South-eastern Australia

25th September - 17th October 2010

Cape Conran Coastal Park, Victoria

Cape Conran Coastal Park encloses over 11000hectares of the south coast, including mile-upon-mile of pristine white sand beaches.  It lies about halfway between Melbourne and Canberra if you take the coastal route, so it is a good place to stop for the night if you want to break the journey.

Wonga Pigeon (Leucosarcia melanoleuca)

Birds found in the immediate vicinity of the campground included Wonga Pigeon and Grey Butcherbird.

Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus)

Nearby at the Bemm River rest-stop on the main coastal highway, a short, 1km interpretive walk through a patch of temperate rainforest is a good place to look for Superb Lyrebird.

Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae)

Lyrebirds are famous for their vocal virtuosity.  Males with the most varied repertoire have the greatest chance of attracting females to their lek where they can then impress them further with a display of his lyre-shaped tail feathers.  Mimicry plays a large part in the males songs and they have the amazing ability to perfectly mimic practically any sound that they hear, from the calls and songs of other species of birds and frogs, to mechanical noises such as camera shutters or even chainsaws!

Bassian Thrush (Zoothera lunulata)

Another skulking species that inhabits the dense undergrowth of the forest floor is the Bassian Thrush.

Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis)

Higher up, Golden Whistlers were common in the canopy but no less easy to photograph due to the height of the trees and the density of the foliage.