Forwarded as of some interest
perhaps. You might note the summary.
White-fronted Chat heartland,
and more Spiny-cheeked and Singing Hons than we get. Not too many Figbirds
or Koels, though.
I have omitted the locality
breakdown. g
From: John Barkla [
Sent: Thursday, 10 December 2009 5:00 PM
Subject: 2009 BOCA Bird Count
The
Bird Observation & Conservation Australia 2009 Bird Count was conducted on
Sunday 6 December 2009. The count area is defined as everything within a
40 kilometre radius from Werribee, with principal efforts in the You Yangs
Regional Park, the Melbourne Water Western Treatment Plant, the Werribee River
Regional Park, The Spit State Nature Conservation Reserve, the Cheetham
Salt Avalon Operations, Point Cook Coastal Park and some sites around Werribee
(Werribee Park Mansion, & Heathdale Glen Orden Swamp) and Altona (Kororoit
Creek & Mount St Joseph’s pond).
The
count was undertaken by our largest team of observers to date:
- John Barkla (leader)
- Lyn Abreu
- Stuart Dashper
- Peter Fowler
- Valerie Fowler
- Peter Lansley
- Chris Lester
- Rosemary Lester
- Elizabeth Lloyd
- Fred Smith
- Jen Spry
- Alison Street
Reconnaissance
visits to most of the sites were undertaken on Saturday (or during the previous
week) and the official count commenced from midnight on Saturday in the You
Yangs and concluded at 8.30pm on Sunday at the Western Treatment Plant. 183
species were counted – the greatest number recorded during the past 36
years. The previous highest count was 173 in 2002. As I reported
last year, during this decade, the species counts have been consistently higher
than those of earlier years. In the 10 years from 1991 to 2000, the
average number of species counted was 154. In the 9 counts this decade,
the average has increased to 169. This may be attributable, in part, to
better coverage by counters, but is probably due also to birds being attracted
to the globally important wetlands within the count area during this period of
extreme dryness.
Some
highlights of the count this year were -
1)
The overall number of 183 species exceeded
our highest ever count of 173 by 10 species – before the count we
believed that getting to 175 would be amazing.
2)
We saw 65,000 birds within 40 minutes drive
of a city of 4+ million people.
3)
Whilst we do not have time to properly count
every species in the 24 hour period and must make estimates for many of the
more numerous species, we estimated that there were 27,000 waterfowl at the
Western Treatment Plant, including 5,000 Pink-eared Ducks, 6,000 Australian
Shelduck and 7,000 Hardhead. There were also 8,000 Red-necked Stints, 4,000
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and 4,000 Whiskered Terns.
4)
Our first records of White-eared Honeyeater
(in the You Yangs) and Short-tailed Shearwater (offshore at Point Cook), which
took the total number of species we have recorded in our area of only 40
kilometre radius to 250 – almost one-third of Australia’s birds.
5)
A few species are obviously increasing in
number in our area –
a)
Cape Barren Geese were only recorded twice in
the 20 years to 1994, but since 2002 numbers have been steadily increasing and
this year we had our highest count of 90;
b)
Black Kites were only recorded once in the 20
years to 1994 and since 2002 have been increasing to this year’s highest
count of 14;
c)
Black Falcon was only recorded twice in the first
20 years of counts, but has been recorded in 4 of the past 5 years (albeit only
1 or 2 birds each time);
d)
Crested Pigeons were not recorded in the 26
years before 2000, but have increased enormously since then with this
year’s count 135;
6)
For the second year in a row we recorded 12
species of raptor, which is exceptional for a single day anywhere in
Victoria. The most unusual were White-bellied Sea-Eagle (1), Spotted
Harrier (2), Peregrine Falcon (1) and Black Falcon (1). We also saw
7 Wedge-tailed Eagles. Black Kites now nest in the area, but no active
nests were observed during the count.
7)
We found 7 Grey Plover, the first since 2005.
8)
We found 5 Speckled Warblers in the You
Yangs, our first record since 2005 and our best count for this declining species
since 1981.
9)
A number of species more associated with the
dry inland, were recorded in exceptional numbers – Black-tailed
Native-hen (66 – with 100+ recorded during the reconnaissance visit),
White-winged Triller (98), White-browed Woodswallow (91) and Zebra Finch (15).
10) We were
advised by staff at Serendip Sanctuary that that the Magpie Geese that occur
there and in the surrounding area are free flying and not fed by the
sanctuary. They also told us that it has been more than 20 years since
the Magpie Goose breeding programme ceased. On that basis, we all agreed
that the Magpie Geese that we have seen and not counted in the past, could be
appropriately added to this year’s list.
11) Once again
Fred Smith, one of the inaugural counters when the team was established over 50
years ago, was able to participate and distinguished himself by finding 2
Pectoral Sandpipers at Point Cook.
There
were few lowlights with such an amazing count, but these are worth mentioning -
- We missed Long-toed Stint, a species we
are yet to record on a count, but 2 separate birds had been seen at the
Western Treatment Plant in recent weeks.
- We missed Bar-tailed Godwit, despite
recording 35 birds during our reconnaissance visits.
- We missed Mistletoebird in the You Yangs
for the first time in 20 years.
- It was another year when we could not
find the following species, which used to be regularly recorded, but have
now either disappeared or become very rare in the area we cover (last
record during a count in brackets) -
- Eastern Curlew (2003)
- Great Knot (1986 – but this year
we may have found them as 1 bird had been seen before the count)
- Grey-tailed Tattler (1991)
- Lesser Sand Plover (1989)
- Greater Sand Plover (1986)
- Brown Treecreeper (1980)
- Hooded Robin (1995)
- Song Thrush (2002)
As
in prior years, I am indebted to a number of people who provide assistance by
allowing access to the sites we visit. For helping me with the necessary
access approvals and keys, I would particularly like to thank -
- Brendan O’Dowd of Cheetham Salt;
- John Argote & Bernie McCarrick of
Parks Victoria, based at Point Cook Coastal Park;
- David Roberts, David Flag and Judy Lock
of Parks Victoria, based in the You Yangs Regional Park; and
- Brad McLean, Peter Gall and William
Steele of Melbourne Water.
Thank
you to each of the participants for a prodigious effort, particularly the
drivers (Peter Fowler, Chris Lester, Elizabeth Lloyd and Jen Spry) and the
sub-group leaders (Stuart Dashper, Peter Lansley, Chris Lester, Fred Smith and
Jen Spry).
I
have attached 2 Excel Spreadsheets which give the results of this year's count
and summarize all counts since 1974 (my first count – I have now done 36
in a row). If anyone would like more information please let me know.
John
Barkla
179
Victoria Parade
FITZROY
VIC 3065
Mobile
0417 382 966
