Kwinana Rockingham Mandurah Branch, 27 April 2025

Our April outing to Goegrup Lake was attended by 18 members and visitors on a beautiful morning. Two Nankeen Night Herons, settling into the canopy of the tree next to the car park after a night’s foraging, captured everyone’s’ attention as we signed in.

Our walk took us firstly along the Serpentine River where we saw a Yellow-billed Spoonbill foraging along the far bank plus a Great Egret and a White Ibis. Overhead were Little Corellas, Galahs, Red Wattlebirds and Rainbow Lorikeets. Grey Teal, Pacific Black Ducks, Little Pied Cormorants, Little Black Cormorants and a lone Hoary-headed Grebe were on the water while an Australian Darter was seen gliding overhead. As we walked towards the start of the boardwalk the webs of orb-weaving spiders were highlighted by the sunshine. Some webs were made by Leaf-curling Spiders (Phonognatha sp.) while another had a Banded Garden Orb Weaver (Argiope trifasciata) at its centre. A large web was unattended, but Daniel Heald was able to spot its owner, despite its almost perfect camouflage, on a branch of the Casuarina to which the web was tethered. It was a garden Orb Weaver spider (Hortophora sp.).

Arriving at the boardwalk that would take us out onto the lake we were a bit disappointed that no Ospreys were found at their usual spot alongside the boardwalk. However, Welcome Swallows flew back and forth over head and Caspian Terns were hunting out over the lake. More spiders were found amongst the Samphire, including a large Banded Garden Orb Weaver. A loud splash drew our attention to the river bank a few hundred metres away. It was made by a lone Bottle-nosed Dolphin that was hunting fish by herding them against the riverbank before launching its noisy attack. We watched it repeat this maneuver several times before it moved further downstream. An Osprey finally made an appearance, gliding slowly overhead, followed shortly after by a Whistling Kite. Pelicans, Australian Shelducks, Grey Teal and Silver Gulls were also spotted flying above the lake.

At the viewing area at the end of the boardwalk we had a good vies of a Little Egret at the edge of the Samphire. Heading off the boardwalk we took the roadside footpath from where we would spot more woodland birds such as Rufous Whistler, Grey Fantail, Weebill, Grey Butcherbirds and Inland Thornbills. Arriving back at the car park bird sightings were collated and a total of 41 species were submitted to Birdata. A well-earned morning tea was then enjoyed before we headed home. It had been another great morning at this magic spot.

Colin Prickett