Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 13 Mar 2011.

Sun 13 Mar	Eastern Barn Owl Balliang/Little River area Observation over the past two weeks revealed at least 4 birds present in immediate area. Half of the individuals are possibly young birds with some begging calls heard. Paul Randall (wingsonwire.com)
	Grey Goshawk (White morph) Serendip Sanctuary, Lara Seen over North Arm initially being hassled by Magpies, then seen perched in a tree near Wader Hide - I was alerted to its perch by the alarm calls of the smaller birds in the area. The bird flew off once it saw me. Presumably the same bird that was seen two weeks ago - resident, or visitor? Apparently there was a resident Grey Goshawk at Serendip about two years ago. Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow
	Long-toed Stint, Brown Quail & Blue-winged Parrot Western Treatment Plant A Long-toed Stint in breeding plumage standing nest to the only Sharp-tailed Sandpiper we saw for the day in the T-Section lagoons, plus Brown Quail in the Western Lagoons, Stubble Quail at Austin Road and a Blue-winged Parrot on the roadway on east side of Little River near Walsh's Lagoon. Also 2 Buff-banded Rail, Lewin's Rail (calling only), 28 Bar-tailed Godwit, 20 Common Greenshank, 300+ Red-necked Stint, 3 Curlew Sandpiper and about 60 White-winged Black Tern. John Barkla, Fred Smith & Alison Street
	Pink-eared Duck, Hardhead Pakenham Treatment Plant, Koo wee rup Rd off Pakenham Bypass 8 Pink-eared Duck & 4 Hardhead in a mixed group of Chestnut Teal & Pacific Black Duck. Easily observed through perimeter fence, no access to Plant. Apologies for image quality. Keith & Judy Humphreys
	Olive-backed Oriole, Rufous Fantail Gresswell Forest Wildlife Reserve One juvenile Olive-backed Oriole in Greswell Forest today. Also one Rufous Fantail hanging out with a flock of Brown Thornbill and a Grey Fantail. Also a couple of Mistletoebird. Nicole Spillane & Paul Jacobson
	Grey-crowned Babbler Tungamah-Peechelba Road, Wilby East The resident, but hard to find group were seen again today after months. They were working their way through Grey Box woodland along the side of the road. Michael Ramsey
	Satin Flycatcher, Scarlet Honeyeater, Black-eared Cuckoo, Grey-crowned Babbler Killawarra Forest Some excellent birding in the forest this morning. A female Satin Flycatcher was seen in mixed feeding flock behind the camp. Most likely on passage during migration as habitat here is not typical for this species. A female Scarlet Honeyeater was also seen nearby at the camp (picture attached). This species has been present in the forest for almost a year now, perhaps they will become residents. A Black-eared Cuckoo was a Mattamia Rd and a good sized group of 8 Grey-crowned Babblers (including 3 immatures) were seen in a Cherry Ballart at Frosts Lane. Nice to see they have bred successfully this year. A flock of 16 Turquoise Parrots, male Hooded Robin, Fan-tailed Cuckoo plenty of Little Lorikeets, and a couple of Musk Lorikeets also some interesting sightings. Michael Ramsey
Sat 12 Mar	Diamond Firetail Heathcote-Graytown National Park 3 sighted at Mt Ida section and 1 sighted on Mt Black Quarry Road, near Mt Melville lookout area. Kerryn Ryan and Neville James
	Spotted Harrier, Black Falcon Youarang A Spotted Harrier was seen flying low over stubble, not many seen this season. A Black Falcon was also observed, in pursuit of a flock of Galahs. Michael Ramsey
Fri 11 Mar	Tawny Frogmouth Wildflower Drive, Bendigo 2 adults, in separate locations during a night excursion along Wildflower drive through the Greater Bendigo National Park. Other sightings for the night included roosting magpies and 2 Grey Currawongs. Kerryn Ryan and Neville James
	Tawny Frogmouth Buxton Street, Elsternwick Two Tawny frogmouth in Trees 9pm. Call ( catlike growling) and behaviour suggest they are juveniles. Jennifer Bowman
	Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Gresswell Forest Wildlife Reserve Seems very reliable here, Seen 4 times in 4 visits. Also heard Striated & Spotted Pardalote. Kevin Bartram
	Little, Purple-crowned, Musk and Rainbow Lorikeets, Rainbow Bee-eater, Black Falcon Woodlands Historic Park, Somerton Road car park All 4 lorikeets flying around the area; mostly Rainbow and Musk, with around 5 Little, 10 Purple-crowned. One bee-eater around the Moonee Ponds Creek. One Black Falcon flying overhead. Lawrie Conole
	White-throated Needletail Domain Wetlands Templestowe 13 fairly low over the Templestowe hill climb, white throats shining in the late sunshine. Sonja Ross
	Little Lorikeet Bentleigh East Still coming; counted 25 birds this morning at Brighton Secondary College around 8:30am. Each flock had 5-7 birds in each, some flew off but some circled around and returned to the same tree. James Bailey
Thu 10 Mar	Bar-tailed Godwit Barwon River, Ocean Grove 200+ at mouth of the river (Ocean Grove side) Ian Smissen
	Peregrine Falcon Castlemaine Town Hall Very surprised to find a Juvenile Peregrine Falcon this morning on a high ledge at the front of the Castlemaine Town Hall building. The bird was clearly visible from the ground and appeared very comfortable with the noise and activity of the street. Joe Park
Wed 9 Mar	Rufous Fantail Woodlands Historical Park (Weeroona) One Rufous Fantail seen with large mixed flock of Thornbills , Grey Fantail and Red Capped Robins. Looked to be a juvenile bird. Colin Mulvogue
	Black Falcon Moolort Plains Great views of a pair of Black Falcons on the plains this morning. Other notable species were a Swamp Harrier and Plumed Whistling Ducks. Joe Park
	White-throated Needletail Wodonga Senior Secondary College Catching a few moments rest on the 'throne', staring through the high windows, when my 'toilet' list went up by 1 species. About 30 needletails (confirmed by 5 minutes later) circling in developing storm clouds above the school. Matt Weeks
	Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Bentleigh East Two birds following a flock of Galahs. James Bailey
	Striated Pardalote Newport Lakes Park Brief view of pair before they were chased off by New Holland HE. Appeared to be early striatus from Tas. (2). Steve Davidson
Tue 8 Mar	Gang Gang Cockatoo Diamond Creek Victoria A male and female eating berries in the town park area Lyndal Wilmot
	Barking Owl Wangaratta A pair calling at 1 am in the park along the King River near the centre of town. Chris Lester
	Yellow-faced Honeyeater Mullum Mullum Creek Linear Park About 6 flitting about some gums in flower and "hovering" to catch insects just outside them late this afternoon. This is the first time I have seen them here in several years of regular walking along the path in East Doncaster. A juvenile Eastern Spinebill passed through too. Sonja Ross
	Intermediate Egret Eastern Treatment Plant Highlight from the Birds Australia ETP bird count conducted 6 March 2011: Intermediate Egret (3), White-bellied Sea-Eagle (1), Wood (1) and Common (2) Sandpiper, Double-banded Plover (1), the first Red-kneed Dotterel for many months, and Striated Pardalote (1). Mike Carter per Tim Dolby
	Little Lorikeet Bentleigh East All three lorikeets crowded themselves into one tree. Confirmed 2 Little Lorikeets, but a possible extra individual. James Bailey
Mon 7 Mar	White-throated Needletail Bellbird Corner, Maffra and Lake Glenmaggie White-throated Needletails were observed at two locations during today's EGBOC outing around Maffra. 20+ were noted at Bellbird Corner, Maffra and 150+ at Lake Glenmaggie later that same morning. 20 EGBOC members per Len Axen
	Painted Button-Quail Wyperfeld National Park One bird heard at start of Eastern Lookout Track, a female seen on Malleefowl Track. An unusual habitat for this species? Also Redthroat, Southern Scrub-robin and Shy Heathwren along Discovery Walk. Sean Dooley
	Little Egret Sandy Creek Arm, Lake Hume An immature Little Egret practising slapstick comedy - pretending to be invisible, then diving into water much too deep for it to stand in; it ended up looking like a white Darter, but eventually made it back to shore. Never recorded this species in NE Victoria before, presumably from breeding colonies further down the flooded Murray system. Dale Tonkinson
	Spotted Harrier Hume Freeway between Euroa and Violet Town Flying above the trees just adjacent to the freeway Chris Lester
	Nankeen Night-Heron Lake Meran 40 flushed from trees along 400m of shoreline - many juveniles. Also 4 Great Crested Grebe, White-faced and White-necked Heron, Great Egret, Little Pied and Little Black Cormorants. Malcolm Cousland
	Wedge-tailed Eagle, Dusky Moorhen Altona Memorial Park Eagle flew from trees near carpark, and settled again nearby. Moorhen seen swampy area near front gate. It was a shame to see that one of the wet areas was being filled in. Roger McGlashan
	Little Lorikeet Bentleigh East 2 more over Brighton Secondary College at 9:05am. James Bailey
Sun 6 Mar	Tawny Frogmouth Northcote, corner of Dennis/Cleveland Streets Roadkill adult, opposite All Nations Park. I don't see them often around here, but they are in parkland in various parts of Northcote. Lawrie Conole
	White Throated Nightjar Arthurs Seat ( Lookout ) Observed Nightjar from Lookout along Arthurs Seat road . Bird seen well in headlights of cars parked nearby . Colin Mulvogue
	Buller's Albatross, Grey-backed Storm-Petrel BA VicGroup Pelagic off Portland A nice pelagic trip off Portland produced Buller's, Yellow-nosed, Black-browed and Shy Albatross. A single adult Salvin's Albatross (one of the NZ forms of Shy Albatross) was also a highlight. Other birds included Fairy Prion, Grey-backed Storm-Petrel, White-chinned Petrel, and Great-winged Petrel. Rohan Clarke, Chris Lester and 10 others
	Black-eared Cuckoo Bailieston Historical Reserve, Bailieston Single Black-eared Cuckoo calling in the reserve was soon located and seen well. John Barkla, Fred Smith & Alison Street
Sat 26 Feb	Rufous fantail Elsternwick Single seen foraging in undergrowth in my garden. Sighted from 1metre through window. Colouration and tail shape very apparent. Jennifer Bowman

Birdline Victoria is sponsored by Birds Australia - Victoria and co-ordinated and hosted by Eremaea Birds.

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