Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 9 Mar 2014.

Sun 9 Mar	Beach Stone-Curlew Great Otway National Park (Point Franklin) Found the Beach Stone-Curlew on the rocks at the point. Was very obliging allowing quite close approach for photos. Warren and Cheryl Palmer
	American Golden Plover Point Cook Coastal Park After walking along beach from skeleton creek, we came across the 17 pacific golden plovers on the rocks just east of the cheetham wetlands car park, 1 lone american golden plover was seen on its own about 20 metres towards the homestead, was able to get some average identification shots (picture attached) before heading around to let the other birders know it was not near the homestead. Bird seen well for a good 3 or 4 minutes and was able to ascertain the large white eyebrow and the definite splotching on the breast, such a beautiful bird Philip Peel
	Square-tailed Kite Kangaroo Flat, 5696 - Calder Hwy The bird was spotted out the car window only a hundred meters from the road and very low flying. Rufousy red belly, lighter wing colours, light tail with black line and "square-tailed" observed by all 3 birders. James Mustafa, Owen Lishmund, Steve Lishmund
	Beach Stone-Curlew, Hooded Plover Cape Otway Lighthouse Beach Stone-Curlew in its previously reported place (about 300 m east along the beach on the rock platform at the Point east of the access point from the Point Franklin car park - note that it is about 500 m from the car park to the beach access point). Also, 4 Hooded Plovers, including one juvenile, on the beach and 3 Shy Albatrosses and 2 Black-faced Cormorants off the beach. Lots of White-throated Needletails and a few Fork-tailed Swifts and a Beautiful Firetail with a Rufous Bristlebird calling. Chris and Rosemary Lester
Sat 8 Mar	Song Thrush, Nankeen Night Heron Royal Melbourne Zoo, Parkville A single bird under bushes near the Great Flight Aviary. Juvenile Nankeen Night Herons in various locations including one beside the pond in the Elephant enclosure. Nick Talbot
	Rufous Fantail Belgrave Heights Single bird seen in private garden flitting between trees and occasionally onto ground. Andrew Williams
	Black Falcon (possibly 8!), Little Wattlebird, Pectoral Sandpiper. Western Treatment Plant, Werribee A great day for hawks at Werribee, with 10 species recorded. Highlight was number of Black Falcons. It is hard to say exactly how many I saw, but I saw 1 at T-section lagoons, 1 on the fence near the Little River crossing, 1 on the ground just east of Avalon Airport on Beach Rd, 3 together soaring and catching insects, probably dragonflies with around 10 Black Kites & 2 Australian Hobbies & 2 seen together with more Black Kites along the Geelong Road about 2 kilometres west of the first Werribee turnoff. I'd say I had at least 5-6 birds! Also 1 Little Wattlebird seen on the Point Wilson Rd, the first I've seen in the farm, also heard Striated Pardalote at same spot. 1 Pectoral Sandpiper in back pond of T-Sections. Other highlights were White-bellied Sea-eagle, Black-tailed Godwit (85W), Spotted Harrier (T-Sections), Kestrel (west of Avalon Airport), 1 Banded Stilt at Walsh's Lagoon. Kevin Bartram
	Grey Goshawk Linton Seen in the Linton township on the south side of the Glenelg Highway in between the sports oval and the divided section of the main street. Rowan Mott
	Gull-billed Tern (race affinis) Stockyard Point, Westernport Bay Reasonably large flock of gull-billeds that I accidentally flushed when I got too close. Eventually found the race affinis tern that was most noticeably petite in size and the only bird in non-breeding plumage. Exciting to find after dipping twice last week. Mud and conditions made approaching the birds very difficult. Around 30 gull-billed's James Mustafa
Fri 7 Mar	Noisy Friarbird Talbotville Around a dozen noisy friarbirds feeding on mistletoe on a eucalyptus in the clearing at Talbotville on the Crooked River north-west of Dargo. Bob Carter
	Cattle Egret, Nankeen Night Heron, Eastern Great Egret Lillydale Lake Two Cattle Egrets observed coming into roost in dead trees about 7.30pm. One of the birds was in full breeding plumage. An early escape from the kids perhaps...... seeing as they don't breed down this way. Also a NNH and EGE were seen in a drying pond near the car park. 3 State or Federally listed species in the one trip, not bad for a lake in the middle of suburbia surrounded by walkers, dogs etc. However, none of these were my bird-a-day, that was a Striated Thornbill :-) John Harris - Wildlife Experiences
	Spotlless Crake Curdies River near Boggy Creek boat ramp A pair of this species seen at very close range. Trevor Lumb
	Beach Stone-Curlew Great Otway National Park (Point Franklin) At 1pm today located the bird approximately 300 metres east of car park. Bird was resting near driftwood. Very placid BSC unperturbed by us taking photographs from less than 20 metres away. Best approach is to park at Pt Franklin car park then walk east along beach toward Parkers Hill. Also 4 albatross very very close to rocks gliding around fishing ketch attending nets. Hedley and Irena Earl
Thu 6 Mar	Rufous fantail Woodlands Historic Park (Greenvale) Three rufous fantails observed just south of the dam in Somerton Road. Must be migrating through again as they did last year. Not sure if photo came through on previous report so am repeating the notification. Richard Arnold
Wed 5 Mar	Lewin's Rail, Southern Emu-wren, Hoary-headed Grebe, Azure Kingfisher Frenchs Narrows, Marlo, East Gippsland Lewin's Rail (1) foraging near bridge on north side of lagoon. I have seen one here before, once only, on a similar dull day years ago. Southern Emu-wren (2) at least two seen, including one adult male. Near bridge. Hoary-headed Grebe (8) swimming on brackish lagoon close to beach, seemed to be collectively herding fish close to the bank. A Silver Gull was attending and also grabbing at fish as the grebes brought them close to water's edge. 2 in breeding plumage, rest in non-breeding. Azure Kingfisher (1) near bridge, seen twice. Sometimes landed on handrail and dived into very shallow water from there. Full list on eBird. Janine Duffy
	Beach Stone-curlew Pt Franklin, Cape Otway Seen at Pt Franklin and the rock shelf to the east on 3, 4 & 5/3. Southern Emu-wren and Striated Fieldwren also seen in area. Frank Pierce
	Sacred Kingfisher Lismore township One perched on power cable into a house. An uncommon bird in this area. Bob Hughes & Tom Fletcher
	Blue-billed Duck Lake Rosine, near Cressy Hundreds still present, difficult to count distant birds mixed in with Coot. Bob Hughes & Tom Fletcher
	American Golden Plover Beach west of Point Cook Homestead Along with a small group of birders already at the site, we had beautiful observations of the AGM, amongst approximately six Pacific Golden Plovers and a few Red Necked Stints. This was approximately 11.30 am to 12.15 pm. Very satisfying after three previous failures. Trevor Lumb, Warwick Remington, Warren Palmer
	American Golden Plover Point Cook Coastal Park - beach west of Homestead The AGP was still present today at 1:45pm in amongst the rocks furthest west of the Homestead. Seven PCGs, a single Greenshank and a mixed flock of RNS and Curlew Sands were also present along the foreshore. Paul Rose
	Blue-billed Duck Eastwood Golf Course, Kilsyth A male and two females by dam next to first green surrounded by Pacific Black Ducks. David Spicer
	Freckled Ducks Eynesbury Forest and Grasslands 9 Freckled Duck counted on the ornamental lake. Thanks to Nora Peters for the heads up. Chris Lunardi
	Freckled Duck Woodlands Industrial Estate, Braeside On the most northerly pond, viewed from Redwood Drive, there were at least 43 Freckled Duck (more may have been obscured by one of the islands in the pond). Sean Dooley
	Black Falcon, Blue-billed Duck Yan Yean Reservoir 1 Black Falcon flew south along dam wall. Many more Blue-bills than 2 weeks ago (now 100+) although there are thousands of bird on the east side too far away to identify. Presumed to be Coot and Hardhead. Andrew Corrick
	Blue-faced Honeyeater Royal Park, Parkville Heard calling from a tree opposite the main zoo entrance around 12.30 today, near the sports oval, and found the bird. Just had time for an id photo before it flew off towards the zoo grounds. John Daniels
Tue 4 Mar	White-faced Storm-Petrel Frankston Bird found dazed in carpark and released same night. Kim Croker
	Ruff (Reeve), Pectoral Sandpiper, Red Knot T-Section Lagoons, Western Treatment Plant Reeve seen at pond 3 in the T-Section Lagoons, it's getting bits of motley breeding plumage on it. 1 Pectoral Sandpiper in same lagoon. Highlight was around 50 Red Knots in the middle lagoon next to the road. I can't recall seeing this many Red Knots at Werribee, not for a long time anyway. Also 11 Freckled Ducks seen at south-west Lake Borrie Pond, next to the Beach Rd Lagoon. Kevin Bartram
	Black Honeyeater Woodlands Historic Park (Greenvale) Following reports from Con Baltas & Phillip Peel I went off to find the Black Honeyeaters at Woodland HP & found them rather easily around the reedy pond at the front entrance as said in previous reports. I can add that I saw 2 males (as seen in photo) & 1 female type. I may have even seen 3 males at 1 stage. Also saw an immature Shining Bronze-cuckoo. Kevin Bartram
	White-throated Needletail Swan Lake, Phillip Island Three birds observed flying above the canopy in the foresty section directly out of the car park at swan lake, Phillip island. Flying over as a trio, no more birds were observed through the visit or the day. James Mustafa
	American Golden Plover Point Cook Seen today, same location, most western rocks ( west of the homestead) with 16 Pacific Goldens. Seen between 2.00 and 3.00 pm which was about 3 hours after low tide. Simon Starr, Tim Bawden
	Black Honeyeater Woodlands Historic Park (Greenvale) Following report from yesterday, went to the somerton road carpark and inspected the little dam. After an hour i was able to locate 3 black honeyeaters, one male ( photo attached) and 2 female/juveniles in different plumage colouration. All 3 were sitting in the 2 black wattle just north of the dam bank. Able to watch them preen themselves for a good 3 or 4 minutes before losing them into the larger River Red Gums Philip Peel
Mon 3 Mar	Spotted Harrier Buchan-Orbost Rd at -37.7091185,148.3978164, East Gippsland single adult Spotted Harrier flew over low, giving good views, before disappearing over levee. At time there were loads of Welcome Swallows, Tree Martins and a few Fairy Martins insect-hunting like crazy over the farmland. Clouds of small midge-like insects everywhere. Harrier didn't appear to bother the swallows at all, they kept foraging without interruption. Janine Duffy
	Hooded Robin Terrick Terrick National Park Surprising number of Hooded Robins seen. We saw them at 5 locations within the park. Quite a number of juveniles seen, which indicates that they have nested within the park. Murray Chambers & Ian Mayo
	Black Honeyeater Woodlands Historic Park (Greenvale) At about 4.00 pm this afternoon, a lone Black Honeyeater came down to drink at the small reedy pond near the main car park / BBQ area of the park. ( This pond still has a bit of water left in it ). Bird appears to be a first or second year Male. Con Baltas
	Rainbow Lorikeet Seymour Sixteen Rainbow Lorikeets atop a dead ironbark across Wimble Street from my home. These birds were rare in town until a few years ago; this is the largest flock I've seen here. Val La May
Sun 2 Mar	Western Gerygone Bababi Djinanang /Jukes Rd Grassland, Fawkner In woodland plantings south of fenced grassland around midday. Very confiding, singing and approaching closely to a large group of people. Brian Bainbridge
	Rainbow Bee eaters Bobinawarrah Flock of approx 20 birds hawking for insects and roosting in the trees. first sighting of the Rainbow birds at our property for almost 20 years. Only stayed around for about 1/2 to 3/4 hr. Carl Fraser
	Black Falcon West of Picola A pair of Black Falcons seen perched in an eucalypt. One flew off, but the other was very tame & let me get right under it. Kevin Bartram
	9 Raptor species in two hours Rowsley Valley near Bacchus Marsh. Sighted Little Eagle, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Spotted Harrier, Brown Goshawk, Collared Sparrowhawk, Black Kite, Whistling Kite, Nankeen Kestrel and Brown Falcon in an incredibly exciting drive up the Rowsley Valley. Horsham BirdLife Group with David Whelan and Bernie McRitchie
	Broad-billed Sandpiper, Double-banded Plover Western Treatment Plant, Werribee 2 Broad-billed Sandpipers and 3 Double-banded Plovers In the last pond of the Western Lagoons (at the Murtcairn outlet) pond almost dry. Angus Hartshorn
	Black Honeyeater, New Holland Honeyeater Killawarra Forest A lovely evening in the forest with a touch of autumn in the air now. At least 15 Black Honeyeaters recorded at 3 sites in the forest. Birds were seen hawking insects and foraging in flowering mistletoe. A New Holland Honeyeater also seen on North West Lane, a very odd bird here. Only seen once here before in the forest, and today it was in exactly the same tree as I saw it before! Also seen a couple of darker, buff-breasted Grey Fantails which were probably early Tasmanian arrivals. A pair of Turquoise Parrots, a few White-browed Woodswallows (most are gone now), a White-throated Needletail and two White-throated Nightjars after sunset were also some great birds to round off the evening. Michael Ramsey
Fri 28 Feb	Black Falcon Cornishtown Rd, NW of Chiltern Single Black Falcon seen from the roadside, perched in tree in cleared paddock Alan Collins, Mark Newman & John Graff
	Black Honeyeater Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park (Bartleys Block) 2 females seen around the northern half of the block. Not certain how unusual this is with them turning up all over Victoria at the moment Mark Newman, Alan Collins & John Graff
Thu 27 Feb	New Holland Honeyeater Chiltern Mt Pilot National Park (Bartleys Block) Single bird feeding in the trees around the gate at the entrance of the block. Mark Newman, Alan Collins & John Graff
	Spotted Quail-thrush Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park (Old Coach Rd) 1 cracking male seen well along Old Coach Rd in a relatively rocky area just east of the turn-off to the Reference Area Alan Collins, Mark Newman & John Graff
	(Possible) Blue-winged Parrot Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park (Bartleys Block) A single bird flushed from the ground in woodland along Bartleys Track, off to the NW of Bartleys Block itself. Very distinct blue line above lores, yellowish lores below blue line. Blue in wing not especially extensive but within range for Blue-winged . (Ed note. verification needed: very rare at this location, and similar to Turquoise Parrot.) John Graff
Tue 25 Feb	Plumed Whistling Duck Plenty Gorge Park (Hawkstowe Park) Group of 9 Whistling Ducks parked on the bank of the north-east lake. Only there for a day and moved on. Ron Spencer

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