Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 20 Jan 2013.

Sun 20 Jan	Magpie Goose, Pectoral Sandpiper Western Treatment Plant, Werribee 1 Pectoral Sandpiper in first pond on the left after the Little River Ford, 4 Magpie Geese in South-east corner of Conservation Pond 9 and Glossy Ibis in T-section pond 5. Owen Lishmund
	Chestnut-rumped Heathwren No7 Pond Crusoe Reservoir Bendigo At no 7 pond this morning I sighted in 4 different locations families of Chestnut-rumped Heathwrens. It must have been a great breeding season as I have not seen any there before. Greg McKay
	Painted Snipe Crusoe Reservoir Bendigo Thanks to David McInnes who reported the presence of this bird at Crusoe reservoir. Went searching for it this morning and it took an hour or so to find it but was rewarded with some great views and photos. Also present numerous Great Crested Grebes, Nankeen night Herons, a pair of Spotted Crakes and 4 Black-tailed native hens. Greg McKay
	Spotless Crake Lake Connewarre A drake seen walking/ feeding along eastern shoreline embankment. Phil Mullaly
	Bassian Thrush Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne Bassian Thrush, an occasional visitor to the gardens seen this morning at the same location and at the same time as the Rail. Last seen in the gardens about a year or so ago. The Buff-banded Rail was on the western wetland margin of the Backwater to the Ornamental Lake. First reported on 2 January and seen by a number of other staff and visitors since then. Tony and Gwen Delves
Sat 19 Jan	Lewin's Raill, Blue-winged Parrot Lake Connewarre Brown and Stubble Quail flushed in different grassy habitats adjoining saltmarsh. Lewin's Rail flushed from saltmarsh at lake edge and 15 Blue-winged Parrots feeding in saltmarsh and paddock grasses. John Newman
	Plumed Whistling-Duck Lilliput (south of Rutherglen) 80 plus on a dam at the corner of Slaughterhouse and Lilliput-Norong Road. Bill & Jackie Morecraft
	Cicadabird McGees Road, Wombat State Forest 1 male Cicadabird seen and heard today at the first major creek crossing on McGees Road at approximately 12.30 pm. Red-browed Treecreeper, Flame Robin, Blue-winged Parrot and Gang-gang Cockatoo also seen. Note. Male and female Cicadabird poorly seen on 16/1. Ian and Amanda Ashton, Murray Grant, Helen O'Donnell
	Freckled Duck, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Winton Wetlands Freckled Duck (1) observed with other ducks in one of the borrow pits by the dam wall. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (1) great close views of a single bird in muddy shallows on the edge of Bill Friday Swamp. A good sighting, waders are not very common locally. A great morning with over a 100 species recorded. Michael Ramsey
Fri 18 Jan	Red-browed Treecreeper Mountain District Christian School, Monbulk Two birds observed from a few metres down by the creek. One bird had the prominent brow and colour, the other was duller (juv?). Greg Cobern
Thu 17 Jan	Spotless Crake, Buff-banded Rail, Australian Spotted Crake Grotty Pond, Banyule Flats The Spotless typically lurks under the dead blackberries and scurries along the far bank (thanks, Richard). Jeff Melvaine
	Black Honeyeater Greater Bendigo National Park (Whipstick section) Also seen a Brush Bronzewing and Variegated Fairy-wren. Luke Paterson
	Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Preston Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Small flock of Scaly-breasted Lorikeets (~4-5) seen feeding in the gums in my front yard. Very surprised to see them in Preston! Rohan Long
	Fork-tailed Swift Jollys Road / DeMotts Road, Anakie 1' Cell Fork-tailed Swift (10) Observed hunting above bushland here at about 7:30pm; 10-12 individuals in loose flock. Chris Lindorff
	Spotless Crake Mt St Joseph Pond, Altona Wetland drying rapidly. Large muddy expanse still providing some good habitat, counted 10 Australian Spotted Crake and 4 Spotless Crake from the viewing platform - also couple of Eastern Long-necked Tortoises vying for the dwindling water resource. Scott Baker
Wed 16 Jan	White-bellied Cuckooshrike Bannockburn Bushland Reserve White-bellied Cuckooshrike (2) Not recorded in this 1 degree block for over 12 months. An adult (white front, narrow black mask, no dark colour behind eye therefore not imm Black-faced) together with an immature (slightly longer mask, grey upper breast, lightly barred below) being fed by adult Angus Hartshorn
Wed 16 Jan	Baillon's and Spotless Crake Nerriina Wetlands, Ballarat Spotted, Spotless and Baillon's Crakes in reeds at edge of rapidly shrinking ponds. One of each seen. Campbell Vincent
	Spotted Harrier Bete Bolong via Orbost Following on from recent sightings of this species adjacent to the Snowy River bridge at Orbost and over farmland some 5km further east, Jacquie and I observed an immature Harrier quietly perched on a fence post some 50m past the old Bete Bolong tennis courts around noon today. As highlighted previously, an infrequent observation for this area of Victoria. Jacquie and Len Axen
	Australian Painted Snipe Crusoe Reservoir, Bendigo One Australian Painted Snipe at the reservoir. Also two Painted Button-quail and a Great Crested Grebe. David mcinnes
	Black Honeyeater Wilby Black Honeyeater (1). An immature male (black feathers coming through grey plumage) seen closely feeding off Fuchsia Gum flowers in the back garden. Michael Ramsey
	Banded Lapwing Hugh Murray Drive Industrial Estate, Colac, Victoria family? of six birds, some appear as immature. Have been feeding and resting around the middle of the estate. Vonda Potter
	Powerful Owl New Gisborne railway station At 7:30am the extraordinary site of an adult-plumaged Powerful Owl flying over the train station from woodland in the NW towards tree rows in pasture/housing in the E. I've not ever seen PO in extended flight and certainly not in daylight, so the initial impression of the approaching bird was one of confusion. As it flew overhead about 20m up I had an excellent view. Very odd. Lawrie Conole
Tue 15 Jan	Freckled Duck-5, Australasian Shoveler-40, Pink-eared Duck-10, Blue-billed Duck-200 Seymour Sewage Treatment Plant View from southern end of pond that is visible from Dead Horse Lane. With 3 other observers. Val La May
Tue 15 Jan	Fairy Penguin, Grey Plover, Red Knot, Bar-tailed Godwits Barwon River and Lake Connewarre delta 1 Fairy Penguin seen fishing 5km upstream of Barwon River mouth. At delta, 37 Red Knot, 6 Grey Plovers, 120+ Bar-tailed Godwits and several thousand mixed smaller waders. John Newman & Trevor Lumb
Mon 14 Jan	Plains Wanderer Little River CFA Firefighter Simon Jolly saw a male plains wanderer walk out of a burnt area then retreat back into longer grass. He is familiar with the species, his wife released the female that was in Melb Zoos care into this area some time back, he is sure of what he saw. The area was between Bulban and Edgars Road. Simon Jolly per Deb Crosby
	Spotless Crake Banyule Flats Reserve As reported recently, two Spotless Crakes were found in the small pond near Banyule Rd(known as Grotty Pond). Also, 2 Buff banded rails and one Australian Spotted Crake in the same small pond. A great little pond with easy viewing access from the track near the playground. Bernie O'Keefe
	Painted Honeyeater Banyule Flats Reserve When searching for the Powerful Owl, I was amazed to hear, see and photograph a single bird calling loudly. It was found on the east side of the reserve just where the large powerlines cross over the track near the golf course. I crossed over 2 bridges from the main carpark on Somerset Dr. Bernie O'Keefe
	Spotted Harrier, Brolga, Pectoral Sandpiper Reedy Lake, Leopold Spotted Harrier (1) good sighting. Brolga (3) a pair and one other West of Moolap Station Rd. Pectoral Sandpiper (1) end of Woods Rd in swamp. Angus Hartshorn
	Welcome Swallow - white Melbourne High School oval A group of welcome swallows has been flying around over the oval in the mornings for the last week. Today there was a white one, with a reddish head and breast, seen at 7.40am. It was very similar to this one - taken by Dirk Tomsa at the WTP. http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/welcome-swallow-hirundo-neoxena/rarely-seen-completely-white-swallow Liz Hackett
Sun 13 Jan	White-faced Storm-petrel, White-chinned Petrel, Fairy Prion etc Port Fairy pelagic No rarities today, but plenty of birds around the boat. Around 70 White-faced Storm-petrels was one of the highlights, some coming very close. Also 40 or so Fairy Prions, 2 White-chinned Petrels. Also 2 Wandering Albatrosses, heaps of Great-winged Petrels (both subspecies), a few Sooty Shearwaters. And the most common bird on the shelf was Flesh-footed Shearwater. Other birds were: Black-browed Albatross (both subspecies); Yellow-nosed Albatross, Shy Albatross; Short-tailed Shearwater. Kevin Bartram
	Australian Spotted Crake Winter Swamp, Cardigan At least 20 inidividuals seen in a small area of this c.200 ha swamp. Perhaps >200-400 individuals! at this site Colin Trainor
	Spotless Crake Belmont Common Wildlife Reserve & Wetlands Australian Spotted Crake (3) & Spotless Crake (2) quite active on muddy inlet opposite hide, and around margins of reed bed. Russell Woodford
	Malleefowl Walpeup/Patchewollock/Ouyen A friend reported to me that on a drive they were on today in these areas, they counted 23 Malleefowl, mostly within 20 km of Patchewollock. Moderators note: Numbers of Malleefowl have been seen along these roads for some time. Current numbers are known to be the highest for a long time, in parts of the mallee. This sighting relates to between 1 and 2pm on a rainy day. John Tongue (Tas).
Sat 12 Jan	Scarlet Honeyeater Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne one male feeding in flowering eucalypt on Howson Hill in the Australian Garden section, skulking in thick foliage to avoid the Little Wattlebirds Barbara Gleeson
	Pacific Golden Plover, Pectoral Sandpiper, Arctic Jaeger Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Pacific Golden Plover (5) Kirks point about 6.00pm Pectoral Sandpiper (3) Ponds after Lt River Ford. Arctic Jaeger (3) Amazing viewing. These 3 were together harrassing the terns off Kirks Point. Seen after viewing the PGP. Well photographed for posiitive ID by moderators. Steve & Judi Duke
Thu 10 Jan	Black Falcon Braeside Park Single Black falcon close to the cnr of Lower Dandenong Rd and the Howard Rd Trail in the small gum trees along the fence line. I startled something and turned back to see a fully dark brown falcon with no other colouring, small curved beak and long tail..flew off as I tried to get closer.. Brett Harman
Wed 9 Jan	Double-barred Finch Towong Gap A flock of four Double-barred Finches were seen perched in a dead gum in hilly dry woodland before flying off to the north, I suspect there are small populations of this species throughout the Upper Murray region extending west to Albury-Wodonga were small numbers can be found. Michael Ramsey
Tue 1 Jan	Square-tailed Kite, Speckled Warbler, Painted Honeyeater Clunes A spectacular day of birding with a Square-tailed Kite circling overhead, Speckled Warbler in regenerated broom-type bushes (first I have seen here in maybe 4 years) and a Painted Honeyeater feeding in mistletoe. Jenny Spry, Helen O'Donnel and Joy Tansey

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