Led by Gil Smith and Sue Woolley from Birdlife Bass Coast.
The morning was still and overcast as 20 people and Gil and Sue set off from the car park at Rhyll Inlet. The vegetation varied from farmland to mixed banksia habitat to mangroves close to the water.
The following 50 bird species were recorded. The first number in the bracket is the number of adults
that were recorded and the second is the number of young recorded.
| Black Swan (50,None) | Rainbow Lorikeet (2, None) |
| Greater Crested Tern (200, None) | Australian Raven (1, None) |
| Bar-tailed Godwit (31, None) | Purple Swamphen (20, None) |
| Australian Pied Oystercatcher (20, None) | Red-browed Finch (3, None) |
| Australian White Ibis (22, None) | Grey Butcherbird (1, None) |
| Masked Lapwing (40, None) | Small grebe spp (2, None) |
| Yellow-billed Spoonbill (14, None) | Fan-tailed Cuckoo (1, None) |
| White-faced Heron (2, None) | Grey Teal (1, None) |
| Little Pied Cormorant (3, None) | Pacific Black Duck (6, None) |
| Great Pied Cormorant (2, None) | Grey Fantail (5, None) |
| Laughing Kookaburra (4, None) | Australian Wood Duck (20, None) |
| Welcome Swallow (4, None) | Royal Spoonbill (2, None) |
| Whistling Kite (1, None) | Brown Thornbill (3, None) |
| Caspian Tern (1, None) | Red Wattlebird (3, None) |
| Willie Wagtail (3, None) | Wedge-tailed Eagle (2, None) |
| Grey Shrike-thrush (4, None) | Eastern Rosella (2, None) |
| Little Wattlebird (10, None) | Grey Currawong (1, None) |
| White-eared Honeyeater (1, None) | New Holland Honeyeater (2, None) |
| Australian Pelican (20, None) | Magpie-lark (4, None) |
| Pacific Gull (2, None) | Australian Magpie (4, None) |
| Common Starling (20, None) | Spotted Pardalote (2, None) |
| Cape Barren Goose (4, None) | White-plumed Honeyeater (1, None) |
| Great Egret (3, None) | Common Blackbird (1, None) |
| Superb Fairy-wren (5, None) | Golden Whistler (1, None) |
| Galah (5, None) | Little Egret (1, None) |
Numerous wallabies grazed in the farming paddocks.Numerous wallabies grazed in the farming paddocks.
The above-listed birds were all seen in the first kilometre of the walk. Most of the group then returned to the car park. People who did not have their own binoculars were very pleased to use the binoculars supplied by Sue. It was also beneficial to view species on the inlet with the scope that Gil provided.
Thanks to Sue and Philip Hopley for recording the bird list and forwarding it to Birdlife.
Many thanks to Gil and Sue for their expertise and equipment.
Dianne Young (Walk facilitator)
ABN 23 918 778 150
Incorporation No A0044963D