Post by wheelspinner on Mar 15, 2011 6:35:21 GMT -5
Over the long weekend we took a trip to the Tarra Valley in Gippsland. We stayed in a secluded B&B on a 50 acre block right next to the Tarra River. It's run by a Swiss chef and his wife, and the food was marvellous.
The highlight of the trip was a walk through the Tarra Bulga National Park, where we were lucky enough to witness a male lyrebird in full display mode, calling and dancing his heart out for about half an hour.
The lyrebird is our largest songbird. They are generally ground birds and rarely fly up into the trees. The male has a huge tail that is shaped like a lyre when spread, hence the name. They are superb mimics and utter a vast array of piercing calls that fill the forest. The male courts the females by dancing on a mound, throwing his tail into poses and uttering all of the calls at his command.
Sadly this bird's mound was on the other side of a gloomy fern glade from us, and we were limited in what we could see, but the show was certainly worth it. I did manage these two photos, taken in very dim light. In the second photo, you can see his tail being dislayed through the ferns, and his head just peeking above the greenery.
We also saw these birds in the grounds of our B&B:
Australian Wood Duck
Crimson Rosella
Immature Crimson Rosella
Firetail Finch
King Parrot
On a side trip to Wilson's Promontory, we saw these two on a walk through Cotter Lake to the beach.
Red Watlebird
Eastern Yellow Robin
It was a cracking day for a hike, amid the beautiful countryside of the Prom. Here is a couple of photos of the Promontory heathlands leading up to the sand dunes on the cliff tops. BTW, I was standing in a dried-out lake bed when I took these photos.
The highlight of the trip was a walk through the Tarra Bulga National Park, where we were lucky enough to witness a male lyrebird in full display mode, calling and dancing his heart out for about half an hour.
The lyrebird is our largest songbird. They are generally ground birds and rarely fly up into the trees. The male has a huge tail that is shaped like a lyre when spread, hence the name. They are superb mimics and utter a vast array of piercing calls that fill the forest. The male courts the females by dancing on a mound, throwing his tail into poses and uttering all of the calls at his command.
Sadly this bird's mound was on the other side of a gloomy fern glade from us, and we were limited in what we could see, but the show was certainly worth it. I did manage these two photos, taken in very dim light. In the second photo, you can see his tail being dislayed through the ferns, and his head just peeking above the greenery.
We also saw these birds in the grounds of our B&B:
Australian Wood Duck
Crimson Rosella
Immature Crimson Rosella
Firetail Finch
King Parrot
On a side trip to Wilson's Promontory, we saw these two on a walk through Cotter Lake to the beach.
Red Watlebird
Eastern Yellow Robin
It was a cracking day for a hike, amid the beautiful countryside of the Prom. Here is a couple of photos of the Promontory heathlands leading up to the sand dunes on the cliff tops. BTW, I was standing in a dried-out lake bed when I took these photos.
