Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 1 Apr 2012.

Sun 1 Apr	Hooded Plover Surf Beach, Inverloch 4 Hooded Plovers on the beach at the end of Surf Parade, near Flat Rocks. Deb Crosby
	Rufous Fantail Williamstown In a tree along side the railway line by Railway Place, Williamstown at 7.15 am. Shona Innes
Fri 30 Mar	Sooty Owl Badgers Weir, Healesville Falling bomb and chittering calls from 2 birds heard just before dawn at gates to Badgers Weir, Healesville. Also there a Southern Boobook vocalising. On nearby Mt Donna Buang a magnificent Olive Whistler seen up close, with 2 Pilotbird nearby. Several parties of Flame Robin foraging on tracks, lots of Rose Robin still present and vocal, and many Yellow-faced Honeyeater moving through on migration. Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
	Eastern Curlew Offshore from Mt Eliza 1 bird seen flying south. George Appleby
	Red-capped Plover & Flame Robin Lake Victoria, Point Lonsdale Five days ago I saw an active Red-capped Plover chick that had hatched that day or the day before. (I had been watching the nest for three weeks). The second egg was abandoned. Two days ago and again today there has sadly been no sign of the chick . A lone Female Flame Robin has been seen two days ago and again today. Robin Spry
	Swift Parrot Teatree close Ocean Grove 2 Swifties feeding in Yellow Gum,two doors from my home this morning. Only stayed a short period. Denis Sleep
	Flame Robin (f) McCallums Creek, Red Lion 3371 Earliest sighting I've had of this usual winter visitor. Lovely! Jenny Lacey
Thu 29 Mar	Australian Bustard State Forest to the south of Big Desert Wilderness Park Single bird observed along Red Bluff Track in low Heathy Mallee Warren Tomlinson and Nathan Kay
	Blue-winged Parrot, Beautiful Firetail Yellingbo NCR App 20 birds feeding among flowering eucalypts and on track beneath. Present from 12.00 - 4.00 p.m. Most appeared to be juveniles.Single Beautiful Firetail feeding and drinking near B-wings. Bassian Thrush and Brown Goshawk other good sightings on the day. Arthur Carew, John Barkla, Keith & Lndsay Fisher, Mark Caruana
	Kelp Gull, Yellow-faced Honeyeater Western Treatment Plant, Werribee First year Kelp Gull near the boat ramp at the end of Beach Rd. My first here in 26 years of visits. Whilst watching this bird we heard the distinctive chip, chip contact call of a Yellow-faced Honeyeater and turned around to see 2 moving low through the wetlands from the south, most likely on migration. Steve Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
	Little Eagle (Pale Morph). Mt Pleasant, Ballarat Single bird soaring over our property at 1200 hrs. Rarely seen in this area. Warren Palmer
Wed 28 Mar	Rose Robin Pound Bend Reserve Warrandyte A male Rose Robin - about 200m north of the picnic area. A first for this section of the Yarra for us. John Young
	Little Corella Berwick 10' Cell Little Corella 200+ on grassy roundabout Berwick-Cranbourne Road and Sladen St, Berwick. More in trees nearby. Debbie Lustig
	Grey Goshawk, Silvereye, Flame Robin, Pied Currawong, Grey Currawong Ocean Grove Nature Reserve White morph Grey Goshawk briefly glimpsed in flight as it burst from cover with Grey Shrike-Thrush sized prey in talons in vicinity of Information Centre (along W side). Also small flock of Silveryeyes along N boundary one of which clearly had very dark and richly coloured chestnut flanks indicating a Tas race bird, though not all birds were so obviously coloured. Also two Pied Currawongs seen along N boundary with black rumps and very limited white in wings. Grey Currawongs seen and heard in vicinity and single "brown" Flame Robin along N boundary. Also male Rufous Whistler, and nearby a female, seen in vicinity of Information Centre. Craig Morley, Rob Ganly
	Caspian Tern Altona Beach Single Caspian Tern in flight being harassed by Silver Gull during Silver Gull feeding frenzy not far off shore. Paul Randall (wingsonwire.com)
	Whistling Kite Tikalara Park, Templestowe Whistling Kite (1) Cruising over the ridge. Birds agitated by it. Unusual in the area. Sonja Ross
	Black Falcon Western Treatment Plant, Werribee A pair of Black Falcons soaring over paddocks to the south of the Beach Rd gate. Joined by a third Black Falcon to give a brief aerobatic display without evidence of malice. Dispersed in different directions. [Ed note: the presence of three birds seem to indicate that Black Falcon have successfully breed in the region around the WTP. TD] Peter Thomson
Tue 27 Mar	Royal Spoonbill Royal Park Wetlands New to this area? [Ed note: yes, it does appear to be the first record of Royal Spoonbill at Royal Park. There have been several recorded from the Albert Park, a few from near the mouth of the Yarra River, and from Williamstown.TD] Jan Thomas
	Freckled Duck, White-winged Black Tern Western Treatment Plant, Werribee 7 Freckled Duck were loafing and preening on Lake Borrie opposite Paradise Rd Lagoons around 10am, and there were 37 White-winged Black Tern on Lake Borrie and adjacent ponds, with several rapidly gaining alternate plumage. Fairly quiet around the plant with few waders remaining, no Common, Fairy or Little Tern seen, Pink-eared Duck numbers down on Borrie, only one Aus. Spotted Crake and no Buff-banded Rail seen or heard. Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
	Brolga Calivil Creek Brolga Wetland, Hampsons Road 10 feeding with ravens in paddock on corner of Boort-Pyramid Rd and (east of )Hampson Rd Malcolm Cousland
	Swift Parrot Royal Park Several birds heard, and one seen, along Park St (east of the tram line). Also large numbers of Rainbow and Musk Lorikeet, all feeding on flowering Spotted Gum. Tim Dolby
Mon 26 Mar	Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Mistletoebird, Weebill, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Brown Quail Eastern Park, Geelong Total of 140 Yellow-faced Honeyeaters moving through in generally W direction in small flocks 2s up to 25 from 09:15 until 11:25. 1 White-naped Honeyeater at 11:25. other highlights in this beaut urban parkland: Mistletoebird moving through, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater (rare) heard in Geelong Botanic Gardens and a Weebill (rare) in vicinity of Geelong Conference Centre, also Gang-gang Cockatoos incl ad male feeding a begging juv male. Six Brown Quail reported earlier in day(Ben) and Rose Robin (M and F) on 25/03 and Rufous Fantail on 24/03(Jenny). Craig Morley, Jenny Possingham, Ben Wilkinson
	Hooded Plover Point Franklin, Great Otway N.P. 5 birds foraging on beach, also one Double-banded Plover. Keith & Lindsay Fisher
	Magpie Werribee 3030 For the second time this year I had the pleasure of watching an Albino Magpie feeding with the other local Magpies that frequent my back yard. He's VERY white and where he should be Black, he is a lovely Caramal Colour :) The photos are not the best as I had little time to react so I used the zoom on my Nokia phone.............. Vanessa Robinson
	Little Corella Hawthorn A large flock of Little Corellas (200-300) decended on Carson Crescent and Burton Avenue, Hawthorn, today, making quite a mess. John Gray
Sun 25 Mar	Rufous Fantail, Crested Shrike-tit, Rose Robin, Speckled Warbler, Spotless Crake Long Forest Flurry of activity near Long Point. Several Spotless Crakes heard in dense reed beds along Comadai Ck. Mike Tesch
	Australasian Bittern Saunder's Landing, Lower Glenelg National Park I was just over for our annual school camp kayaking lengths of the Glenelg River - the kids make their own kayaks in Year 7! I am a birdwatcher myself, and was excited to watch the first Australasian Bittern I have ever seen. It was bigger than I expected, and flew among some of the trees and down to the reeds around Saunder's Landing. The kids found it quite exciting as well. A great suprize! Tim Badger
	Wandering Albatross, Brown Skua etc At sea off Portland One magnificent Wandering Albatross, one Brown Skua harrassing shearwaters and a Giant Petrel species. Was difficult to get a good look at most species because the primary task was tuna fishing! Plenty of Shy, Black-browed and Yellow Nosed Albatross about along with smaller petrels, storm petrels and gannets. Most birds out along the 500-1000m line. Adam Dixon
	Gilbert's Whistler, Chestnut-rumped Heath-wren, Diamond Firetail Bailieston A fairly quiet day, apart from a flurry of birds in one go on the western ridge overlooking Bailieston. First a pair of Chestnut-rumped Heathwrens, then an immature Restless Flycatcher accompanied by an immature/female Gilbert's Whistler (pictured) & then a family of 8 Diamond Firetails, juveniles included. Kevin Bartram
Sat 24 Mar	Black Falcon Benalla - eastern edge of town A single bird putting up a large flock of Galahs late in the afternoon. Other raptors recorded were a single Black Kite, 2 Black-shouldered Kites and a Brown Goshawk. Possible first record of the species for the township. Most recent record for the Benalla area appears to be from 1993 in the Atlas of Victorian Wildlife. (Moderators note: Black Falcons have been recorded from Benalla before, most recently from the tip in 2009 in Eremaea records. They are frequently seen around Winton Wetlands and St James to the north). Martin O'Brien
Sun 18 Mar	Grey Goshawk Narringal East, on Cobden-Warnambool Rd 1 White morph Grey Goshawk seen perched in a tree on side of road. Unfortunately took off before I could get a photo. Kevin Bartram
Sun 11 Mar	Pilotbird Cape Conran Coastal Park Pilotbird (1) Hopping around picnic area at old Joiners Homestead, quite late in afternoon (5pm). Stayed in area for some time, giving plenty of clear views. It has been ages since I've seen this species in East Gippsland - good to have them back! Janine Duffy

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

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