I've just returned from another survey trip to Gunbower Island (35°45'S
144°17'E) on the Murray River near Cohuna in north-central Victoria
(between Echuca and Kerang). A few points of interest:
(a) A sub-adult BLACK-BREASTED BUZZARD perched on one of my transect
lines on 6/7/99! These raptors are very rare in Victoria, but this
follows on from an adult I saw at Gunbower Island earlier this year
(5/2/99). Very interesting - perhaps they've bred locally! I had views
of this young BBB as close as about 12-15m before it flew - closer than
any view I've previously had of the species 'not flying'. The
extraordinarily long wings overlap the tail by quite a bit when folded,
and overall the bird is an odd shape compared to shorter winged raptors
- much more graceful in flight.
(b) Something of a 'faux spring' feeling was evident at Gunbower too,
with many FAN-TAILED CUCKOOS calling in the dawn chorus and at times
through the day. One morning they were joined by a HORSFIELD'S
BRONZE-CUCKOO. On my way home from Gunbower to Melbourne, I had a rest
break at Terrick Terrick National Park on the plains between Cohuna and
Bendigo. There I saw a splendid Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo feeding with
a flock of DIAMOND FIRETAILS.
(c) A small flock of 5 AUSTRALIAN (MALLEE) RINGNECKS in Black Box
woodland on Gunbower Island. This is slightly extra-limital - though
they used to occur regularly at Terrick Terrick (about 40-50km south)
until about early 1998.
(d) SPOTTED PARDALOTES are quite abundant in River Red Gum and Black Box
on Gunbower Island in autumn-winter (more or less absent in summer). At
one of my sites there was a pair of the mallee subspecies of Spotted
Pardalote - the YELLOW-RUMPED PARDALOTE - overlapping with the more
common nominate form.
(e) A male RUFOUS WHISTLER and DUSKY WOODSWALLOWS foraging in Black Box
added to the 'faux spring' atmosphere. It looks as though a few
otherwise migratory species overwinter in this area.
--
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LAWRIE CONOLE
3 Gezireh Street, Pascoe Vale South,
Victoria 3044 AUSTRALIA. 37°44'27"S 144°56'17"E
Phone (03) 9354 2484; Mobile (0419) 588 993
E-mail: <>
Home page: http://www.users.bigpond.com/ocoineoil/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
To unsubscribe from this list, please send a message to
Include ONLY "unsubscribe birding-aus" in the message body (without the
quotes)
|
