Birdline Australian Capital Territory Weekly Update

Birdline Australian Capital Territory

Published sightings for the week ending 20 Oct 2013.

Sun 20 Oct	White-browed Woodswallow Kama Nature Reserve Seen overhead in a small group of other Woodswallows. We diidn't catch what the others were as by the time we had IDed this one they had passed beyond the range of our binocs. Kim and Geoff Larmour
Sun 20 Oct	Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Fyshwick Sewage Treatment Plant Sanctioned visit. 17 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers observed. One possible hybrid- 'Cox's Sandpiper' type. Resembling Sharp-tailed Sandpiper but differences as follows: Obvious broad supercilium, cream-coloured above lores and whitish behind eye. Bill slightly longer and slightly decurved towards the tip, blackish with a greenish-brown base. Underparts mainly white with partial band of fine grey streaks at side of breast, otherwise no demarcation between belly and breast. Upper parts greyer with less contrasting feather centres. No sign of Wood Sandpiper, Red-necked Stints or Ruddy Turnstone. Alastair Smith, Milburn
	White-browed Wood-Swallow Miller Street O'Connor 44 White-browed Wood-Swallows were flying slowly northwest over Miller Street, O'Connor at 11:46 today. PJ Milburn
Sat 19 Oct	White-necked Heron Campbell Park and environs Single White-necked Heron flying over the park. Alastair Smith
Sat 19 Oct	Channel-billed Cuckoo Gleneagles, Kambah At 7:45 h a Channel-billed Cuckoo flew over my house (in Gleneagles, Kambah) heading NW (in the general direction of the Cotter/Casuarina Sands, not that I'm suggesting that's where it was going). It was fairly high, flying steadily and calling raucously as it went. Harvey Perkins
Fri 18 Oct	Masked Woodswallow, White-browed Woodswallow, Dusky Woodswallow Callum Brae Nature Reserve All three species of woodswallow at Callum Brae this morning. Masked Woodswallow (4; 2m, 2f) White-browed Woodswallow (12) Dusky Woodswallow (2) Also my first record Buff-banded Rail and the first site record of Baillons Crake in the Eremaea atlas. Alastair Smith
Thu 17 Oct	Musk Lorikeet Cook Musk Lorikeet (1) Good views at ~7.00 this morning in flowering Ironbark and adjacent eucalypt before the wind came up. Bird seen front and back in bare top branches of tall euc: medium sized Lorikeet with bright green back and short tail; frontal view clearly showed red on forehead and front of head and extending below the eye in a broad stripe, yellow colouration on side of breast with remainder of underparts bright green, no red in underwings. Kim and Geoff Larmour
Wed 16 Oct	Ruddy Turnstone Fyshwick Sewage Treatment Plant Ruddy Turnstone (1) Same immature bird as observed previously. Still on pond 4. Alex Blanden
Wed 16 Oct	Scarlet Honeyeater Australian National Botanic Gardens 2 male Scarlet Honeyeaters observed in section 27 at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. PJ Milburn
	Scarlet Honeyeater Australian National Botanic Gardens A male Scarlet Honeyeater today at the ANBG - the bird was reported earlier by Robin Eckermann. Vivien Rolland & Jono Henshaw
Tue 15 Oct	White-browed Woodswallow/Masked Woodswallow hybrid Campbell Park and environs In the group of 30+ White-browed Woodswallows there was a male hybrid White-browed Woodswallow/Masked Woodswallow. I observed it perched quite low together with 2-3 White-browed Woodswallows for about 30 seconds. Bright rufous underparts (like a male White-browed Woodswallow) with a black eye/face/throat mask (like a male Masked Woodswallow). Thin white line around the black mask and on its upper chest creating a neat contrast with both black and rufous parts. I do wonder how common these hybrids are, how much variation they show and how difficult it would be to ID female hybrids. Photo taken on the 16/10/2013 after a 45 minutes search! Vivien Rolland
	Masked Woodswallow, White-browed Woodswallow Campbell Park and environs 3 Masked Woodswallow and 50+ White-browed Woodswallow in the area south of the horse gate (near the small dam). Jono Henshaw
Mon 14 Oct	Swamp Harrier Kellys Swamp & Jerrabomberra Wetlands, Fyshwick Two sightings of one Swamp Harrier. Stephen Wallace
	Black Kite Curtin 2 drifting over suburb disturbing local Magpies at 1750. Hung in air facing fresh westerly wind before eventually heading SE towards Woden. Observed for 10 mins. Richard Allen & Mark Allen
Sun 13 Oct	Red-necked Stint Fyshwick Sewage Treatment Plant Red-necked Stint (4) On pond 2b. 4 birds clearly smaller than the Black-fronted Dotterels they were feeding with. Grey-brown above and pale below. Compact bodies with a fine pointed tail/ wingtips, short dark bill and a streaked crown. Alex Blanden
Sun 13 Oct	Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Campbell Park and environs Scaly-breasted Lorikeet (2) Observed in flight as an all over bright leaf green smallish parrot with a pointed tail and red underwings. One seen in rapid flight over treetops. Later two were heard calling from among area of trees with multiple potential nest hollows. Departed at speed when we went to investigate the calls. The species was reported in July for ACT, but is still unusual for the area. Kim and Geoff Larmour

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