Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria

Published sightings for the week ending 6 Jul 2014.

Sun 6 Jul	Spotted Harrier Sorrento Back Beach Hunting along road right at park entrance. Kevin Conlan
	Swift Parrot (6) Woodlands Historic Park (Greenvale) Six Swifties seen feeding high in gums near northern edge of dense woodland section - just to the west of where the two major paths intersect. Stayed in the same area feeding for at least ten or fifteen minutes or so, calling constantly. Rohan Long
Sat 5 Jul	Regent Honeyeater Chiltern Mt Pilot National Park One Regent Honeyeater seen at previous reported location at Teal track junction at approx 3pm and viewed for 25 minutes. We had been on site since 10am. It was imitating red wattlebird calls, also as previously reported. Brett Whitfield and Bob Dawson
	Shy Albatross Mornington Peninsula National Park (Cape Schanck) Seawatching from the end of the boardwalk between 1530 and 1700 this afternoon produced 30 Shy Albatross including adults and immature birds with some attributable to Salvin and Cauta races, 1 unidentified smaller immature Albatross appeared to have a darker (if not all dark) bill and a more extensive collar and hood than the immature Cauta it was flying close by with could have been an Eremita race or even a Buller's Albatross, 1 Black- browed Albatross, 3 shearwaters looked like 2 Hutton's and 1 Fluttering but couldn't be certain, 1 White fronted Tern, 1 unidentified tern looked very much like a non-breeding White-winged Black Tern in plumage and with its noticeable jizz, 1 pr of Sooty Oystercatchers, 5 Black-faced Cormorants, 1 Silver Gull. 1 Brush Bronzewing on road to car park plus 1 Nankeen Kestrel along the cliffs. Richard Hook
	White-winged Triller Carmichaels Road (Yarrawonga) An odd, out of season sighting on a cold winter afternoon. A male in non-breeding plumage with a small flock of Willie Wagtails by the roadside. Michael Ramsey
	Little Lorikeet, Noisy Friarbird. Lake Tyers State Park A fine Sunny morning spent in the Burnt Bridge - Cherry Tree area of the park. The forest was alive with birdlife particularly Honeyeaters & Lorikeets which were feeding on the eucalypt blossom. There were many flocks of Little Lorikeet prevalent. We were surprised to encounter a flock of 50+ Noisy Friarbirds competing with the local Red Wattlebird & Bell Miner population at Burnt Bridge Picnic Area. Keith & Judy Humphreys
Fri 4 Jul	Swift Parrot Muckleford Approx 12 swifties this morning feeding up high in River Red Gums. Deb Worland
Thu 3 Jul	Eastern Osprey Estuary waters behind Betka Beach. Mallacoota. Croajingolong NP. Seen yesterday morning coming in from the ocean mouth towards the waters of the main estuary lagoon. Co-incidentally, I hadn't realised I had sighted the same bird 2 day's previously because the image was too small too decipher. Local birding people say there is only one in the vicinity, to their knowledge and it is most unusual for their region apparently. Jenny Stephens
	Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Eltham North Nice flock of ~50 Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos in flight and then perched in Eucalypts along Diamond Creek around midday. Rohan Clarke
	Spotted Quail-thrush Lake Tyers Forest Park - Morass Break Track An unusually large number of these birds seen today foraging along the forest tracks. Along the Morass Break Track which is around 3km long we saw 4 birds. We saw another 3 birds in the same small area along various tracks branching off the Lake Tyers House Road. There's been a lot of rain down here, we were wondering if that may have contributed to the birds foraging along the tracks? Managed to obtain a reasonable image amongst dense vegetation. Not seen by us for 5 years previous to today. Keith & Judy Humphreys
	Double-banded Plover, Banded Stilt Lake Tutchewop 10+ Double-banded Plovers and more than 100 Banded Stilts (with Red-necked Avocets) near the creek at the south side of Lake Tutchewop. Malcolm Cousland
	Freckled Duck Begola Wetlands, Ocean Grove Upwards of 100 Freckled Duck on Wetland this evening. Count assisted by the appearance of one Swamp Harrier. Denis Sleep
	Regent Honeyeater Chiltern Mt Pilot National Park The Regent Honeyeater / Red wattle bird convert still very actively feeding at reported site at 8am this morning. John Weigel
Wed 2 Jul	Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Beside old quarry near Bailieston At least two birds feeding together with Red Wattlebirds Laurie Macmillan, Peter Mitchell, David Wakefield
	Freckled Duck Lakelands, Lara Five Freckled Ducks seen at the western end of the main lake. I also saw thirteen Spoonbills (six Yellow-billed and 7 Royal). Carolyn Edwards
	Malleefowl Murray Sunset National Park Total of six Malleefowl seen in vicinity of Honeymoon Hut Track, beginning with two tree-roosting individuals at first light (!), and including two birds heard, then seen in vicinity of active mound (crater). Also most of the Mallee specialties were seen over six-hour walk, but alas, not the targeted Red-lored Whistler. Also today, Striated Grasswrens at Pink Lakes as per Jenny Spry's recent posting, but a bit further up the Mt Crozier Track, and about 300m to the west of the track. Bad photo attached. John Weigel
	Yellow tailed Black Cocatoo Castlemaine Botanic Gardens 60+ Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos flying over the Castlemaine Botanic gardens playground to Pine trees over the creek today 1.30pm. Haven't seen any there this year and never in these numbers. Also 2 Hardhead ducks in the lake at the gardens. Greg McKay
Tue 1 Jul	Regent Honeyeater Chiltern-Mount Pilot National Park (Ryans Road) One bird seen on both the 1st and 3rd of July at the reported spot. It was great to see this bird during our lunch break :-) A new bird for Dave. John Harris - Wildlife Experiences and David Coleman
	Brown Songlark (6), Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo (2), Orange Chat (4), Spotted Harrier Neds Corner Station Spent the morning birding at Neds Corner Station and found some interesting sightings including 6 (most likely many more) Brown Songlark, 2 Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo, 1 Fan-tailed Cuckoo. Additionally, 4 Orange Chat, 1 Spotted Harrier, 1 Neophema sp., 3 Stubble Quail, 12 Chestnut-crowned Babbler and variety of other North West Vic species. James Mustafa, Scott Baker
	Mallee Emu-wren (10+ birds) Hattah-Kulkyne National Park Originally spotted 2 Mallee Emu-wren birds (M & F) along Nowingi Track which were extremely obliging with photography. We then stumbled across a massive party of 8+ (most likely more) birds along the Konardin Track that seemed to be everywhere calling very loudly. Excellent to see such awesome numbers of such rare and special bird species. James Mustafa, Scott Baker
	Regent Honeyeater Chiltern-Mount Pilot National Park (Ryans Road) Previously reported unbanded bird found near Teal Track junction without any difficulty. In loose association with, and frequently mimicking Red Wattlebirds. Also of interest was a female type Rose Robin, seen at close range near Greenhill Dam Tim Nickholds
	Australian Raven Werribee Gorge State Park Watched and heard an Australian Raven for c. 20 minutes this morning. I took several recordings of it calling and could compare it to the Little Ravens that were also present. At one stage it sat near a Wedge-tailed Eagle. Some poor photos were taken also. Bernie McRitchie
Mon 30 Jun	Regent Honeyeater Chiltern Mt Pilot National Park Single un-banded bird adjacent to corner of Teal Track and Ryans Road. Red Wattlebird mimicry. Mostly in high canopy but also came to ground. Clear views in fog clearing to sunshine 0915-0930. No photograph. Rodger Willows and Alison Roach
Sun 29 Jun	Crested Bellbird Crusoe Reservoir (Number 7 Park) Male and female obseved mid afternoon beside the walking track around the resevoir. Not disturbed by close observation but very active and busy in the undergrowth. Craig & Jean Freestone
	Blue Petrel (1), whalebird sp (1) Point Lonsdale Blue Petrel seen briefly, but quite close, about 200 m, just beyond surf, around 3.30 PM. Blackish hood seen, contrasted with grey upperparts, with only slight bluish tinge & weak M marking across wings. Tail grey, lacked a dark tip, & got impression of square white tip briefly. Underparts mostly white, including undertail coverts (which precludes all prions). Flight flat gliding with interspersed with lots of flapping, not as buoyant as prion. Also forgot to mention with Kerguelen Petrels that I saw a short stubby bill in some views. 1 whalebird seen in surf, didn't see it well enough to determine species, but it wasn't a Fairy Prion. Also saw 2 giant petrels, about 20 Shy, 5 Black-browed Albatrosses & a few hundred Fluttering/Hutton's types, those that came close enough were Fluttering. 2 Kelp Gulls also seen. Kevin Bartram
	Kerguelen Petrel (3) Point Lonsdale All came from the east & flew west. 1 individual seen 1.22 PM, then 1 just prior to 2 PM, then 2 together around 2 PM (combined these, so=2), 1 seen later coming from east, all birds heading west. Possibly 5 all together, but conservatively some of these birds could have been the same, so 3 birds definitely seen. A mostly all dark petrel, wings heavily cocked forward, often seen soaring very bouyantly, sometimes very high. Greyish-looking all over, with dark grey contrasting hood, white forehead seen briefly on a few occasions. Upperwing dark with greyish tone. Underparts mid-grey, contrasting with hood, much paler. Underwing: narrow white leading edge between carpal and body seen a few times; central part of wing blackish & contrasted heavily with leading edge & paler grey bases of primaries & secondaries. Tail longish, when fanned had a rounded tip. Birds seen between 400-1000 metres. Poor photo attached Kevin Bartram
	Australian Bustard Yanac Group of 10 birds seen in field from road north of Yanac. Good to see reasonable numbers still possible in Vic. Scott Baker, James Mustafa
	Alexandrine Parrot Moe This bird was on one of our feeder. We feed all sorts of Australian birds and all types of parrots , this bird came around mid morning. (Moderator's note: an escapee). Reg Reed
	White-bellied Sea-Eagle Boort 1 adult seen over Lake Lyndger which has been dry for some time. 20 minutes later pair (1 adult, 1 sub-adult) north of Boort, flying together and calling. Malcolm Cousland
Sat 28 Jun	Grey Goshawk Warnambool Two Grey Goshawk's seen at separate locations along the Great Ocean Rd and Princes Hwy within around 20kms from Warnambool. Awesome to see this species twice within such a short distance. James Mustafa, Scott Baker
	Pink-eared Duck Yarra River Melbourne A Pink-eared Duck was seen associating closely with coots in the Yarra River near the rowing clubs. Spotted from Princes Bridge. Paul Hackett
	Australasian Bittern, Australian Little Bittern Woodlands Industrial Estate, Braeside Excellent, undisturbed views of the previously reported Australasian Bittern feeding at close range. Later heard a weird demented frog like call from phragmites which upon investigation briefly flushed an adult Little Bittern. Sometime later it gave the familiar ook-ook call briefly but despite watching the location to near dark I did not get another sighting. In addition good numbers of a freckled duck remain and an overwintering reed-warbler of interest. Tim Bawden
Fri 27 Jun	Possible intermediate morph Red-footed Booby Point Lonsdale lighthouse Just a heads-up for anyone out birding along the Bellarine and Surf coast this weekend, at around 11:40 I observed what was possibly an intermediate morph Red-footed Booby, off the lighthouse. Even though a fair way out, it was smaller and rangier than the nearby Aus Gannets, had a pale head and pale rounded-looking tail, even brown upperwing, and paler underwing covert bar on otherwise dark underwing. I couldn't see leg color. Flew from east to west, too far out for conclusive ID, but not an immature Aus. Gannet. Steve Davidson
Thu 26 Jun	Spangled Drongo Great Alpine Road, Tarrawingee I saw the Drongo in the garden late in the afternoon 26th June. The bird was also seen on the 27th. Michael O'Sullivan
	Australian Magpie Balwyn North, Victoria One albino Australian Magpie spotted on the nature strip along a suburban road (Wanbrow Avenue, North Balwyn), accompanied by other magpies nearby on the powerline above. Harry Sdraulig
Wed 25 Jun	Australian Owlet-Nightjar Warrandyte State Park, Fourth Hill Looking for potentially luminous fungi last night I heard an Australian Owlet-Nightjar calling several times at around 10pm on the Gold Memorial track. Jackson Airey
	Beach Stone-curlew Cape Conran Coastal Park (Pearl Point) The Beach Stone-curlew was again observed sheltering in the primary dune system east of the Yerrung River entrance ( closed ) around midday today. While our Mots Beach BSC remained in the general locale for almost two months, it will be interesting to speculate on the duration of this present observation. Jacquie and Len Axen
	Possible Blue Petrel, White-fronted Tern Mornington Peninsula National Park (Cape Schanck) Wanting to inspect the damage from the current storms that have crossed Victoria, I've been out sea watching the last few days and intend to do so until the weekend. Whilst out at Cape Schanck today - I observed a species I believe could have been a Blue Petrel. Flew in very fast and low and had completely white underwings with dark patches either side of neck. Over all had a silvery grey and blue wash. Dark head and bill observed. Flew through over 40 secs and had it in scope for 10 secs approx. Also seen where over 40 Shy Albatross, 1 Yellow-nosed Albatross, 22 Kelp Gull, 2 White-fronted Tern, 1 Peregrine Falcon and a few unidentified prion species and shearwater species. I recommend anyone who likes to sea watch, gets out now and hopefully we might find something special after these storms. James Mustafa
Mon 23 Jun	Mallee Emu-wren, Southern Whiteface, White-backed Swallow, Chestnut Quail-thrush Hattah/Raak Plains near Spectacle Lake Mallee Emu-wren (1 M, 2 F) in large spinifex clumps on northern side of Last Hope Track (close to Spectacle Lake). Amanda Lilleyman and Rowan Mott
	blue morph of Brown Quail Truganina Swamp, Altona I observed a covey of seven Brown Quail wandering along the track . I noticed a very "blue "looking quail emerge from cover and join the rest. I was about 5 mts from them and they didn't flush. I had very clear line of sight, and was able to observe for close to a minute what was a very blue plumaged Brown Quail. It was very close to what is illustrated in Slater as a blue morph Brown Quail. David Richardson
	Freckled Duck Kyabram Fauna Park Large flock of Freckled Ducks aprox. 400 have arrived at the Kyabram Fauna Park ( photos taken ) and another flock of 328 in the Stanhope, Girgarre area on evaporation dams. Counted them 3 times while waiting in vain for the sun to come out to take photos. Some drakes with a slight tinge of red on their bills. Many, many thousands of Ibis roosting at the Fauna Park tonight at sunset. Lots of people taking photos of them. Barney Enders
	Swift Parrot Muckleford Small group of approx. 6 in Bushy Yate outside back door this morning approx. 7.30am Debbie Worland
Sun 22 Jun	Swift Parrot, Tawny-crowned Honeyeater, Crested Bellbird Bailieston Plenty of Swift Parrots around the Bailieston Historic Reserve. While I saw and heard around 10-20 in the Reserve itself, there were closer to 100 in the low hills just to the west of the Reserve. They were feeding on the lerps in the Box and Ironbark trees and flying around in groups of up to 20. In the same area were Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters and a Crested Bellbird calling. Chris Lester
	Beach Stone-curlew Cape Conran Coastal Park Following up an initial observation by Gary and Judy Smith to BirdLife East Gippsland (20/06), an initial search early last Saturday morning failed to find the BSC. A return visit by Jacquie and myself on Sunday eventually located the BSC on the ocean beach east of the Yeerung River where it was sheltering amongst debris washed ashore by recent gales and floods along the Gippsland coastline. Gary and Judy Smith, per BLEG and Jacquie and Len Axen
	Swift Parrot Binks Rd, Junortoun Four Swift Parrots seen flying just above trees and being harried by Noisy Miners on two separate occasions. Plenty of Musk Lorikeets in the same general vicinity feeding on flowering Yellow Gums. Martin Woodward
	Leucistic Chestnut Teal, Olive-backed Oriole Western Treatment Plant, Werribee Found a Leucistic Chestnut Teal hanging with other Ducks on Lake Borrie. Heard the Oriole calling in the woodlot along Point Wilson Road, but couldn't get a visual. 11 Birds of Prey seen also. James Mustafa, Owen Lishmund
	Australian Spotted Crake Rigbys Wetland, Scoresby Des Palmer
Sun 15 Jun	Satin Bowerbird Gilberts Road, Huon Creek Green bird observed and photographed daily over one week foraging beneath fruiting shrub near our house. (Satin Bowerbirds disperse in winter and this sighting is on the very edge of it's wintering range). Patrick Brear

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