Wildlife of the Victorian coast

Koalas - Kennett River, Great Ocean Road

Swamp Wallaby - Port Fairy

The animals on the trip were fantastic and pretty much anything that could be seen came out to give us a good look. We saw dolphins and even an enormous fish threw itself from the water to give us all a better view. Whales lay just metres from the beach while koalas were dripping from the trees like fruit. Emus, kangaroos and wallabies frollicked around us while an echidna got very friendly indeed.

Sting-ray (about 2 m across!) - Port Fairy

Kath befriends an echidna - Port Fairy

On the bird front things proved none too shabby either. The penguins on Phillip Island are a tourist attraction but a few other nice individuals put in an appearance. I was hoping for just two new ones but came away with six. In torrential rain and hail on the beach at Port Fairy I picked up a single Sanderling #401 among the Red-necked Stints. A return to the beach with Kath the next morning turned up a Shy Albatross #402 and a pair of Hooded Plovers #403. That meant I didn't have to look for them on Phillip Island which is just as well because the visitor centre there said there were only 10 pairs left on the whole island. A great tick!

Hooded Plovers - Port Fairy

At Warnambool there is a beach where Southern Right Whales and their calves hang out in a "whale nursery" and sure enough there were plenty lolling in the water just off the beach. Coming back down the hill Emily had me turn the car round to look at some strange green parrots. Juvenile Rosellas as it turned out but right behind them on the grass were three European Greenfinch #404. Sweet!

Southern Right Whale - Warnambool

A Black-faced Cormorant #405 on a sea stack on the Great Ocean Road and several Cape Barren Geese #406 on Phillip Island completed the list expansion. Great guns! Still no thrushes in Melbourne's botanic gardens and the certain Tree Sparrows in Euroa didn't come through but then that just gives me a reason to go back again.

Cape Barren Goose - Phillip Island