Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 26 Jun 2011.

Sun 26 Jun	Painted Button-quail Serendip Sanctuary, Lara Painted Button-quail (1) in the native plantation to the north of North Arm, near boundary road towards back gate to property. Observed the bird for about 20 minutes - including watching it make platelets! Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow
	Cattle Egrets Trinint Sports Ground, Bulleen Around 20 birds on edge of lake and foraging on an adjacent sportsfield. I have never seen them near Bulleen before. (Moderators note: this may be the same flock seen at Yarra Flats the day before) Owen Lishmund
Sat 25 Jun	Brolgas Calvert Lough Brolga (3) a shallow lake that has probably been dry until the rain over the last several months. Also Double-banded plovers, Yellow-billed Spoonbills Angus Hartshorn
	Cattle Egrets Yarra Flats Park, Heidelberg 23 birds at 10.30 am in horse paddocks. Anthea Fleming
Fri 24 Jun	Wedge-tailed Eagle, Brown Falcon, Brown Goshawk, Whistling Kite, Common Bronzewing Rowsley Valley, near Bacchus Marsh A short drive into the Rowsley Valley, yielded the following raptor species: 5 Wedge-Tailed Eagles, 4 Brown Falcons, 2 Brown Goshawks and 2 Whistling Kites. A single Common bronzewing was also seen flushed from roadside vegetation whilst driving past. David Whelan
	Hooded Plover, Double-banded Plover, Red-necked Stint Snowy River Mouth 12 Double-banded Plovers, 2 pairs of Hooded Plovers and a flock of Red-necked Stints were observed sheltering in amongst recently deposited flood debris this morning. Tony Mitchell and Len Axen
	Cattle Egret Narre Warren North Approximately 50 birds feeding in paddocks alongside Belgrave-Hallam Rd, north of Heatherton Rd. Arthur Carew
	Peaceful Dove, Diamond Firetail Mia Mia Rd Newstead This morning whilst not even birding, I observed 4 Peaceful Doves feeding on the ground at the intersection of Mia Mia Track and Mia Mia Road Newstead. 200 metres up the road heading towards the Pyrenees Hwy there was at least 20 Diamond Firetails feeding on the side of the road. Have not seen either of these species here before. Greg McKay
	Whiskered Tern Western Treatment Plant, Werribee A single bird seen among Fairy and Crested Terns on the rocks, just east of the Beach Rd gate and boat ramp. Paul Randall (wingsonwire.com)
Thu 23 Jun	Eastern Yellow Robin Richmond One seen near Yarra River just south of Victoria St at 5:30pm. Not sure if it's a resident bird or perhaps a local wanderer from nearby Yarra Bend or Wilson Reserve. John Gray
	Australian King-Parrot Ivanhoe, Intersection of Bell St & Waterdale Rd Solid green parrot flew past, towards Repat. Hospital, while I was waiting at lights; when I followed its flight there was a second bird about 50 metres further away. Occasionally seen in local parks, but not common. Brian Fleming
	Black-tailed Native-hen Western Treatment Plant A single bird feeding on the track north-east of 35SE Pond. It was running under cover at regular intervals. Have not seen this species here in the last 12 months. Hedley Earl
	Swift Parrot Anakie Township First alerted by the distinctive calls. Able to count 5 individuals, but likely others were feeding high in the Yellow Gum trees. My second record of this bird in Anakie, first being June 2010 at a different location. Chris Lindorff
Wed 22 Jun	Swamp Harrier Karkarook Park Swamp Harrier (1) Had great view. Swooped from tree picked up its meal and returned to eat it on power poll on Warrigul Rd. Red-browed Finch (2) Flying between park and riding school in south east corner. Walked down track past riding school and saw four more. David Fleming
	Red-necked Avocets, White-bellied Sea-Eagle Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Avocets are still present at the plant on the Paradise Rd ponds. Approx. 40 birds feeding and preening on the margins of the pond. Pair of Sea-Eagles seen perched together on a dead tree on the way down to Borrow Pits. Paul Randall (wingsonwire.com)
Tue 21 Jun	yellow-tailed black-cockatoo collingwood, vic 30+ ytbcs overhead eleanor taylor
Mon 20 Jun	Bassian Thrush Yerrung River Entrance In a dense coastal thicket close to the mouth of the Yerrung River (open after heavy rains), a Bassian Thrush was observed quietly foraging in the late afternoon sunshine. Jacquie and Len Axen
	Pilotbird Monkey Creek via Bruthen Large numbers of Crescent and White-naped Honeyeaters were observed during this morning's Fire Recovery Bird Monitoring Survey along with 2 Pilotbirds. 19 EGBOC members per Len Axen
	Peregrine Falcon, Aust. Hobby Serendip sanctuary, Lara Single, large (female?) adult bird sitting atop a dead tree looking over the first enclosure. Hobby seen tearing above the treetops just near the entrance. Paul Randall (wingsonwire.com)
	Southern Giant-Petrel Lorne The same bird as previously reported was still sitting on the water at the pier, just where the fishermen's lines hit the water. It hung around all day yesterday as well as this morning. Great opportunity for photographers to get close up shots of this species without having to go to sea. Sean Dooley
	Pacific Gull, Swift Parrot Moonee Ponds Creek bordering Royal Park Pacific Gull seen along the Moonee Ponds Creek in the area bordering Royal Park. Most inland (inner) Melbourne record I have of this species, and my first record on the Moonee Pond Ck (after 10 yrs of cycling the creek). It was being being harassed by a Great Egret, followed by a pair of Australian Hobby. Also a flock of 6 Swift Parrot near trams lines of west side of the park. Tim Dolby
Sun 19 Jun	Masked Owl,Crested Pigeon Swan Reach and Lakes Entrance A freshly dead adult female Masked Owl was found virtually on the Princes Highway bridge over the Tambo River at Swan Reach. Also, about 5 Crested Pigeons seen beside the highway in eastern Lakes Entrance. Rohan Bilney
	Barbary Doves + Swift Parrots Willianstown + Royal Park 14 Barbary Doves on the wires at Maddox Rd x Kororoit Creek Road, Williamstown, as reported earlier. Are DSE 'taking care' of these birds? Also at least 4 Swift Parrots at the Royal Park golf course gave great views including drinking from a puddle. Philip Jackson & Greg Hunt
Sat 18 Jun	Spotless Crake Mt St Joseph pond, Altona About 4pm, long views of two Spotless Crakes from the north platform, on and around some almost submerged milk crates. Melway ref 54 C10. Peter Shute
Fri 17 Jun	Orange Bellied Parrot **4** WTP 270s Borrow Pits Earlier in the week I posted a photo of a pair of OBP's. Yesterday I again photographed a pair of OBP's in the same vicinity and the same time as the previous time. However, when examining the photos last evening I formed the view that the 2nd pair were perhaps different to the first pair in so far as the orange belly on the male appeared brighter (see photo). This morning I returned to the site to test my theory that there were more than 2 and to my amazement there were in fact 4 birds flying and resting in the bushes together. Photos of all 4 together were difficult due to windy conditions and the fact that they were in larger bushes. However I felt that this sighting should be reported to you as 4 are better than 2! Hedley Earl
Mon 13 Jun	Orange bellied parrot WTP Borrow Pit This afternoon at 3.30pm we observed a pair of OBP's perched on a small bush adjacent to the back track that overlooks the pits. The birds later flew off high in the sky towards the restricted zone. hedley and Irena Earl
Sun 12 Jun	Orange-bellied Parrot Western Treatment Plant, Werribee I'm no OBP vs. Blue-winged Parrot expert but I think this might be an Orange-bellied Parrot based on what I can compare with other pictures. I saw 2 today on the track East of the Borrow Pit which fits the location of the previous reports. Fingers crossed... Jackson Airey
Sat 11 Jun	White-bellied Sea-eagle, Cape Barren Goose Willaura Juvenile White-bellied Sea-eagle feeding in on Helens Road, single Cape Barren Goose in a wetland on Powells Lane. Inka Veltheim

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