Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 17 Apr 2011.

Sun 17 Apr	Great Shearwater Port Fairy Pelagic Seen very close around the boat at the shelf (1). Alan Crawford
	Blue-billed Duck, Australasian Darter Troups Creek Wetland A female Blue-billed Duck with 4 ducklings and 3 Australasian Darter (1m, 2f) were the highlights of a quick visit to this spot. Jackson Airey
	Australian Spotted Crake Western Treatment Plant, Werribee, behind the Spit A single bird feeding in the company of a Buff-banded Rail. Lewin's Rail seen briefly in the usual spot and Apotless crakes heard in several places Hedley and Irena Earl
	Sanderling, Eastern Curlew & Flame Robin Mud Islands, Port Phillip Bay The Sanderling is still present on Mud Islands. Other highlights one Eastern Curlew, 8 Common Greenshank, a single Red Knot (Werribee orange leg flag) in full breeding plumage, 150 Red-necked Stint, approx 40 Double-banded Plover, 2 Flame Robins and 2 Buff-banded Rails. Also a Whistling Kite, 2 Swamp Harriers and a Little Penguin offshore. John Barkla & Annette Hatten
	Great Knot & Red Knot Pope's Eye, Port Phillip Bay One Great Knot and approx 30 Red Knot roosting on the breakwater of Pope's Eye John Barkla & Annette Hatten + Friends of Mud Islands
	Swift Parrot, White-backed Swallow, Scarlet Robin, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Great Crested Grebe Winton Wetlands A superb morning at the wetlands. Highlights were 2 Swift Parrots shooting past over the woodland along Lake Mokoan Rd. Two firsts for this site were a Scarlet Robin in a small woodland patch and 2 White-backed Swallows near the duck pond. At the boat ramp and light morph White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike and 3 Great Crested Grebes rounded off a fantastic morning of birding. Michael Ramsey
	New Holland Honeyeater Warby-Ovens National Park (Salisbury Falls) Eight observed in a private garden on the edge of the park near Salisbury Falls. My first and only record observing around the Warbies in 15 years. They were quite noisy and conspicuous feeding in planted banksias and grevilleas. Not a rare bird elsewhere in Victoria, but they are generally absent from the lower North-East part of the state. Michael Ramsey
	Swift Parrots Muckleford & Sandy Creek Road Maldon Still approx 15 birds hanging around at Muckleford, and one swifty this afternoon in Maldon feeding on Grey Box Debbie Worland
	Brown Quail Karkarook Park Flushed from rank vegetation and later heard calling. My first record from this site after a few years of regular surveys. Tim Bawden
	Flame Robin Banyule Flats Reserve Good numbers in large mixed-species flock including at least four adult males (15). John Gray
Sat 16 Apr	Gould's Petrel, enormous numbers of Fairy Prion Port Fairy Pelagic A Gould's Petrel was seen on a Port Fairy pelagic (run by Birdswing Birding & Wildlife Tours). Also seen was an unidentified Shearwater (possibly Great 12 km from shore), as well as enormous numbers of Fairy Prion (1000+ mainly offshore between 10 km to the shelf), Buller's (1), Wandering (1), Shy (50+), Black-browed (20+), Yellow-nosed (2) Albatross, Northern Giant-Petrel (1), Sooty Shearwater, Wilson's (10), Grey-backed (30) , White-faced (20) Storm-Petrel, Brown Skua (1), White-fronted Tern (1), several flocks of Australian Shelduck, and two dead Albatross on the water. [Note above: Great Shearwater was seen the today (17 April 2011) on Port Fairy pelagic (run by Birdswing Birding & Wildlife Tours]. Port Fairy Pelagic (Neil Macumber et al) per Tim Dolby
	Pilotbird, Rose Robin, Superb Lyrebird, Red-browed Treecreeper, Lewin's & Crescent Honeyeaters Kinglake NP & Toolangi Mountain Creek Track in Kinglake NP and Myrtle Track and Mt Leonard Tracks at Toolangi showed a pleasing recovery in bird numbers post the fires. John Barkla & Fred Smith
	Pink Robin Blackburn Lake One female seen on Bursaria Track. Richard & Margaret Alcorn
Fri 15 Apr	White-necked Heron Westgate Park Bird allowed approach to within 10m in fresh water lake about 5pm Andrew Wood
	Black-winged Stilt Coburg Two Black-winged Stilt heard flying above, west to east at 22:00, between O'heas and Gaffney Street, Coburg. Inka Veltheim
	Spotless Crake, Lewin's Rail & Arctic Jaeger Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Spotless Crakes seem to be very numerous and widespread on WTP with todays in yet a different area to those I have reported previously. The Spotless Crakes, Lewin's Rail and an Arctic Jaeger (very close to Borrie Outlet) being best birds for a half day at the WTP. Also 4 separate Buff-banded Rails. John Barkla
	Inland Dotterel Rupanyup area 2 Inland Dotterels on fallow paddock being prepared for sowing. Allowed very close approach with tractor and seeder and later with ute. Ian Morgan
	Grey Fantail, Pied Currawong Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne Grey Fantail: Many. Saw two separate groups of 3-4 individuals each. Haven't seen this species here before.. Pied Currawong: Heard. Saw a group of three Currawongs earlier today nearby at the cnr. George St and Punt Rd. . Rohan Long
	Rose Robin Wilby First sighting for Wilby. A young male with a patchy rose breast seen high up in a Grey Box with thornbills and Grey Fantails. Perhaps on migration, or has wandered a little further north and west from its usual wintering areas. Has been seen along the Ovens River and Killawarra Forest to the east and south before. Michael Ramsey
	Swift Parrot Tarneit Rd, Hoppers Crossing 10 flew overhead around 8am, heading north Dave Torr
Thu 14 Apr	Little Button-quail, Banded Lapwing, Plumed Whistling-Duck Terrick Terrick NP Grasslands Eight or more Little Button-quail flushed along with many Stubble Quail from native grasslands north of Leahys Lane along Kow Swamp Rd. No Red-chested BQ reported despite four hours of trudging through tall and dense grass. Also there on dam a pair of Plumed Whistling-Duck with 6 young and a Banded Lapwing fly-over. Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
	Cape Barren Goose Lake Tyers Single bird feeding on lake edge opposite pub Josh Revell
	Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike Greater Bendigo National Park Large flock of Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes (~60 and mostly juveniles) massing on edge of forested area together with Dusky Woodswallows. Lots of Yellow-faced and Fuscous Honeyeaters together with Red Wattlebirds constantly harrassed and chased these much larger birds, not allowing them to settle on the ground and feed. After an hour, they all moved on and the forest was completely silent again. Murray Chambers
	Flame Robin Point Ormond, Elwood Three male Flame Robins were at the point late in the afternoon. Checked to see if they were still there the following morning (Friday 15/4), but they were gone. Andrew McCutcheon
	Little Corella Blackburn A flock of 400+ Little Corella descended into the trees in my suburban street. Some were seen to be eating Liquid Amber seeds. In a nearby street the ground underneath the Liquid Ambers was strewn with dislodged conkers. Margaret Alcorn
	Yellow-billed Spoonbill Corner Westernport Fwy and Hall Road Carrum Downs One bird seen in flooded paddock. SUE KING
	Blue-winged Parrot Western Treatment Plant, Werribee, northern side of the river This bird is a juvenile Blue-winged Parrot and not an Orange-bellied Parrot. Note: olive green overall colour, yellow above eye, lots of blue in wing. [Moderator: OBPs have recently been spotted in SA, so please report any sightings of Neophema.] Hedley Earl
	Lewin's Rail WTP near sign to bird hide opposite Lake Borrie At approximately 4pm this afternoon I obtained an excellent sighting of a Lewins Rail to add to the day's excitement after first seeing the OBP earlier Hedley Earl
	Southern Boobook, Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, Swift Parrot Boweya Forest Southern Boobook: being mobbed by a group of thornbills and Brown-headed Honeyeaters along the Wangaratta Rd (1). Chestnut-rumped Thornbill: first record in 15 years of observing here, with a mixed thornbill group along the ridge at the north end of the forest (2). Swift Parrot: two on the north west side of the forest, maybe some more here, could not confirm, another two along Keenan Rd, all in flowering Mugga Ironbarks (4). Michael Ramsey
Wed 13 Apr	Laughing Kookaburra Queens Road (east of Albert Park Lake) Seen on the footpath on Queens Road, immediately to the east of Albert Park Golf Course (and Lake). Between Leopold and Louise Streets. Around 8:00am. It seemed unconcerned by pedestrians on the footpath at that time. The first time I've seen this species in this area. Paul Dodd
	Painted Button-quail Serendip Sanctuary, Lara Observed around 4:00pm between the grassland enclosure and the start of the 'walk' (the gate to the kangaroo and emu enclosure). The bird was walking slowly along the path. I had time to go back to the office, grab my camera and binoculars and come back to find it in the same location. As far as I can tell, this is the first record of this species at Serendip Sanctuary. Ruth Woodrow
	Little Button-quail Boweya North One bird seen flying low over the Tungamah-Peechelba Rd, before landing in a patch of long paspalum grass by the roadside. Michael Ramsey
	Peregrine Falcon Byaduk Caves Western Victoria 1 Peregrine Falcon circling quite low. Numerous Red-browed Finch. Raoul Symons
	'black headed' Gull Western Treatment Plant Whilst at the Western treatment Plant today with two friends we had a brief glimpse of what appeared to be a gull with a black head fly over our car as we were going north from the Beach Rd entrance towards the bird hide - the gull was heading south towards Kirk Pt. By the time we managed to turn the car around (the track was wet and slippery and we did not have a 4WD) the bird had disappeared. As I say - a very brief glimpse from a car but we are pretty certain it was a gull of some sort with a dark head, so hopefully visitors in the next few days might be able to track it down Dave Torr per Tim Dolby
	Diamond Firetail Kooyoora State Park (Glenalbyn block) 8 seen in paddock at southern edge of block. Also Musk, Purple-crowned and Little Lorikeets but no Swift Parrots. Malcolm Cousland
	Blue-winged Parrot, Bar-tailed Godwit, Common Greenshank, Sooty Oystercatcher,etc. Western Treatment Plant,(WTP) Werribee and surrounding area. At WTP, seven(7) Blue-winged Parrot in T-Section Grasslands, east of 29 Mile Rd, just before Department of Defence gate. Three(3) Bar-tailed Godwit in breeding plumage, two(2) Sooty Oystercatcher and forty nine(49) Pied Oystercatcher on sand spit in the Spit Nature Conservation Reserve. Thirteen(13) Common Greenshank in T-Section Lagoon area, also observed reasonable numbers of Zebra Finch, White-winged Black Tern and Red-necked Stint at the Plant. One Cattle Egret(1) south of Paradise Road with livestock. Three to four thousand(3,000 to 4,000) Australian Shelduck in paddock south-east corner of Beach and Pousties Rds, Point Wilson, in same area Little Eagle with young rabbit prey and two adult Wedge-tailed Eagles. Immature White-bellied Sea-Eagle, south off Avalon Beach. Peter Gibbons, Christine Shelley and Dave Torr.
	Wedge-tailed Eagle Eastlink Pair of birds cruising low over Eastlink close to Ferntree Gully exit this morning. Scott Baker
Tue 12 Apr	Black Falcon Miller's Rd, 10km north of Yanac Single bird hunting at edge between lucerne paddocks and mallee scrub Geoff Park
	Wonga Pigeon, Large-billed Scrubwren, Pilotbird, Southern Emu-wren, Rose Robin Glen Nayook NR, Tarago SP & Bunyip SP. Lone Wonga Pigeon feeding in paddock adjacent to Glen Nayook NR. All grubby and stuff from grazing activities. Large-billed Scrubwren: several, Glen Nayook NR. A groovy Pilotbird along Link Track, Bunyip SP. Very inquisitive. Sorry Wendy. 3 Southern Emu-wren seen along Buttongrass Walk, Bunyip SP. Rose Robin were quite common with a male seen at Glen Nayook NR, and another male plus several others heard in Tarago SP. Also heard at Bunyip SP in two locations. Very calm and quiet in all forest areas today, with no rain and lots of sunny patches. Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
	Cockatiel Reservoir, Melbourne 1 flying above High Street, calling, circling once and then disappearing eastwards. Escaped or wild ? After the storm of the morning, everything is possible... Maxime Zucca
	European Greenfinch Mt Pleasant, Ballarat. Last seen this species 30 years ago at this site. Warren Palmer.
Mon 11 Apr	White-throated Treecreeper Lake Mournpall Campground, Hattah-Kulkyne NP One lone White-throated Treecreeper was seen foraging in a Black Box beside the lake on a cold damp morning. This is well north of the normal range of distribution for this species in habitat more suitable for Brown TC, none of which were seen. Andrew McCutcheon
	Buff-banded Rail Newport, Melbourne Dead adult bird found in our (suburban) garden, possibly killed by a cat. Kelly Drinkwater
	Hooded Plovers (pair), Double-banded Plovers, Red-necked Stints, Ruddy Turnstones (14) Black/Blue Rocks, Barwon Heads No sign of the Pacific Golden Plovers previously reported by others(must have moved on), however were along this section of coast other birds as listed above, plus White-fronted Chat, Singing Honeyeater, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater and Australasian Gannet. Claire & Ziigy Wolinski
	Brown Quail Spandoni Reserve Yering 2 Brown Quail seen foraging on lower side of the walking track at park entrance. Very flighty, got about 30 meters away and they took off into thick grass on side of track. Also large flock of Red-browed Finch 50+ at park entrance Alf Forbes
	Swift Parrot, Wedge-tailed Eagle. Eastern Park, Geelong At least 12 Swift Parrots burst out of canopy of Sugar Gum, in tight flock except for one bird that flew slightly higher than the rest. Birds lost from sight behind vegetation as they flew off in W direction (over Corio Bay?). One very pale Wedge-tailed Eagle circling high over western section of park, then drifted further to W. A few moments later a second bird, in slow glide passed to W. First record of this species in over 30 years of regular observation in this urban parkland on the eastern edge of city of Geelong. Craig Morley
	Black-shouldered Kite Corhanwarrabul Wetlands Late afternoon (1). Peter Booth
	Southern Emu-wren, Scarlet Robin Canni Creek Racecourse A brief visit to this flora reserve ( south of Buchan ) was highlighted by the sighting of a Southern Emu-wren in the heathland immediately to the north of the "finish post " and 3 pairs of Scarlet Robins in the surrounding woodlands. EGBOC members per Len Axen
	Speckled Warbler, Restless Flycatcher Buchan Caves Reserve 45 species were observed by EGBOC members during this morning's visit to the reserve. Of particular interest were sightings of a Speckled Warbler ( at the southern limit of its range in Far East Gippsland ), a Restless Flycatcher, 3 Eurasian Skylarks and two pairs of Scarlet Robins. EGBOC members per Len Axen
	Restless Flycatcher Geelong City, Corner Maud & Yarra Streets A migrating Restless Flycatcher stopped briefly in my front yard at 9am this morning. Soon afterwards it continued it's journey north. This is my first record for this species in the City of Geelong. Maarten Hulzebosch
	Brown Quail Melbourne Airport A single bird was observed about 8.30am in sparse vegetation in front of the Hilton Hotel at the Airport. It appeared unconcerned about the human traffic and came within 60cm of a colleagues feet giving us good veiws before flying a short distance to another clump of grasses. Stephen Gallivan
	Southern Boobook Valley reserve Mt Waverley Heard a loud commotion of Noisy Miners, Currowongs, Butcher birds and Magpies and walked in their direction to see them all harassing a Southern Boobook which flew down into a dense stand of Melaleuca ericifolia near the start of the creek at Valley reserve. Chris Gittins
	Swift Parrot Newport Lakes Park At least 8 birds seen and heard, including 2 juveniles, amongst the throng of over 100 Musk Lorikeet. Also a Pied Cormorant flying high overhead and a late-staying Aus. Reed Warbler. Steve Davidson
	Buff-banded Rail Victoria Pde., East Melbourne Dead adult bird found (in perfect condition) on footpath not far from the Carlton Gardens. Possibly has hit our office building after leaving wetlands/ponds in the nearby gardens (?). Martin O'Brien
Sun 10 Apr	Plumed Whistling-Duck, Red-chested Buttonquail, Little Buttonquail Terrick Terrick NP grasslands Plumed Whistling-Duck: (2). Red-chested Buttonquail: 2 males seen on the ground at close range, bright female seen in flight (6). Little Buttonquail: (8). Firetail Birding Tours
	Spotted Harrier Kerang A pair working fields beside the Lalbert-Kerang Rd, several kilometres west of Wandella FFR Gregg Müller, Alistair Stewart
	Buff-banded Rail Point Lonsdale/Lake Victoria Two separate birds south eastern corner of Lake Victoria Angus Hartshorn
	Intermediate Egret Barmah Forest 10 Intermediate Egrets observed feeding with Great Egrets near the Barmah Forest Day visit area Doug Robinson
Sat 9 Apr	Brown Goshawk (Immature) Watsonia Looked out the kitchen window as usual this morning and found this little guy roosting on our bird feeder, lucky it stayed around long enough for me to take a few snaps. I think it has found a home in the large tree in our our as I often find scattered feathers beneath it. Nice to see these in our neighbourhood. A big thankyou to Margaret for identifying this sighting for me. Mark Pipolo
	Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Red Hill Vinery Mornington Peninsula We saw a big group of est 20-30 birds passing the property from east to west about 2:30 pm Frank Arnold
	Sacred Kingfisher Hastings Victoria Marine Parade We have seen one bird about 10.30 am between the sail boats sitting on ropes Frank Arnold
	Speckled Warbler, Brown and White-throated Treecreeper, Buff-rumped Thornbill Greta - Lurg area se of Benalla While undertaking nest box monitoring of Squirrel Gliders and Brush-tailed Phascogales I managed to keep an ear open for a few good woodland bird species. Great to detect the warbler in a revegetated are between two remnant woodland blocks. A new location record for the species in this area. NE Victoria is very good at the moment for woodland birds with lots to see and hear for the keen observer. Martin O'Brien

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