Tag Archives: blue billed duck

Birding Bibra Lake, Western Australia

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When: February 2026 Weather: Hot 30C

OM System

The birder we met at the Big Swamp in Bunbury had suggested that Bibra Lake would be worth a visit and so we arrived there at about 830am. We drove around the whole lake once to recce it and then parked on the East Side of the Lake near the skate park before walking towards the hides which are the nearer the top end of the east lakeside.

the boardwalk to the first hide which was small and rudimentary with nowhere to sit down…..we did shoot a few birds here but the better ones were at the second hide further north…
a few fairy wrens welcomed us
as did the silver eyes
grey fantail
fanning his tail
and flashing his wings!
new holland honeyeater’s colours are almost lost amongst the flowers
he too flashed his wings
rainbow lorikeet
yellow billed spoonbill posed beautifully
white faced heron from the first hide
Australian pelican flypast
oriental reed warblers were busy in the reeds
oriental reed warbler singing

Other local birders told us that we’d have better luck with the target ducks at the second hide and so we hiked over there….

this is the second hide where there were seats around the pontoon and the ducks came much closer……
Here it was we saw our first close up blue billed duck
blue billed duck
blue billed duck
australasian grebe
the rather drab musk duck
musk duck
musk duck
grey teal
grey teal
pacific black duck

As the sun came up nearer noon we thought we spotted some pink eared ducks in the far distance nearer the opposite shore……just a bit far for our lenses….so we opted to go for lunch in a wonderful grill and bar called Carrington’s, just about 10min from Bibra Lake…..they were awarded the best steak sandwich in West Australia so well worth a visit. After lunch we went back and parked on the west side of the lake and made our way to the water’s edge……

the western lake side where there wer many black swans and where the ducks were closer…
black swan flypast
black swan native to WA
and then we finally got close enough to see the lovely pink eared ducks!
Pink eared duck with typical stripes down the side
the pink ear isn’t the easiest thing to see as it’s a very small area but here we can see it quite clearly
notice also the unusual lower beak….

We finally called it a day about 3pm and made the 30 min journey back to Perth. Bibra Lake is well worth a visit from Perth as it is snear, eassy to navigate and has lots of bird activity. Highly recommended.