Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 9 Feb 2014.

Sun 9 Feb	Fork-tailed Swift Claremont St, Mount Eliza At least 20 in front of the wind change from a northerly to a south-westerly at 12:10 today. New for the house list! (edited version, sorry!) Stuart Cooney
	Lewin's Rail Mt Eliza Regional Park on Balcombe Creek tribuatory Three birds (2 seen, additional 1 heard) in a little, puddley, drainage line leading to Balcombe Creek. Stuart Cooney
	Oriental Plover, suspected American Golden Plover, Fork-tailed Swift. Cheetham Wetlands (Altona Meadows) Birdlife Survey for Melbourne Water. Oriental Plover seen very well, appears to be moulting into alternate plumage. Suspected American Golden Plover also seen well, with 29 Pacific Golden Plover. 450+ Fork-tailed Swift seen from 8am onwards over Pt Cook & Cheetham, last seen around 11. Steve Davidson & David Richardson
	Fork-tailed Swift Claremont St, Mount Eliza At least 20 in from the of the wind change from a northerly to a south-westerly at 12:10 today. New for the house list! Stuart Cooney
	Fork-tailed Swift Sanctuary Lakes Estate at Skeleton Creek Ford A small flock of swifts came in very close to enable detailed photos this morning despite the brutal hot northerly winds. Photos takes from the boardwalk. Hedley and Irena Earl with Bernie O'Keefe
	Fork-tailed Swift McCrae 100+ in a number of groups from 10:00-10:20. All flying ENE (ie from Rosebud towards Dromana) parallel to the coast 0 to 300m inland. Warm (30ish) at the end of a heat wave. Brisk northerly (45km),partly clear sky, patchy cloud. BoM forecasting a SW change within a couple of hours. Russell Thomson
	Black Kite Allanvale, Alexandra One black Kite circling overhead with a Wedge Tailed Eagle. 1st recording on this property in 20 years of records, and a rare visitor to this district. Bob Tate
	Fork-tailed Swift Lake Colac 8:45am Driving along the dirt track off the Corner of Flaxmill Rd and Clark St. Suddenly noticed maybe 100 swifts hawking their way along the lake edge. Adam Fry
	Spotless Crake, Fork-tailed Swift Jerringot wetlands, Belmont, Geelong x2 adult Spotless Crakes observed in rapidly drying main pond. One directly opposite bird hide, other along Barwon Heads Rd margins. At least 6 Fork-tailed Swifts overhead at various altitudes in considerable wind. John Newman
Sat 8 Feb	Osprey Gipsy Point Bird seen perched in dead tree just north of boat jetty on Genoa River at end of Mattsson Street. Dark stripe through eye clearly seen. Bird took off and chased a White-necked Heron. In flight could see barring on wings, and clearly an Osprey Martin Maderthaner
	Black-tailed Godwit, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Glossy Ibis Lake Connewarre Wildlife Reserve (Reedy Lake) 1 White-bellied Sea-Eagle, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 63 Great Egrets, 12 Glossy Ibis, 13 Magpie Geese and 6 Marsh Sandpipers highlights among the many wetland birds seen from Moolap Station Rd approach to Reedy Lake at Moolap Geelong John Newman, Craig Morley, David Tytherleigh
	Spotless Crake Banyule Flat One adult Spotless Crake feeding in open at grotty pond (small pond near playground). Main wetland drying rapidly: 10 Latham's Snipe feeding far from cover, also 2 Red-kneed Dotterels, many Black-fronted Dotterels, a Yellow-billed Sponbill, etc. Richard Loyn
	Fork-tailed Swift Ocean Grove Near top of Bonnyvale Road in Collendina. 76 Fork-tailed Swifts in a 45 minute period from 6.45 pm, mostly in the first 20 minutes. Ahead of storm front after 35º day. I'm about 1 Km inland, and most of the birds were overhead or a little towards the coast, so it's possible there were higher numbers beyond my view along the coastline. Russell Woodford
	Fork-tailed Swift, White-throated Needletail Marengo > 100 Fork-tailed Swifts over Marengo bay and adjacent streets between 1230 and 1600 hrs, much vocalisation. Previous day there were 30-40 White-throated Needletails in the same area. Andrew Isles per Peter Menkhorst
	Oriental Plover, Fork-tailed Swift Cheetham Wetlands (Altona Meadows) Previously reported Oriental Plover found by Scott and Michael on a nearly dry mud pan north of Skeleton Creek. 15+ Fork-tailed Swifts overhead. Scott Baker, Michael Healey, Tim Bawden and James Mustafa
Fri 7 Feb	Fork-tailed Swift Point Addis, Hurst road Approx 120 FTS seen hawking at varing heights from about 9.30am till 5pm. Seen mostly 100meters back (to the north over the ridge) from the car park at the end of Hurst road. Tim Mckellar
	Powerful Owl Williamstown Sitting in the flame trees exactly as described by Steve Davidson. Thanks for the tip to get a new 'lifer' Richard Arnold
	Beach Stone-curlew Mots Beach, Marlo Beach Stone-curlew still there this afternoon at 2pm. On ocean side of estuary, close to piles of driftwood against dunes. A few hundred meters further west than previous sightings. Almost in line with new viewing platform. Best access still via Mots Beach. Martin Maderthaner
	Noisy Friarbird Tylden Township, Macedon Ranges Two Noisy Friarbirds in a tall emergent flowering *Eucalyptus cf. globulus*. Clowes Street just downhill to the east from the primary school. This tree has been attracting a few uncommon local nectarivores such as Musk and Purple-crowned Lorikeet. Noisy Friarbirds unusual around here, but maybe part of minor wider move into the south observed elsewhere in recent times. Lawrie Conole
Thu 6 Feb	Tawny Frogmouth Melbourne Central Underground Station Around 2pm, my train started to leave the station then stopped for about 5 minutes. Then the driver announced he had seen a Frogmouth on the tracks, got out and picked it up. He said he was taking it somewhere safe. Metro driver via Jenny Skewes
	Pectoral Sandpiper, Reeve Western Treatment Plant, Werribee 2 Pectoral Sandpipers together & 1 Reeve on the large northernmost T-Section lagoon next to the gate (pond number 7). Also 1 juvenile Peregrine with a wader, probably a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in it's talons along the track next to the Spit. Kevin Bartram
	Scarlet Honeyeaters Beaconsfield Upper Seven birds seen while working in area , mainly at Knapton court . Plenty of Flowering Gums and Grevillea's in bloom. All seven birds seen were males. Seems to be the spot for these little beauties at the moment. Colin Mulvogue
	Powerful Owl Williamstown First found by local stalwart Andrew Hurnard, this baby has been roosting in this tree on and off for several weeks now. Location is the row of Plane Trees along Nelson Place outside the BAE Building for those interested. Today watched for some time dismembering another hapless ringtail when not panting in the heat. Likes Silver Gull too... Steve Davidson
	Cox's Sandpiper, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit Western Treatment Plant (T-Section Ponds) Dawn visit; Cox's Sandpiper (1) - presumably same bird as previously reported, Broad-billed Sandpiper (1) and Black-tailed Godwit (1) in the company of a large mixed flock of other shorebirds in T Section lagoon pond 7 (1st pond in from gate on left). Also Red Knot (60), Curlew Sandpiper (420), Marsh Sandpiper (70). Dan Weller and Dean Ingwersen
Wed 5 Feb	Freckled Duck, Latham's Snipe, Red-Kneed Dotterel, Blue-billed Duck Balbirooroo Wetlands, Balnarring On the private dam next to Balbirooroo, 40 + Freckled Duck, great views of a Latham's Snipe feeding in the shallows. 1 Red-kneed Dotterel and a male Blue-billed Duck. Brian Thomas
	Square-tailed Kite Newstead township Single bird cruised over the house at noon today. Geoff Park
	Pectoral Sandpiper Cherry Lake, Altona 1 Pectoral Sandpiper foraging at the western end of Cherry Lake with 3 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers at about 10.30 this morning. Low water levels means there is lots of mud exposed - quite a few Red-kneed and Black-fronted Dotterels, and Black-winged Stilt also about. David Wilson
Tue 4 Feb	Welcome Swallow [Albino] Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Saw bird on the road with other Welcome Swallows,just through no 4 Gate,before the Little River Ford. Raymond Fox
	Black Honeyeater West of Bartletts Swamp near Boort 2 Black Honeyeaters seen around 9.30am in emu bush on unnamed lane. Also 3 Freckled Duck in the swamp. Malcolm Cousland
	Beach Stone-curlew Mots Beach, Marlo Beach Stone-curlew was located resting on the opposite side of the estuary hidden amongst the large piles of drift wood. Waded through the water to the other side to get some photos. James Mustafa
	Straw-necked Ibis Community Oval, Brunswick St, Fitzroy North Twelve Straw-necked Ibis in the middle of the oval this morning. An unusual sighting in inner Melbourne. [Mod note: due to the heat wave across much of Victoria, particularly in northern Victoria, many of our wetlands are drying up, including some normally permanent wetlands. As a result, large numbers of Ibis have moved south, some into inner Melbourne’s urban parks. This seems to be reflective of a wider phenomenon; due to the very dry condition in the north, we’re getting birds not commonly seen in our urban areas such as Australian Painted Snipe, and crakes and rails.] Gil Langfield
Mon 3 Feb	Sanderling Mornington Peninsula National Park (Gunnamatta Beach) Single bird foraging in low tide zone ~1km east of life saving club Neil Shelley, Denis Goss
	Fork-tailed Swift Truganina Swamp & Mt St Joseph Pond and Wetland While walking along the western edge of the swamp,next to Laverton Creek,I was suddenly surrounded by up to 30 FTS's,winging about at between 3 to 5 metres above me,and around me. Looking up I could see a much greater number at high altitude and after estimating between 100-200 up high I returned my attention to the low fliers as they were in fact a Lifer for me. First sighting at 09:42hrs,aedst and last sight of them at 10:02 hrs,aedst.They quickly shot up to high altitude and seemed to split into two main groups of over 100 birds each (estimate) and one group flew southeast and the other northeast. Apology for late posting but only just returned home to computer. David A Richardson
	White-throated Needletail Aireys Inlet A few birds passing over Aireys Inlet and Moggs Creek this afternoon John Eichler
Sun 2 Feb	Pink - Eared Duck Pakenham Water Recycling Plant, Koo Wee Rup Road 750+ resting and feeding, late afternoon. Graham Beal
Sat 1 Feb	Square-tailed Kite Earlston One ragged looking bird over property. early record for season. Doug Robinson
Sat 25 Jan	American Golden Plover Cheetham Wetlands, Point Cook 1 roosting in saltmarsh with 29 Pacific Golden Plover. Several features seem to confirm the identity of this bird, but it's not easy. Richard Loyn, Peter Menkhorst, Will Steele, Scott Baker, Peter Lansley
Fri 24 Jan	200+ Blue-billed Ducks Lake Rosine, near Cressy Mixed with Pink-eared Ducks and the odd Musk Duck. Bob & Russell Hughes

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