Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 1 Dec 2013.

Sun 1 Dec	Pacific Golden Plover Western end of 13th beach,(42w) Black Rock. 29 Plovers observed today on the rocks at waters edge, with 6 or 7 Turnstones thrown in! Denis Sleep
	Australian Koel Bay st, Golden Square. Heard by 3 0bservers on bird challenge . Calling from pine tree in church carpark. K & M Dredge & D Jackson.
Sat 30 Nov	Latham's Snipe Old Port Albert (Nooramunga Marine Park) Unable to locate Beach stone-curlew despite thoroughly searching the beach from the caravan park to as far as we could walk toward the town. Crabs in abundance as were oystercatchers etc. we also took a short walk along a path that was beside the mangroves at the back of the Hotel. It was here we found the snipe. Latham's Snipe (4) Flushed 4 separate birds from a drain one street south west of the hotel. All 4 dropped into the mangroves alongside the walking path. Hedley and Irena Earl
Sat 30 Nov	Australian Koel Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne Twas a lovelorn Oz Koel that sang out across the gardens this morning from up on high in ye olde elm overlooking Long Island, assuming it's the same bird as first reported in early November. Also present was a very vocal Sacred Kingfisher near the restaurant. Steven Davidson - The Melbourne Birder
Sat 30 Nov	Osprey Point Nepean National Park Osprey (1) travelling westwards along north side of peninsular about 12pm Peter Bennet
Fri 29 Nov	Bassian Thrush Somers Trail (Mitcham) Somers Trail is native bushland beside Heatherdale Creek Mitcham. To my surprise there 2 metres in front of me was a Bassian Thrush . Of course had left camera at home . Thrush stood and looked for 10 secs then scuttled off through the undergrowth. Robert Scholes
	Satin Flycatcher Westgate Park, Port Melbourne A single male bird in the trees between the Friends work area and the road. First record for Westgate Park. Andrew McCutcheon, Ann Williamson, Euan Moore
Thu 28 Nov	Black Kite Learmonth Road, Ballarat At least 26 Black Kites circling over tall pines on the boundary of the Ballarat North treatment plant. An unprecedented number for the Ballarat region. Murray Grant
	Beach Stone-curlew Old Port Albert (Nooramunga Marine Park) Previously reported Beach-curlew seen about a km north of where Old Port Foreshore Rd hits the beach. Bird is very skittish not allowing approach closer than about 200 meters. Scott Baker and Max Power
Wed 27 Nov	White-winged Triller, Horsfield's & Shining-Bronze Cuckoos, White-browed Woodswallow. Point Cook Coastal Park. Heard and observed three male White-winged Trillers at various locations in the Park. Observed a young Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo and heard a Shining Bronze Cuckoo, White-browed Woodswallows observed near the Spectacle Lake Car Park. Peter Gibbons, Andre Dreyfus and Len Towerzey.
	Eastern Koel Reservoir Koel heard calling overnight 26/27 November Steve Leonard
Tue 26 Nov	Beach Stone-curlew Old Port Albert (Nooramunga Marine Park) Seen briefly today at 3.30PM, at low tide where the Old Port Foreshore Rd hits the beach. This was not where the caravan park is, that is the similarly named Old Port Rd, which is further north. You take right hand turn at the roundabout as you reach the town & go to the beach. The bird was on the sandy beach directly south of the Nooramunga Marine Park sign, seen about 2-300 m away. I attempted to as subtly as I could to get closer to get better photos, but the bird had already gone. According to fellow birdwatcher Geoff Price the bird was probably flushed by someone who was walking their dog. I couldn't find the bird anywhere after this. Kevin Bartram
	Black Honeyeater Wilby At least two birds (one an immature male) feeding off fuchsia gum flowers in the back garden. This is the 7th Black Honeyeater record I have had in the last month, definitely an irruption happening in NE Victoria at present. Michael Ramsey
	White winged Triller Crusoe Reservoir, Bendgo High up in dead pine tree a long way off sorry for the poor photo Janice McKay
	Sacred Kingfisher, Satin Flycatcher, Grey Shrike-thrush Valley Reserve, Mount Waverley All three birds spotted along creek line at Valley Reserve.(Flycatcher was female) Chris Gittins
	Crimson/Eastern Rosella cross, Koel Allingham Street Kangaroo Flat Managed to get a photo of this bird today after sighting him/her about 4 times over the past month. It has paired with an eastern Rosella and produced 1 young that was seen today with it on the tree with hollows in it where they nested. The young looks like pure Eastern Rosella. Tree is cut off about 10' high opposite 209 Allingham St Station side of the street. The Koel is still in the big Fig tree Peel street Quarry Hill and there are now suspicions a second one is calling in the area as well. Greg McKay
Mon 25 Nov	Regent Parrot Baker Road near Bronzewing An awe inspiring moment witnessing a flock of over 200 (possibly 250) Regent Parrots in roadside trees and feeding in a wheat crop. Many more green birds than yellow suggesting many juveniles. Seen during an 8 day Victoria wide tour with a birding group from Taiwan. Simon Starr
	White-throated Gerygone, Diamond Firetail Crusoe Reservoir, Kangaroo Flat, Bendigo One adult bird of both species. Gerygone seen & heard at close range. Ken & Maureen Dredge
	Eastern Koel Highton, Geelong Koel calling 0830 from top of Highton hill near Montpellier water basins. Koel now regular spring-summer visitor to Geelong for several consecutive years. It has been interesting to watch the Birdline records plot the southward and now westward movement over recent weeks. John Newman
Sun 24 Nov	Plumed Whistling Duck Majors Rd, Cohuna Over two hundred birds hanging around a dairy and adjacent wetlands along Majors Rd SW of Cohuna. Simon Starr
	Eastern Koel Myrtleford (near Tennis Courts - town centre) Heard calling. Scott Jessup
	White-throated Nightjar Chiltern Mt Pilot National Park 3 White-throated Nightjars found up on ironbark stony ridge while looking for Barking Owls two of them photographed. I was very excited as I have looked for this species on several occasions without luck. Just a note to say they were photographed using very long lenses as we did not want to disturb the birds Geoff Jones & Peter Merritt
	Fork-tailed Swift Elwood Foreshore Very similar situation to the other FTS report today - alarm calls from other birds as the swift rocketed past quite low (around 30m above ground). It circled once and headed west. First record of the species for the Elster Creek area. Gio Fitzpatrick
	Baillon's Crake, Latham's Snipe, Australian Spotted Crake Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Looks like the T-section crake city is back open for business - 8 Baillon's Crake seen at the reedy pond at T-section. 1 Latham's Snipe seen on the edge of the pond beside the reedy pond. And 4 Australian Spotted Crake in the bird hide ponds. Jackson Airey
	Fork-tailed Swift Anglesea, Weir St Alarm calls from honeyeaters caused me to look skywards - like me, they initially mistook an approaching bird as a Hobby. The Fork-tailed Swift circled and was joined by 4 others that descended from at least 200m altitude before moving off to the south. 12:20pm, overcast, moderate S wind. Barry & Bernie Lingham
Sat 23 Nov	Black Honeyeater, Diamond Firetail Goschen Bushland Reserve Black Honeyeater (4) Diamond Firetail (2) Ian Mayo
Sat 23 Nov	Peregrine Falcon Kow Swamp Whilst coming from Terrick Terrick three Peregrine Falcons perched on dead trees over Kow Swamp just near Piggery were observed. Have never seen 3 adult birds together before. Moderators note: Although to be expected in the area, 3 adults in the same vicinity is certainly unusual. Peter Merritt & Geoff Jones
	White-winged Triller Coalmine Road, Anglesea Heath Ian Wilson
Sat 16 Nov	Short-tailed Shearwater Fielder Road,Cockatoo, Dandenong Ranges A late report ,but interesting. My daughter, who is very familiar with birds in the hills here, came across an unusual bird in the middle of the road while she was driving.She stopped and moved it to the side of the road. She thought that it was a seabird. It was in a bad way like it had been "hit by a car already" ! When I showed her Short- tailed Shearwater in a field guide she didn't hesitate to say that is what it was! Francesca Beal per Graham Beal

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