Where to go birding in Mallacoota?

I have compiled this as a starting point for anyone new to birding in this area.  It's mainly my personal thoughts to begin with with and if folk offer comments I will update it as needed.

Really the answer to the question in the subject is either “Anywhere.” Or “It depends.”  Some factors that the answer depends on include:

1.        The time of year – Spring is rather different to mid-Winter;
2.        What type of birds you want to observe and how;
3.        Where you are staying;
4.        Do you have a car that you’re willing to drive on dirt roads?
5.       How far are you prepared to walk (and how much kit are you schlepping if you’re a photographer)

The brochure by Birdlife Australia is a good starting point in outlining some areas to investigate.   I would add to the sites they mention the gardens fronting Karbeethong Avenue and Schnapper Point Drive: the landholders in those streets have heavy plantings of bird-attracting shrubs.  

A couple of sets of cottages (Adobe and Blue Waters) there are popular with visiting birders So if you want to bird while eating breakfast they’d be good (as of course is the famous Gipsy Point Lodge - at Gipsy Point! - where Graham Pizzey wrote much of the original version of his guide). 

Going to the Hotspot map in eBird and clicking on an icon gives a lot more detail, both in terms of the detailed locations and the range/seasonality of birds reported there.  Perhaps start by searching for the Mallacoota Hotspot, which is that generally used by ad hoc visitors.  If you zoom in to the map it makes it obvious where the reference location of the site is, and how to get there   Be aware that the sites aren’t bounded.  For example

•   my reports from ‘Karbeethong” cover walks in parts of the area from Bucklands Boat Hire to Broome Street;
• “Coulls Inlet “ includes reports from Broome St to the Wharf (including the Inlet and the edge of Shady Gully, for which separate reports are also made at times);
• “Bastion Point” covers the area from the breakwater to the mouth of the Inlet and the sand bars and waterways behind it.  To some extent the latter includes what can be seen from Captain Stevensons point. .

Landbirds tend to be seen more easily in seasons when there are food resources around for them which largely means Spring - Summer.  (Thus I wouldn’t expect to see many heathland birds in midwinter. )  An exception to this is birds that feed in pastures – either seed eaters of insecteaters.  The latter are particularly keen on paddocks where horses are grazing and leaving food for the insects (the walk in from Watertrust Rd to the sewage ponds is good in this regard).

I have a few areas that can be good for heathland birds. 

• 1     the Gun Club Track behind the airfield.  Good roads, at least to the Bunker Museum from where you could walk.  However, it is currently not good as it has just been slashed – presumably for bushfire control. 
• 2.       The prime site is probably the large area of heath on the walk from Shipwreck Creek to Seal Creek.  Getting there is 12 km of dirt road that can be pretty corrugated and potholed unless Parks of the Shire have graded it (ie in Summer when it gets used a lot).  The walk through the Heath is only about 3km return and about 6km return if extended to Seal Creek
• 3.       There are also patches of heathland along the walk from Pebbly Beach to Shipwreck Creek.  Not so far to drive on the bumpy dirt but it’s about 10km return walk.
• 4.       The closest heath to town is the Heathland walk off Betka Rd.  That can be accessed going East/North from the Davis Beach carpark and only involves about 500m of walking, all through heath.  It can be extended to cover walking South/West through the dunes to Betka Beach and back along the beach.

For “ordinary” bush birds I find walking along Lakeside Drive on the shared path from the Campground towards Bucklands Boat Hire is usually interesting.  There are patches of quite dense Pittosporum on the Lakeside, some open areas, some gardens and a small patch of rain forest at the bottom of Mullet Creek (where Lakeside Drive joins Karbeethong Avenue).  It is about 10km round trip but there are plenty of car parking spots if you don’t want to walk that far.

The components of the Mallacoota Coastal Walk are pleasant walking although I find the forest of Melaleuca armillaris – common on the clifftops – to be light on for birds  (as could be expected for a monoculture).  The loop along the Betka River from the Betka Beach car park has a variety of habitats and can be quite interesting.

For water and shorebirds my top spots would be:

1. The Lagoon at Broome St (ducks, herons spoonbills etc)
2. Bastion Point to the Inlet mouth (shore birds, gulls and terns, and seabirds if the weather is a bit rough);
3. Captain Stevenson's Point (shore birds, gulls and terns, and seabirds if the weather is a bit rough).  It is probably best to have a telescope to "get" the birds on the far side of the Inlet.
4. The Waste Water Treatment Plant off Watertrust Rd. (ducks +++, grebes, coots and other rails, occasional small plovers.  Raptors are also quite common here.)