Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 23 Sep 2012.

Sun 23 Sep	Painted Honeyeater Howlong Rd, Nth of Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park A pair of Painted Honeyeaters heard calling north of the Mt Pleasant Rd site. A good observation to this new addition to the park. Kaye Trainor & Martin O'Brien
	Spotless Crake Fosterville at 36 41 17S 144 30 58E Spotless Crake (1) calling intermittently. First time heard here Marlene Lyell
Sat 22 Sep	Striated Fieldwren 'Newry' Byaduk Striated Fieldwren 3-4 living amongst the Tree Violets and stony rises wetland Samantha Greiner
Sat 22 Sep	Grey Goshawk Gisborne South, Macedon Ranges Single grey morph bird soaring over exotic tree rows, Gisborne South, ~11am. Either colour morph rare in this area; grey morph most so. Lawrie Conole
	Square-tailed kite Blacks Lane, Upotipotpon Single bird seen gliding low over private bushland remnant and large paddock trees. Bird moved slowly just above canopy with harrier like buoyant flight, white head and wingtips clearly visible (see photo). Joseph Birckhead
	Golden Whistler, Rufous Whistler, Pied Cormorant Elster creek, Elwood During today's Elster creek bird survey, a Golden Whistler and two Rufous Whistlers were seen in the coastal scrub on the Elwood foreshore near the playground and approximately 160 Pied Cormorants circled over the Elsternwick Golf Course. Gio Fitzpatrick
	Oriental Pratincole Western Treatment Plant One hawking over Q-section pond midday, seen by many observers. Richard Loyn
	Glossy Ibis Avalon Airport (between airport and WesternTreatment Plant) 9 feeding voraciously in flooded pasture north of Beach Road, west of Point Wilson Road. Numbers built up during the afternoon. Also 2 White-necked and 2 White-faced Herons, no other ibis. Richard Loyn, Peter Lansley, Scott Baker
	Brush Bronzewing Newport Lakes Reserve As reported by Steve Davidson recently, I am pleased to say that the bird was relatively easy to find and photograph. North end of the reserve on higher track. Bernie O'Keefe
Fri 21 Sep	Caspian Tern (2) Red Kneed Dotterel (5) ETP Boundary Rd Wetlands Two Caspian Terns resting on Western side of Southern Pond , also 5 Red Kneed Dotterels along Western Bank of same pond. Buff Banded Rail in Drain and many Reed Warblers , very vocal and active. Colin Mulvogue
	Baillon's Crake, Australian Spotted Crake, Black-tailed Native-hen and Buff-banded Rail Lake Road and Hospital Swamp We observed from side of road especially near swampy parts. We also observed Red -kneed Dotterel and Black-fronted Dotterel. Gwen and Michael Bird
	Spotted Harrier, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike Ironbark Rd - McCormack Rd Bacchus Marsh 1' Cell Spotted Harrier (1) Adult suddenly appeared quartering reveg area for rabbits, then over the long grass up the hill. Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike (11) 11 cuckoo-shrikes in a flock on the move. Bernie McRitchie
	Freckled Duck, Australasian Shoveler, Pink-eared Duck and Blue-billed Duck Lorne Lake, Drysdale These species were seen amongst numerous Hardheads and Chestnut Teal. Gwen and Michael Bird
Thu 20 Sep	Painted Honeyeaters Mt Pleasant Rd - North of Bartley's Block, Chiltern National Park At least 4 (possibly up to 6) Painted Honeyeaters 500m past the gravelly area on Mt Pleasant Rd - what amazing birds they are! Would have missed them if. I didn't meet up with a lovely American couple nearby! Joshua Bergmark
	Freckled Duck (4) Black-tailed Native Hen (2) Hardheads 20+ Skip Lane Wetlands, Wonthaggi Freckled Duck seen resting on bank on eastern side of main lake, Native-hens close by amongst Swamp T-Tree, bird numbers here have dramatically increased in the last week. Colin Mulvogue
	Swift Parrot Fawkner Cemetery, Melbourne Several swifties with lorikeets in flowering eucalypts around Joyce Chapel this morning. John Newman
	Fan-tailed Cuckoo and Rufous Whistler Point Ormond, Elwood Foreshore A Fan-tailed Cuckoo was watching a pair of Brown Thornbills from a Drooping She-oak before it was chased off by a Red Wattlebird. Meanwhile, a Rufous Whistler was calling from a Coast Banksia near the playground. Gio Fitzpatrick
	Australian (black and yellow) Magpie Kyabram township An interesting phenomenon in an Australian Magpie - a black and yellow Magpie, probably a form of leucism. Elizabeth Wood per Tim Dolby
Wed 19 Sep	King Quail - Coturnix chinensis Bright township Seen wandering about a suburban street in Bright. A single male. Skittish enough not to be approachable. No way of telling whether it was an aviary escapee or naturally occurring. Reported because this species is classified as threatened under Victoria's Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act. Katie Grace
	Buff-banded Rail Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne Single bird seen feeding out in the open in the vicinity of Long Island. David Plant
	Painted Honeater Bartleys Block, Chiltern-Mount Pilot National Park Painted Honeyeater hard to spot, other birds easy to see. Also seen White throated Gerygone, Speckled Warbler, Mistletoebird and a Bronze-Cuckoo species. David Mcinnes
	Painted Honeyeater Killawarra Forest Painted Honeyeater (1) Vocal but flighty, took a while to track (Moderators note: The third record sent to Birdline in the last few days. This species has obviously returned to Victoria for the spring a little early than previous years. It may be a good year for this species, keep an eye and ear out for them in the northern woodlands). Daniel Pendavingh
	Freckled Duck, Spotted Harrier, Latham’s Snipe Eastern Treatment Plant, Bangholme Birds moving coastwise from inland Australia included 36 Freckled Duck, 770 Pink-eared Duck, 2,450 Grey Teal, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 2 White-necked Heron, an adult Spotted Harrier, 2,750 Eurasian Coot and 6 Red-kneed Dotterel. Returning international waders were 10 Latham’s Snipe, 1 Common Sandpiper, 11 Red-necked Stint and 24 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. Mike Carter, Dawn Neylan, Alison Kuiter & David Stabb per Tim Dolby
	Fan-tailed Cuckoo Merri Creek, about 100 metres upstream of Blyth St bridge (near CERES) One adult seen flitting around in trees over the creek about 9:00 am. I didn't hear it but was riding past on my bike and would have been within earshot for less than a minute. My first record along the Merri in nearly ten years of daily (weekday) commutes. Paul Peake
Tue 18 Sep	Ruddy Turnstone, Red-necked Stint Mornington Peninsula NP, Mushroom Reef Ruddy Turnstones 8 - 10. First spring arrivals, all in non-breeding plumage. Red-necked Stints 35 - 40. I accidentally scared about 20 off onto a partially submerged rock just offshore, the other 20 or so were foraging through seaweed with the turnstones. Tim Nickholds
Tue 18 Sep	Oriental Pratincole Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Oriental Pratincole (1) In the first long lagoon on the right after you go through the western Lagoons gate Meryl Watson
Tue 18 Sep	Black-eared Cuckoo Serendip Sanctuary Was pleasantly surprised to see a Black-eared Cuckoo ( it was not calling ) near the Wildlife walk. Simon Starr
	Scarlet Honeyeater Yeerung River Nature Trail For the second day in a row, Scarlet Honeyeaters were observed and heard actively feeding in the flowering stringybarks along the first 500m of the path after crossing the concrete bridge at the Yeerung. 18 noted yesterday and another 8 today. Jacquie and Len Axen
Mon 17 Sep	Dicrurus bracteatus (Spangled drongo) Willow Park, Wodonga Difficult to see clearly, but certainly unusual sighting in this area. I will attempt to verify this sighting. John Shearer
Sun 16 Sep	White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Crested Bellbird South-east Edge of Whroo Forest. 2 light morph White-bellied Cuckoo-shirkes & an enqusitive male Crested Bellbird seen. Kevin Bartram
	Speckled Warbler, Black-eared Cuckoo, Gilbert's Whistler etc Bailieston Lots of activity around Bailieston. Speckled Warbler a pair present; Black-eared Cuckoo on the ridge. Had all 6 local species of Pachycephalidae in the one place on the ridge: Gilbert's, Golden, Rufous Whistler, Grey Shrike-thrush, Crested Bellbird & Shriketit. Also 2 Chestnut-rumped Heathwrens on ridge. Lots of cuckoos: Fantailed, Pallid & Horsfield's Bronze (no Shining). Painted Buttonquail heard. I thought I may have heard Painted Honeyeater, but not certain, so worth watching out for. Kevin Bartram
	Painted Honeyeater Earlston, north of Violet Town First record for the season. Doug Robinson
	Gull-billed Tern WTP Werribee Single bird flying south along North Spit lagoon before turning inland towards T-Section lagoons. Poor quality 'record shot' photographs obtained. P S Lansley
	Spotless Crake, Baillon's Crake and Latham's Snipe Jacana Wetlands, south (downstream) of the Western Ring Road One Spotless Crake called for most of the two and a half hours that I was there and eventually showed about 15 m away; one Baillon's Crake at each of two localities afforded excellent and extensive views from 5 - 20 m away; and the first Latham's Snipe for the season seen foraging along the water's edge. Also many Grey Fantails, Little Grassbirds and several Spotted Pardalotes. Charles Silveira
Fri 14 Sep	Cape Barren Geese Graydens Rd btn Watts & Jones Rd Tyabb Two Cape Barren Geese were grazing on a private paddock on south side of Graydens Rd about 100m from fence. Dianne Boon
	Mallee Emu-wren Pink Lakes NP, 4.3km east of Pink Lakes Rd on Pioneer Drive Two family parties of Mallee Emu-wrens seen close to Pioneer Rd in spinifex dominated Mallee woodland. Chestnut Quail-thrush, Red-capped Robin, Variegated and Splendid Wrens all in same vicinity. Kathy Costello, Daphne Hards
Thu 6 Sep	Fluttering Shearwaters Barwon River Estuary I saw a large flock of Fluttering Shearwaters sheltering in the estuary on a stormy day. Took a very bad photo as it was hard to get close to them (photo attached) Jennifer Carr

Birdline Victoria is sponsored by BirdLife 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
===============================