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Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

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Subject: Birdline Victoria Weekly Update
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Date: 27 Feb 2012 01:30:56 +1000

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 26 Feb 2012.

Sun 26 Feb Broad-billed Sandpiper Western Treatment Plant
Thanks to John Barkler, went and looked at the BBS at the Beach Rd ponds. Managed to get close to the bird this time. Got good photos, but always mixed in with other waders. Also saw adult White-bellied Sea-eagle at 85W pond; near adult Spotted Harrier on Beach Rd; Peregrine around Beach Rd ponds; Tree Martin on Beach Rd gate; Common, WW Black, Little & Fairy Terns on Beach Rd rocks; 1 Red Knot there also.
Kevin Bartram

Broad-billed Sandpiper, Freckled Duck & White-faced Storm-Petrel Western Treatment Plant, Werribee
Broad-billed Sandpiper in first pond inside Beach Road gate was seen in the morning and relocated in the same spot in the afternoon. Freckled Duck in Walsh's Lagoons pleased our overseas visitor. White-faced Storm-Petrel was found dead on the coast road east of Beach Road.
John Barkla, Fred Smith & Jim Murray (NZ)

Swamp Harrier Bentleigh East
Swamp Harrier seen about 6:30pm over my garden on Bignell Rd being mobbed by local corvids & alarm calls a many... Not an uncommon raptor granted, but in Bentleigh very scarce
Nick Portlock

Fork-tailed Swift Suburban Werribee
Approx. 12 birds up high in high winds as colder front moved in at 18:45.
Paul Randall (wingsonwire.com)

Sat 25 Feb Southern Emu-wren Anglesea Heath, Alcoa boundary track
Finding these wrens has been extremely difficult made more so by the fact that nearly every track in the heathland is now used by trail bike riders. There is a flat sandy stretch of the track about 100 metres long bordered by high heathland shrubbery and it was here that I found a group of 3 wrens. In the same area i saw a flock of 6 Blue-winged Parrots, several Red-browed Finches, Superb wrens, Silvereyes and flushed what i believed to be 2 Spotted Quail-thrushes. An excellent site.
Hedley Earl

Grey Goshawk (White Phase) Serendip Sanctuary, Lara
Grey Goshawk Seen early in morning between Kangaroo enclosure and Marshland. Flew off as soon as it noticed it was being watched!
Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow

Spotted Harrier, Black Falcon(3), Spotted Pardalote Western Treatment Plant, Werribee
Spotted Harrier - adult bird along Beach Rd, juvenile along Ryans Swamp Rd. With these and yesterday's birds possibly up to 5 SH on the plant. Black Falcon - 2 along Ryans Swamp Rd with juvenile Spotted Harrier, 1 old greyish adult in wet paddock opposite gate to Western Lagoons. Also a Spotted Pardalote in casuarinas along Ryans Swamp Rd - very unusual to the "Birding Routes" part of the plant.
Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder

Wood Sandpiper Reedy Lake Geelong
2 Wood Sandpipers with 60+ Red-kneed Dotterels at Moolap Station Rd end Reedy Lake. Very few other waders but large numbers egrets, spoonbills, ibis, pelicans. Duck season just around the corner for these innocent bystanders.
John Newman

Fri 24 Feb Peregrine Falcon Notting Hill
Whilst stuck in heavy traffic on FTG Road observed fairly low Peregrine zoom over the car. A good consolation for being in the queue for 40 minutes and late to meeting!
Claire Wolinski

Lewin's Rail Coolart Wetlands
A Lewin's Rail was observed in front of the antechinus hide at Coolart wetlands, it foraged on the edge of the pond for quite a while allowing close photo opportunities. Also present were 2 spotless crakes, 1 baillon's crake and a latham's snipe. All were out in the open for extended periods.
Wayne Butterworth

Gull-billed Tern, Eastern Curlew, Southern Boobook, Spotted Harrier Western Treatment Plant, Werribee
2 Gull-billed Tern and Eastern Curlew on sandbar at The Spit. 3 possibly 4 Spotted Harrier - 1 sub-adult on Beach Rd, 1 juvenile at lower Little River Ford, 2 juveniles on Ryans Swamp Rd. A Black-faced Cormorant with 14 Darter and the four other cormorants on rock groyne just west of 15E Outlet. Southern Boobook - flat and dessicated roadkill on Paradise Rd, appeared to be Tas race leucopsis. Also 6-7 Double-banded Plover at Western Lagoon Pond 4 and 2-3 on drying swamp east of WL Pond 1, 2 Arctic Jaeger in action offshore, 2 juvie Brown Songlark still about, a WB Sea-eagle and Spotless Crake in Austin Rd Pond 1. In total 108 species for the day.
Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder

Great Crested Grebe Lake Wendouree, Ballarat.
Sighted 5 separate pairs of Great Crested Grebes nesting along a 60 metre stretch of the lake close to the shoreline of Fairy Land. Each nest had a sitting bird. Observed eggs in the nests when the birds alighted to add more nesting material to the structure.
Warren Palmer

Eastern Reef Egret, Sooty Oystercatcher West Cape Conran
An Eastern Reef Egret ( grey morph ) was observed sheltering on a rocky platform while 3 Sooty Oystercatchers were seen perched on a rocky outcrop this morning.
Len and Jacquie Axen

Thu 23 Feb Beautiful Firetail Anglesea Heath
Pair seen in scrub on Forest Rd at Barwon Water channel/easment near Gum Flats Rd
Malcolm Cousland

Boobook Owl Paul Ave, East Keilor, Melbourne
Present in a dense small tree in a suburban garden on 23rd and 24th Feb
Julie Spiteri, mentioned,and photos shown to Jan Flack

300+ Little Corella Somerton Road near Cragieburn
Around 300 Corellas near Junction of Somerton Rd and Pascoe Vale Rd. Most appeared to be Littles, but did not have any optics handy.
Simon Starr

Swift Parrot Diggers Rest 1' Cell
Swift Parrot (1) 1 bird seen in flowering Gums Bulla / Diggers Rest Rd . 200mts East of the Calder Fwy. Was seen yesterday but only briefly , only the one bird heard.
Colin Mulvogue

Little Corella Yarrawonga
Though not an unusual species around Yarrawonga, a noisy and massive flock of 6000-7000 birds on the west side of town near the grain storage and handling facility, was certainly not a usual number.
Michael Ramsey

Black Falcon, Spotted Harrier, Brolga, Double-banded Plover Western Treatment Plant, Werribee
2 Black Falcon on Beach Rd, one harassing a Brown Goshawk. Two Spotted Harrier in T-section. 2 Brolga in T-Section - opposite the road into the Western Lagoons. Double-banded Plover in Western Lagoons.
Dave Torr, Christine Shelley, Iian Denham,

Wed 22 Feb Freckled Duck Lake Lorne, Drysdale
Seen from the Reserve Rd. side of the lake, at least 3 under the bushes at the edge of the water on the islands.
R. Bruce Richardson

Brown Quail, Swift Parrot, Gang-gang Cockatoo Eastern Park, Geelong
Covey of 9 Brown Quails found in tussock grass after tip-off from Geelong Botanic Gardens staff - thanks Brendan and Ben! 1st record in 30+ years observation in this urban parkland! Also heard charcteristic "swit swit" calls of Swift Parrots passing through a distance away along east edge of East Geelong Golf Club. Also small flock of Gang-gangs.
Brendan Slingo, Ben Wilkinson, Craig Morley

Intermediate Egret, Peregrine Falcon, Spotless Crake Mulgrave Reserve Wetland, Wheelers Hill
The Intermediate Egret was standing next to a Great Egret in the large pond showing clearly its much smaller size. Noted rounded head, with open face, yellow -pinkish bill, gape not beyond eye. Feeding with many White Ibis, several Nankeen Night-herons and the Great Egret in shallow water and well-spaced aquatic vegetation. Peregrine Falcon flying purposely along the creek line. One Spotless Crake seen and another heard at the small pond.
Richard & Margaret Alcorn

Tue 21 Feb Plumed Whistling-Duck Youarang
A flock of 20 seen by a farm dam at the corner of the Tungamah Main and Benalla-Tocumwal Roads.
Michael Ramsey

Rufous Fantail Valley Reserve, Mt Waverley
A single Rufous Fantail seen with thornbills, scrubwrens and some immature Eastern Spinebills along a creekline. (Moderators note: there have been a number of Rufous Fantail records in suburban Melbourne over the last few weeks on Birdline, so continue to keep looking for more as they may be dispersing at present).
Chris Gittins

Mon 20 Feb Blue-winged Parrot Torquay Sands Golf course
Standing on the 13th tee waiting to play I became aware of a repetitive neophema call. No more than 10 meters away a single BWP was sitting on a ti tree branch. It flew down in front of the tee to feed among the samphire. At the end of the golf round I returned to the spot armed with binoculars and camera and the bird was still there sitting quietly at the top of a dead tree.
Hedley Earl

Australian Pelican Yarra Glen
Seen from Melba Hwy east of Yarra Glen. Approx 70 flying in 'V' formation towards Healsville. The number of individuals is probably more of interest than the species.
Greg Cobern

Collared Sparrowhawk, Crested Shrike-tit Royal Park, Parkville
Crested Shrike-tit seen in trees on North side of the small ponds of the Trin Warren Tam-boore wetlands. A young male (by size) Collared Sparrowhawk was seen on the ground under trees in the park at the corner of Flemington Road and Elliot Avenue. Appeared injured, maybe hit by a car. Tried to catch it to take to the zoo just up the road. It was able to run along the ground and was too fast to catch. Eventually, even though one wing appeared to be damaged, it managed to fly into the lower branches of a tree, so I thought it was probably best just left alone. Don't hold high hopes for its ability hunting though.
Will Morris

Sun 19 Feb Great Shearwater Off Port Fairy
All participants on a pelagic trip run by Neil Macumber of Birdswing Birding & Wildlife tours saw an unusual shearwater which was thought to be a Great Shearwater but was moulting and had some unusual features. Photos were sent to Mike Carter who confirmed the I.D.
Sonja Ross

Banded Lapwing Duncan's Road, Werribee South
13 Banded Lapwing were in a paddock on the west side of Duncan's road among the newly planted lettuces(?). Southern end of Duncan's road just after the road works signs begin when travelling towards Werribee South.
Brett Whitfield

Double-banded Plover, Freckled Duck, Spotless Crake, Lewin's Rail Western Treatment Plant, Werribee
1 newly returned non-breeding/juvenile Double-banded Plover at the Western Lagoons, roosting with Red-capped Plovers. 6 Freckled Duck on the next pond NE of the Beach Rd Lagoon. Also nice views of Spotless Crake on the same pond, with other birds heard near by. Also heard Lewin's Rail in same area & saw A Buff-banded Rail. Heaps of terns roosting on Beach Rd rocks: including Little, Fairy & Common. Some juvenile Little/Fairy Tern amongst them. A Peregrine was stooging around Beach Rd area, scaring all of the birds. Lewin's Rail also heard at the Little River bird hide.
Kevin Bartram

Sat 18 Feb King Parrot Gisborne
Stayed at a friends' place in Gisborne last weekend. Many birds, especially parrots, about. I saw a pair of King Parrots shoot through, and heard the perched mournful whistle periodically on 3-4 other occasions, while sitting in the backyard. I asked the host (not a birder), whether she seems them much. She said "very occasionally". Is this a range extension? Seems a little bit west.
John Gray

Freckled Duck Coolart Wetlands Mornington Peninusla
(A second hand report provided to me). The current influx of Freckled Duck into SE Australia continues with about 20 individuals being reported from Coolart Wetlands (and other nearby locations) recently. There was also some Blue-biled Duck with dependent young I understand (quite late for breeding ?). This has been a bumper year for FDs in Victoria with some flock sizes the biggest recorded since the early 1990s.
Coolart Ranger per Martin O'Brien

Freckled Duck Lake Colac
More than 100 Freckled Ducks along a section of foreshore and shallows just east of town.
John McRae

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

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