Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 17 Jul 2011.

Sun 17 Jul	Red-necked Avocet, Grey Teal, House Sparrow Western Treatment Plant, Vic Today was a day for large flocks of birds at WTP. Approx 90 Red-necked Avocet on Paradise Rd Lagoon and another 100 +/- at the Borrow Pit. On the bay there were large rafts of Grey Teal north of the Little River outlet and on Point Wilson Rd near the freeway there was a flock of 500 +/- House Sparrows. Jenny Spry
	Southern Whiteface (3) Private property near You Yangs Also two flocks of Varied Sitella, Flame, Scarlet and Yellow Robins. Dave Torr, Peter Gibbons, Christine Shelley, Iian Denham
Sat 16 Jul	Buff-banded Rail Chesterfield Farm, Scoresby Buff-banded Rail (1) 7.40am, heavy frost, foraging near Lomandra longifolia (Mat Rush), 20 metres north of cycle bridge, at north-east corner of farm, near Eastlink Peter Booth
	Rainbow Lorikeet Melton South Just saw a Rainbow Lorikeet fly to the ground beside my backdoor step to join a flock of about 10 Turtledoves that were feeding on my cat's dry food breakfast,. This had been placed about a metre from the back door, to avoid the birds stealing the cat's leftovers (obviously unsuccessfully). It joined them by nibbling at the Whiskers/KiteKat pieces for a short time . It didn't seem impressed as it flew off about a minute later. A year or so ago I saw one on the ground nibbling on a slice of stale bread on the lawn, also among turtledoves. Copying behaviour perhaps? Daryl Akers
Fri 15 Jul	Black-browed Albatross, Shy Albatross, Spotless Crake Port Fairy area Several Black-browed Albatross off Griffith Island, several more Black-browed, and 2 Shy Albatross off Killarney Beach (most likely Salvin's; distinctive grey head and back), Spotless Crake 2 km south of Koroit Tristan Kennedy, Bryan Kennedy
	Spotless Crake Mt St Joseph Pond, Altona Great views of Spotless Crake/s foraging near milkcrates, observed from North platform from 2-2.30pm, and a Little Grassbird that paused for a drink. Anthea Stubbs
	Gang-gang Cockatoo Melton Sighted in Melton (High St) outside the Post Office at 1pm happily eating the seeds of the gum tree. Nora Peters
	Grey Currawong, Collared Sparrowhawk, Bar-tailed Godwit, Little Penguin, Black-faced Cormorant Bellarine Peninsula Single Little Penguin found resting in grass above high tide line at "Blue Rocks" at end of Thirteenth Beach. Grey Currawong and Sparrowhawk seen along Banksia Trail at Ocean Grove nature reserve. Bar-tailed Godwit (x 30, 3 in near full breeding plumage) and Black-faced Cormorant seen at Barwon River mouth, Barwon Heads. Paul Randall (wingsonwire.com)
	Swift Parrot Boggy Creek, Bullumwaal Rd c 22km N of Bairnsdale Two, possibly three observed feeding in box tree for 10+ minutes; flock of 6 low overhead. Also heard calling from tall timber by creek earlier. A pair Bassian Thrush as well. Chris Healey
	Sooty Oystercatcher Picnic Point, Sandringham At low tide today (1230) 4 Sooty Oystercatchers were feeding on the rocks - a record number for the City of Bayside. This is a prime Bayside (and Port Phillip?) site for them as there were at least six previous sightings of 1 or 2 this June and July and, last July, the previous record of 3 birds, Michael Norris
	Southern Emu-wren, Buff-banded Rail, Blue-winged Parrots Lake Connewarre (Belchers lane) Southern Emu-wren (3) also Blue-winged Parrots (19) and a Buff-banded Rail flying away over the reeds (got too close to it) Angus Hartshorn
	Swift Parrot, Striated Pardalote (striatus & substriatus) Newport Lakes Park 2 adult Swift Parrot flying through, very vocal. Also 2 Striated Pardalote were present in the one tree - one of race striatus and one of what looked to be race substriatus, with red dot and broad white wing stripe. If so this would be slightly out of range. The latter bird had a slightly different and harder call (which was what attracted me to it) and was aggressive toward the yellow-tipped bird. Steve Davidson
Thu 14 Jul	Pink Robin Tarra-Bulga National Park At the launch of the recently upgraded Tarra Valley day visitor area by Parks Victoria, where there was a large crowd of people a single male Pink Robin appeared in the car park to join in the activities. It posed nicely for a photograph, but the trouble was I had a wide angle lens on my camera - this is the best shot I could get. Andrew McCutcheon
	Buff-banded Rail Korumburra Golf Course Great close up view of a single adult Buff-banded Rail. A new one for my list! Joe Park
	Regent Honeyeater Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park 5-6 birds still present at Greenhill area. Very active, constantly on the move. First seen around midday, disappeared then returned after 3pm as predicted. Scott Baker, Simon Mustoe
	Wedge Tailed Eagle. Mt Pleasant, Ballarat. Observed a pair of Wedge Tailed Eagles soaring above home , being harassed by 2 Ravens. Very rare to see this species so close to town in this location. Warren Palmer.
	Tawny-crowned Honeyeater Kooyoora State Park (Glenalbyn block) Tawny-crowned Honeyeater (3) 8 sightings over 3 hours - at least 3 individuals. In waist high cut mallee block and adjacent trees. Also Southern Scrub-robin Malcolm Cousland
	White-browed Woodswallow Boweya Forest This species has been absent from the local area and most of Victoria (apart from the north-west) all last spring and summer. One turns up in winter for a species that is usually a spring migrant, a big surprise. Heard its distinctive call while watching a flock of Dusky Woodswallows and then I saw the bird, a female. Michael Ramsey
	Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo Preston City Oval The YTBC conquest of Melbourne continues. Group of 15+ over Preston today, but attempts at settling near the oval were fended off by the resident Little Ravens. Dirk Tomsa
Wed 13 Jul	Sacred Kingfisher Eastern View, Great Ocean Road Surprised to see a Sacred Kingfisher sitting on a branch on the headland near the Devils Elbow. Watched it for quite some time, as it sat in the afternoon sun. Fran Murphy
	Brush Bronzewing, Brown Quail, Rufous Songlark Goschen Bushland Area One adult female Brush Bronzewing and another probably of this species flushed nearby, 17 definite Brown Quail at three separate spots (including one covey of 11) and another quail that I couldn't rule out as Stubble Quail at a fourth spot, and furtive non-breeding male Rufous Songlark to go with other recent seasonally unusual reports in northern Victoria. Paul Peake
	Regent Honeyeater Lurg The Regent Honeyeater in the Lurg Hills is still showing well, at the same site for over a month now. Michael Ramsey
	Speckled Warbler, Chestnut-rumped Heathwren Long Forest Nature Conservation Reserve Pleasant day where both target species were achieved. Complemented by 5 species of thornbill and numerous Scarlet Robins. Iian Denham
	Swift Parrot Ocean Grove One week ago I reported 6, today I have 23 Swifties in the same tree in Sheoak Court. Fantastic!!! Denis Sleep
Tue 12 Jul	Regent Honeyeater, Rose Robin Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park (Chiltern) Regent Honeyeater (4) one unbanded and three banded birds seen. One of the banded birds may be another new bird that has turned up hopefully. Behaviour today very different to other visits, birds were close to the ground in low branches snapping up insects and probing in loose bark. Also a Rose Robin cracking views of a male, quite close perched on a stump. Michael Ramsey and Matt Weeks
	Brown Songlark Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Brown Songlark (1) Seen on track iust inside gate 2 , observed bird for a short time , before it moved into scrub , northern side of drain. Bird was light brown to almost grey in colour and was flicking it's tail. Colin Mulvogue
	Scarlet Honeyeater Mia Mia Track, Newstead Single male spotted in the company of other honeyeaters (Yellow-faced, Fuscous, White-naped) and Silvereyes feeding in ornamental eucalypt plantation. Geoff Park
Mon 11 Jul	Grey Goshawk ( white morph ) Metung Despite icy strong south west winds some notable observations were recorded by EGBOC members around Metung this morning. Highlights included a Grey Goshawk ( white morph ), 5 Forest Ravens, 5 Brown Gerygones, 4 Pied Cormorants and a Shining Bronze-Cuckoo. Also of note were 10 Australasian Gannets feeding in the lakes beyond the mouth of Chinaman's Creek. 11 EGBOC members per Len Axen
Sun 10 Jul	Wedge-tailed Eagle Kiwian Park Templestowe Large bird with a distinctive wedge tail. Appeared to be hunting. matt wakefield
	Australasian Shoveler, Hutton's Shearwater, Yellow-nosed Albatross Point Addis During seawatch late this afternoon, saw 3 unusual birds out to sea, 2 Grey Teals & 1 female Australasian Shoveler. Don't recall ever seeing a shoveler on a seawatch before! Good numbers of albatrosses, mostly Shy (about 20), a few Black-browed (3) & a 1-2 Yellow-nosed Albatrosses. Small groups of Fluttering/Hutton's Shearwaters, about 30 seen, about 20 positively identified as Fluttering, 1 Hutton's amongst them. Kevin Bartram
	Little Eagle Creswick A Little Eagle was spotted over Lake Calembeen, being harrassed by half a dozen Australian Magpies. Andre Rasquinha
	Swift Parrots Muckleford 18 Swifties feeding in sugar gum, again not in flower. Noisy Miners & Red Wattlebirds very aggressive. Debbie Worland
	Shy Albatross Port Phillip Heads 5 Shy Albatross giving good views at midday today, until heavy rain and wind made visability impossible! Viewed from Hesse Lane Car Park, Queenscliff. Adrian de Leiros
	Regent Honeyeater Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park (Chiltern) Great views this morning of 5 Regent Honeyeaters. They were seen well for over 30 minutes, lots of singing, feeding and chasing behaviour noted. Three birds were banded, another two unbanded. Michael Ramsey and Simon Starr
Sat 9 Jul	Regent Honeyeater Chiltern-Mt Pilot NP Regent Honeyeater (5) Group of three brids seen initially and later on another group of four birds. Looking at photos, there were three ringed birds and two without rings, so at least five individual birds. Two birds were also seen bathing at Greenhill Dam at around midday. Bruce Wedderburn
	Red-capped Robin, Speckled Warbler Long Forest Conservation Reserve A mostly windy day and fairly quiet on the birding front. However a pair of Red-capped Robins and 5-6 Speckled Warblers at the beginning of Djerriwrrah track kept me occupied. Scott Baker
Wed 6 Jul	Eastern Reef Egret, Sooty Oystercatcher Bastion Point, Mallacoota A dark morph Eastern Reef Egret, on rocks near boat ramp (see attached picture). Foraging along the rocks right near breaking waves, very active. Quite a few people around, but bird just kept moving out of their way, and returning to a few favoured locations time and time again. A wonderful sighting! Also 2 Sooty Oystercatcher nearby. Janine Duffy, Roger Smith, Simonson Family
Mon 4 Jul	Glossy Black-Cockatoo Croajingolong National Park (Double Creek Arm) Glossy Black-Cockatoo heard flying over heading south. Janine Duffy

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