Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 7 Aug 2011.

Sun 7 Aug	Nankeen Night-Heron, Red-capped Robin You Yangs Regional Park Nankeen Night-Heron (1) juvenile near Grace's dam in Red Gum Gully (east of Information Centre) Red-capped Robin (1) male - Branding Yard Rd area. In area of Yellow Gums, with many thornbills and silvereyes. Janine Duffy
	Scarlet Robin, Princess Parrot Darebin Creek Parkland, Preston A couple of unusual sightings in the Darebin Parkland this afternoon. Male Scarlet Robin was a new addition to my local list. Princess Parrot flying overhead, obviously an escapee but of some interest. Golden Whistler and Black-shouldered Kite also recorded. Scott Baker
	Australian Spotted Crake, Spotless Crake, Buff-banded Rail Truginina Park wetland, Altona Meadows Mel: 208 K2 Spotted Crake 10 metres west of Andrew Park Drive bridge; Spotless Crake and Buff-banded Rail approximately 200 metres west of bridge. Andre Dreyfus
	Swift Parrot, Scaly-breasted Lorrikeet Royal Park, Parkville On a 3-hour stroll, saw 51 species, including 9 species of parrot and 7 of honeyeater. Still lots of lorikeets near the tram tracks adjacent to the Royal Park Station as well as at least 10 Swift Parrots. There are early-returning Australian Reed-Warblers at the waterhole. Chris Lester
	Swift Parrot Killawarra Forest Four birds found around the Wallaby Hill Track area while taking part in the biannual survey for this species. Scarlet Honeyeaters still in the forest and a Rose Robin was also near the camp area. Michael Ramsey
Sat 6 Aug	King Parrot Near intersection Boulevard and Clark Rd, Ivanhoe About 4 pm a pair of King Parrots flew through our backyard and court-yard to alight on large bare oak-tree next door. They stayed for a minute or two and then flew on northwards. Anthea Fleming
	Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Tanunda Wetlands, Mill Park Just the one, as far as I could tell. Never seen one in the northern suburbs before. Near by Yellow Gums were flowering strongly. Saw one during the week near the You Yangs as well. Rustem Upton
	Australian Owlet-nightjar, Olive-backed Oriole Little Lake Boort Olive-backed Oriole heard then seen in Black Box. Shortly after an Australian Owlet-nightjar flew from the same tree followed by the Oriole, both perching in a neighbouring tree (photo). Also 30 Whiskered Tern, 3 Pink-eared Ducks and a male Musk Duck seen on the lake. Malcolm Cousland
	White-necked Heron Taylors Lakes Single bird at creek off Sunshine Avenue. Andre Rasquinha
	Banded Lapwing 455 Carrs Rd, Anakie There are now 14 Banded Lapwing in the ploughed paddock on Carrs Road, thanks to previous reports. First spotted today by my eagle-eyed girlfirend. Chris Lunardi
	Red-Necked Avocet 13th Beach (Black Rock) 18 Avocet's observed on the beach close to the rocks. Great views!! Denis Sleep
	Painted Button-quail Edwards Park & Lagoon Oval, Port Melbourne Painted Button-quail (1) Time: 14.16 - 14.24. Female in leaf litter beside a well-used path in Lagoon Oval. First noticed from the sound of scratching in undergrowth then watched for 10 minutes as she was foraging - round in circles. At one point she dug a deeper hole and sat in it and called. I left and returned with my camera and Roger Smith (time: 14.50 - 15.10), and she was still in same area. We approached quietly but she seemed unconcerned by our presence and continued foraging in view. I got to within 2 metres of her over about 15 minutes. She called again and I took a video (I have posted on YouTube: Painted Button-quail, Port Melbourne http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94dpbAeJNkY ) She may be an aviary escapee, but I did see what I thought to be a Button-quail a few months ago in a garden nearby. It was dusk, but the shape was right. So if she is an escapee she's been managing for a few months at least. Assuming of course that was the same bird. Janine Duffy, Roger Smith
Fri 5 Aug	Barn Owl Main St, Bacchus Marsh, Vic. Barn Owl seen at 10pm perched in a Plane Tree in the street lights. In the middle of town. I watched it for a couple of minutes from 10 ms. away, then it flew off. Bernie McRitchie
	Swift Parrot Muckleford Still a small group of about 10 birds feeding in yellow gum. It is approx 130 days the swifties have been in Muckleford this year.Also this morning white plumed,white naped,yellow faced, yellow tufted, new holland and fuscous honeyeaters. Wattlebirds aggressive towards swifties. No Dusky Woodswallows this season, usually they hang around near swifties. Debbie Worland
	Banded Lapwing, White-necked Heron 455 Carrs Rd, Anakie As reported on 27 July there are still 4 Banded Lapwing in the freshly plowed paddock with 455 Carrs Rd on the gate (south side of the road). Also a White-necked Heron in a small dam just down the road. Nicole Spillane & Paul Jacobson
	Zebra Finch Serendip Sanctuary, Lara Zebra Finch (10 - 15) males and females, first identified by call, then seen & watched for some time. First record for Serendip as far as we know. Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours (Paul Hackett)
	Blue-faced Honeyeater Melbourne Zoo Seen drinking out of a gutter by two different staff members. Richard Rowe, Colin Knight
	Barn Owl Johnstone Street, Jacana A roadkill found on the south-eastern end of the bridge over Yuroke Creek; first one seen in the general area, though, over the last 40+ years, individuals have been heard calling at night on rare occasions including two calls a couple of nights ago at nearby Glenroy. Charles Silveira
	Laughing Kookaburra Moonee Ponds, Crn Darling St and Holmes Road Three birds sitting on a TV antenna. Two adults and one juvenile. This is the first time in 30 yrs that I have heard or seen a kookaburra in this area. They were attacked by local ravens and I don't know where they went after passing over the ex Essendon Hospital building. Judith Markham (amateur bird enthusiast)
Wed 3 Aug	Swift Parrot Kooyoora State Park (Wehla) Swift Parrot (30) Wehla-Burkes Flat Rd near Devil Range Track. Perching and flying from tree to tree around sunset. Malcolm Cousland
	Swift Parrot Kooyoora State Park (Glenalbyn block) Swift Parrot (6) Sunday Morning Hills Rd near Spiers Tk and along Spring Creek Rd Malcolm Cousland
	Shining Bronze-Cuckoo Neerim State Forest Shining Bronze-Cuckoo calling this morning. Previous earliest record in this area was 31/8/1993. Also many Yellow-faced Honeyeaters around somewhat earlier than usual. Rob Gully
Tue 2 Aug	Laughing Kookaburra Caulfield Park Laughing Kookaburra (1) Seems to be resident Debbie Lustig
	Barn Owl WENDOUREE Loretta and Vicki Gleeson
	White-necked Heron Yarra Bend Park Perched on dead tree branches in the Yarra just upstream of the Bellbird Picnic Area car park at 5.30pm. Melway ref 2K D6. Andrew Wood, Melanie Quin
	Northern Shoveler Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Seen well in a short visit around 4pm off the Bird Hide. Also 2 adult Sea-eagles Dave Torr and others
	White-necked Heron Vacant land, Galvin St, Altona One White-necked Heron seen about 7.30am, feeding in a flooded depression on vacant land. I've seen White-faced Herons here many times when it floods, but never White-necked. Peter Shute
Mon 1 Aug	Little Corella Spring Street Oval, Sandringham 240+ were feeding, probably on onion weed, at 2pm with 8+ Long-billed Corellas in the middle of the flock and 20 or so Galahs about 30m away. Michael Norris
	White Necked Heron Intersection Westernport Hwy and Baxter Tooradin Pearcedale Single bird flying west over road 815am Adam Dixon
	spotless crake Aspendale wetlands drainage at Mordialloc Creek Spotless Crake walking casually across the mud flat beside the drainage creek near where it enters Mordialloc Creek . Rob Scholes
	Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Black Falcon, Brown Songlark Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Some odd sightings and overall brilliant birding this afternoon at WTP. A Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in partial alternate plumage was present with several Red-necked Stint and 2 Curlew Sandpiper at Western Lagoon, and nearby a male Brown Songlark was flushed along the Coast Rd adjacent to Spit. A big Black Falcon, prob female, was watched coursing along 29 Mile Rd, while the Northern Shoveler and several Aus Spotted & Spotless Crakes entertained many around the bird hide. One Freckled Duck seen loafing on lake Borrie. Heaps of Great Egret about, and squillions of Aus Gannet just offshore. Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
	Swift Parrot Karingal Shopping Centre A flock of ~30 Swift Parrots foraging in the eucalyptus in the eastern car park (near where the new freeway is being built). Neil Shelley
Sun 31 Jul	Buff Banded Rail Monash University Clayton The bird was observed for five minutes feeding on the campus lawn in between the Campus Centre and the Matheson Library. If scared by students it flew into the bushes by the pond in the same location. Scot Sharman
	Northern Shoveler, Freckled Duck, Lewin's Rail & Great Crested Grebe Western Treatment Plant, Werribee After much searching, the Northern Shoveler was located in the afternoon off the 145W drain outlet on Corio Bay in a group of about 20 Australasian Shoveler. It then flew across to Lake Borrie where we alerted other birders to look for it. It was soon found in a large group of Shovelers on the west side. Three Freckled Duck on Lake Borrie and a crake fest at the bird hide (Lewin's Rail, Spotless Crake, Buff-banded Rail and lots of Australian Spotted Crake) with all species showing well. Three Great Crested Grebe off Kirk Point made 84 species for the day with no effort to look for extra species in the roadside plantings. John Barkla, Fred Smith, Alison Street & Eldert Groenewoud
	Western Gerygone, Speckled Warbler, White-bellied Sea-eagle etc Bailieston One area at Baileston was bursting with birds. Found an unseasonal Western Geygone feeding in a low bush. Got a poor photo, but shows uppertail pattern very well. Soon after spotted a Speckled Warbler in a tree, first I've seen here for a long time. Also watched a battle between male Scarlet & Red-capped Robin, females of each species watching on. It got to a stage where both had hold of each other & twirled in battled embrace from a large tree to the ground! I've never seen this before in robins. Also Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, Chestnut-rumped Heathwren, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Crested Bellbird, Fantailed Cuckoo, Rufous Songlark, Restless Flycatcher. Other highlight was an adult White-bellied Sea-Eagle soaring over Bailieston Hills, miles from any large body of water, first I've seen here. Kevin Bartram
Sat 30 Jul	Rufous Bristlebird Moggs Creek (Great Ocean Road) Single bird seen on the road and then side of road at Moggs Creek at 7.30am. Bird did not seem fussed by cars driving past. I had some great views (and calls). Charles Hunter
	buff-banded rail outside Hawthorn Library in Glenferrie Road A single buff-banded rail was seen feeding in a grassy area outside the Hawthorn Library in the late afternoon on Saturday . It seemed relaxed and unconcerned and I watched it for perhaps 5 minutes before I went into the library. As they say, better than a sparrow! John Willis
	Gilbert's Whistler etc Whroo Information Centre Lots of activity on the hills north-west of the Whroo Information Centre. Firstly picked up call of Gilbert's Whistler, found what I presume is an immature male chasing another Gilbert's & singing. First I've seen in area for quite a while. Got nice photos of this interesting plumage. Also heard Chestnut-rumped Heathwren, saw an adult Olive-backed Oriole, Horsfield Bronze & Fantailed Cuckoos & Little Eagle. Kevin Bartram
Wed 27 Jul	Little Penguin, Australasian Gannet, Pied Cormorant, Little Pied Cormorant, Australian White Ibis, S Port Phillip Bay- South Channel Fort Little Penguin (25) Australasian Gannet Pied Cormorant (7) Little Pied Cormorant (8) Australian White Ibis Straw-necked Ibis Buff-banded Rail (1) Silver Gull Crested Tern (4) Emma Camilleri
Sat 23 Jul	Red-rumped parrot. Yarra Bend Park, Fairfield. Melbourne. This male Red-rumped parrot is among the hundreds that I have been observing at Yarra Bend over the last few weeks. Is he a mutant? I have many photos if anyone wants to see more. (Moderators note: this bird does appear to have more yellow in its plumage than usual, which can be described as xanthochromism) Ruth Minifie

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

===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================