Birdline Tasmania Weekly Update

Birdline Tasmania

Published sightings for the week ending 24 Feb 2013.

Sat 23 Feb	Blue-winged Parrot Kelcey Tier Nature Reserve Blue-winged Parrot 200 meters along track at first fork in track. 6 positive, perhaps 8 or 9. Feeding on track. Not shy, stayed around for a good 10 minutes. 2 imm birds. Went back hour and half later and all birds still at same area. Judith Lattaway
Thu 21 Feb	Masked Owl, Australian Owlet-nightjar Fernglade, Burnie Went back this evening to look for the owls heard last night - MUCH quieter! We thought we might have heard one distant call from the car park. Walked slowly up along the river walking track, stopping and listening, but nothing much happening. Came back to the car park, and the juvenile started calling again from across the river. Managed to spot-light it, and see it clumsily flapping around where it was perched (a bit different to last night's location). Not as vocal as last night, and no adults seen or heard. While we were listening to the juvenile call, we heard one Owlet-nightjar call once from up beyond the tiolet block, but were not able to locate it. John and Shirley Tongue
Wed 20 Feb	Masked Owl Fernglade, Burnie Called in on the way home from a meeting on the off chance of finding owls here (didn't have a spotlight, sadly). Across the river and up on the ridge from the car park, a juvenile Masked Owl was calling/begging incessantly, occasionally sounding like it got something to eat. About three times there was a longer, deeper call (adult?) from the same general area, and once, there was an adult call from further down the river, towards the bridge. Will have to go back another night with a spotlight. John Tongue
Mon 18 Feb	Fiordland Crested Penguin Tasman Island On Monday 18th February 2013 at approximately 11.00am on the north-western rocky shore of Tasman Island (55G 581164m E 5212841m S), Fiona Hume observed a crested penguin roosting amongst the Australian Fur Seals. Both she and I returned to the site 2 hours later to verify identification and photograph. Photographs confirmed the penguin was an adult Fiordland Crested Penguin. On Tuesday 19th February the penguin was not present. Thanks to Dr Sally Bryant for confirming our identification. Fiona Hume and Liz Znidersic
Sun 17 Feb	Cooks, Goulds, Mottled, White-headed and Soft-plumaged Petrel Eaglehawk Neck Pelagic Good numbers of petrels amongst the 25 species recorded on the recent pelagic trip. Highlights included 3 Cooks Petrels, 30 Gould's Petrels, 18 Mottled Petrels, 1 Soft-plumaged Petrel and 5 White-headed Petrels. Other species included Great-winged and White-chinned Petrel, Shy, Yellow-nosed, Black-browed, Bullers and Wandering Albatross and Grey-backed, Wilsons and White-faced Storm-Petrels. Rohan Clarke and 11 other observers
	Little Penguin Rocky Cape Single freshly-killed specimen 500m from sea on button grass. All that remains is cleanly-picked thoracolumbar spine, pelvis, legs, the only remaining flesh being the feet. Obviously a raptor kill, query large owl, query diurnal raptor. Richard Ashby. Hazel Britton.
Sat 16 Feb	Forty-spotted Pardalote Peter Murrell Reserves Forty-spotted Pardalote: 2, possibly 3. Large eucalypts near south-east corner of Heron Pond. Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow
Fri 15 Feb	Latham's Snipe Goulds Lagoon, Granton Seen feeding out on the mud on west side of lagoon. Crept along the road behind the blackberry bushes to get a close shot of it out in the open. Up to two Snipe have been seen at Goulds Lagoon this summer. Els Wakefield
	Black-fronted Dotterel Goulds Lagoon, Granton There were three Black-fronted Dotterels feeding on the edge of the mud at the lagoon on Friday morning in bright sunshine. These birds appear at the lagoon from time to time especially when the water is low to expose muddy feeding areas. Els Wakefield
Mon 11 Feb	White-throated Needletail Arthur River, Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area A dispersed feeding flock of 150+ White-throated Needletails feeding over the heath just to the north of the river for most of the day. Much aerobatics with pairs of birds engaged synchronised flying and chases. Weather calm and stable at the time. Rohan Clarke
Sat 9 Feb	Blue-billed Duck Lake Dulverton Oatlands Taken late in the afternoon, One male seen by Paul Brooks and photographed by me in the late afternoon on the 9th Feb and a female seen on the lake previously by Paul. Els Wakefield
	Beautiful Firetail, Common Myna, Flesh-footed Shearwater King Island 2 Beautiful Firetails positively heard from very close by along Calcified Forest track, Seal Rocks Reserve - first record for this species on King Island. Observers are very experienced with this species & ID was 100% definite. 1 Common Myna seen in township of Currie - starting to colonise here?? High numbers (up to 80 birds) Flesh-footed Shearwaters recorded off King Island & about the area in Tas waters from 8-9 Feb. A relatively rare species in Tas waters. (On a non-birding note, 1 Blue Whale seen closeby to yacht, just off west coast of King Is on 8 Feb). Martin Cachard & Simon Mustoe

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