Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 21 Nov 2010.

Sun 21 Nov	Plumed Whistling-Duck Boorhaman North A group seen along Jones Swamp Road (thanks to John Harris for help with this bird). Michael Ramsey
	Grey Goshawk (white morph) Main Rd, Ballarat, next to Soveriegn Hill Observed soaring in a circular pattern, with well spread tail, with gently rounded tip - pulled over for a good look with the binoculars. A vision in white against the blue sky! Wasn't too high, I could see its yellow legs. Tanya Loos
	Topknot Pigeon Cabbage Tree Palms Reserve During today's monthly survey our first spring/summer sighting of Topknot Pigeons occurred. 13 were observed roosting high among the Mahogany Gum ( E Botyroides ) branches this morning. Other notable observations seen/heard included, 20+ Scarlet Honeyeaters, 8 Black-faced Monarchs, a pair of large-billed Scrubwrens, and single sightings of a Rose Robin, Rufous Fantail and Collared Sparrowhawk. Jacquie and Len Axen
	Red-chested Button-quail Wyndham Vale A single Red-chested Button-quail flushed from spear-grass grassland. Greg Oakley, Tim Bawden, Stuart Dasper and Tim Dolby
Sat 20 Nov	White-throated Nightjar Killawarra Forest Heard at dusk 3-4 times on the north west side of the forest at about 20:35. Other interesting birds around included Hooded Robins that have successfully bred, Gilbert's Whistler, White-winged Triller, Diamond Firetail, Pallid Cuckoo and Shining Bronze-Cuckoo. Michael Ramsey
	Tawny Frogmouth Travancore (Ascot Vale) A pair nesting in a tree in my local park - with two young ones Chris Lester
	Ruff Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Ruff relocated at Paradise Rd ponds in company with 6 Greenshanks. Viewed across pond from position 37 deg 59.831' S, 144 deg 34.058' E. Mark Bennett and David Richardson
	Spangled Drongo Cheetham Wetlands, Altona Bird spotted at co-ordinates: -37.885617,144.793485 Was there for entire day. Pretty certain that this tropical species is unusual down here. James Bailey
Fri 19 Nov	Bar-tailed Godwit, Red Knot Barwon Heads Work on the Barwon Heads Bridge has restricted beach access and many birds are now roosting on the spit at the river mouth. 52 Bar-tailed Godwits, 10 Red Knot, 2 Caspian Tern, 200+ Crested Tern, 12 Red-capped Plover and 220+ Red-necked Stint noted while we were drinking coffee at the Heads Restaurant! Two Hooded Plover also noted later. Barry Lingham, Gordon McCarthy, Tom Fletcher, Graeme Tribe
	Ruff Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Ruff still present late on Friday, together with two greenshanks around the Borrow Pits area, in the pond more or less opposite the pelican roost (yellow '78B' sign). Wulan Dirgantoro & Dirk Tomsa
	Collared Sparrowhawk. Maribyrnong River, Avondale Heights A single bird patrolling low over eucalypts, 200m north of Canning St bridge. Probable female and possibly one of the Yarraville pair. Also a pair of Purple-crowned Lorikeets darting overhead James Dickson
	Little Tern Lake Tyers Beach 50+ Little Tern most in breeding plumage were noisy while fishing in lake near ocean. Other sightings in area included 30+ Red-capped Plover, 1 Red-necked Stint, 1 Caspian Tern. Dogs running loose despite signage. Ken Sherring
Thu 18 Nov	Sanderling Killarney Beach 51 Sanderling present at Killarney Beach this afternoon, plus 2 Hooded Plover. Steve Davidson
	Little Pied Cormorant, Black Swan Derrimut Grasslands Little Pied Cormorant: overhead (1). near Andersons Swamp Peter Booth
	Grey Goshawk (white morph) Princes Hwy, Lake Tyers turn-off Single bird observed flying across the Princes Hwy and landing in dead tree opposite. Flew off when disturbed by plane flying overhead. Faye Bedford
	Pectoral Sandpiper, Ruff Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Pectoral Sandpiper: In a small pond between the road and the coast about 1km to the west of the 15E outlet with a small number of Red-necked Stints (as reported earlier in the week). Ruff: At the tip of a small spit at the Borrow Pits, with three or four Red-necked Stints. No sign of the recently reported Cox's Sandpiper. Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow
	Ruff, Great Knot, Ruddy Turnstone Western Treatment Plant, Werribee The Ruff was at the Borrow Pit feeding alongside three Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. The Ruddy Turnstone was with hundreds of Red-necked Stint along the coast south of 85WB Lagoons. A single Great Knot was with 7 Bar-tailed Godwit on the rocks east of Beach Road ramp. No Curlew Sandpipers were seen, and only 5 Sharpies. Gina Hopkins
Wed 17 Nov	Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo Durong State Forest, south of Edenhope 9 birds seen on northern edge of forest near to Edenhope Rd. Steve Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
	Gilbert's Whistler, Peaceful Dove Mt Arapiles, Tooan State Forest. Male & female Gilbert's Whistler seen well in scrub on west slopes of Mt Arapiles, and a Peaceful Dove on roadside near main camping area. Both sp. on edge of range here?. Also there a Red-capped Robin, several Shy Hylacola and many Brush Bronzewing. Steve Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
	Pectoral Sandpiper Western Treatment Plant, Werribee. Single Pectoral Sandpiper with a group of Sharp-tailed and Curlew Sandpipers in a small backwater along the coast, 1,170 metres west of the15 East Outlet drain. Also at same location 700+ Red-necked Stints. A White-bellied Sea-Eagle(sub-adult), at 145 West Discharge drain. Many hundreds of Australian Shelduck present at lagoons between Little River and 65 W Road. Peter Gibbons.
	Brown Songlark Cranbourne Seen perched on a fence post on Evans Rd near the intersection of Montrose Way,Cranbourne. Ben Sinclair
	Channel-billed Cuckoo, Peregrine Falcon Melville Park Drive ,Berwick Peregrine circling over about 3 pm . Also Channel-billed Cuckoos heard several times, firstly at 7.30 a m. Graham Beal
Tue 16 Nov	Barking Owl Private property adjacent to Tooan State Forest, West Wimmera. Single Barking Owl, probably a male, seen at daytime roost in private property adjoining Tooan State Forest to the west of Mt Arapiles. Steve Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
	Painted Button-quail, Satin Flycatcher Trawalla State Forest, Beaufort Single female PBQ seen well, plus two pairs of Satin Flycatcher in area around dam just off Snake Valley Rd. Also up to 6 Blue-winged Parrot in area. Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
	Eastern Curlew, Hooded Plover Snowy River entrance The changing nature of the Snowy River entrance over recent weeks has seen the development of a large recurved spit and several extended sand flats appearing. An Eastern Curlew was sighted foraging along this shoreline together with 9 Hooded Plovers that can be found along the spit to the east of the entrance. Jacquie and Len Axen
	Ruddy Turnstone French's Narrows ( ocean beach ) A pair of Ruddy Turnstones were observed feeding amongst debris strewn along the high tide line at French's narrows this afternoon. Infrequent visitors to this part of the East Gippsland coastline. Jacquie and Len Axen
	Square-tailed Kite West Cape Conran A Square-tailed Kite was observed flying above the coastal scrub near the road junction into the "Salmon Rocks" surf beach this morning. Len and Jacquie Axen
	Ruff Western Treatement Plant A single Ruff was seen at the WTP. Note: It was a distinctive spot, because there was a little track down to the edge of the pond, with trees behind and to the left of us, as I faced the pond. I knew we were in that general area, and once I took a look, it was clear to me. The coordinates are -37.997862,144.647037 . The pictures can be seen here: http://www.barry15.com/2010_Australia_Trip/Wader. (Moderator note: I've just had another report that a Ruff was also seen at the Conservation Ponds by Geoff Smith, 10/11/2010: TD) Barry Brugman (USA) per Tim Dolby
	Australian Grebe Hawkstowe Estate at Mernda In small ornamental Ponds at Saintly Dve . A number of birds breeding , including Aust Grebe's , 2 of 3 in 1 brood are all white , very approachable , they have slight reddish markings on their heads , possibly stains from plants. Colin Mulvogue
	Little Raven Mullum Mullum Creek Linear Park A huge flock flew over - the most I've ever seen in the area. (60). Sonja Ross
	Collared Sparrowhawk Yarraville Gardens, Yarraville Looks like the pair of Sparrowhawks that has nested at the gardens over the last couple of years are getting ready to nest again. Male was holding onto prey and trying to get the attention of the female in the nest tree which is a pine tree just near the playground. Paul Randall (wingsonwire.com)
	Diamond Firetail, Rufous Songlark Fairhope (12 km N of Bairnsdale) One Diamond Firetail hanging about paddock fence and covered orchard by house this morning; first record for this locality in the 7.5 years we have been here. Rufous Songlark also calling from same fence. Songlarks have been few in number in the area so far this year and later in arrival -- is this related to heavy rains north of divide? Felicity & Chris Healey
Mon 15 Nov	Southern Whiteface Chiltern, Number 1 Dam A small party of White-faced observed along the road into the Number 1 Dam picnic ground. Other good observations around the park include Rainbow Bee-eater, Diamond Firetail, White-winged Triller, Rufous Songlark, White-bellied Cuckooshrike and Pink-eared Duck. Matt Weeks
	Forest Raven, Eastern Koel Metung, East Gippsland Three Forest Ravens (with distinctive gravelly calls), including pair feeding well-grown fledgelings. Male Koel seen at usual haunt near pair of large Moreton Bay Figs. Also two Black-faced Monarchs, good numbers of Black Swans, including several cygnets, Little Pied Cormorants nesting at small swamp at McMillans Resort. EGBOC group (per Chris Healey)
	Blue-winged Parrot, Crested Pigeon Point Hicks Lighthouse A pair of Blue-winged Parrots were observed sheltering from strong winds in coastal banksias near the lighthouse entrance early this afternoon. A short time later a distinctive call led us to find a Crested Pigeon perched on powerlines nearby. Their expansion into remote areas of Far East Gippsland continues. In both instances, these are our first observations at this particular site. Jacquie and Len Axen
	Bassian Thrush, Brush Cuckoo Twenty-nine mile track at Martins Creek Bassian Thrush: 4 or 5 seen, near track in plain sight. Moving around in a group - possibly some were young birds. . Brush Cuckoo: time: 14.12. Calling strongly from high perch in dead tree at Martins Creek bridge on Bonang Hwy. My first sighting of this bird! Call so distinctive, and fortunately I had listened to it on Birds in Backyards before departing. (1). Janine Duffy
	Peregrine Falcon Woodlands Historic Park (Greenvale) Perched in dead tree as vantage point over grassland, allowed reasonably close approach, so good view in evening light (1). John Watson
	Wedge Tail Eagle, Black Shouldered Kite, Brown Falcon, Swamp Harrier Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne Observed near the stringybark picnic area all within a short distance of each other. The Harrier was harassing the Eagle and the Brown Falcons fled from their perch only to be replaced by the Kites. Wayne Butterworth
	Southern Boobook Werribee River, Werribee Boobooks nesting along Werribee River, Werribee. Two chicks which are now approx. 3 weeks old. I have been watching them for two weeks now as well as taking photos. A slideshow of images of some of the behaviour so far can be seen on my website (click on "further information" below) and will be updated with more images in the next few weeks before the chicks fledge. Paul Randall (wingsonwire.com)
Sun 14 Nov	Terek Sandpiper Lake Tyers time: 17.57. Running around feverishly on estuary side of beach, mostly on the sand, not in water. Seemed to be gathering lots of food. My first ever sighting of this bird! Orange-yellow legs were obvious, as was the upcurved bill. It's small size was the first thing that caught my interest. Thanks to Paul Hackett for his help with the identification from the photographs. (1). Janine Duffy
	Pacific Golden Plover Point Cook Park/ Cheetham Wetlands On an escorted bus tour of Cheetham Wetlands, about 1 pm DST, a flock of about 25 to 30 Golden Plover were seen on the inland side of the track, standing in shallow water among very small saltbush-type bushes. At first they crouched among the bushes, but then put their heads up and peered at the bus over the tops. The warm-dun colour and dark markings were very distinctive. So few waders about this year I thought them worth reporting. Only other waders seen were Curlew-Sandpipers, Red-necked Stint and a few Red-capped Plovers. Later a pair of Pied Oystercatchers flew along the beach. Anthea Fleming
	Rufous Fantail Reefton - Armstrong Creek 2 Rufous Fantail around our cottage in the morning. Another pair in brush 3km from cottage in afternoon of same day. Arthur & Denise Carew
	Channel -billed Cuckoo Pakenham 1 heard and then seen late morning in the Ahern Road area, in an older residential part of Pakenham ,before flying towards the town centre. James Grant per Graham Beal
Sat 13 Nov	White-bellied Sea-eagle, Procellaria sp, Giant Petrel sp, Arctic Jaeger Cape Nelson On a seawatch off Cape Nelson early in the morning, had an immature Sea Eagle fly past. Offshore had 2 sightings of a dark Procellaria petrel, probably White-chinned Petrel, which was hanging around gannets feeding. Identified by large size, short triangular tail with trailing feet, dumpy body & pale bill. Procellaria petrels rarely seen from shore. 1 immature Giant Petrel sp flew past, 4 light morph Arctic Jaegers. Also 1 Fluttering/Hutton's Shearwater, 1 Black-browed Albatross, & plenty of Short-tailed Shearwaters & Shy Albatrosses. Kevin Bartram
	Grey Goshawk 10-15 K north west of Portland 1 White Goshawk, flying over Portland-Nelson Rd. After I got out of car couldn't find it, until a Wedge-tailed Eagle decided to fly over, the goshawk decided to chase it off. Also heard Little Lorikeet. Scarlet Robin, Fan-tailed Cuckoo heard, Shining Bronze-cuckoo heard. Forest Ravens. Kevin Bartram
	Pallid Cuckoo Rhyll Inlet, Phillip Island Matthew Vinicombe
Wed 10 Nov	Ruff Western Treatment Plant Further to Barry Brugman's posting of 16 November re a possible sighting of a Ruff at WTP. I observed what I believe to be a Ruff in company with two Sharp-tailed Sandpipers on the Conservation Ponds near the Borrow Pit at WTP on 10 November. See attached photo. Geoff Smith
Wed 27 Oct	Powerful Owl Yarra Valley Parklands of Ivanhoe. Six Powerful Owls seen as two families 2 km apart. Each family group consisted of one adult and two well grown and alert juveniles with fluffy white fronts and dark faces. One adult (female) was clinging to some possum remains. One family group was in the high canopy of a deciduous Acer species growing through a river gum canopy and the other group was perched under a tall conifer canopy. The other parents were not seen. Peter Thomson and Mal Kidson

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