Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 26 May 2013.

Sun 26 May	Freckled Duck, Pink-eared Duck Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands (Seaford) At least 4 Freckled Ducks and 34 Pink-eared Ducks at southern end of Seaford Wetlands. Also at least 2 Blue-billed Ducks and 2 Great White Egrets. Falk Wicker
	Red-browed Treecreeper Bunyip State Park Another good day out birding with Nev Capell from Bunderberg. Highlights included Red-browed Treecreeper, Beautiful Firetail, Cicadarbird, Brown Gerygone, Gang Gang Cockatoo and Pilotbird. Bernie O'Keefe and Nev Capell
	Red-capped Robin Bababi djinanang (Jukes Rd grassland, Fawkner) Mingling with a small flock of female Flame Robins, hunting amid reegetated woodland along Merri Creek. Observed during Friends of Merri Creek birdwatch. Brian Bainbridge
	Northern Shoveler, Freckled ducks Western Treatment Plant Shoveler still in the first pond on the right through the gate Paradise Road. Found him at about 9.00am and was still there when I left at noon. You need a very good scope I was only able to find him looking through my camera with a 500 zoom lens and then only found him because of his distinctive white. Also counted over 50 Freckled Ducks in Lake Borrie, Paradise Rd end. Greg McKay
	Spotted Harrier Sunbury Spotted Harrier (1) observed over the vineyards on Vineyard Road. First for me in this area. Roger McGlashan
	White-bellied Sea-Eagle Western Water Treatment Plant, Melton Eco-walk with Western Water and Pinkerton Landcare Group. White-bellied Sea-Eagle (2) Roger McGlashan
	Leucistic Singing Honeyeater Lake Albacutya Park An interesting mornings birding at Yaapeet Beach. Leucistic Singing Honeyeater being constantly harrassed by White-fronted Honeyeaters. First seen close up through binoculars, photographed this afternoon in the same area. Numerous Pied Butcherbirds, Yellow-plumed Honeyeater & Crested Bellbird. There were normal Singing Honeyeaters around as well. Keith & Judy Humphreys
Sat 25 May	Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo Edenhope Aerodrome Bushland Resereve Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo (7) heard and seen feeding on stringybark nuts, possible two-three juvenile birds by sound of calls. My last stop after day out with members of BirdLife Hamilton, other members had left to return home looking for RTB on the way. Samantha Greiner
Sat 25 May	Northern Shoveler Western Treatment Plant, Werribee The male Northern Shoveler showed itself well on Borrie pond 8 (the first large pond on right of Paradise Road), swimming quite fast from one side to the other with a small group of Australasian Shovelers. 24 Black Kites attending a control burn in Borrie native grasslands; a White-bellied Sea-Eagle and a Spotted Harrier occasionally flushing the ducks. Pink-eared Duck and Freckled Duck very numerous on same pond. Richard Loyn, Judith Hoyle et al.
	Crested Shrike-tit Woodlands Historic Park (Greenvale) Two birds feeding in trees near the cemetery along the track between the car-park and Back Paddock. In the same area were Red-browed Finch, Red-capped Robin, Flame Robin, Yellow-rumped Thornbill and Scarlet Robin. Nick Talbot
	Royal Spoonbill, Yellow-billed Spoonbill Knights Rd & Portarlington-Queenscliff Rd 1' Cell Royal Spoonbill Yellow-billed Spoonbill Mixed flock of over 100 Royal/Yellow-billed Spoonbills. About 70% Royals. Near corner of Knights & Portarlington-Queenscliff Rds on the Swan Bay side. David Fleming
	Northern Shoveler & Brolga Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Male Northern Shoveler seen at 7:30 this morning at Lake Borrie, first lake on right of Paradise road after Gate 6. Four Brolga also seen on Western Lagoons. Bruce Wedderburn
	Banded Stilt, Black-winged Stilt and Red-necked Avocet Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Saw all of the above three species feeding together. First time at WTP, it's a great spot for birds. Vincent Knowles
	Blue-winged parrot Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Good day out at showing Nev Capell (President of Birdlife Bundaberg) our great treatment plant. Highlights included Brolgas(4) at Borrow Pits, Northern Shoveler(1) at Lake Borrie and Blue-winged parrots(4) at western Lagoons. Bernie O'Keefe and Nev Capell
Fri 24 May	Northern Shoveler Western Treatment Plant, Werribee As reported by Simon Starr. We had excellent views from 7:30 - 8:30 am. Judy Leitch
	Northern Shoveler Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Male seen early morning at north west corner of Lake Borrie, viewed from Paradise road ( first water on south side of road after Gate 6). Was feeding with male Australaisian Shovelers. 13 species of raptor seen for the day ! Simon Starr
	Pink-eared Duck & Freckled Duck Jells Park 7 Pink-eared Duck on log to the right when viewed near bird hide along with 6 Freckled Duck on various logs to the left & right of bird hide. Brendan McDonald
	Peregrine Falcon Red Bluff, Black Rock Young (brown) bird flew around below me c1100, possibly returning to a perch on the cliff face. 15 minutes later it flew north, turned in the far distance, and last seen in a long southerly dive.. Michael Norris
Thu 23 May	Channel-billed Cuckoo Dandenong Ranges National Park (Grants Picnic Ground) Following up on Tuesday's report of a Channel-billed Cuckoo, I heard managed to hear one calling off in the distance on Lyrebird Track. This section of track was well away from any tourist or Cockatoo noise, past the Neumann track junction. Additionally the male Superb Lyrebird I saw on the track even briefly mimicked a Channel-billed squawk. Tim Nickholds
Thu 23 May	Bassian Thrush Stanley Avenue Reserve, Mount Waverley Bassian Thrush (1) Sighted from about eight yards, it froze when it saw me, then continued to forage through the dense layer of leaves. A cyclist then rode past and it ran into an area of thick ferns just a couple of yards away. The reserve is in a valley that runs down from Monash Fwy to Scotchmans creek. It's always moist with a dense overhead canopy and thick leaf-litter. David Fleming
Wed 22 May	Masked Owl Point Nepean National Park Coastal Moonah Woodland. Called twice 1910 hrs after Powerful Owl Playback. Masked Owl call was played but there was no response but this is typical of this species. Access is restricted as gates are locked around 5pm Garry Cheers and Kate Parkins
	Black Falcon Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Black Falcon was seen on Beach Road betwen Avalon Airport and Point Wilson Road. Also seen was a lone Double-banded Plover (partial breeding plumage), several Australian Spotted Crakes and 4 Brolgas flying over Austin Road. All up, 71 species seen for the day. Ian Miles
	Cape Barren Goose Skye Two birds grazing on farmland on southern side of Hall Road. Barbara Jupp
	Northern Shoveler Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Around 0915 in Borrie Pond 8 (first pond on right as you come along Paradise Rd). In a group of Pink-ears close to western bank. Other good birds included 4 Brolga in Western Lagoons, good numbers of White-necked Heron (one flock of 14), 2 Spotless Crake in T-section Pond 4 and 12 raptor species including a pair of Sea-eagles on Borrie. Dave Torr, Iian Denham, Christine Shelley
Tue 21 May	Major Mitchell's Cockatoo Woodvale on Loddon Valley Hwy, about 5-10kms NW of Eaglehawk A single bird seen in trees on the highway opposite the Woodvale Fire Station. Probable avian escapee but perhaps worth monitoring. Loosely associated with a flock of Galahs. Same bird was seen again the following day. Martin Woodward
	Channel-billed Cuckoo Grant's Picnic Area, Sherbrooke While walking along Lyrebird Walk from the picnic area at about 11.00am, a single Channel-billed Cuckoo was seen flying above the tree canopy and it was also viewed with binoculars. The other observer was Sally Bewsher. John has seen the cuckoo before along the NE coast of NSW. (Moderator's note: a report of this species in Victoria during his time of year would be unprecedented. The report has been published to encourage others to confirm the sighting in this area if possible). John Prytherch
	Northern Shoveler Western Treatment Plant, Werribee At 10 am it was still at the top end of Lake Borrie (North East corner of the first pond on right coming in on Paradise Rd) with other shovelers and hundreds of Pink-eared Ducks. At 2 pm all these ducks including the Northern Shoveler had moved elsewhere. Angus Hartshorn
	Swift Parrot Royal Park, Parkville Swift Parrot (2) Flying east over tram lines between Park St. and Royal Park Station. Nicole Spillane & Paul Jacobson
Mon 20 May	Hooded Plover Belfast Coastal Park Recent dune erosion has produced a very sheltered beach especially from north winds. L = Lagoon north of road B = beach Hooded Plover (26) 7 juveniles. I saw only 1 tag but could not read it Angus Hartshorn
	Little Shearwater Belfast Coastal Park Little Shearwater beachwashed. Top of head missing. 27 cm long white below (including tail) with black trailing edge to wing. Wingspan 60 cm. Dark above. Bill finer than eg Common Diving-petrel. Blue legs, webs pinkish. Angus Hartshorn
	Australasian Bittern Laverton Creek,Altona Meadows At 10:02hrs Australasian Bittern flushed from dense reeds in Laverton Creek adjacent to A B Shaw Reserve.Gaining height it circled over reserve and nearby houses before lowering legs and dropping out of sight in direction of Laverton Crk near N.W. corner of Truganina Swamp. David A Richardson
Sun 19 May	New Zealand Cape Petrel Port Fairy Pelagic Also 2 very dark Cape Petrels seen on the shelf. Quite difficult to identify from nominate subspecies, but these were very dark hooded with little white on the wing & had black on the back. Kevin Bartram
	Snowy Albatross, Antarctic Prion etc Port Fairy Pelagic Further to Bernie O'Keefe's report, 1 very white, large Wandering Albatross seen on shelf, which could only have been a Snowy Albatross, currently split as a full species in the IOC checklist. It seemed to be paired with a smaller, darker bird, which could have been a female of the same taxa. Also either Antarctic/Salvin's Prion photographed on the way out, At least 2 White-fronted Terns, 1 juvenile, 1 adult. Kevin Bartram
	Black Honeyeater Chiltern Mt Pilot National Park A pair sighted by a group of Regent honeyeater trackers along Ryans Rd. Kate Daniel
	Northern Shoveler, Australasian Bittern Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Good views of the Shoveler at Paradise Road Pond and brief views of the Bittern at The Borrow Ponds ( Bank opposite the "drive in" area) Thanks to a number of birders with "Eagle Eyes} Corrie & Ian Macartney
	Swift Parrot Intersection of Levers and Sugarloaf Lane Avoca Between 4-6 birds congregating in immature patch of Red Gum and Yellow Box with good understorey diversity of vegetation. Sighted and heard around 4.30pm in fading light. One bird being chased by Red Wattlebird. Lots of Yellow-tufted Honeyeater at the site too. Very little flowering but larger roadside Yellow Gum in nearby area heavy in flower with lots of Musk and Little Lorikeet. Adrian Martins
	Buller's Albatross Port Fairy Pelagic A great day out led by Neil McCumber with some exciting results. Highlights included 1 Buller's Albatross, 1 Royal Albatross, 2 Common Diving-petrels, 1 Cape Petrel and 1 White-fronted Tern. Over 100 albatrosses turned up for a feeding feast including at least 3 Wandering Albatrosses, 5 Northern Giant petrels and 1 southern Giant petrel. Also many Wilson's Storm Petrels, Grey-backed Storm Petrels and Fairy Prions. Bernie O'Keefe
Sat 18 May	Brolga Lake Bolac Two lovely Brolga flying. We were able to do a 'u' turn in town with both birds still visable. They then circled above us, then flew east away from Lake Bolac. This is our fourth sighting of Brolga in the area over the past five years. Tim & Jodie Stirling

Birdline Victoria is sponsored by BirdLife Victoria 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
===============================