Ironbark Basin Reserve
Point Addis is between Torquay and Anglesea on the Great Ocean Road, just past Bell’s Beach. Its actually the next headland along the coast to the west. I just turned off the road to go into Point Addis and went into the car park after the Great Otways National Park sign. I did not even realize it was in the Great Otways yet. The Ironbark Basin gets its name from the many Ironbarks that grow in the area. The buds of fruit appear in threes hanging on long slender stalks. The flowers are normally a creamy-yellow colour but sometimes a tree will produce pink flowers. The tree trunks are very distinctive because the bark is hard, thick and black and deeply furrowed.
Red Ironbark (Eucalyptus tricarpa) trunk
When I first got there I spotted a Red Wattlebird and a chick, some Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos flew over, and some juvenile Crimson Rosellas were feeding on the eucalypt blossoms. Further down the track I spotted a Grey Currawong and Grey Fantail. The female juvenile White-throated Treecreeper is very distinctive because she has a reddish mark on her cheek and a rufous rump. Everything seemed to have something rufous on them today. Maybe it was Buff Monday or something. I even spotted a Rufous Fantail.
On the low heath-lands near the beach, there were lots of New Holland Honeyeaters. On the way back I spotted some Brown Thornbill, Golden Whistler and this Eastern Yellow Robin posed for me in the light. You can always rely on a Eastern Yellow Robin to grab the limelight.
Eastern Yellow Robin
Back up at the car park, an adult Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike came along and the juvenile had what looked like a caterpillar and was giving it a good whallopping on the tree branch.
juvenile Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike (Coracina novaehollandiae)
The Ironbark Basin Reserve has a wide variety of habitats:
* Tall open ironbark forest
* Messmate open forest
* Grasstree dominated open forest
* Low heath-land
Point Addis bird list
Crimson Rosella
Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo
Red Wattlebird
Grey Fantail
Rufous Fantail
Grey Currawong
White-throated Treecreeper
New Holland Honeyeater
Superb Fairy-wren
Brown Thornbill
Eastern Yellow Robin
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Golden Whistler