Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 18 Mar 2012.

Sat 17 Mar	Lewin's Rail Cheetham Wetlands, Altona About 7am, watched a Lewin's Rail feeding very nervously in the same location as report #123553. It kept darting back under cover, then coming back out to feed. Peter Shute
Fri 16 Mar	Black Kite (immature) Honeypots Track, Anglesea Heath This morning whilst I was looking for the Chestnut-rumped Heathwren I became aware of a large raptor circling overhead in the midst of a flock of White-throated Needletails. The raptor was in my opinion an immature black kite (see photo) Hedley Earl
	White-throated Needletail, Southern Emu-wren, Chestnut-rumped Heathwren, Olive Whistler HoneyPots Track, Anglesea Heath White-throated Needletail (30) circling over Honeypots track plus a couple whistled past my head giving me a fright Southern Emu-wren (1) female at the start of Honeypots track Chestnut-rumped Heathwren (1) 300 metres down a 'management track, along Shiney eye track Olive Whistler (1) 2.3 kilometres along 'Harrison North track' Hedley Earl
Thu 15 Mar	Southern Boobook Owl Paul Ave, East Keilor The bird previously reported on 23rd Feb is still in the same location according to Julie Spiteri, who has seen it regularly since then in several local densely foliaged trees. Julie Spiteri,told to Jan Flack
	Black Kite Bendigo CBD A rare sight of about 30 Kites flying around together Janice McKay
	Fork-tailed Swift Wyperfeld National Park (Discovery Track) Fork-tailed Swift (2) Seen on Discovery walk near Devil's Pools. Nicole Spillane & Paul Jacobson
	Rufous Fantail, Zebra Finch Rifle Range Road, Werribee South One Rufous Fantail (behaved like it was defending a nest) and a group of 15 zebra finches. Luc te Marvelde
Wed 14 Mar	Nankeen Night-Heron Southbank Nankeen Night-Heron juvenile. Seen on rubbish float S side of river between Sandridge Bridge and Queensbridge St. Debbie Lustig
	Fork-tailed Swift Underbool 10' Cell 30+ Fork-tailed Swift seen flying low over Mallee Hwy in centre of Underbool township. Nicole Spillane & Paul Jacobson
Tue 13 Mar	Broad-billed Sandpiper Western Treatment Plant, Werribee BB Sandpiper still present in the first pond through the Beach Rd gate. Found just after sunrise (high tide was at 7a.m.) and showed well. Also seen in same pond - Spotted Crake, Spotless Crake, RN Stint and possibly Baillon's Crake. Plenty of Curlew SP in early breeding colours. George Pergaminelis
	Sooty Oystercatcher Half Moon Bay, Black Rock One, Sooty Oystercatcher flew out to the wreck of the Cerebus where there was possibly another bird as well. About two hours later one bird seen flying off the wreck following the coast south. Sean Dooley
	Large-billed Scrubwren, Rufous Fantail, Black-faced Monarch Cabbage Tree Creek Flora Reserve A pair of Large-billed Scrubwren were seen actively feeding amongst tangled vines. A Rufous Fantail was observed near the Cabbage Tree Creek bridge and 4 Black-faced Monarch are still present on site although we only heard them calling from a dense understorey of lillypilly today. Len and Jacquie Axen
	Yellow-faced Honeyeater Ringwood North Further to Richard Loyn's note, Yellow-faced Honeyeaters have begun moving through my garden over the last couple of days. Similar pattern to Richard's observation, 1-3 birds stopping briefly to feed and moving on. Don't see them just here other times of the year. Steven Creber
Mon 12 Mar	Spotted Quail-thrush Lower Glenelg National Park - Nelson Two birds initially heard calling in very dense under growth. A single male was then observed foraging along the edge of the forest track for about 30 minutes. The bird remained wairy and flew a few meters ahead on ther track if approached too closely. Edward Smith
	Speckled Warbler Clonbinane One seen during regular quarterly survey on large private revegetation site. David Wakefield and 3 others
	Striped Honeyeater, Black-faced Woodswallow Yarrara Flora and Fauna Nature Reserve One Striped Honeyeater and small flock of Black-faced Woodswallow seen at Yarrara during early afternoon. Nicole Spillane & Paul Jacobson
	Hooded Plovers and unknown shearwater 13th Beach, Barwon Heads Saw a group of four hoodies (3 adults and 1 immature) on 13th beach on morning of 12th March, amongst seaweed near the edge of the water. Also found beach-washed Shearwater but not sure which species. It was no more than 30 cm long. Anne Palamountain
	Little Eagle Viewbank About 1.30, one individual circling from just above canopy until high above Old Lower Plenty Road, where joined by another. They continued rising until lost to view north over Yallambie. Likely one was Richard's. Neil Murray
	Little Eagle Viewbank One flew west high over suburb in morning, chased by Magpies Richard Loyn
	Yellow-faced Honeyeater Viewbank Small numbers flying over suburbs on mornings of 11 and 12 March, mostly 1-3 together, sometimes stopping to feed for a few minutes (eg in sugar gum in our garden). Random directions seen but undoubtedly part of an autumn migration. Richard Loyn
	Rufous Fantail Brunswick Sth West Primary school, West Brunswick Just the one bird,hunting insects in exotic foliage next to the school fence. Jan Flack
	Rufous Whistler.(Immature) Large residential block in outer Hoppers Crossing 3029. Observed immature Rufous Whistler in late afternoon at a bird bath in my yard. The area comprises large, well treed one and two hectare blocks. This is my first sighting of this species in twenty five years in residence. Golden Whistlers have previously been observed in the area. Peter Gibbons.
	Common Myna Hamilton Common Myna sitting and singing on TV antenna of local vet clinic. (Moderators note: a range extension to the west). Samantha Greiner
	Crested Shrike-tit, Fan-tailed Cuckoo Newport Lakes, Newport Heard a Fan-tailed Cuckoo in the distance several times between 7 and 8am. About 8am, saw a Crested Shrike-tit ripping into the bark of a tree in the middle of the Amphitheatre. This species isn't on the Eremaea list for this site. Peter Shute
	Swift Parrots Muckleford Three swifties flew overhead this morning Debbie Worland
Sun 11 Mar	Powerful Owl Ventnor, Phillip Island First and probably the only time I will ever see one! A Grey Fantail suddenly flew straight up, buzzed (until then unseen by myself ) and flushed a Powerful Owl to a position 20 metres in front of me. Alan Atkinson
	Southern Emu-wren, Tawny-crowned Honeyeater Anglesea Heath Approximately 1.5 kms along the track we heard a sound that we thought was an emu wren. We stopped the vehicle and then scanned the low heath and to our delight we saw 3 (1male and 2 females) move around in a very small area. No other birds were around and there was little wind so for about 20 minutes we observed and photographed these beautiful and delicate birds. Also for the second time in 2 days we were pleased to see 3 Tawny Crowned honeyeaters on Alcoa boundary track just before it intersects with Bald Hills Rd. This is only the 2nd sighting we have had of this bird here in the past 2 years Hedley and Irena Earl
Sat 10 Mar	Lewin's Rail Cheetham Wetlands About 7am, on edge of small pond on west side of path from Laverton Ck (near the mouth) to the old fence. 20 second view in the half dark. Peter Shute
	Great Crested Grebe Lake Wendouree Of note the amount of nesting activity by Great Crested Grebes - seven on nests recorded at present. Also an Darter adult roosting with Little Pied Cormorants in area of deep cover at Western End of the lake. Campbell Vincent
Fri 9 Mar	Musk Duck, Rose Robin North Arm, Lakes Entrance Musk Duck (1) female in company of two young swans, and Rose Robin (1)female; first time observer has seen at this site. Anthea Stubbs
	Great Crested Grebe Viewbank One juvenile on small dam between Martins Lane and Plenty River Trail. Swimming close to edge nearest Trail, at c.6pm and 7pm. Not observed here before. Neil Murray

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

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