Birds and wild flowers - Wellington Dam, Western Australia

 Hi all, I hope you and yours are doing well. I've often read how getting out into nature is healing for mind and body, and I totally agree. 

Yesterday we went up to Wellington Dam in the Collie Hills, conveniently located only about 45 minutes from where we live. I have blogged about it several times before. Here is a post from November 2022 - Camping and bushwalking at Potters Gorge, Wellington Dam. It has been an odd season this year, and I noticed that this previous post was around the same time in November, but with far more wildflowers. The reason might have been that last time we camped for a few days, and walked more of the trails, whereas this time, it was only a day trip, and we only walked part of one of the trails. 

We parked at the carpark at the camping ground at Potters Gorge, and after a quick snack set off along the Seka Trail. This is a 9.8 km loop bike/walk shared use trail, which we have completed previously, but we just did a short walk today from the carpark up towards the main road. 

A few pea flower varieties

Below is a Blue Lady orchid and a Leopard orchid - the only orchid types we saw, however there were many Blue Ladies scattered around. 

This is also a Blue Lady, though a lot paler..... it was growing in the top of a burnt out fallen tree log

Below are two different varieties of Trigger plants. The one on the right had a finer softer leaf

And a few more - clockwise from top left - Clematis, Hibbertia, I don't know the blue one - it was on a vine, Fringe lilly, common Milkwort, and Cottonheads. 

Clockwise from top left - Banksia flower, Banksia cone, bracken fern that grows everywhere, the start of a new tree growing in an old rotting log, Tassell bush leaves, and prickly Hakea without the flowers. 

Below is most likely - The Holly-Leaved Mirbelia (Mirbelia dilatata) - which was flowering in glorious profusion. 

When we returned to the carpark to have our picnic, the 28 parrots were loving it.  

Parrots known as "28s"— are specifically a subspecies of the Australian Ringneck parrot (Barnardius zonarius) found in Western Australia. They are named after their distinct call that sounds like the number twenty-eight. 

This cheeky one sitting on our table obviously thought that lunch might be offered, but when we weren't forthcoming he joined his mates to nibble on the flowers of the Holly-leaved Mirbelia bush behind us. Much more suitable for a 28. 

Also sharing our picnic area was a Wattle Bird and a Magpie. 

And a Blue Wren - flitting around so fast I was very happy to get this pic. Earlier this year I bought a 400mm lens for my camera, and now can take mush better photos of birds. Smile. 

Squawking up in the trees, were Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos. We saw the red tail as some flew off, as opposed to the white-tailed black cockatoo. This one was intent on her lunch.  If you look carefully you might be able to see she has a eucalyp gum nut in her claw which she is chewing on. She - because of the yellow spots on her head and chest. 

Our lunch view of Wellington Dam at Potters Gorge picnic and camping area 

Oh, before I forget. Many thanks to Eileen and her followers at Viewing Nature with Eileen blog for putting me onto the Merlin Bird ID app by Cornell Lab. - We used it during our bushwalk and it is fabulous.

Just download it to you phone. When you hear a bird call you want to identfy - just open the app, record the sound and you will receive an ID. We were bushwalking at Wellington Dam yesterday and could hear birds way up in the canopy which we couldn't see.

Below is a very bad representation of what you see on your phone screen. My husband enjoys taking photos of birds, and is fairly knowledgable, but we hadn't heard of the Western Gerygone before, though we had heard its call previously. You can see on the screen shot another 2 birds he recorded. He double checked the ID in his bird book when we got home.

That's it from me today. I hope you have enjoyed some of the wildflowers and birds at Wellington Dam. Next time I will be back with more about the Wellington Dam and the amazing dam wall mega mural. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I appreciate every one of you and value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
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Until then, enjoy your day...Life only comes around once, so do what makes you happy, be kind, and be with people who make you smile.