SO THAT WAS MARCH

So that was March.  I have no right to be disappointed in my March achievements when I visited Rutherglen and Chiltern and saw such beautiful birds as Turquoise Parrots, Red-capped Robins, Leaden Flycatchers and White-breasted Woodswallows.  I also saw Brown Quail and Square-tailed Kite that I don't see often.  But disappointed I am.  I've had two trips cancelled, and even a local outing was stymied.

My planned pelagic out of Port Fairy was cancelled because of the weather, meaning I missed out not only on all the seabirds I'd hoped to see, but also the Hooded Plovers I always tick at Killarney Beach and the Rufous Bristlebirds along the way.   In fact I had a list of 35 species I hoped to see, and I felt cheated out of every one of them.

Some of the seabirds I missed out on

Then my planned trip to Broome for the vagrant Lesser Black-backed Gull was stymied when the bird flew away.  I thought I'd tick the Semi-palmated Plover and have another look for the Common Redshank while I was there.  When the gull left, somehow it didn't seem worth flying all the way to the other side of the continent to Carnarvon to admire one poor lost wigeon.

My run of back luck continued when I attempted to go birding at Tim Warren Tam Bore, an artificial wetland in Melbourne's Royal Park.  I'm usually the only car in the car park when I visit, but when I attempted to go there last week, the car park was quite full, taken over by tradies from a nearby building site.  All the local streets have residential parking only, so there was nowhere for me to go.

I have my fingers crossed for better results in April.  I'm off to Port Stephens (dreaming of a White-necked Petrel, which is turning into a real jinx bird for me) then I'll try (again) for the elusive Rufous Scrub-bird at Barrington Tops.  If some friendly local in Port Stephens is able to show me an Eastern Grass Owl, I'll be delighted.  So that means a possible three lifers in one trip.  But, with my recent run of bad luck, I daren't get my hopes up too high.