Bird Watching: Karkaroook Wetland Reserve in Melbourne, Australia, 0 by kennedyh

kennedyh wrote:
Moving on past several pools, we came on a pair of Pink-eared Duck (Malacorhynchus membranaceus), with two downy ducklings. They were far away on the further side of the pool, and I hurried round (by a fairly long circuitous route) in the hope of getting close enough for a picture. When I got round the other side, there was no sign of the Pink-eared Duck, but instead I found a lovely pair of Blue-winged Shoveller (Anas rhynchotis). These were also out of range and when I tried to get closer, they too disappeared. We then moved up onto the bank overlooking the large lake that dominates the Park. This lake contained the largest number of Silver Gulls (Larus novaehollandiae) that I have ever seen. They crowded the shore the whole way round the lake. I didn't attempt to count them, but there were certainly several thousand gulls. It was hard to spot any other birds on the lake, but I eventually spotted three species of Cormorant and the Masked Lapwing. Then I spotted a small group of grebe in close to the shore and I suspected that these were not the Australian Little Grebe that we had been looking at earlier. I made a close approach to the grebe and found that they were 6 Hoary-headed Grebe (Poliocephalus poliocephalus). These are the same size as the Australian Little Grebe, but they usually appear in flocks and usually on larger water bodies than the little grebes. I couldn't get very close, but still got some reasonable pictures. Here is a group of 3 Hoary-headed Grebes (the first I have ever photographed):