Spring has arrived despite the winds and some wild, wet weather, and so have the birds. This week I have been focussing on some of the newly constructed habitat areas within The Cape. Despite early days, there is plenty happening in the street landscapes, down the new creek line and the open grassy spaces nearby. Read more by following the link below to read the latest issue of Cape Chatter.

I have taken the liberty to produce something a little different in this Special Edition of Cape Chatter.

The Cape is in a special part of the world and our back yard is the wild water of Bass Strait. We do not get the chance to see much out on the water and have only sporadic chances to see life in the blue world. So a small group of Cape residents (D,G and the 4J’s – sounds like a 70’s pop group!) made the most of a whale watching trip off Wilson’s Promotory last Friday with Wildlifecoast Cruises. And we were not disappointed.

A big thanks to The Cape residents Jeannie and Gabi who helped me conduct our first Latham’s Snipe survey for the season last Saturday in windy, wintery conditions. After about two hours of stomping around in our gumboots, we finally managed to flush one Snipe out of the bog near the central wetland complex. This is a spot they have been seen before and is confirmation this area is favourable Snipe habitat, and the reason the restored creek line was modified near its junction with the wetland to accommodate these amazing birds.

In between the storms and winds I managed to get a few visits in amongst the remnant melaleuca (swamp paperbark) and leptospermum (tea-tree) scrub around the edges of The Cape which is full of blossom. And what a crazy, active world thrives amongst this vegetation. Apart from scores of terrestrial invertebrates, the birds have gone nuts, particularly the Honeyeaters. The small song birds such as Thornbill, Scrubwren and Silvereye are everywhere and extremely busy. Not to be outdone, Welcome Swallows appear to be in their hundreds, Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos are still around, and the Little Corella flock seems to be growing larger by the day. In the coastal reserve bush there has been an influx of Cuckoos over the past week, including Fan-tailed, Horsefield’s Bronze and Shining Bronze.

In a previous issue I wrote about some microbat habitat boxes that one of our ingenious residents Graeme McAlpine had built for installation on the tree stags in the creek line restoration project. Well … last week the boxes were installed.

The highlight of the week. Whilst out on a photo mission around the western side of The Cape last Saturday afternoon [29^th August] – yes with my landscape lens(!!), I observed some bird movements on the ground which at first, I thought were ground dwelling grassbirds like the Australian Pipit or Eurasian Skylark. On closer inspection after sneaking up, I was amazed and delighted to discover a Blue-winged Parrot.

It has been gloomy weather this past week with dark, grey skies, plenty of rain and the occasional short burst of sunshine. The overcast weather sort of gets you down a bit along with this COVID lockdown stuff… but spring is just around the corner so hang in there. Staying with the ‘darkish’ weather theme, this week I am focusing on birds around currently which are pied, black or grey in plumage with just a touch of colour every now and then to brighten up our spirits. Some of the shots are from my archive over the last year given it has not been great bird photography weather.

As I write this, a windy blast of cold Antarctic air is about to hit The Cape. But last week was certainly spring like if nature was any indication – frog calls were noisy and abundant, an echidna appeared, birds were chattering amongst the bush, honeyeaters, small and large, were flying after each other at great speed, ducks were busily chasing each other in flight, Welcome Swallows were gliding around in large numbers … and that dreaded Magpie (my new best friend – not) was still swooping me! Several bird species also made return appearances from their warmer climes – Black-fronted Dotterel, Silvereye, and Grey Fantail.

Looks like spring is nearly with us – what happened to the good old Cape Paterson winter? Bird activity has heightened in the past week with evidence of nest preparation and mating behaviour. I am currently in a serious territorial dispute with an Australian Magpie (the individual, the male of a pair, is pictured below) who is consistently attacking me as soon as I venture out to the open space to the west of my house. It does not appear to be swooping anyone else walking by, so it clearly sees me as a threat to its territory. It could be an interesting few weeks ahead!