Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 6 Oct 2013.

Sun 6 Oct	Common Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Freckled Duck, Blue-winged Parrot Jawbone Reserve, Williamstown Fine and cloudy. Breeze light. Birdlife group of 7. Common Sandpiper (1) photo attached Common Greenshank (1) Blue-winged Parrot (1) overhead Freckled Duck (3) Richard Arnold
Sun 6 Oct	Freckled Duck, Great Crested Grebe, Buff-banded Rail, Common Sandpiper Jawbone Reserve, Williamstown Freckled Duck (3) near bird hide Great Crested Grebe (1) on the main lake... cruising around Buff-banded Rail (2) flushed from the path near boardwalk Common Sandpiper (1) Seen at the western end of jawbone reserve up near kororoit creek Philip Peel
Sun 6 Oct	Ruddy Turnstone Ricketts Point, Beaumaris One bird on outer edge of reef. John Eichler
	Regent Parrot Syndal (Glen Waverley North) Single bird seen flying strongly and purposefully west to east at about 10:30 am (daylight saving time), and heard to call at least once. Presumably most likely an escapee. Jack Krohn
Sat 5 Oct	Brolga Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Pair of Brolgas at Western Lagoon on Saturday afternoon. Sheridan Smith
	Red-necked Stint Ricketts Point, Beaumaris Five birds observed on reef initially. Two birds later seen feeding amongst seaweed on shoreline. A rare bird locally. John Eichler
	Cape Gannet Point Danger Single bird seen on the east edge of the colony. Long gular stripe, pale iris and completely black tail. Observed over a period of 20 minutes from a distance of 25 meters. Phone pic from back of camera attached. Ruth Woodrow, Paul Dodd and Tim Bawden
	Ruddy Turnstone Indented Head Ruddy Turnstone (28) Possibly more. One had an orange flag on its right leg. Sighted on the St Leonards side of Wrathall Reserve. David Fleming
Fri 4 Oct	Ruddy Turnstone Mornington Peninsula Nat Park (Gunnamatta Beach) Single bird resting with a pair of Hoodies, above high water mark between the two sets of stairs. Photo by Mark Lethlean. Neil Shelley, Mark Lethlean
	Sanderling Gunnamatta beach, Victoria Single bird. Ideal habitat but not often seen here Mark Lethlean
	Black Honeyeater Gama Bushland Reserve Three male Black Honeyeaters seen feeding in the abundant eremophila, along the the Gama/Sealake Rd next to the Gama Bushland Reserve. A pair of variegated fairy-wrens also at the same site foraging in the understory. Sightings around lunchtime in bright sunshine. Barbara Burns
	Sacred Kingfisher Merri Creek Trail, Fitzroy North to Coburg Sacred Kingfisher (1) Seems to have returned to Merri Creek James Mustafa (3042)
	Red-capped Robin and Rose Robin Banyule Flats Reserve The immature Red-capped Robin was still there this morning, engaged in aggressive chasing with a female Rose Robin (don't often see these species together). Richard Loyn and Lyn Easton
Thu 3 Oct	Crimson Chat Wyperfeld NP 4 Crimson Chats seen along Meridian track near junction with Wool track. One male Chat seen in same field of view as male Red-capped Robin ! Also Budgerigar, White-browed Treecreeper, Black-eared Cuckoo, Pink Cockatoo, Gilberts Whistler , Mulga Parrot seen around the park. Simon Starr
	Rufous Songlark, Horsfield's Bushlark Elster Creek, Elwood A single Rufous Songlark was foraging in around the edge of the Elsternwick Park Lake. It was flying back and forth to avoid walkers and cyclists. A Horsfield's Bushlark was doing the same on the Elwood Foreshore in the thin strip of Coast Saltbush/grasses between the Riva restaurant car park and the outdoor gym equipment near the Elwood Canal. Amazingly this small inner urban park appears to be a fairly good spot for anyone wanting to see Horsfield's Bushlark (at this time of year). Gio Fitzpatrick
	Speckled Warbler, Painted Honeyeater, Little Eagle, Sacred Kingfisher, Buff-rumped Thornbill Bartleys Block, Chiltern Great morning at the block. Plenty of other birds too including Yellow Tufted & Fuscous Honeyeaters, Olive Backed Oriole, Noisy Friarbird, White Throated Gerygone, Red Browed Firetails (nesting), Mistletoebird, and Yellow Rumped Thornbill. Wolinski & Richardson Families
Wed 2 Oct	Red-capped Robin Banyule Flats One immature in shrubs where bike path meets river. Lyn Easton, Richard Loyn & Guy Dutson
	Rufous Songlark Whittlesea City Council - Epping Depot 7am. Windy and cold morning. I was watching a small bird in the council depot carpark, when I saw it fly straight into a window. I picked it up and took it to a safer place and after a few minutes it came good and flew off. To my surprise, it was my first Rufous Songlark for the season. Bernie McRitchie
	Swift Parrot Alphington Two briefly in my garden this evening Guy Dutson
	Eurasian Tree Sparrow West Preston To follow up on the report of nesting Eurasian Tree Sparrows at Preston police station, for the past two months a single Tree Sparrow has been the constant companion of a pair of House Sparrows, nesting in the wall of our house. Anthea Stubbs
	Ruddy Turnstone, Black Falcon Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Another very windy morning - hardly any ducks at the plant at the moment. Most of the tracks are drying out. 2 (maybe 3 but was very windy!) Ruddy Turnstone on 280S Rd and a Black Falcon hunting along the same area. Lots of Black Kites on Pt Wilson Rd. Marsh Sandpiper in Western Lagoon Pond 4. Brown Songlark in Western Lagoon area as well. Dave Torr, Trevor Hunt, Theresa from USA
	Red backed Kingisher, Blue winged parrots Goschen bushland Reserve Surprised to see the kingfisher here! Came in search of elegant parrots but we did find 7 blue wings. Lots of bird activity as always with 3 species woodswallow, 2 species of babbler and a single black honeyeater Hedley and Irena Earl
Tue 1 Oct	Latham's Snipe Corner Graydens Rd and Marine Parade Hastings Wet and muddy area between railway line and roads. One Latham's Snipe flushed as we walked along bike path here! First time we have seen this species here in over 30 years living in this area! S and S King
Mon 30 Sep	Regent Honeyeater Green Hill Dam, Chiltern 4 Regent Honeyeaters seen today, including one with a radio transmitter on it's back. They were very defensive of their area & were even seen chasing Noisy Miners away. Kevin Bartram & Scott Baker
	Double-barred Finch Black Dog Creek, Lilliput Six Double-barred Finch seen on northern side of Black Dog Creek south of Lilliput, east of Chiltern. Kevin Bartram & Scott Baker
	Painted Honeyeater, Masked & White-browed Woodswallow, White-throated & Western Gerygone Bartley's Block, Chiltern Lots of activity from Painted Honeyeaters, at least 6 about, calling frequently & zipping about. Hundreds of White-browed & Masked Woodswallows seen heading south, seemed like a significant movement, about 1/3 were Masked. White-throated Gerygone heard, & several Western Gergones provided great views. Brown Quail flushed. Kevin Bartram & Scott Baker
	Gull-billed Tern Western Treatment Plant, Werribee. At 10.30am today, 3 Gull-billed Terns in adult breeding plumage flew over Austin Rd/Summer Pond one heading towards Beach Rd. This species is not often recorded at the WTP. Also seen today were Singing Bushlarks and 1 Brown Songlark at Beach Rd (opposite banded lapwing paddock) and a Rufous Songlark at 29 Mile Rd. Maarten Hulzebosch
Sun 29 Sep	Australian Magpie Newport Lakes Park Australian Magpie (1) Black-backed individual, spotted on verge of road near Mason St entrance to park Matthew Crawford
Sun 29 Sep	Olive Whistler Banyule Flat One calling hard among tree violets beyond powerlines: rarely found here in spring Richard Loyn
	Barking Owl Chiltern Mt Pilot National Park 1 Barking Owl calling most of the night. An adventure into the night produced nice views. Kevin Bartram & Scott Baker
	Black Falcon, Cattle Egret Viewbank Large uniformly dark and very fast falcon with pointed wings observed from Plenty River Trail, at high point above the historic silos. Wing-beats shallow and body plus tail long and narrow. Face and underparts were seen ( with binocs) to be uniformly dark. I've not seen Black Falcon in this area before (23 years residence), but know it from elsewhere, and am confident that the bird was neither a dark morph brown nor a juvenile peregrine. Also had just flushed a Cattle Egret from long grass nearby - common here but the first I've seen this season with breeding colour on face and breast. Neil Murray
	Sacred Kingfisher Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne A Sacred Kingfisher has returned to the main ornamental lake in the RBG. It was feeding from the willow at the western end. John Barkla & Alison Street
Sat 28 Sep	Baillon's and Spotted Crake, Banded Lapwing, Banded Stilt, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Gull-billed Tern Western Treatment Plant, Werribee A full-day visit to the WTP with Rick and Elis Simpson of WaderQuest fame. Very, very windy and showery. Baillon's Crake (1) T-Section Pond 4 Australian Spotted Crake (1) T-Section Pond 4 Banded Lapwing (10) Pousties Road paddock (visible from far western corner of Austin Road) Banded Stilt (5) Summer Pond 1 Broad-billed Sandpiper (1) Beach Road Pond Gull-billed Tern (1) Summer Pond 1 Paul Dodd, Rick & Elis Simpson (WaderQuest)
Thu 26 Sep	Black-tailed Godwit Western Treatment Plant Sighted & photographed three Black-tailed Godwit feeding on the waters edge,through Gate 2 Western Lagoon,to the right between 29 Mile Road & the Spit.Photo confirmed by John Stirling. Steve Davidson,i noted your remark about the Brolgas maybe not nesting because of possible interference by a Fox.Well i saw the Brolgas in the Saltbush on the 26th from the road leading down to Murtcairn.I also saw a Fox on this road as well.this was the third time i have seen a Fox in the area. Ray Fox
Wed 25 Sep	Red-rumped Parrot Rosalind Park, Bendigo Five pairs of Red-rumped Parrots found nesting in introduced Plane Trees in or adjacent to Rosalind Park (around Pall Mall) in the centre of Bendigo. Other pairs which were in the area may have added to this tally if we had found their nests too. John Barkla & Alison Street

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