Lake Monger
Dec. 3rd, 2003 01:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gemfyreYesterday I took a stroll all the way around Lake Monger because it's just down the road. I must do that more often now I live so close to it.
Lake Monger is one of the lake system in the Perth region and is well known for it's bird life. During my stroll I noted down every bird I saw and also watched some of them for a while. Seeing as it's spring there were a lot of chicks about.
Unfortunately people still insist on feeding the ducks, and despite the signs saying "We understand you may feel the need to feed the birds but please feed them wheat and only in the designated areas." (and proceeds to say why - processed foods are bad the birds, the birds become dependant, the water suffers eutrophication, botulism loves to breed on wet bread). 1. Why does anyone NEED to feed the birds? 2. People still insist on feeding them bread. Processed, white bread. Lots of it. 3. People still feed them anywhere around the lake. *bangs head on table*
Well, what did I see?
Click on names for more info.
Terrestrial Birds
Senegal Dove Streptopelia senegalensis
Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis
Little Corella Cacatua sanguinea - I had to look up to find these guys initially. Most of them were roosting in the trees and making the odd noise. A bit further around the lake however I found a bunch feeding on seed pods from a tree.
Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus - Did I mention how much I hate these birds? They are migrating further and further east and pushing out native parrots. And they have a terrible screech. Prettiness makes up for nothing.
Red Wattlebird Anthochaera carunculata - I actually didn't see these, but I heard them, I guess if I'd looked closer I would have seen them. They are common as nuts, we get them in the grevillia out the front all the time.
Brown Honeyeater Lichmera indistincta - I heard a loud twittering and stopped and watched the trees for a while trying to find who was making the racket. Eventually I found one teeny brown honeyeater singing away.
Australian Raven (Crow) Corvus coronoides
Peewee (Magpie Lark) Grallina cyanoleuca - I heard young ones, but didn't see them. Man these birds are stupid. Don't mistake them for magpies. Magpies are smart, Peewees are dumb.
Willy Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys - A lot of these around feeding on insects. Could get quite close to them.
Welcome Swallow Hirundo neoxena
Rock Dove (domestic pigeon) Columba livia - Rats with feathers.
nondescript bird of prey - I just saw it soaring overhead, no idea what species it was.
Water Birds
Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa
Pacific Black Duck/Domestic Mallard hybrid
Domestic Duck - pale in colour - I actually saw surprisingly few domestic ducks. This is a good thing.
Grey teal Anas gracilis
Blue Billed Duck Oxyura australsis - The males were really bright, it's breeding season.
Musk Duck Biziura lobata - I spotted (well I first heard him) a male displaying. He'd lower himself into the water, splay his tail feathers, puff up his beak pouch and emit this high pitched squeak, then do it all over again. Kinda cool.
Black Swan Cygnus atratus - Saw two cygnets as well on the southern side of the lake. God they have piddly wings. Amazing to think that they eventually grow into long elegant black wings with curly white feathers at the tips.
Silver Gull Larus novaehollandiae - Another winged rat. At least these guys are native. They're still a pain in arse.
Dusky Moorhen Gallinula tenebrosa - These guys had chicks. There were LOTS of them. When I got too near the chicks would squeak and the adults would hiss at me. I noticed various adults feeding the young. Further research told me that one female mates with many males and the males feed the chicks while the female incubates eggs.
Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio - I call these guys "Takahes" because they look just like New Zealand Takahes, which are a flightless rail. Purple swamphens are a little smaller and can fly though. There were a few fledgling chicks of these guys too, they are just a matte black in feathers and beak. Unlike the striking purple feathers and red beak of the adults.
Eurasian Coot Fulica atra - *KOWK!* *HONK!* *SCREECH!*
Hoary Headed Grebe Poliocephalus poliocephalus - Very cute and small.
Australasian Grebe Tachybaptus novaehollandiae
Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus - I think I will have to go to the lake more often just so I might glimpse the courtship dance of these guys. I've only seen diagrams of it in textbooks and it looks pretty impressive. I'd love to see the real thing. Very impressive bird all round.
Australian Shelduck Tadorna tadornoides - I wasn't sure if these were domestic or native. Further investigation shows that they are native, just migratory. There were A LOT of these ducks around the lake. More of them than the ultra-common Pacific Black.
Wood Duck Chenonetta jubata - I only saw one of these. Weird because they're in pairs 99% of the time.
Pink Eared Duck Malacorhynchus membranaceus
Domestic Goose Anser anser domesticus - I hate geese, lucky I only saw 4 of them.
White Eyed Duck Aythya australis
Australian Shoveller Anas rhynchotis - These guys have HUGE beaks, they're really weird.
Australian Pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus
Black Winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus - I think I saw one of these. It just fluttered up from behind an embankment then back down. At the glance however it looked like a stilt.
Also saw
Long Necked or Oblong Tortoise Chelodina longicollis - He was sunning himself on a reed bed.
Gambusia holbrookii - I'm not sure if the bubbles I saw in the water occaisionally were these guys or insects. But I saw a lot of the fish anyway. I remember catching them when I was a kid and keeping them in a bowl for a while. These days we use them for behavioural experiments in the lab. They are introduced and quite a pest these days.
I was walking on the grass because it was closer to the lake edge than the path. I felt a wetness on my foot (I had sandals on) and was like "I hope that was just wet grass." I took a look and it wasn't. I had stepped in fresh bird shit. Swan or pelican I reckon.
The eastern side of the lake (right next to the freeway) is being rehabilitated. They ripped out a pine tree grove and have planted natives all over that area now. They are still seedlings though so the area looks pretty bare right now. They also have nutrient stripping pools to get the crap out of the water (yes, you can easily have too many nutrients, which are gained from fertilisers and rubbish among other things, too much nutrients and all you get is algal blooms that strip the water of oxygen and make it uninhabitable). Only a few Pacific Black ducks were in this pool, they are pretty hardy.
And I must bitch about the litter. I saw one duck keep pecking a cigarette butt floating in the water because it looked like food. Is it REALLY that hard to use the goddamn bins people!? Litterers make me sick.
By the way the Birds of Perth site is really useful.
Lake Monger is one of the lake system in the Perth region and is well known for it's bird life. During my stroll I noted down every bird I saw and also watched some of them for a while. Seeing as it's spring there were a lot of chicks about.
Unfortunately people still insist on feeding the ducks, and despite the signs saying "We understand you may feel the need to feed the birds but please feed them wheat and only in the designated areas." (and proceeds to say why - processed foods are bad the birds, the birds become dependant, the water suffers eutrophication, botulism loves to breed on wet bread). 1. Why does anyone NEED to feed the birds? 2. People still insist on feeding them bread. Processed, white bread. Lots of it. 3. People still feed them anywhere around the lake. *bangs head on table*
Well, what did I see?
Click on names for more info.
Terrestrial Birds
Senegal Dove Streptopelia senegalensis
Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis
Little Corella Cacatua sanguinea - I had to look up to find these guys initially. Most of them were roosting in the trees and making the odd noise. A bit further around the lake however I found a bunch feeding on seed pods from a tree.
Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus - Did I mention how much I hate these birds? They are migrating further and further east and pushing out native parrots. And they have a terrible screech. Prettiness makes up for nothing.
Red Wattlebird Anthochaera carunculata - I actually didn't see these, but I heard them, I guess if I'd looked closer I would have seen them. They are common as nuts, we get them in the grevillia out the front all the time.
Brown Honeyeater Lichmera indistincta - I heard a loud twittering and stopped and watched the trees for a while trying to find who was making the racket. Eventually I found one teeny brown honeyeater singing away.
Australian Raven (Crow) Corvus coronoides
Peewee (Magpie Lark) Grallina cyanoleuca - I heard young ones, but didn't see them. Man these birds are stupid. Don't mistake them for magpies. Magpies are smart, Peewees are dumb.
Willy Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys - A lot of these around feeding on insects. Could get quite close to them.
Welcome Swallow Hirundo neoxena
Rock Dove (domestic pigeon) Columba livia - Rats with feathers.
nondescript bird of prey - I just saw it soaring overhead, no idea what species it was.
Water Birds
Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa
Pacific Black Duck/Domestic Mallard hybrid
Domestic Duck - pale in colour - I actually saw surprisingly few domestic ducks. This is a good thing.
Grey teal Anas gracilis
Blue Billed Duck Oxyura australsis - The males were really bright, it's breeding season.
Musk Duck Biziura lobata - I spotted (well I first heard him) a male displaying. He'd lower himself into the water, splay his tail feathers, puff up his beak pouch and emit this high pitched squeak, then do it all over again. Kinda cool.
Black Swan Cygnus atratus - Saw two cygnets as well on the southern side of the lake. God they have piddly wings. Amazing to think that they eventually grow into long elegant black wings with curly white feathers at the tips.
Silver Gull Larus novaehollandiae - Another winged rat. At least these guys are native. They're still a pain in arse.
Dusky Moorhen Gallinula tenebrosa - These guys had chicks. There were LOTS of them. When I got too near the chicks would squeak and the adults would hiss at me. I noticed various adults feeding the young. Further research told me that one female mates with many males and the males feed the chicks while the female incubates eggs.
Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio - I call these guys "Takahes" because they look just like New Zealand Takahes, which are a flightless rail. Purple swamphens are a little smaller and can fly though. There were a few fledgling chicks of these guys too, they are just a matte black in feathers and beak. Unlike the striking purple feathers and red beak of the adults.
Eurasian Coot Fulica atra - *KOWK!* *HONK!* *SCREECH!*
Hoary Headed Grebe Poliocephalus poliocephalus - Very cute and small.
Australasian Grebe Tachybaptus novaehollandiae
Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus - I think I will have to go to the lake more often just so I might glimpse the courtship dance of these guys. I've only seen diagrams of it in textbooks and it looks pretty impressive. I'd love to see the real thing. Very impressive bird all round.
Australian Shelduck Tadorna tadornoides - I wasn't sure if these were domestic or native. Further investigation shows that they are native, just migratory. There were A LOT of these ducks around the lake. More of them than the ultra-common Pacific Black.
Wood Duck Chenonetta jubata - I only saw one of these. Weird because they're in pairs 99% of the time.
Pink Eared Duck Malacorhynchus membranaceus
Domestic Goose Anser anser domesticus - I hate geese, lucky I only saw 4 of them.
White Eyed Duck Aythya australis
Australian Shoveller Anas rhynchotis - These guys have HUGE beaks, they're really weird.
Australian Pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus
Black Winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus - I think I saw one of these. It just fluttered up from behind an embankment then back down. At the glance however it looked like a stilt.
Also saw
Long Necked or Oblong Tortoise Chelodina longicollis - He was sunning himself on a reed bed.
Gambusia holbrookii - I'm not sure if the bubbles I saw in the water occaisionally were these guys or insects. But I saw a lot of the fish anyway. I remember catching them when I was a kid and keeping them in a bowl for a while. These days we use them for behavioural experiments in the lab. They are introduced and quite a pest these days.
I was walking on the grass because it was closer to the lake edge than the path. I felt a wetness on my foot (I had sandals on) and was like "I hope that was just wet grass." I took a look and it wasn't. I had stepped in fresh bird shit. Swan or pelican I reckon.
The eastern side of the lake (right next to the freeway) is being rehabilitated. They ripped out a pine tree grove and have planted natives all over that area now. They are still seedlings though so the area looks pretty bare right now. They also have nutrient stripping pools to get the crap out of the water (yes, you can easily have too many nutrients, which are gained from fertilisers and rubbish among other things, too much nutrients and all you get is algal blooms that strip the water of oxygen and make it uninhabitable). Only a few Pacific Black ducks were in this pool, they are pretty hardy.
And I must bitch about the litter. I saw one duck keep pecking a cigarette butt floating in the water because it looked like food. Is it REALLY that hard to use the goddamn bins people!? Litterers make me sick.
By the way the Birds of Perth site is really useful.
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Date: 2003-12-03 10:25 pm (UTC)