"Ballarat area birdlife" Lake Wendouree Travelogue by Kate-Me

This is a common water bird seen at Lake Wendouree, the Eastern Swamp Hen.

One of the scores of black swans found at the lake.
When feeding them, don't be surprised if you end up completely surrounded by dozens of them. They can get a little bit intimidating as they march on you!

Kookaburra

This is a Laughing Kookaburra, one of 2 species found in Australia.
They are well known for their dusk and dawn cries, which sound just like a hilarious laugh.

Corella

The cries of these birds are not nearly so attractive. More like loud squawks or 'skraks'. They usually fly in large flocks, magnifying the unpleasant noise, and are extremely destructive to farmers' crops.

Yellow tailed black cockatoo

These flock flying very large parrots also have a mourning 'keening' cry. They live almost entirely on pinecones.

Rosellas

Here we have (from bottom left to right), the Eastern Rosella, and more common red Rosella in it's immature and adult forms.

Superb Blue Wren

This is one of my favourite small birds, only the size of a sparrow, the Superb Blue Wren. This is the most superb male version - the female is so drab as to almost appear as another species. She only has a blue tail, and the rest is a dull brown.

Red Wattle Bird

This bird is a member of the honeyeater family and loves to seek the nectar of the many varieties of Australian Callistemon plants and bushes (commonly known as bottlebrush trees for their bottlebrush like flowers). It is called a 'wattle bird' not just because it likes wattle trees, but because of the red 'wattles' on the sides of it's head, a bit like dangling red earrings.