Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 26 Dec 2010.

Sun 26 Dec	Spotted Quail-thrush Brisbane Ranges At least 3 birds on Fairleys Track in small flock - male, female and another bird seen, at least one extra bird heard. Grace Lewis, Ian Lewis
	Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Kananook Creek Reserve - Seaford 14 Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos had Christmas Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner and Boxing Day Brunch in the Coastal Banksias along Kananook Creek, Seaford. They have been eating the young banksia cones and making an absolute mess of the trees. They are beautiful. Alison Kuiter
	White-throated Needletail, Dollarbird, Leaden Flycatcher, Southern Whiteface Boweya Forest Some great birding this morning. A single White-throated Needletail on the eastern side of the forest heading north. Also a Dollarbird was perched in a dead gum along the Wangaratta Rd, a Leaden Flycatcher along Derrick Rd and a Southern Whiteface was in a rocky paddock by Keenan Rd. Hooded Robin, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Purple-crowned Lorikeet and Diamond Firetail also some nice birds about. Michael Ramsey
Sat 25 Dec	Scarlet Honeyeater, Topknot Pigeon, Large-billed Scrubwren Cabbage Tree Creek Flora Reserve Scarlet Honeyeaters continue to be recorded in large numbers within the reserve. This morning 22+ were observed or heard amongst flowering Lilly Pillies and Clematis adjacent to the creek. 2 pairs of Large-billed Scrubwrens and a Bassian Thrush were observed while completing the circular walk that commences at the carpark. Two Brush Cuckoos were heard in the dense forest opposite the picnic ground and 2 Topknot Pigeons were seen flying through the forest canopy immediately south of the concrete bridge over the Cabbage Tree Creek. Len and Jacquie Axen
	Buff-banded Rail, Black Kite Wilby A Buff-banded Rail was flushed from long grass, near the small wetland in the bushland reserve. A great surprise. A Black Kite was also around in the afternoon, only the second record here. Michael Ramsey
	common koel Bonegilla two koel's calling in the middle of town. A first in Victoria for me! Aaron Sandford
	Powerful Owl Wilson Reserve Ivanhoe Quick look in the late morning before beginning of Christmas shenanigans. The two juvenile Powerful Owls were looking bright-eyed and well-fed in the usual spot; adults not seen. John Gray
	Common Koel Hunter St,Brunswick West Heard just as the kids came in to open their pressies... one from Santa for me... Nevil Amos
Fri 24 Dec	Plumed Whistling-Duck Dowdle Swamp A flock of 14 birds found roosting by Geodetic Rd (which is under water) on the north side of the swamp. Expected here as they have been seen in a few places nearby this year. Michael Ramsey
	Stilt Sandpiper, Ruff Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Stilt Sandpiper and Ruff observed between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Pond 7 T-Section Lagoons. Richard and Margaret Alcorn and George Pergaminelis
	Darter Darlingsford Boulevarde, Melton At 15:45hrs an Anhinga flew above me towards a man made lake south of Darlingsford Blvd next to the Western Freeway. David Whelan
Thu 23 Dec	Ruff T-section lagoons, WTP, Werribee Ruff was seen with some greenshanks, pond 7. North of Pt Wilson White-winged Black (non-breeding), Little, Common and White-fronted terns were observed together, along with some Bar-tailed Godwits and a pair of Wood Sandpipers. James & Dave Dickson
	Southern Boobook Private Property, Rowsley Valley Bacchus Marsh At 21:50 hrs near Ingliston Rd, a lone Southern Boobook perched on a fencepost. David Whelan
	Black Bittern, Striated Heron, Topknot Pigeon Genoa River Black Bittern on Genoa River. Also 4 Striated Heron and a nice flock of Topknot Pigeon. Paul Dodd, Ruth Woodrow per Tim Dolby
	Stilt Sandpiper WTP T-Section Pond 7 With 1 Ruff and ~6 Greenshank. Believe it had flown from Pond 5 about 4:00 p.m. Bob Cook
	Crested Shrike-tit, Olive Backed Oriole You Yangs Park Also: Sacred Kingfisher, Rainbow Bee-eater, White-plumed Honeyeater, New Holland Honeyeater, Spotted Pardalote, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Grey Fantail (juv.), Rufous Whistler, Golden Whistler, Red-rumped Parrot, Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Eastern Rosella, Black-faced Cockoo-shrike, White-winged Chough, Dusky Wood-swallow Angus Hartshorn
Wed 22 Dec	Dollarbird Mallacoota At the lookout in the foreshore caravan park.. Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow
	Plumed Whistling-Duck Pond North-east of Lake Makoan A pair located on pond seen next to Glenrowan-Boweya Rd, on north-east end of Lake Makoan. Kevin Bartram
	Indian Peafowl West of Byawatha One very wild-looking Peacock seen next to road, just west of Byawatha, which is east of Wangaratta. Surprisingly hard to get a good photo, as it was crouching in long grass much of home. Eventually flew off when I got out of the car. OK, probably some kind of escapee, but gave a bit of an indication of what a peacock would behave in the wild. Kevin Bartram
	Ruff Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Now 2 together in flooded grassland on bend of 29 mile road, next to Western Lagoon (2). Alan Crawford
	Banded Stilt Lake Wyn Wyn near Natimuk A flock of about 1000 on the western shore. Checked Olivers Lake, but found no stilts there. Ivor Preston
	Stilt Sandpiper T section Pond 5, Western Treatment Plant Stilt Sandpiper seen 2:00 - 2:30 pm. Quite active, spending much of its time preening and washing itself. Stuart Cooney and Tim Dolby
	Stilt Sandpiper WTP Stilt Sandpiper was on Austin Road Pond #2 yesterday by Tony Russell and was seen early this morning (Wed 22nd) by Dean Ingwersen and Ash Herrod on T section Pond #5. Per Rohan Clarke
Tue 21 Dec	White-backed Swallow Rutherglen Cell Hawking for insects with Welcome Swallows and Fairy Martins over the wetlands near the corner of Chiltern-Rutherglen Road and Great Southern Road. Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow
	Cockatiel, Intermediate Egret, Plumed Whistling-Duck, Brolga Corop Cell The area around Corop is still very flooded with many roads cut. Gilmour Road (to the west of Two Tree Swamp) is completely flooded and we were surprised to see ducks and a grebe swimming in the road. Alongside the road we found a pair of Brolga and a single Intermediate Egret. A pair of Cockatiels were seen on Bell Road whilst attempting to access Gaynor Swamp. Whistling-ducks were seen on a farm dam on Wanalla-Corop Road. Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow
	Australasian Bittern, Plumed Whistling-Duck Terrick Terrick National Park Australasian Bittern: Mt Terrick Road swamp and flooded area. Plumed Whistling-Duck: In ones and twos in several dams. Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow
	White-throated Needletail, Pilotbird Monkey Creek, Great Alpine Road, north of Bruthen Interesting observations from today's EGBOC Fire Recovery Bird Monitoring outing included 6 White-throated Needletails, 4 Brown Gerygones, a Rose Robin and a very vocal Pilotbird. 41 species were recorded after some very "wild and woolly" weather conditions over the weekend in Far East Gippsland. Len Axen ( on behalf of 4 other EGBOC members )
	Black-shouldered Kite, Latham's Snipe Waterford Valley (City of Knox) Black-shouldered Kite: 21/12 pm Henderson Road grassland, both sides of road (1). Latham's Snipe: 1 bird-20/12, 2 birds-21/12 pm Henderson Road grassland, active fox den just across the road (2). Peter Booth
	Black-fronted Dotterel Webb Dock, Port Melbourne 21/12. pm. Seen twice, mid afternoon, feeding near puddles, north edge of Williamstown Road, just south of newly formed wetland where ducks, stilts, and heron hang out. Same species seen earlier this month at Westgate Park. (1). Peter Booth
Mon 20 Dec	Stubble Quail, Peaceful Dove Tarneit At least six Stubble Quail calling from thick long grass near the corner of Leakes & Gard Rds, Tarneit on Monday morning. A similar number of Stubble Quail calling (and one bird seen) in and around Truganina Cemetery, where Kangaroo Grass and other native grassland plants are doing brilliantly. Jack Krohn
	Brown Songlark, Grey-tailed Tattler, Ruff Western Treatment Plant, Werribee The songlark was seen on a fence post on 29 Mile Rd while heading down to T section to look for the Stilt Sandpiper. No show (by 3.30pm) by the main star so the many observers there had to be content with the Ruff, along with up to 15 Greenshank. The Grey-tailed Tattler was still to be seen near Kirk's Pt. Gina Hopkins, Jenny Flood
	New Holland Honeyeater St Arnaud township Several regular honeyeaters visiting again today. Michael Geraghty
	Collared Sparrowhawk St Arnaud Township Landed on fence overlooking chook pen. Observed for several minutes then went to get my camera and gone on my return. All chooks and chicks accounted for. Michael Geraghty
	Unknown Duck Lake Borrie WTP This duck appeared to be in distress, mostly floating motionless, occasionally making a slight "thrashing" movement. Could only get this rear shot, but am mystified what it is with the amount of white around the shoulder and neck. Northern Shoveller appears a possibility!? Any expert guesses?? [Moderator note: originally speculated as Blue-winged Duck, however most likely interpretation is Australian Shelduck with a broken wing - see discussion in further information]. Bob Cook
Sun 19 Dec	Brown and Stubble Quail, Little and Red-chested Button-quail, Plumed Whistling-Duck Wilby Brown Quail flushed from grassland behind the tennis courts, my first record here. Stubble Quail commonly calling from wheat and canola crops. Little Button-quail also flushed from behind the tennis courts, nice rufous colour with white edges to its tail. Earlier in the week, a Red-chested Button-quail calling from a wheat paddock along Martins Road. A pair of Plumed Whistling-Duck are still around as well, moving to different dam every few days. Michael Ramsey
	Stilt Sandpiper, Ruff Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Stilt Sandpiper: Bird had been seen at Pond 5 at T-Section Lagoons when we arrived, however it had just flown to Austin Lagoon, where we eventually had good views from Austin Road. Ruff: Seen from Twenty-nine Mile Road, at point where road turns towards The Spit and T-Section Lagoons. Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow
	Little Bittern Reedy Lake, Leopold One bird flushed from reeds about 300-400m south-west of the Fitzgerald Road entrance. We spent an hour wading through thigh-deep water from 6:45am looking for Little Bittern. Bird flew from high reeds to low reeds at water level before flushing again and flying back to high reeds (where we lost it). Paul Dodd, Ruth Woodrow & John Newman
Sat 18 Dec	Brolga Serendip Sanctuary, Lara A wild Brolga was seen in one of the pens containing three captive birds. On approach the wild bird flew over the fence to another pen containing a single captive bird. The wild bird can be identified by the lack of bands on its legs, and by the fact that it is capable of flight.. Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow
Thu 16 Dec	Hooded Plover, Short-tailed Shearwater Kitty Miller Bay, Phillip Island, Victoria Hooded Plover: One had leg tags. Lower right leg white flag on top of yellow flag. Lower left leg red band on top of silver band (4). Short-tailed Shearwater: At least 1000, the Kennon Head was absolutely full of them. (1000). Jared Khu
Wed 15 Dec	Bar-tailed Godwit, Sanderling Eastern side of Barwon river mouth. 110 + Godwits with a few Sanderling mixed in. Some Godwits were banded with orange flags on right legs. ( Sorry about late entry)! Denis Sleep
Mon 13 Dec	Grey-tailed Tattler Western Treatment Plant, Werribee. Between 1710 and 1800hrs, Single Grey-tailed Tattler observed on and amongst rocks at Kirk Point. The bird flew on two occasions and returned to the Point at about ten minutes intervals after leaving. Thanks to Maarten Halzebosch, for posting on 6 December and information on 12 December and ID confirmation today. Peter Gibbons.
Sun 12 Dec	Red-chested Button-quail, Little Button-quail, Stubble Quail Northern plains Stubble Quail are in good numbers and calling right across the northern plains...... the most for many a year. Little Button-quail are in numbers I have never seen before. They are in every bit of native grassland, aswell as many farmers paddocks. I heard one calling at home for the first time, in a neighbours pea crop. Red-chested Button-quail are also present and widespread. I and others have heard them calling in "Yarran" paddock in Terrick Terrick NP. They have been reported from a number of Trust for Nature and Bush Tender grasslands..... I personally saw 6 in a private grassland on the Patho plains, and they have also been reported in grassy woodland near Mt Terrick picnic ground track. They seem to like relatively tall,dense and wet ( well its mostly wet at the moment)grassland with good diversity of flora. A great season to have a walk on the plains. ! Simon Starr
Mon 6 Dec	Spotted Dove Wye River Rare on the coast here. Unusually timid compared to those in the big city as well. Lawrie Conole

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