Just back from a week looking at roadside and remnant vegetation at
selected sites along a pipeline route between Dergholm (near Casterton
in SW Victoria) and just south of Tailem Bend (in South Australia). A
few points of interest:
(i) there is no drought in far SW Victoria - the grass is long and
green; the billabongs are full to overflowing; there are numerous spots
to bog the vehicle of an unwary driver (we were wary!); north of
Poolageilo (Vic) -Naracoorte (SA) things started to dry out noticeably;
(ii) as a consequence of (i) I think, some migrants (eg. Rufous
Whistler, cuckoos, etc.) were rare as hens teeth except in the Casterton
- Dergholm area;
(iii) recorded 4 corvids due to the vagrant Little Crows seen south of
Coonalpyn (SA) - others were Australian, Little and Forest Ravens;
(iv) near Gum Lagoon in SA, saw a Brown Falcon carrying what appeared
to be a dead Yellow-faced Whip Snake; might have been roadkill or a
genuine BF kill - they are known to kill snakes!;
(v) the view from my bed in the Waterfront Motel in Meningie on Lake
Albert (SA) was remarkable for being able to watch a Great Crested Grebe
foraging no more than 20m away!!! - plus numerous other waterbirds
mooching past;
(vi) Chestnut-rumped Heathwren at Dergholm and Shy Heathwren at various
places around Coonalpyn - Keith in SA;
(vii) Southern Scrub-robin locally abundant in both roadside mallee and
larger patches between Keith and near Tailem Bend;
(viii) Blackbird in a fabulous mallee remnant near KiKi in SA - a first
in mallee for me personally, and something of a lowlight really!
List follows below (numbers refer to number of sites where each species
was recorded). Itemised one by location available as Excel file on
request. All data submitted to Birds Australia Atlas project this
morning (hint .....).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
Casterton area (Victoria) to near Tailem Bend (South Australia),
15-22/10/2002
Species recorded.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
2 Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae
2 Stubble Quail Coturnix pectoralis
1 Black Swan Cygnus atratus
1 Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa
1 Grey Teal Anas gracilis
1 Hoary-headed Grebe Poliocephalus poliocephalus
1 Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus
1 Darter Anhinga melanogaster
1 Little Pied Cormorant Phalacrocorax melanoleucos
1 Pied Cormorant Phalacrocorax varius
1 Little Black Cormorant Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
1 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
1 Australian Pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus
1 Great Egret Ardea alba
1 Nankeen Night-Heron Nycticorax caledonicus
1 Straw-necked Ibis Threskiornis spinicollis
2 Black-shouldered Kite Elanus axillaris
1 Black Kite Milvus migrans
1 Brown Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus
1 Collared Sparrowhawk Accipiter cirrhocephalus
3 Brown Falcon Falco berigora
1 Nankeen Kestrel Falco cenchroides
1 Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio
2 Black-tailed Native-hen Gallinula ventralis
1 Eurasian Coot Fulica atra
1 Masked Lapwing Vanellus miles
2 Silver Gull Larus novaehollandiae
1 Caspian Tern Sterna caspia
1 Crested Tern Sterna bergii
1 Little Tern Sterna albifrons
1 Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybridus
1 Rock Dove Columba livia
1 Spotted Turtle-Dove Streptopelia chinensis
2 Common Bronzewing Phaps chalcoptera
2 Brush Bronzewing Phaps elegans
5 Crested Pigeon Ocyphaps lophotes
2 Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus
5 Galah Cacatua roseicapilla
1 Long-billed Corella Cacatua tenuirostris
1 Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita
2 Musk Lorikeet Glossopsitta concinna
1 Little Lorikeet Glossopsitta pusilla
5 Purple-crowned Lorikeet Glossopsitta porphyrocephala
1 Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans
3 Eastern Rosella Platycercus eximius
1 Mallee Ringneck Barnardius barnardi
1 Blue Bonnet Northiella haematogaster
1 Elegant Parrot Neophema elegans
1 Pallid Cuckoo Cuculus pallidus
1 Fan-tailed Cuckoo Cacomantis flabelliformis
1 Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo Chrysococcyx basalis
1 Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae
1 White-throated Treecreeper Cormobates leucophaeus
5 Superb Fairy-wren Malurus cyaneus
3 Variegated Fairy-wren Malurus lamberti
1 Spotted Pardalote Pardalotus punctatus
5 Yellow-rumped Pardalote Pardalotus xanthopygus
1 Striated Pardalote Pardalotus striatus
1 Chestnut-rumped Heathwren Hylacola pyrrhopygia
2 Shy Heathwren Hylacola cauta
4 Weebill Smicrornis brevirostris
1 Brown Thornbill Acanthiza pusilla
4 Inland Thornbill Acanthiza apicalis
1 Chestnut-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza uropygialis
1 Buff-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza reguloides
3 Yellow-rumped Thornbill Acanthiza chrysorrhoa
2 Striated Thornbill Acanthiza lineata
7 Red Wattlebird Anthochaera carunculata
2 Brush Wattlebird Anthochaera chrysoptera
1 Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Acanthagenys rufogularis
1 Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala
1 Yellow-throated Miner Manorina flavigula
1 Yellow-faced Honeyeater Lichenostomus chrysops
1 Singing Honeyeater Lichenostomus virescens
3 White-eared Honeyeater Lichenostomus leucotis
2 Purple-gaped Honeyeater Lichenostomus cratitius
2 White-plumed Honeyeater Lichenostomus penicillatus
6 Brown-headed Honeyeater Melithreptus brevirostris
7 New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
1 White-fronted Honeyeater Phylidonyris albifrons
1 Tawny-crowned Honeyeater Phylidonyris melanops
1 Eastern Spinebill Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris
2 White-fronted Chat Epthianura albifrons
1 Jacky Winter Microeca fascinans
1 Eastern Yellow Robin Eopsaltria australis
3 Southern Scrub-robin Drymodes brunneopygia
3 White-browed Babbler Pomatostomus superciliosus
1 Chestnut Quail-thrush Cinclosoma castanotus
1 Varied Sittella Daphoenositta chrysoptera
1 Olive Whistler Pachycephala olivacea
2 Golden Whistler Pachycephala pectoralis
1 Rufous Whistler Pachycephala rufiventris
4 Grey Shrike-thrush Colluricincla harmonica
3 Magpie-lark Grallina cyanoleuca
2 Grey Fantail Rhipidura albiscapa
6 Willie Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys
1 Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike Coracina novaehollandiae
2 Dusky Woodswallow Artamus cyanopterus
1 Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus
10 Australian Magpie Gymnorhina tibicen
3 Grey Currawong Strepera versicolor
2 Australian Raven Corvus coronoides
1 Forest Raven Corvus tasmanicus
4 Little Raven Corvus mellori
1 Little Crow Corvus bennetti
6 Skylark Alauda arvensis
3 House Sparrow Passer domesticus
1 Red-browed Finch Neochmia temporalis
1 Beautiful Firetail Stagonopleura bella
1 European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis
1 Mistletoebird Dicaeum hirundinaceum
2 Welcome Swallow Hirundo neoxena
1 Tree Martin Hirundo nigricans
6 Brown Songlark Cincloramphus cruralis
1 Rufous Songlark Cinclorhamphus mathewsi
5 Silvereye Zosterops lateralis
3 Common Blackbird Turdus merula
5 Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris
5 Short-beaked Echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus
2 Western Grey Kangaroo Macropus fuliginosus
1 Fox Vulpes vulpes
4 Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus
2 Goat Capra hircus
1 Common Eastern Froglet Crinia signifera
2 Mallee Dragon Ctenophorus fordi
1 Western Blue-tongued Lizard Tiliqua occipitalis
3 Shingle-back Trachydosaurus rugosus
1 Yellow-faced Whip Snake Demansia psammophis
128 species
=================================
Lawrie Conole
Senior Ecologist
Ecology Australia Pty. Ltd.
Flora and Fauna Consultants
88B Station Street
FAIRFIELD VIC 3078 Australia
E-mail:
Internet: http://www.ecologyaustralia.com.au/
Ph: (03) 9489 4191; Mob: (0419) 588 993
Fax: (03) 9481 7679
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