Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 17 Mar 2013.

Fri 15 Mar	Diamond Firetail Numurkah and Nine Mile Creek State Park just off Kelly's road Saw one Diamond Firetail in the morning in my garden in Numurkah and later in the afternoon a small flock of about 5 along the Nine Mile Creek SSE of Numurkah and E of Wunghu. Catarina Gregson
Thu 14 Mar	Freckled Duck Balbirooro Freckled duck seen at Balbirooroo and then later 6 more at Coolart. Arthur & Denise Carew
	Pallid Cuckoo Truganina Swamp (Altona) Very boldly marked juvenile Pallid Cuckoo behind the houses on Purnell Street near the railway crossing. First for me at this site and only one previous record on Eremaea. Colin Clark
	Rufous Fantail Blucher St, Ferntree Gully 1 bird seen this morning in the front yard in company with a couple of Grey Fantails and Thornbills. I've seen a number of them through the Dandenong Ranges this summer but not in the suburbs. Greg Cobern
	Spangled Drongo Seamist Park, Giffard Great views at close range for several minutes in the Basslink re-vegetation offset property. Peter Ware, Martin Potts, Duncan Fraser
	Wood Sandpiper Thompson's Creek, Minya, Connewarre Single bird feeding on mud flat with Red-kneed Dotterels Gordon McCarthy & Tom Fletcher
Tue 12 Mar	Intermediate Egret, Common Sandpiper Western Treatment Plant, Werribee 45 min. visit to T-Section Lagoons in late afternoon after a day of 38ºC then quick look over Western Lagoons near gate for about 15 minutes just before sunset. 2 Intermediate Egrets in flooded grasses near T-Section Lagoon No. 3. Also one Great Egret nearby. Common Sandpiper (1) Very late in the day, one bird photographed in Western Lagoons No. 3. Russell Woodford
	Wood Sandpiper Western Treatment Plant, Werribee A quick visit early this evening to look for the Broad-billed SP. The BBS could not be located but it was great to see 2 Wood Sandpipers in the first pond from the entrance.,11 Pacific Golden Plovers at Kirk's Point in almost full breeding plumage, see photo. Also 2 Red Knots in the second pond along the shoreline from the Beach Rd entrance were very close to the road which enabled great viewing. Bernie O'Keefe
	Square-tailed Kite Warranwood Alerted by the Noisy Miner alarm calls, I went outside this morning to see three raptors drifting east-west overhead. One was a definite Square-tailed Kite, and another a Brown Goshawk. The third was just too far across to be certain, but it looked to be another Kite. Steven Creber
Mon 11 Mar	Black Honeyeater Percy's Dam Rushworth Forest Small flock of Black Honeyeaters seen feeding on Grey Box blossom at Percy's Dam, near South Boundary Road, in the Rushworth Forest. Anne Finlay
	Banded Stilt Kitty Miller Rd Phillip Island Three Banded Stilts feeding in the main holding dam on the east side of the road. Only the second reported record for this species on the Island, the last in 2007 by Vanessa & Matthew Hollows. Derek & Sally Whitehead
	Freckled Duck Swan Lake, Phillip Island 7 Freckled Duck, 1 Black-tailed Native-hen at Swan Lake this morning with very low water levels. Also, didn't report one Little Penguin in Swan Lake when it was full of water on 5 January (didn't know they went into fresh water). Wendy McWilliams
	Freckled Duck Crusoe Reservoir Bendigo 3 Freckled ducks still present at the reservoir. Southern side of the res but pretty flighty maybe due to the hot weather and amount of people swimmimg at the lake. Also Red capped robin and plenty of Brown Headed Honeyeaters Greg and Janice McKay
Sun 10 Mar	Fork-tailed Swift Newport Out in the backyard after 9.30am I noticed at least 45 Fork-tailed Swift passing high overhead, accompanying the cool change that was sweeping through. They milled about for a bit in groups with tails spread, before speeding off to the north. Also had at least one Fairy Martin passed through to the west. Steve Davidson
	Spotted Nightjar Konardin Track, Hattah Kulkyne Excellent repeat sightings of a pair of Spotted Nightjars. These birds can be quite vulnerable due to their habit of squatting on the track. If the bird is in the middle of the track it is easy to see but they can sit very close to the edge of the track and look like dried or dark inanimate matter. We would hate to see someone run over them inadvertently as on one occasion we were within 2 metres of one bird before it flew up and this close escape made us realise how easy it would be to run one over if a vehicle was moving fast. Nevertheless the experience of seeing these birds without use of play back calls etc is well worth having. Hedley and Irena Earl with Bernie O'Keefe
	Black Honeyeater, GIlbert's Whistler, Singing Honeyeater, White-fronted Honeyeater Kamarooka Kamarooka quite active this day. A bunch of nice birds seen around the south-west corner of Campbell Rd & Bendigo-Tennyson Rd. Heard a GIlbert's Whistler from the car & then saw an adult male; had a Shy Heathwren run across the road; lots of White-fronted Honeyeaters in the area; a Collared Sparrowhawk soared over & the highlight 1 Black Honeyeater male seen briefly. Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters seen at almost every place I stopped. 1 Singing Honeyeater seen on Millwood Rd, the first I've seen around Bendigo. Also Purple-gaped Honeyeater further south along Millwood Rd. Kevin Bartram
	Red-lored Whistler Murray-Sunset National Park Afternoon visit accompanied by Bernie O'Keefe to seek out the rare Red-lored whistler. We approached the park from Meridian Road and turned left into Honeymoon track. 2.2 Kms along the track the whistler announced his presence with several consecutive calls very close to the track. After some considerable time we were able to sight the bird and attempt to photograph it as it kept altering its position but always keeping itself concealed with foliage. Despite obtaining a poor photo we were thrilled to sight along the Honeymoon track west of the Meridian Rd intersection. Hedley Earl & Irena Earl
	Mallee Emu Wren Hattah-Kulkyne National Park A terric few days away with Hedley and Irena Earl from Geelong camping at Hattah produced some great results despite the very hot temperatures. The highlight was no doubt finding the Mallee Emu Wrens on Nowingi Track on both days (4 birds) and despite the poor quality of the wren photo, the joy of finally sharing time with these birds was amazing! Bernie O'Keefe
	Brolga 150+ Blackwood Lake, Penshurst Large flock of brolga still present all around water's edge - quite spread out - counted at least 150, but could hear more out of sight to our left. Thanks to Samantha Greiner for her report of 1/3, which prompted us to detour in hope the brolgas would still be there. Many other waterbirds, so worth taking a scope. John Watson
	African Collared-Dove JT Gray Reserve, Newport African Collared-Dove At least four observed on powerlines along Maddox Road Paul Dodd & Ruth Woodrow
Fri 8 Mar	Malleefowl Ouyen-Patchewollock Rd. Numbers of Malleefowl still about with 14 seen along Ouyen-Patchewollock Rd. Some of these chooks were ridiculously unfazed by our vehicle, and we pulled up right alongside one bird on the roadside. They all appeared to be feeding on canola seeds, which were abundant along the gravel verges. All birds seen around 18.00 and thereafter on 8th March. Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
Fri 8 Mar	Rufous Fantail Studley Park Rufous Fantail observed. (Moderator's note: likely on passage at this time of year, MR). Also a single Swamp Harrier flew high over the Yarra near Dights Falls at about 8 am last Friday. It was harrassed by a Magpie before disappearing to the east. First I have seen here. Dave Dickson

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