Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne

Cranbourne is the botanical gardens south east of Melbourne and I visited there several years ago. The sculpted areas were interesting and seemed to attract a lot of little bush birds. The first one I spotted was my old favourite, the fairywren. As always, you are looking for the male to more easily identify them. I knew when I saw this guy that it was the Superb Fairywren. Thankfully, he stuck around bouncing from plant to plant with me in hot pursuit!

Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus)

This was the first time that I had seen the White-browed Scrubwren out in the open. There are lots of different subspecies with differing plumage but I can never tell which one I am looking at. Even when I got this one clearly, I still can't tell!

White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis)

Common honeyeaters in the park were the New Holland and I always love seeing their bright plumage (makes them easy to identify even in flight).  One of the reasons that the New Holland Honeyeater is successful and abundant is that they're not picky eaters. They primarily feed on nectar, especially from native Australian plants like banksias, grevilleas, and acacias. But they'll also go for insects, spiders, and even some fruits to supplement their diet. This flexibility allows them to thrive in a variety of habitats.

New Holland Honeyeaters are also relatively prolific breeders. They raise their young in cup-shaped nests built in shrubs and trees [3]. Both parents help raise the chicks, which increases their chances of survival.

New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae)

I spent some time walking the grounds of the gardens and they were quite wild. I first stumbled across a Fan-tailed Cuckoo sitting on a post calling away. More surreptitious sneaking to get close to it. Didn't do too bad.

The Fan-tailed Cuckoo has a few calls in its repertoire, each with a distinct sound and purpose:

The descending trill is the most well-known. It's a repeated, "peeeer" sound that descends in pitch. Think of a sad whistle going downwards. This trill is a territorial advertisement, letting other birds know their turf is claimed. 

They also have a mournful whistle - a softer, "p-whee" sound. It doesn't have the happy trill of the territorial call. This whistle is often used when another Fan-tailed Cuckoo is nearby, possibly to communicate with them.

Unfortunately, I was walking in grass. Fortunately, I saw the snake just before I stood on it. Being ever professional, I got a snap of it before it snuck away. I have never been brave enough to find out what species it was. I just don't want to know.

A rather sweeter animal I found was a Swamp Rat. You do see small animals on the edges of dense foliage fairly regularly in Australia but it is difficult to get photos of them. This was a real treat. 

Swamp Rat (Rattus lutreolus)