Weekend birding, Otway Ranges, Victoria.

[Lawrie Conole <>]

Hi birders

I spent the weekend in the Angahook-Lorne State Park near Lorne in the eastern Otway Ranges, SW Victoria.  It was a combined family camping weekend, Twitchathon recce, and survey for a bat called the Large-footed Myotis or Fishing Bat (Myotis macropus).  No luck with the bat, and Spring is still arriving in the Otways, but pleasant nonetheless.  Highlights undoubtedly included the Masked Owl that was calling around camp on Saturday night, a Satin Flycatcher (early return), and the sheer abundance of Rose Robins in most areas.  Non-bird highlights included great views of a Yellow-bellied Glider incising a feed-tree near camp (and then they gurgled & shrieked all night) - our nephews were a bit concerned about the devilish noises until they saw how cute the animal was.  A Feathertail Glider was feeding at one YBG sap site, and we all got to see it glide away.

Three sites visited; the numbers on the left indicate how many out of 3 each species was recorded at.

   1  Great Cormorant                      Phalacrocorax carbo
   2  Brush Bronzewing                     Phaps elegans
   1  Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo         Calyptorhynchus funereus
   3  Gang-gang Cockatoo                   Callocephalon fimbriatum
   3  Sulphur-crested Cockatoo             Cacatua galerita
   3  Australian King-Parrot               Alisterus scapularis
   3  Crimson Rosella                      Platycercus elegans
   2  Fan-tailed Cuckoo                    Cacomantis flabelliformis
   2  Shining Bronze-Cuckoo                Chrysococcyx lucidus
   1  Southern Boobook                     Ninox novaeseelandiae
   1  Masked Owl                           Tyto novaehollandiae
   2  Laughing Kookaburra                  Dacelo novaeguineae
   2  White-throated Treecreeper           Cormobates leucophaeus
   3  Superb Fairy-wren                    Malurus cyaneus
   3  Spotted Pardalote                    Pardalotus punctatus
   3  Striated Pardalote                   Pardalotus striatus
   2  Rufous Bristlebird                   Dasyornis broadbenti
   3  White-browed Scrubwren               Sericornis frontalis
   3  Brown Thornbill                      Acanthiza pusilla
   1  Striated Thornbill                   Acanthiza lineata
   3  Red Wattlebird                       Anthochaera carunculata
   3  Yellow-faced Honeyeater              Lichenostomus chrysops
   2  White-eared Honeyeater               Lichenostomus leucotis
   3  White-naped Honeyeater               Melithreptus lunatus
   3  Crescent Honeyeater                  Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera
   2  New Holland Honeyeater               Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
   3  Eastern Spinebill                    Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris
   2  Rose Robin                           Petroica rosea
   2  Eastern Yellow Robin                 Eopsaltria australis
   2  Olive Whistler                       Pachycephala olivacea
   3  Golden Whistler                      Pachycephala pectoralis
   3  Grey Shrike-thrush                   Colluricincla harmonica
   1  Satin Flycatcher                     Myiagra cyanoleuca
   3  Grey Fantail                         Rhipidura fuliginosa
   2  Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike            Coracina novaehollandiae
   2  Australian Magpie                    Gymnorhina tibicen
   3  Pied Currawong                       Strepera graculina
   1  Grey Currawong                       Strepera versicolor
   1  Australian Raven                     Corvus coronoides
   3  Forest Raven                         Corvus tasmanicus
   1  Welcome Swallow                      Hirundo neoxena
   2  Silvereye                            Zosterops lateralis
   1  Bassian Thrush                       Zoothera lunulata
   1  Common Blackbird                     Turdus merula
   1  Short-beaked Echidna                 Tachyglossus aculeatus
   1  Koala                                Phascolarctos cinereus
   2  Yellow-bellied Glider                Petaurus australis
   1  Feathertail Glider                   Acrobates pygmaeus
   1  Eastern False Pipistrelle            Falsistrellus tasmaniensis
   1  Large Forest Bat                     Vespadelus darlingtoni
   3  Eastern Smooth Frog                  Geocrinia victoriana

51 species
 

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L A W R I E   C O N O L E
3 Gezireh Street, Pascoe Vale South, Victoria 3044 AUSTRALIA.
Phone (03) 9354 2484; Mobile (0419) 588 993
E-mail: <>

Twitchathon 2000 info:  http://www.bluep.com/~oco/vthon2000.html
My Twitchathon site: http://www.bluep.com/~oco/cdph.html
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