Letter-winged Kite In Victoria

         

OMG LWK!

Health-wise, we have had a bumpy start here in Lara. Nothing 'serious' thank heavens! But Lynn had a chest thing that turned into laryngitis, and then she caught a nasty, long lasting cold. I acquired that cold around Easter and was sick for about a week. Also, not to flog a sad horse, but depression had been gnawing away at my life force. I mention this only to share with others who fight the “blues.” You are not alone! And even wacky, theoretically fun people are not immune to the dark forces of depression and anxiety. However by Monday, I was feeling much better physically, although tired and rundown in general. And then on Tuesday, Dan Ashdown and Owen Lishmund found the Kite.

On the first of March, I wrote a comment on a photo of a beautiful Letter-winged Kite posted by Mark Carter. I said that it was… “at this point, my number one avian desire.” And that was the truth. I have long, long wanted to see an LWK. That raptor to me is legend. It is a bird of Big Years. It was the 800th Aussie tick for my friend Jen Spry. It was a bird of the Strzelecki Track and the Birdsville Track, a denizen of the most desolate outback. Well, the boys had found one in Victoria only about three and a half hours north of Lara.

Dan’s report hit the Facebook Australian Twitchers page at 12:18pm. I saw it about fifteen minutes later. Dan and Owen are both excellent birders. There was a photo. There was no doubt. There was indeed a Letter-winged Kite in Victoria! It was in something called the Terrick Terrick National Park the Meadows. I Googled the route and location. I considered it. But the clock was ticking and I was not really up to snuff. At that point I would not have gotten there until around 5pm. But honestly, if I had not been just getting over this cold, I reckon I would have pulled it together and shot up there. But instead I waited… gathering more information and following the story on Facebook. Several other friends did make the dash and had seen and photographed the bird. I decided to leave the next morning.

The road where the bird had been seen was reported to be 4WD necessary, so Troopi and I headed out at 6:30am. There had been a lot of rain down here and leaving town I encountered a closed road that added some time to my trip. I finally arrived at the beginning of Davis Road about 10:30am. We rolled slowly down the very muddy, slippery road to the area where the bird had been seen. There was a vehicle ahead and there was a guy with binoculars. Yay.

I pulled over and asked, “Have you seen it?” And he answered, “Yes, but not for about ten minutes now.” The twitcher's nightmare.

The birder was Mark Buckby and he had watched the bird for over an hour that morning, but had lost track of it. He had last seen it heading west. He spent the next couple of hours looking for the bird with me. His camaraderie and encouragement, in what had become a howling wind, was much appreciated. Finally he packed it in and left the area. The Kite had not returned.
   

I spent the rest of the afternoon looking and hoping. Neil Macomber (Birdswing Birding Tours) and a client arrived and searched with me for a little while. According to my FitBit, I walked over 15 kilometers. The wind was, as I said, howling. For the rest of the afternoon I did not see any raptors. Toward dusk the wind lessened slightly and a few Black-shouldered Kites showed up again, but no LWK was to be seen.
         

Troopi in the distance patiently awaiting my return yet again.

Tired and fading fast, I took a “basic cabin” in a caravan park near Echuca. I grabbed a bite and hit the bed early. First thing the next morning, I started back over to the Letter-winged spot. As I turned onto the quiet highway, I saw a lone vehicle rolling toward me. It was a familiar looking high-top Troopy. My old friend Robert Shore had driven down from Parkes, NSW.

The two troopies headed over to the Meadows. As we started down Davis Road, Robert stopped and gave James Mustafa a lift. He had been walking-in after parking his 2WD car at the beginning of the muddy road. They followed me to the spot at the north end of the reserve where Mark had showed me it was possible to easily cross the irrigation canal. It was also the area where Mark had first seen and photographed the kite the previous morning.

After about fifteen minutes of searching, an elanus-type kite perched on the fence behind us. There were a few Black-shouldered Kites about, but there was something different about this bird. It seemed slightly larger. Snapping photos and zooming in showed that the eye looked correct for Letter-winged. I said as much. There was black in front of the eye and not behind it. I was hanging back as the bird flushed. LETTER-WINGED KITE! My heart flew with that bird. I stared at that gorgeous jet-black marking on the under-wing that I had looked for, and hoped for, on so many Black-shouldered Kites over the years. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I managed to take some photos. Grateful does not even come close. Experiencing this bird is now a part of my heart. Others have gotten better photos, but no one could have been more thrilled.

One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

We saw it a few more times as it perched up in the brush. Sometimes in the company of Black-shouldered Kites. My friend, Simon Starr of Firetail Birdwatching tours arrived and also got good looks before the bird flew off, once again, to the west.

After I was sure that Simon was on it, I did not continue to follow the bird. I walked back to Troopi alone, and for a few moments allowed the elation, euphoria, relief, fatigue, and sheer joy of experiencing this magnificent bird to roll down my cheeks. Yes, real men cry, although we’re usually sort of quiet about it.

As I write this, the Letter-wing Kite has not been seen since the four of us saw it that morning. Much as I had done on the day before, my friend Warren Palmer arrived and missed it by not more than fifteen minutes. Timing is everything. I am so grateful that I was able to stay another day and see this legendary bird. I hope that some of my friends who are going to look this weekend can re-find it and experience it as well.

Letter-winged Kite Lifer "Pie" (after a wonderful Fish and Chips Lifer Dinner!).

I just had to add a few more photos. I will relive this experience for a long time.

Black-shouldered Kite above and the Letter-winged Kite below. One of the spots where it perched.

 

There was something in its left talon... could not tell what it was.

    

That long black mark under the wing... even now the photo makes my heart jump!

 
Peace. Love. Birds.

My Friend and an Egret

There are a few of my friends whose friendship was truly built through our interactions on Facebook. David Richardson is one of these friends. I knew Dave through FB before ever I met him in person (he is taller in real life), and “live” he is just as enjoyable, or more so, than he is online. We are not related, but I think he would be good family to have. I am grateful that we are friends.

Dave lives on the edge of Truganina Swamp in Altona and he birds it very regularly. It is truly his “patch.” He has seen about 158 species of birds inside the swamp conservation area since 2007. So when he posted a photo of an Intermediate Egret in the swamp yesterday, I decided he was long overdo for a visit from me. Altona is only about 35 minutes from Lara and after doing a few morning things around the house, I headed up to Dave’s.

                   

Intermediate Egret (soon to be Plumed Egret -click the link for info).

I parked the Prius in his drive and we walked over into the swamp. It is a lovely, large area generously maintained by Melbourne Water. The Intermediate Egret is only the second one that Dave has seen there (or anyone else that I know of) the first one being in 2008.

         

We wandered over along Laverton Creek to the area where he had seen the bird yesterday and there was an Egret! Closer examination showed that it was a Great, not an Intermediate. We walked further along the creek. Very near where he had seen and gotten photos of the bird yesterday, an egret flew in and landed. It was the Intermediate! I took some photos and we just stood around enjoying the bird. It was my first Intermediate Egret in Victoria. No, it is not a Lifer Pie bird, but a very cool sighting and I am grateful.
     

About the same size as a White-faced Heron

My friend, Dave and me

I look forward to birding again with Dave sooner than later. Birders are such a wonderful part of birding. Good friendships grow out of this mutual interest in birds, or as another dear birding friend once referred to it, “this noble passion." Yep, birders are cool and I am grateful.


Peace. Love. Birds.

Remembering Gratitude

Our shipment of belongings arrived from the US on 10 March. This time there were some broken and damaged things. We do have insurance (and it was dear). We will be filing a claim. But we are grateful that most of our more cherished things arrived intact. Since then, we have been sorting our stuff into this tiny house. It is becoming homey, but many things that are precious to me are now packed away in storage tubs and being kept in our dear friend, Carolyn’s, garage. I am not sure what we would have done without her generous offer of this space. I am very grateful.

I have managed to occasionally get out for some brief birding outings here and there. I have not done a full day of birding since the pelagic on 5 March. There were some wonderful birds on that trip, including the most excellent Australian tick of a Long-tailed Jaeger, which was identified afterwards from our photos. Arctic Jaeger was also an Aussie tick for us (Parasitic Jaeger it is called in the USA, but it is the same Stercorarius parasiticus). The seas were very rough and even wearing the patch, Lynn was sick part of the time. I did not feel great, but gratefully I did not get sick.

Black-faced Cormorant

Cambell Albatross

Arctic Jaeger (Parasitic Jaeger)

Long-tailed Jaeger

I have been able to pop over to the WTP several times. I am still in awe that it is just across the highway from our home. It takes me about 5 minutes to reach the Avalon Airport which is just at the edge of the Poo Farm. It’s perhaps 10 minutes to get to the Beach Rd. gate. The WTP is, as my dear friend Ash put it, my natal birding grounds. It is the place where I really fell in love with birding. I never dreamed I would live so close to it, and for that, I am very grateful.
             

Great Egret 

Common but gorgeous Welcome Swallows

                   

Western Treatment Plant with the You Yangs in the background. I love this place!

White-faced Herons poking up through the grass

A recording shot of a Pectoral Sandpiper at the WTP

I have also been over to the You Yangs a couple of times. These lovely “mountains” are also only 10 minutes from here and there are Koalas! We later found that this one’s name is Anzac. He is wild, but known to Echidna Walkabout's Koala Research Department and is recognizable to them by the skin pattern on his nose.
         

Anzac, the grand old "man" of the You Yang Koalas

It has not been all skittles and beer as they say (actually I do not know anyone who says that). Moving is always stressful and this move has been no exception. I will state that I am one hundred percent positive that I want to live in Australia full stop. I love it and plan to live out my days right here in the Land Down Under. I put aside any doubts that I might have had about that during our year of travel. Oh and I do miss the traveling more than I knew was possible. I actually ache to get out there amongst it, but things must be done within a budget. We are heading out for a couple of weeks in May. I can hardly wait.

Finding the time and headspace to write the “book” of our year of travel continues to vex me. I AM working on it now, very slowly. My head has been a bit off for a while now. To be honest (and I see no purpose in writing these if I am not honest), I have been depressed. And for me, that means anxious as well. And that can be a shit combination indeed.

I also have a few physical things that have been going on for a while now. In no particular order they are… screeching tinnitus 24/7, many dark cobweb-like floaters swirling through my vision, my left fibula occasionally popping out of my knee joint so that I have to “snap” it back in place with a painful, loud “clunk,” my continuing Chiari Malformation adventure (headaches and dizziness with very rare, and fortunately brief, memory lapses) and lastly, acid-reflux that is manageable, but still very annoying.

And that will do for now, although there are a couple of other things that do not bear going into. They are all nothing compared with what some of my friends and others are going through, and or have gone through. However, these things do wear on me. I have referred to the floaters as “tinnitus for the eyes.” For me it is much easier to ignore the sawmill in my ears than junk constantly floating in my field of vision. I do realize, with all my heart, that things could be much worse! I am grateful that they are not. I truly am. It is sort of a sideways kind of grateful, but grateful I am. Here are a few more photos...

Superb Fairy-wren beginning to "blue" up

I love Brolgas

And lastly, a beautiful Common Copperhead minding its own business as they do

There will be more to come. I need to write and I need to share. I enjoy this sharing and it helps to give me perspective and to better understand my life and who I am. The other day, I received a nice compliment and Lynn said, “You should be proud of yourself.” Without even thinking I responded, “I don’t know how to do that.” And that is absolutely true, but I am working on it and I am grateful.


Peace. Love. Birds.