THE SPLENDID OTWAYS

We'd been to the Otways before, but not to photograph the spectacular birds, like this King Parrot...

The Great Otway National Park is in southern Victoria, a few hours ​south-west of Melbourne.  The Otways include rugged coastland, beaches and the mountains of the Otway Ranges.

After the long and dreary Melbourne lockdown, we were itching to get back to the regions, and particularly the Otways, where we had been before, but not especially looking for birds.

Well, the Otways did not disappoint in the bird department! The aptly-named king parrot (just look at that creature, above) was in abundance and splendour during our visit to Yatzies Cafe in Lavers Hill. The cafe has open feeders set up, and visible through the plate glass windows. So you can eat your pie and sauce (yep, we did) while you watch them munch, and fly, and chase the other birds away!

​But then, on another walk around Lake Elizabeth, a spotted pardalote and its mate kept us transfixed for at least twenty minutes before they flew on the merry way.

​At our Otways accommodation, we were 'promised' a flurry of Crimson Rosellas, and we were really to keen to see them over the rim of a cheeky chardonnay...nothing doing on day 1, day 2....but wait. As if on cue, on our last evening, just at dusk, there was a fiesta of crimson rosellas right outside the door. They came, they feasted, they had some argy bargy, and then eventually off they went. That was more than one chardonnay's worth of rosellas!