Melbourne in April

We had to visit Melbourne unexpectedly in April. Just across from where we spent most of our time we were fortunate enough to have Carlton Gardens to explore (and which also houses Melbourne Museum and the Exhibition Centre).

One visit yielded several new finds for me, and quite the expected location for one in particular. Always good to find new birds not in my portfolio 😊, and as regularly noted already, even those not new benefit from sightings in a different environment - this one definately much more urban and built than I have become accustomed to!

So we being with a few birds we might readily identify as city scavengers ...

This first "find" is one I have memories of as a child in Taree as being a BIG pest. However, I have not seen them around our local area at all, which is a blessing. Despite their reputation as a pest, they have quite beautiful and striking plumage to admire.

Common starling

Next we have a silver gull; a regular on my journey but usually on sand, this time on pavement in the park. Also in shot is a common myna - another pest and we have plenty of these at home too. This photo just struck me on my review because both birds are scavenging in the same space and both have just had successful finds. The second in the sequence is a good clear shot of the common myna showing the variations highlighting that brown and black are from from standard shades! The third, while a common feral pigeon, is predominantly white and not the more normal grey.

Attention now turned to movement on the pond ... striking for me because I had become accustomed to clear tidal waters and this was definately not tidal. A tepid city park pond, but certainly still full of new delights for me 😁.

These first several are not uncommon to me, but I wanted to convey a sense of pond community. So first I have dusky moorhens going about their business while a pacific black duck cruises on by. These are followed by more individual contexts for each of those birds to provide clearer glimpses of their individual characteristics. Wondrous creatures great and small, but never dull!

Then, cruising past as the sun shone through was another first for me - this chestnut teal. Magnificent iridescent green head.

And further around the pond island, basking in the sunlight and thus belying it's name was a fabulous new find - the nankeen night-heron. I am familiar with it's striated cousin, but these are far more striking and the nankeen (buff) plumage contrasting with the black head, clear yellow eyes and white chest is quite something. I was really privileged this one was so photogenic and allowed some wonderful close-up images by virtue of its statuesque poses - even offering one view with its neck extended. 

Even the humble pee-wee (magpie lark) was attracted by the pond.

And overseeing the park from on high was a little corella.