Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 4 Sep 2011.

Sun 4 Sep	Black Falcon WTP Seen flying and being harassed from east of Borrow Pits westwards, good view for app 15 secs. 3 Black-tailed Native-hen, Avocets and Red-kneed Dotterel also at Pits. Flock of app 100 Eastern Great Egrets near Beach Rd, also Little and Cattle seen. Aust Spotted, Spotless Crake and Buff-banded Rail seen in numerous locations. App 80 Avocet also seen along Paradise Rd. Arthur & Denise Carew
	Regent Honeyeater, Turquoise Parrot, White-throated Gerygone, Spotted Harrier, Brolga, 3 Egret sp Half Day Tour (Chiltern and Rutherglen district) A super morning around the area with 116 species recorded. Highlights were 2 Regent Honeyeaters and 3 Turquoise Parrots at Chiltern, along with the first returns of a White-throated Gerygone. White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, some lost Australian King-Parrots, Speckled Warbler, Intermediate Egret and Diamond Firetail were some other interesting sightings around Chiltern. Further north at Rutherglen a pair of Bush Stone-curlew, Brolga with young, a stunning Spotted Harrier, 2 Little Egrets (very scarce in the North-east Victoria), many Great Egrets, some White-backed Swallows and an early spring White-breasted Woodswallow were some more highlights. Michael Ramsey - Bronzewing Birding Services
	Nankeen Night-Heron Oakleigh Nankeen Night-Heron (1) @ Stan Riley Reserve, which is a BMX track in South Oakleigh. It was in a tree in an adjoining backyard, I accidently flushed it and it flew to another tree four houses up, where it stayed for ten minutes. Last seen flying north east over Huntingdale golf course. David Fleming
Sat 3 Sep	Powerful Owl Bittern Dead Powerful Owl (presumably hit by car) on the Frankston-Flinders rd near Bittern railway station. Chris Gittins
	Plumed Whistling Duck, Gull-billed Tern, Spotted Crake, Buff-banded Rail, Nankeen Night Heron Boort and Yarrawalla 50 PWhistling Duck at a small dam just east of Durham Ox, 1 Gull-billedTern at the salt lake near Boort, Spotted Crakes at the small wetland on the Calivil Creek, Hampsons Road, and generally lots of waterbirds around the district. Simon Starr
	Brolga, Painted Button-quail Lake Rowan A pair of Brolga were seen foraging in a wet paddock by the Benalla Rd, just on the south side of town. Also a female Painted Button-quail was observed crossing the Benalla Rd, just south of the cemetery. Quite far from any woodland where it was seen. Michael Ramsey
	Brown Quail Rossiter Road Patterson Lakes Two Brown Quail on road, male standing. This sighting will be added to MelbWater bird records as Rossiter Road runs between two blocks of MelbWater owned land. Alison Kuiter
	Cattle Egret, Little Eagle, Zebra Finch Serendip Sanctuary, Lara Cattle Egret (1) On loop road, our first record at this site. Little Eagle (1) Light morph bird, nesting near ponding site - our first nesting record of this species at this site. Zebra Finch (15) At least 15 at North Arm near old feeding area. Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow
Fri 2 Sep	Banded Lapwing Knights Rd. Mannerim 30 birds in recently ploughed paddock on N side of Knights Rd ~1 km W of Queenscliff-Portarlington Rd. All keeping to N side of paddock, 2 birds noted copulating, several birds possibly "checking out" depressions in soil, nestling down for short periods then moving away. Other spp. in paddock: Magpies, Magpie-larks, Starlings, Pipits, Skylarks. Spp. in roadside remnant vegetation incl. 2 Mistletoebirds, Yellow Thornbills and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters. Rob Ganly, Craig Morley.
	Sooty Owl Bunyip State Forest After countless nights in Bunyip S.F. i finally saw my first Sooty Owl :D high up in the tree canopy. I set up my camera and began to take a few shots... the male showed up and was getting quite "friendly" with the female, but seemed concerned with my red-light. I turned it off, and the silhouette following indicated that we may have another sooty or two on the way! Shortly after, one of them did their amazing "bomb falling" call as if to announce the good news to the rest of the forest. They silently glided off down the valley together leaving me with an experience i will never forget. Also, Yellow-bellied gliders and a Greater Glider seen the night before. Steven Kuiter
	Powerful Owl Yarra Flats Spotted one of the adult Powerful Owls in the second copse of pines east of Burke Road. Nearby, a pair of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos were entering/preparing a hollow in a River Red Gum, while a pair of Long-billed Corellas were doing exactly the same to another hollow about fifteen feet higher up in the same tree. John Gray
	Intermediate Egret, Baillon's Crake Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Following on from Maarten Hulzebosch's report from 26th Aug there was a single Intermediate Egret in the pond adjacent to the coast near the Beach Rd boatramp. This is my first record here in over 25 years of visits. Maarten (whom we bumped into) also put us onto 2 Baillon's Crake, which we saw in the reed beds on the small pond in the T-section adjacent to Pond 7. The birds brazenly fed and swam out in the open with several menacing looking Swamphen nearby. Also around the plant was a small group of Double-banded Plover in breeding plumage still at the Western Lagoons, at least 3 Brown Songlark around Austin Rd and many Fairy Martin and Dusky Woodswallow have also returned. At least a dozen Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in pond next to Walsh Lagoon. Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
	Whistling Kite Mont Albert North A pair of Whistling Kite circling above a flock of Straw Necked Ibis. First sighting in a number of years living in this area. Corrie & Ian Macartney
	Swift Parrot, Diamond Firetail You Yangs Regional Park Swift Parrot (2) with a few Musk Lorikeets in a tall Gum tree, flew off to the south. Diamond Firetail as well. Angus Hartshorn
Thu 1 Sep	Buff-banded Rail Talbot Park - Clayton 3168 ( cnr Huntingdale rd & Centre rd) A pair of Buff Banded Rail have taken up residency inside this park which over the last 16 months has transformed into a mini wetlands thanks to the large amount of rainfall that we have had. The birds can be seen feeding in the open and occasionally darting through the children s playground picking up any food scraps that may have been left behind. I`ve been teaching my little girls how to spot them after they've had their play on the swings. Other birds of interest included a pair of Black Faced Cuckoo Shrike, Spotted Pardalote, Brown Thornbill, New Holland Honeyeater, Long Billed Corella, Purple Swamp Hen, Little Pied Cormorant, Chestnut Teal and European Gold Finch. Con, Kristina, Paige and Stacey Baltas
	Diamond Firetail You Yangs Regional Park We observed at least 4 Diamond Firetails this afternoon in the You Yangs Regional Park. Ian Davies and Kay Campbell.
	Barn Owl Carlton Barn Owl (1) In the Systems Garden outside School of Botany, at the University of Melbourne. Sitting at my desk and a Barn Owl being chased by two Little Ravens flies passed my window. Went outside and got some great views before it flew off North with ravens still in pursuit. Great way to start a day. Will Morris
Wed 31 Aug	Grey Currawong Collingwood Children's Farm, Abbotsford Two seen in River Red Gums by river. Have heard them call a couple of times in past few months, first time seen along here. Ian Sutherland
	Blue-winged Parrot Bacchus Marsh 10' Cell Blue-winged Parrot (12) Flock seen feeding on Bald Hill, Bacchus Marsh. Bernie McRitchie
Tue 30 Aug	Red-necked Avocet Laverton Creek mouth (Altona) Flock of 30+ Red-necked Avocet feeding in the creek mouth, flew off towards Cheetham wetlands. Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo (Truganina wetlands); Flame Robins and Fairy Martins (Truganina Park wetlands) were among the many species seen in the area. Anthea Stubbs
	Australian Spotted Crake, Fairy Martin Avoca Outfall Wildlife Reserve 3 Australian Spotted Crake, 100+ Fairy Martin. Also many Eurasian Coot, Grey Teal, Black Swan and Hardhead. Reserve flooded. Malcolm Cousland
	Eastern Curlew Reef Island, Westernport Bay A group of 10 Eastern Curlews on the shoreline adjacent to Reef Island in Westernport Bay. The tide was high so access to the island was not possible. Wayne Butterworth
	Southern Boobook Kensington, Melbourne We have a dog next door and it sounded like a dog whimpering or sniffling. Went to investigate warily, and it turned out to be a Southern Boobook sitting on our fence. It gave several hoots, staying for about 5 min. Rosemary Medvedec per Tim Dolby
Mon 29 Aug	Swift Parrot Spring Creek Nature Reserve, Torquay Two birds were flying over reserve at 1pm. Maarten Hulzebosch
	White-fronted Honeyeater Kamarooka, Victoria Lots of White-fronted, Tawny-crowned and Brown-headed Honeyeaters along Campbells Road. Also Purple-gaped, Fuscous, Yellow-faced, White -plumed and White-eared Honeyeaters. White-fronted are only in select spots in Kamarooka, whereas others are more widespread. Murray Chambers
	Tawny Frogmouth Nagle Rd, Elsternwick 2 Tawny Frogmouths seen in a tree outside Yavneh ollege. Anne Lindsay
	Banded Lapwing Flinders Observed a single Banded Lapwing at Flinders on the beach near the Mushroom Reef marine sanctuary. I also saw 30 Red-necked Stints and a pair of Hooded Plovers. Wayne Butterworth
Sat 27 Aug	Regent Honeyeaters (3), Turquoise Parrot Greenhill Dam, Chiltern/Mt Pilot NP Three Regents seen at the dam on Greenhill Rd between 4-5:15 pm. One unbanded bird regularly dipping and perching in nearby trees, 2 others (unknown if banded) chased over canopy by smaller honeyeaters towards Magenta track. Also Turquoise Parrot, Little Lorikeet, Peaceful Dove, Crested Shrike-tit, Olive-backed Oriole and White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike among the many species seen Mark Hall
Fri 26 Aug	Turquoise Parrot, Barking Owl, White-backed Swallow Eldorado Turquoise Parrot Fairly Common Barking Owl (1) Roosting but alert in late afternoon. Heard calling briefly later White-backed Swallow Fairly Common O/head Gavin Masters & Mal Chicksen
Wed 24 Aug	Wonga Pigeon Themeda Park, Scrubby Creek, near Mitta Mitta, NE Victoria A single Wonga pigeon has been seen waddling around the arboretum of this private property on several occasions, and appears to have become quite resident. Emma Razeng
Sat 20 Aug	Welcome Swallow Moore Ct. Seaholme 3018 My wife & I were treated to an areobatic spectacle from a pack of about 12 welcome swallows who circled around our house and then dove into our small backyard performing rolls etc. in formations varying between 3 & 4, approaching from different directions and all meeting in the middle. At one stage our yard was a wash with swallows swirling around, almost like a twister. This went on for about 3 hrs, by which time our 2 tom cats were almost cross-eyed and slinked away to hide. At one time I walked out into the middle of the yard and the swallows dodged around me with magnificent precision, seeming to enjoy the challenge by coming up with some new stunts. Such an aerial display, I have never seen in my entire 55yrs and so much more surprising since our cats, who are only allowed out during the day had over the years, scared most of the birdlife away. Unfortunately I only have a basic mobile phone and was unable to video our private show, but it is something we personally will never forget ! Mr Mark Wayne Allen

Birdline Victoria is sponsored by Birds Australia - Victoria and co-ordinated and hosted by Eremaea Birds.

===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================