Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 4 May 2014.

Sat 3 May	Olive Whistler Junction of Buchan & Snowy Rivers, East Gippsland One male bird seen perched on a low branch in Balley Hooley picnic ground at around 1 pm. Not calling. Cold, overcast day. Good clear views of bird before he disappeared into scrub nearby. Janine Duffy
Fri 2 May	Swift Parrot Marlo 18+ Swift Parrots were initially heard then seen sheltering in a line of roadside E botryoides near the intersection of Old Marlo Road and Willis Avenue this afternoon. While sheltering they continually called softly amongst themselves before being harassed by a small group of Red Wattlebirds. An unusually large number according to our records for the Marlo area. Jacquie and Len Axen
	White-headed Pigeon Nicholson Single bird on overhead wires in hobby-farm area north of Nicholson township, observed while driving car. It appeared to have just flown to its perch from nearby well-vegetated gardens or revegetated rainforest gully leading down to Nicholson River. Unusual sighting for this area, but the incidence of this species seems to be increasing in settled parts of East Gippsland. Chris Healey
	Little Bittern, Spotless Crake and White-bellied Sea-eagle Karkarook Park, Moorabin Little Bittern seen in same pond as previously reported (around 2pm). Apparently not concerned by the people, dogs fishermen, etc. Earlier in day saw 2 Spotless Crake in same pond and adult White-bellied Sea-eagle was observed flying over main lake. Scott Baker
	Spangled Drongo Mallacoota - Township 2 birds seen at Foreshore caravan park. Ian & Annie Mayo
	Major Mitchell's Cockatoo Golflinks Road, Muckleford One bird being bombed by Magpies. Raised its pink crest to try and scare them off. Never seen here before. (Moderator's note:likely to be an escapee). Debbie Worland
Thu 1 May	Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus) Karkarook Park, Moorabin Little Bittern seen in same pond as previously reported, pointed out to me by another birder. Mervyn Marsh
	Pallid Cuckoo Banyule Flats Reserve A late (?) staying Pallid Cuckoo preening at the top of a dead wattle. Sonja Ross
	Olive Whistler Stanley Avenue Reserve, Mount Waverley Following up David Fleming's report - found the Olive Whistler in thick fern scrub on the freeway side of the creek. Hung around for about five minutes. Didn't call, just fed and flittered about the place. Allowed me to get very close - within a minute James Mustafa
	Olive Whistler Stanley Avenue Reserve, Mount Waverley One Olive Whistler sighted four time in the past week on the freeway side of Scotchmans Creek. Also present is a pair of Scarlet Robins. David Fleming
Wed 30 Apr	Australian Little Bittern Karkarook Park The bittern was seen flying across the small pond next to the wooden bridge, then landing in tall reeds. Just before sunset at 5.45pm. Monique Counihan, Falk Wicker
	Banded Lapwing Bluestone School Rd, Connewarre 4 Lapwings receiving a hard time from the local Magpies. In the paddock directly behind large home which fronts onto 13th Beach Rd and east of the wind turbine. Denis Sleep
Tue 29 Apr	Freckled Duck Lake Wurdiboluc Reservoir, Modewarre 17 Freckled duck seen resting at waters edge at far western end of public area with Chestnut teal and Australasian Shoveler. Jonathon Stevenson
Mon 28 Apr	Little Corella Reservoir Reserve, Kew Estimated 790 roosting (occasionally circling en mass) in cypresses at midday. Much larger numbers than previous influxes at this time of year. More birds heard shortly afterwards in nearby Camberwell. Some streets show rows of Plane Trees and Liquid Ambers well stripped of fruits; Pencil Pine cones also chewed. George Appleby
	White-fronted Honeyeater Perry Road, Rushworth. One seen and at least three heard Peter Laws, Don Roberts and Russ Jones
	Swift Parrot, Peregrine Falcon Monash University Clayton Campus 3 Swift Parrots seen flying from gumtrees while calling on the South side of Building 10 at 8:55am this morning. Also seen in the same area directly afterwards was a Peregrine Falcon, which swooped through at canopy level, alarming the local resident Noisy Miners. Matthew Roach
	Scaly breasted lorikeet Balyang Sanctuary Solitary lorikeet perched on dead branch overhanging the river. Heard its call and then noted that its head was totally green except for its red bill. It's chest was marked with yellows scales. Ticked all the boxes for being a purebred. After calling for about 10 minutes it flew off with a small flock of rainbow lorikeets. A single pink eared duck was also seen on the lagoon among teals etc. Hedley Earl
Sun 27 Apr	Cattle Egret McLeod's Waterholes, Drysdale A group of ~60 roosting each evening in a willow on the east bank of McLeod's Waterholes as viewed from Wyndham St. Flocks of up to 18 birds fly in from different directions to make up the roosting colony. Tom Fletcher
	Swift Parrot Beaumaris Heard again not far from the site reported on Anzac Day (this time in Rosemary Road). Many Musk Lorikeets in area and at least one Little Lorikeet heard a week ago. Sean Dooley
	Speckled Warbler & Hooded Robin Southern Grampians Wilderness Resort, Balmoral Speckled Warblers & Hooded Robin seen repeatedly and in different location on the property. A four day weekend in dry Yellow Box & Yellow Gum woodland setting provided excellent birding opportunities, also seen many Brown Treecreepers, Scarlet Robins, Buff-rumped Thornbills, Jackie Winters, & Eastern Spinebills. Samantha Greiner
	Speckled Warbler Bailieston A pair of Speckled Warblers at Bailieston. Seemed very easy to see. Plenty of birds around, including good numbers of honeyeaters, 3 Melithreptus, Yellow-faced included. Kevin Bartram, Merv Marsh
	Swift Parrot, Yellow-plumed Honeyeater. Whroo Information Centre 8 Swift Parrots at the Whroo Information centre flying over the car park, then landed. Got one poor photo as proof. Also 1 Yellow-plumed Honeyeater in a tree within the car park. Kevin Bartram & Merv Marsh
	Olive-backed Oriole, Scarlet Robin, Glossy Ibis Western Treatment Plant, Werribee The oriole and robin were on Point Wilson Rd, not far from the freeway. Several Flame Robin were seen as well further down the road. At Paradise rd Lagoon were a Glossy Ibis, several Sharp-tailed and Curlew Sandpipers, and a Pectoral SP. The Sharpies were spectacular in full breeding plumage. Gina Hopkins, Doug Pocock, Jan Llewellyn, Judy Reddoch
	Eurasian Tree Sparrow Dunlop Rd, Hoppers Crossing It was incredible to see the Tree Sparrow in such phenomenal numbers. Possibly even up to 300 birds. We believe they are here in such numbers because they are getting bird seed from the bird shop. James Mustafa, Ashwin Rudder
	Purple-gaped Honeyeater, Chestnut Quail-thrush, Red-lored Whistler Murray Sunset NP Extraordinary numbers of PG honeyeaters! Several groups located along Pheeneys track plus other groups along Bambrill and South Bore tracks. Could not find Red-lored Whistlers in southern section of the park but seem to have moved to the remote north western sections. Thrilled to see a pair of Chestnut Quail-thrush along the South Bore track Hedley and Irena Earl
	Freckled Duck Karkarook Park, Heatherton VIC Seen at 2.15pm on the ponds alongside Warrigal Rd, in the middle of pond with Chestnut Teal. We were looking for the Little Bittern which we didn't see, but the Freckled Duck was a great find! Photo by Paul Hackett Liz & Paul Hackett
Fri 25 Apr	Swift Parrot Woodlands Estate, Ocean Grove A few birds heard and seen around the gums at the east end. An annual visitor. Tom Fletcher
	Swift Parrot Beaumaris At least one bird heard amongst large numbers of Musk Lorikeet near corner of Oak St and Charlotte Rd. Sean Dooley
Thu 24 Apr	Southern Emu Wren, possible Eastern Bristlebird,Hooded Plover Cape Conran Coastal Park Emu Wren seen near Frenches narrows,Bristlebird at West Cape cabins and Hooded Plover near Salmon Rocks Moderators Note: We cannot confirm the identification of the Eastern Bristlebird which would be an extraordinary record. After receiving some notes from the observer we have decided we should report so others may get a chance to follow this up Des Palmer
Thu 10 Apr	Bush Stone Curlew Ouyen Heard its distinctive call coming from directly outside unit window at Motor Inn. Owners of Motor Inn were 'Malcolm and Janice' if this helps identifying the location. I live on Kangaroo Island where curlews are normal night calls. Sara Hourez

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