bark. I loved all the varied, but subtle colours. The photo doesn’t do it justice. I don’t know the name of the tree. I shall have to start learning.