Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 17 Oct 2010.

Sun 17 Oct	Plumed Whistling-Duck Mullers Road, Nagambie 2 Plumed Whistling-Duck & 4 Australasian Shoveler amongst other waterbirds on Mullers Road (the road off to the left as you reach Chinaman's Bridge when coming from Nagambie). Some remnants of the formerly wonderful wetlands along Mullers Road again holding water after efforts by landholders in recent years to drain many of them. John Barkla + Fred Smith
	Chestnut-rumped Heathwren (2), Black-eared Cuckoo (1), Crested Bellbird (4) Bailieston Historical Reserve & Coys Diggings A brilliant day in the box ironbark with the above species the highlights. Also White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike (2), Diamond Firetail (2), Gilbert's Whistler (1), White-winged Triller (3), Olive-backed Oriole (5) & Black-chinned Honeyeater (4). John Barkla + Fred Smith
	Bush Stone-curlew, Intermediate Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Egret Dowdle Swamp (between Wilby and Yarrawonga) Stunned, but thrilled to see a Bush Stone-Curlew in the Red Gum woodland on the edge of the swamp. Had good views from a distance as the bird was quite skittish. Habitat here of short grass and with lots of fallen timber quite suitable for this bird. Locals have told me this bird was often heard until about 10 years ago. Great to see at least one is still holding on. In the grassy, open area of the swamp a trio of egrets was observed. Three Great Egrets, one Intermediate Egret with a red bill that had green base, and a Cattle Egret with orange starting to show on its neck. Cattle Egrets are scare winter visitors in these parts, not usually seen this time of year. Michael Ramsey
	Arctic Tern (1) and White-fronted Tern (2) Mordialloc Beach, just north of the pier Arctic Tern still present today from 4 PM on and off until after 6:15 PM. Two White-fronted Terns also present amoungst the flock of Crested Terns (some of which were "courting"). No Common terns observed. Improving weather lead to many more visitors to the site disturbing the birds. Mel Mitchell & Erika Anderson
	Song Thrush, Sacred Kingfisher Chirnside Park, Werribee Song Thrush - one seen calling from exotic garden above path alongside Werribee River. Sacred Kingfisher - At least three seen along Werribee River. No Dollarbird seen though! Paul Dodd, Ruth Woodrow & Fiona Parkin
	Painted Honeyeater, Scarlet Honeyeater, Black-eared Cuckoo Killawarra Forest Painted Honeyeater: calling at the oval. Scarlet Honeyeater: male heard then seen in sapling Ironbarks at the oval, another heard nearby. Black-eared Cuckoo: seen and calling well from dead branch at the oval. Michael Ramsey
	Sacred Kingfisher Serendip Sanctuary, Lara One seen near Lake Serendip, another seen on island in rain-filled dam near old Magpie Goose enclosures. Paul Dodd, Ruth Woodrow & Fiona Parkin
	Crested Shrike tit avenel-murchison road Tabilk/Nagambie Repeated sighting of crested shrike tit, tearing bark off trees and upsetting solitary rosella. Continued site (greater than 12 months) for a pair of white browed babblers, still no sign of offspring. Jennifer Dean
	Brolga Lake Goldsmith. A pair of Brolgas seen on Carngham to Lake Goldsmith road in flooded paddock at 1500 Hours. Warren Palmer.
	Nankeen Night-Heron Melbourne Zoo, Tiger exhibit Immature night-heron captured and devoured by 4 Sumatran Tiger cubs in front of a slightly awestruck crowd! Lawrie Conole
	Arctic, White-fronted and Common Terns Mordialloc Beach All three species present again Sunday morning. The Arctic Tern was first seen about 10:30am (I arrived around 9:30am) and disappeared around 11:30am. Great views through scope and photographers were again allowed a close approach with no visible disturbance. However, despite the showery cool weather there was some disturbance of the roosting terns by other beach users. Mark Bennett and many others
Sat 16 Oct	Australasian Bittern Hospital Swamp Geelong 1 bird flushed from flooded swamp 6.30pm John Newman
	Arctic, White-fronted & Common Tern Mordialloc Beach All three species were present around 11am this morning on the beach on the north side of the jetty. Cold conditions perfect to minimise disturbance and allow good views. Arctic in particular is very relaxed and flew over to inside my minimum focusing distance (4.5m) when I attempted some photos. John Barkla & Alison Street + half a dozen other observers
	Short-tailed Shearwater, Arctic Tern, White-fronted Tern, Common Tern Mordialloc Caught up with the Arctic around 12:00pm, then did not see it again until around 3:00pm. Shearwaters were being blown ashore during the day, and one was alive when it was washed up. All terns were seen. White-fronted and Short-tailed Shearwater (awaiting confirmation) were the highlights for me. James Bailey
Fri 15 Oct	Brown Songlark Wilby A male Brown Songlark was seen along Lavis Rd. This species has been very scarce this year, only my second record this spring. Last year birds were seen from last August onwards and were very common. Michael Ramsey
Thu 14 Oct	Common, White Fronted & Crested Terns. Ruddy Turnstone. Ricketts Point, Beaumaris From between 5.00pm and 5.45pm this afternoon, I noticed 2 comic Terns flying above the water and then later standing near each other on the rocks just behind the wooden beacon. (see attached photo). They seemed to be a Common and a White Fronted Tern. When one took off, I was able to clearly see its streaked black outer tail feathers, suggesting a Common Tern, and the White Fronted had the characteristic dark patch in front of the eye, (see photo). The birds were collecting seaweed and then dropping it during mid air acrobatic flight! A joy to watch! ( Not sure if this is some form of mating display, as the birds were not feeding but playing around). Small possibility that the 2 small Terns in the photo a both Common Terns, and are a pair, but looking at the photos I would say that this is not the case?! All the terns were scared off when a walker made a trip to the beacon. Another Ruddy Turnstone was actively feeding here as well. Nice meeting you Allan, Elizabeth, the ladies on the Mordialloc beach and Mr Michael Norris! Con Baltas
	Black-eared Cuckoo Greater Melbourne Heard at Anakie Gorge picnic ground. Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
	Ruddy Turnstone Ricketts Point, Beaumaris 6 birds seen , 4 flying off rocks and headed north to rocks in front of Yatch club , 2 birds stayed and allowed plenty of photo's to be taken. (6). Colin Mulvogue
	Common Sandpiper Patterson Lakes (Carrum Swamp) Flushed from rocks on the beach side of the Freeway. took photo's while bird in flight , very brown bird , tail markings are right. Sandpipers wings were a bit of a mess , a few flight feathers missing. (1). Colin Mulvogue
	Arctic, Common & White-fronted Terns Mordialloc Beach The three tern species were on the beach this morning between 1030 and 1130 - and still there when I left. The white-fronted is very white (gloss not matt) compared to the others and appears to have a pinkish blush on the chest but this may just be the reflection from the sand. The Arctic was on the fringe of the flock of Cresteds but the Common & White-fronted were mixing in. The birds were on the beach between the pier and the storm drains. There was also a weird Pacific Gull playing with a tennis ball. Jenny Spry
	Arctic Tern, White-fronted Tern, Common Tern Mordialloc I have now seen four photos of the terns Laurie Living saw today. Three are of 'the' Arctic Tern. The other is a first or second year White-fronted Tern. So now three of these easily confused species [Arctic, White-fronted and Common Tern] may be seen together! Per Mike Carter
	Australian Koel Quarry Hill, Bendigo Heard calling early this morning. Roger Standen
Wed 13 Oct	Long-billed Corella Liverpool Rd and Canterbury Rd Kilsyth 3 Long Billed Corellas feeding on nature strip at intersection - usually see the Little Corellas. I note that over the past few months the large flocks of Little Corellas have moved away from the area Alf Forbes
	Arctic Tern Mordialloc Beach (north side of jetty) Yesterday I saw 2 Common Tern but missed out on the Arctic. But today on a cold rainy afternoon it was present on the beach between 3.00 and 3.30pm, alongside a flock of over 350 Crested Terns. No Common Tern were there during that time. Gina Hopkins
Tue 12 Oct	Grey Goshawk Cape Conran - Sailors Grave Picnic Area Grey morph adult bird, roosting quietly in high branches of Manna Gum. We came across him quite accidentally - the bright white breast caught our eyes. He stayed perched the whole time we looked at him and photographed, occasionally lifting one foot. Possibly a male bird from size, but I'm not familiar with this species at all so I'm not sure at all. (1). Janine Duffy, Gene Zajicek
	Arctic Tern Mordialloc (Beach south of jetty) Flew in around 3:25pm into flock of Crested Terns and 10 minutes later the whole flock took off and did not come back. Dave Torr, Peter Gibbons and others
	Arctic Tern Ricketts Point, Beaumaris Flew in to rock platform at 7 pm, then flew off North at 7.15. Also Common Tern at Mordialloc this morning and again this evening. Alan Crawford & Mark Stanley
	Eastern Reef Egret Walkerville South Seen with the 5 White Face Heron on rocks out from Camping Ground at Bear Gully. One Heron , dived at the Egret otherwise he was sticking with them as they moved north towards Walkerville. (1). Colin Mulvogue
	Ruddy Turnstone Reef Island Seen on southern side with Stints (11). Colin Mulvogue
	Plumed Whistling Duck Serendip, Lara A pair on lake out from the hides. Gordon McCarthy & Tom Fletcher
	Arctic Tern Ricketts Point, on rock platform near shipping beacon. Observed arctic at approx. 9.30am for 15 mins before being put up and flew out to sea. Tried in to relocate but we were unsuccessful. We also had the Common Tern with the crested terns at Mordialloc beach for the hour before so was great to compare the difference. Tim Mckellar, Ashley Herrod, Dean Ingwersen
	Wandering Whistling-Duck Melbourne Zoo Single individual seen swimming in the pond in the Australian animal exhibit, constantly diving and foraging (and whistling). Rohan Long
	Dollarbird, White-necked Heron, Little Lorikeet Werribee River, Werribee A short walk along the "Bungees Hole" area of Werribee River (the small islands behind Chirnside Park) this morning revealed a pair of Little Lorikeets nesting in a small hollow, a White necked Heron flying overhead and also a single Dollarbird in transit (on its way towards the You Yangs I assume). Not bad for a short walk in what is considered suburbia!! Paul Randall (wingsonwire.com)
	Sacred Kingfisher Fitzroy Gardens Put this species through to Birdline yesterday with list #69273. Went past this morning and they're still there. Managed to get a photo - not exactly high quality but you get the idea. Rohan Long
	Little Bittern Edithvale Wetlands At 7.40 pm yesterday, Sunday 10.10.10, whilst standing on the viewing platform outside the fence adjacent the hide at the Edithvale Wetlands, SE of Melbourne, David Stabb saw a Little Bittern fly low across the water from a patch of ribbon rush at the eastern end of the near island to the phragmatis clump beside the hide (left to right). He saw the shape well but not the plumage in the fading light. He waited till well after dark but didn't see it again and did not hear it call. Such movement at dusk is typical of the species. Please note that due to safety concerns regarding the structure of the hide, it will not be open in the foreseeable future. David Stabb per Mike Carter
Mon 11 Oct	Pink-eared Duck First (Bottom) Marsh (8). Also Hoary-headed Grebe (12), Cockatiel (4), White-bellied Sea-Eagle (1 juvenile) Malcolm Cousland
	Dollarbird Fairy Dell Flora Reserve, nr Bruthen East Gippsland In yesterday's posting on EGBOC survey at FD, forgot to add single Dollarbird seen in forest adjacent to warm temperate rainforest. First reported for East Gippsland that has to date come to the attention of EGBOC. EGBOC group (per Chris Healey)
	Arctic Tern Ricketts Point Further to numerous reports of the Arctic Tern being seen several times and by numerous people yesterday at Mordialloc, mainly just south of the creek mouth rather than on the large sand-filled area to its north (where many beach-goers had gathered), Chris Doughty tells me that today, after failing to find it at that site, he watched it with a Common Tern on the rock shelves up the coast at Ricketts Point between 3.00 & 3.30 p.m. Chris Doughty per Mike Cater
	Whiskered Tern, Red-kneed Dotterel Blackmore's Swamp, near Campbelltown Small party ~ 8 Whiskered Terns seen feeding in the centre of what is currently a large body of water. Also 4 Red-kneed Dotterels amongst breeding Black-winged Stilts in shallows on the western edge. First time I have seen these two species in the area. Geoff Park
	Peaceful Dove Fairhope (12 km N of Bairnsdale) Heard calling from near houses, gardens, pasture and scattered trees 10th and again today. Uncommon in this part of East Gippsland, and first record for our 7 years in this locality. Felicity & Chris Healey
	Scarlet Honeyeater, Black-faced Monarch, Brush Cuckoo, Cicadabird Fairy Dell Flora Reserve, nr Bruthen East Gippsland EGBOC bushfire recovery quarterly survey yielded exceptional list of over 50 species, including many returning summer migrants: 26 Scarlet Honeyeaters, 6 Black-faced Monarchs, 1 Brush Cuckoo, 1 Cicadabird, 1 Leaden Flycatcher, 16 Rufous Whistlers. Also Eastern Spinebill nesting, White-naped Honeyeaters feeding fledglings. We also added a new species to the reserve's list: 1 Great Cormorant flying over this patch of warm temperate rainforest. EGBOC group (per Chris Healey)
	Rainbow Bee eater, Sacred Kingfisher You Yangs Regional Park Several Bee eaters have arrived at the Hovells Creek (dry) section of the You Yangs. Some are checking nest holes for suitability which could suggest they have been here for several days. Was thinking it was strange that they had arrived but not the Sacred Kingfishers and then heard two Kingfishers calling from further down the creek!! Paul Randall (wingsonwire.com)
	Satin Flycatcher Bunyip State Park Single bird heard along Ti-tree Track, first for spring. A little earlier than previous years. Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
	Black-faced Monarch Glen Nayook Nature Reserve Adult male calling strongly. This is the earliest I have recorded the species in spring here. Also nice pair of Pilotbird and several Brown Gerygone. Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
Sun 10 Oct	Hooded Plover Point Roadknight, Anglesea Hooded Plovers seen on S side of Point Roadknight over the weekend. Unfortunately I can't say much for the Anglesea locals' attitude to protecting these birds. With clear signage on the beach of "no dogs", no less than 3 off-lead dogs on the N side of the point (right to the end) on Friday night (in 1 hour). Furthermore, on Sunday morning found multiple sets of dog tracks on the S side - where the Hoodies are currently breeding. From the looks of the tracks, the dogs were offlead and chasing something from the rocks down to the shore. Somehow the Hoodies were still there but sure left a bitter taste in the mouth to see such blatant disregard for bird conservation. What a shame. Jackson Airey
	Malleefowl Bronzewing Flora and Fauna Reserve Following up a report by David Potter on birding-aus 28/9/10, we spent an hour from 11am at Bronzewing on the way home, entering via the same middle entrance, 18km south of Ouyen. We parked at the foot of the first dune and walked back to the dam, then returned to the car to find a Malleefowl crossing the track near the car. Peter Shute, Bill Stent
	Red-lored Whistler Murray-sunset National Park We drove slowly up and down Honeymoon Hut Track several times on Saturday afternoon, listening for calls, but only heard one distant one, a long way north, possibly answered by another a long way south. We marked the spot and camped a couple of km away by the track. We repeated the driving next morning, and at 8am, at the spot we'd marked, heard a nearby call. We found a female, then a male. This was 11.5km west of Wymlet Tank. Also saw a few feral goats, a very confident fox, and what appeared to be Malleefowl tracks. Peter Shute, Bill Stent
	Swamp Harrier, Brown Goshawk, Mistletoebird Weeroona, Woodlands Historic Park Added 3 new birds to my personal Woodland HP list: an immature Swamp Harrier soared over, 2 Little Black Cormorants flew over & finally heard my first Mistletoebird for the area. A female Brown Goshawk hanging around, a good candidate for an active nest near by. Got a good photo in flight. Also Rufous Whistler constantly calling, Varied Sittella still around. Kevin Bartram
	Common Sandpiper Laanecoorie, VIC Single bird area spotter in the "overflow" area at the Resevoir on the caravan park side. Also pair of Little Eagles with nest on the high trees on the far bank. Andre Rasquinha
	Olive-backed Oriole Bulleen One at Bolin Bolin Lagoon and another slightly upstream on the Yarra. Also a Fan-tailed cuckoo, Swamp Wallaby and a snake pointed out to me by agitated White-browed Scrubwrens. James Dickson
Sat 9 Oct	Scarlet Honeyeater Churchill National Park (SE Melbourne) Saw male Scarlet honeyeater at 4pm on the Army track 50m from bottom carpark, saw another 5 mins later on the opposite side of the track (possibly the same bird), got poor long distance photo, Giles Daubeney
Thu 7 Oct	Mallee Emu-wren, Striated Grasswren Hattah Kulkyne National Park (Nowingi) Mallee Emu-wren: Running all around us (2). Striated Grasswren: Single bird calling and seen well (1). Bill Stent
Wed 6 Oct	Azure Kingfisher Mouth of Powlett Road (Near Wonthaggi) Seen while driving away from the river mouth just after seeing the Pacific Golden Plover. I noticed it sitting on the road next to a large puddle near the entrance to the walking track and slowed down. It flew off the road to the left and wheeled around back in front of the car and passed my drivers side window. Phil Rouse
Sat 2 Oct	Arctic Tern Mordialloc Following on from my tern reports on sunday, I have finally got the two identified. My guide lists the Arctic Tern as a rare migrant. James Bailey
Wed 1 Sep	White throated nightjar Mandurang Block Greater Bendigo National park Single bird sighted just off and south of the Davey Track where it tops the ridge ca 2km in from Tannery lane (near the top clump of PV nest boxes). Had a very good view as the bird flew up from a couple of metres away. It fluttered quite slowly and landed again about 5 metres away where, unfortunately, it was obscured from view by vegetation. It then exited rapidly when I tried to move to a better vantage point. I clearly saw the small spots on the dorsal side of the wings. - I also noted that there wasn't a large white spot on the wing. This was about a month ago - I haven't heard them calling this year to date philip robertson

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