Hello All,
SPRING TRIP REPORT FOR NORTH/NORTH-EAST TASMANIA 2009 ((B = Breeding)
Over the last two months I have enjoyed visiting some good birding spots in
north Tasmania. After exceptionally good winter rain, the spring has been
magnificent. Tassie is at the moment truly the emerald isle! Spreading
hillsides of brilliant green and introduced and native trees and shrubs in
massed floral display. Sunny woodlands with delightful displays of wildflowers,
I finding the ground orchids particularly fascinating. Shady forests with their
own understory of flowering shrubs and ferns, mosses and fungi. The wetlands,
rivers, dams and streams are alive to the sound of water music, and shining in
the sun, or twinkling in the twilight of the forest. While there have been
continuing good days of rain, there have also been wonderfully sunny and warm
golden days, making an outing a sheer delight. Some of the highlights of the
areas I visited were as follows. I was in the Gog Ranges as part of the SWIFT
PARROT SURVEY but there were no flowering gum and so no parrots. In these rocky
woodlands and forests I appreciated seeing PINK ROBIN, OLIVE WHISTLER,
TASMANIAN SCRUBWREN, DUSKY ROBIN,TASMANIAN & BROWN THORNBILL, YELLOW WATTLE
BIRD and a good selection of birds. At Narawamtapu National Park, while
wonderful at dusk for its mammals, I enjoyed some common but good to see birds
including BRUSH & COMMON BRONZEWING, DUSKY WOODSWALLOW, LITTLE WATTLEBIRD,
PAINTED BUTTON-QUAIL & the endemic TASMANIAN NATIVE HEN, DUSKY ROBIN. The Tamar
River Wetlands produced BLACK-FRONTED DOTTERELS, LITTLE GRASSBIRD,
WHITE-BELLIED SEA-EAGLE, GREY GOSHAWK and a range of ducks and other water
birds. At Notley Gorge PINK ROBIN, TASMANIAN SCRUBWREN, TASMANIAN THORNBILL
were enjoyed. The Kate Reed Conservation Park on the south of Launceston is
always a good birding area, especially along the creek side walk. Nesting BROWN
GOSHAWK, BEAUTIFUL FIRETAIL FINCH, large number of calling STRIATED & SPOTTED
PARDALOTE displaying and in beautiful colour. Also GOLDEN WHISTLER, BLACK
CURRAWONG, GREY CURRAWONG, FLAME, DUSKY & SCARLET ROBIN, TASMANIAN NATIVE HEN
etc. Gibson Reserve at Epping Forest, a remnant midland forest is a wonderful
reserve for flora and fauna. BLUE-WINGED PARROT, PALLID & FANTAIL CUCKOOCOMMON
BRONZEWING & a variety of smaller birds including BROWN & YELLOW-RUMPED
THORNBILLS. The Ben Lomand slopes, if not the summit, are always good for
birds. The endemic BLACK-HEADED & STRONG-BILLED HONEYEATERS can usually be
seen, as they were on this occasion. Here also PAINTED BUTTON-QUAIL & SPOTTED
QUAIL-THRUSH were seen, though they are very elusive birds. I always enjoy Mt
Cameron Woodland Reserve, the huge sub-specific WEDGE-TAIL EAGLE put in its
usual appearance, as did BROWN GOSHAWK & COLLARED SPARROWHAWK. As with all the
other sites, GREEN ROSELLAS were fairly common, as were EASTERN SPINEBILLS &
YELLOW-TAILED BLACK-COCKATOO. GREY BUTCHERBIRDS AND GREY SHRIKE-THRUSH are
common here. The AUSTRALIAN MAGPIE, the smallest subspecies in Australia
appears to be spreading into the North-East. GREY FANTIALS were very common,
but it was also good to find the SATIN FLYCATCHER on the side of the mountain,
as it seems to be each year. Sightings of BROWN QUAIL, PAINTED BUTTON-QUAIL &
also SPOTTED QUAIL-THRUSH were enjoyed. BLUE-WINGED PARROTS, BEAUTIFUL
FIRETAIL, FAN-TAIL, PALLID AND SHINGING-BRONZE CUCKOO were calling and flitting
among the woodlands. In the heathland STRIATED FIELDWREN were fairly common. A
DUSKY ROBIN was startled from its nest, a small cup of fine twigs in the top of
a tree hollow where a hasty view before a quick departure revealed several
recently hatched young and a beautiful dark blue/green egg. The coastal beaches
and salt and fresh water wetlands and heathland surrounds such as Waterhouse
Wetlands, Little Mussellroe Bay gave good numbers of birds too. Included were
BANDED LAPWING, CAPE BARREN GEESE, LATHAM'S SNIPE, AUSTRALASIAN BITTERN,
BLUE-BILLED DUCK, MUSK DUCK, GREAT-CRESTED GREBE, AUSTRALASIAN & HOARY-HEADED
GREBE, a nesting colony of LITTLE BLACK AND BLACK & WHITE & GREAT CORMORANTS,
GREAT & RED KNOT, GOLDEN PLOVER, several pairs of PIED OYSTERCATCHERS with
young and several flocks of HOODED PLOVER with young. A small flock of SANDLING
& SOOTY OYSTERCATCHER were also seen. I find the North-East of the State quite
different from most of the rest of the state, and well worth a look when
visiting Tasmania. (By the way, I Atlas each of the areas as I travel through
the area.)
The full list of birds seen were: Brown Quail, Common Pheasant, Blue-billed
Duck B, Musk Duck B, Black Swan B, Cape Barren Goose, Australian Shelduck B,
Australian Wood Duck B, Mallard B, Pacific Black Duck B, Australasian Shoveler,
Grey Teal, Chestnut Teal B, Hardhead, Great Crested Grebe, Hoary-headed Grebe,
Australasian Grebe B, Little Pied Cormorant, Little Black Cormorant B, Great
Cormorant B, Australian Pelican, White-faced Heron B, Cattle Egret, Great
Egret, Little Egret, Australasian Bittern, White-belied Sea-Eagle, Swamp
Harrier, Grown Goshawk B, Grey Goshawk, Collared Sparrowhawk, Wedge-tailed
Eagle, Brown Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Purple Swamphen, Dusky Moorhen,
Tasmanian Native-hen B, Eurasian Coot, Painted Button-quail, Lantham's Snipe,
Eastern Curlew, Marsh Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot,
Great Knot, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Sanderling, Pied
Oystercatcher, Sooty Oystercatcher, Pacific Golden Plover, Hooded Plover,
Red-capped Plover, Black-fronted Dotterel, Banded Lapwing B, Masked Lapwing B,
Pacific Gull, Kelp Gull, Caspian Tern, Fairy Tern, Crested Tern, Rock Dove,
Spotted Turtle-Dove B, Common Bronzewing, Brush Bronzewing, Yellow-tailed
Black-Cockatoo, Galah B, Long-billed Corella, Little Corella, Sulphur-crested
Cockatoo B, Musk Lorikeet, Green Rosella B, Eastern Rosella B, Blue-winged
Parrot, Pallid Cuckoo, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Shining Bronze-Cuckoo, Southern
Boobook, Masked Owl, Tawny Frogmouth, Australian Owlet-nightjar, Laughing
Kookaburra, Superb Fairy-wren B, Spotted Pardalote B, Striated Pardalote B,
Tasmanian Scrubwren, Striated Fieldwren B, Brown Thornbill, Tasmanian
Thornbill, Yellow-rumped Thornbill B, Yellow Wattlebird B, Little Wattlebird,
Noisy Miner B, Yellow-throated Honeyeater B, Strong-billed Honeyeater,
Black-headed Honeyeater, Crescent Honeyeater, New Holland Honeyeater,
Tawny-crowned Honeyeater, Eastern Spinebill, White-fronted Chat, Scarlet Robin
B, Flame Robin, Pink Robin, Dusky Robin B, Spotted Quail-thrush, Olive
Whistler, Golden Whistler, Grey Shrike-thrush, Satin Flycatcher, Grey Fantail,
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike B, Dusky Woodswallow B, Grey Butcherbird, Australian
Magpie, Black Currawong B, Grey Currawong, Forest Raven, Welcome Swallow B,
Tree Martin B, Australian (Richard's) Pipit, Skylark, Little Grassbird, House
Sparrow B, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch B, Beautiful Firetail B,
Silvereye, Bassian Thrush, Common Blackbird B, Common Starling B. (TOTAL 134)
I hope you all enjoy birding this spring.
Regards,
Chris Coleborn
==============================www.birding-aus.org
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