Month: February 2012

Tasmanian Boobook

Hi all Sorry i know this was discussed a little while ago but wanted to check: Is the Boobook in Tasmania now split according to IOC as Morepork – Ninox novaeseelandiae ? We saw one on Sth Bruny island last week so obviously a potential new bird 🙂 Cheers Dave Stowe ===============================

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Which frigatebird?

G’day Dominic,

The first impression from looking at your bird is a darkish throated female Great Frigatebird and that’s what I think it is. Shifting the levels around on your two images shows a blue eye-ring and the bird is lacking white tabs into the underwing, none of this is good for Lesser in the Coral Sea. I would say that the darkish throat, which is probably the reason for your caution, is not a problem and within the spectrum for female Great Frigatebird.

Cheers Jeff Davies.

Forwarded from ID-Frontiers in case any Birding-Aus subscribers wish to

comment:

I guess, seeing as Dominic didn’t post it directly here, any thoughts could be ccd to him as well as to birdingaus – his email address below.

GREY FALCON / ROAD CONDITIONS CENTRAL AUSTRALIA

Hi all, on the move again from Darwin, currently in the Alice. Grey Falcon seen 132km north of Ti Tree just north of Taylor’s Creek Rest area. Plenty of water around, managed to get through at McGrath Creek (50km north of the Alice) with about 300mm running across the road at the creek proper. Some 2WD were also getting through, one didn’t quite make it earlier and was off the road, though still upright and everyone out O.K. – Before the usual suspects complain about going through flood-waters, I waited for a truck to come through from the south (CB contact – one way traffic only) and considered his report before going through in my 4WD with several others from the north, the sun was out and there was no rain at the time there or in the catchment further to the east. Reports of up to 90mm of rain in that area overnight (Gem Tree), but it is very localised (No rivers / creeks running in the Alice yet). More rain expected until Saturday (40-50mm tonight from SW according to BOM) so just depends on where it lands to decide if I make it to QLD by Sunday. Worst thing is, if it does rain up north, I might have to stay and watch the AFL on Saturday night in the Alice where my team, the Crows are playing the Eagles (its an ill wind). Good birding! Rob Burgoyne

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Pied Butcherbirds in western Blue Mountains

Hi birders,

A belated post, but I’ve been away on trips and just remembered this might be of interest. On 12th February I was in the Kanimbla Valley, which is on the western side of the Blue Mountains, accessed via the Coxs River Road at Hartley (~100 kms west of Sydney). I was surprised to find Pied Butcherbirds at 3 separate locations, including a pair at one site. I have visited this area many times over the years, but especially during the 1980s and 90s, and never before found Pieds there. The Grey is the common butcherbird in the area, with very few (i.e. just 1 or 2 as far as I know) records of the Pied anywhere in the Blue Mountains. Not sure why the influx now, perhaps dispersal after a good year further west or north.

For those who know the area, I saw them at Tinkers Hill, Walkers Gully and Sandy Hook.

They are of course common in the Capertee Valley, which is about 65 km north of the Kanimbla Valley as the butcherbird flies.

Cheers,

Carol

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Rothenberg book errors

Hello all,

See below from Syd Curtis, who is not currently on Birding-Aus.

Cheers, Carol

From: Syd Curtis Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2012 22:43:51 +1000 Subject: For birding-aus please

Dear Carol,

I would be most grateful if you would forward this to birding-aus.

I have received in the mail a copy of the book “Survival of the Beautiful” by David Rothenberg – Bloomsbury Publishing 2011. (No indication who sent it to me.) To my considerable embarrassment the author seriously misquotes me on the first page.

Years ago I guided Rothenberg to an Albert’s Lyrebird in the O’Reilly’s sector of Lamington N. P., and incidentally showed him a Satin Bowerbird’s bower. In the book he has me saying re the bower:

* the oldest artwork in the world * a structure made of dried grasses * blue pigment that they grind up from fruit pulp with their beaks * raid picnic tables up to ten miles away * have been building bowers for fifty million years

none of which I said, and obviously are wrong (or seem likely to be).

Fig. 2 on page 8, is a B/W photo of a bower. The caption says it is a Satin Bowerbird’s and clearly it is not. (And the second plate after page152 is the same photo in colour.)

I haven’t read on past page 2 (and probably won’t), so I can’t comment on the rest of the book.

Sincerely

Syd

(H.S. Curtis, Hawthorne, Qld.)

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Fairy Gerygone, Sunshine Coast hinterland

After knocking off Oriental Cuckoo this morning at Dayboro (see previous post) I had a day to spare and decided to use it. I ended up on the Sunshine Coast hinterland and hit an excellent hot spot on Cooloolabin Road, near Yandina. About 7.3 km up this road I found a single Fairy Gerygone with others heard calling – although they were quite hard to hear and get onto over a deafening whirr of cicadas! Also here were White-headed (Varied) Sittella, White-throated Treecreeper, Mistletoebird and Rufous Fantail.

The gerygone will be no news to Greg Roberts, who has been documenting their occurrence and possible spread on the Sunshine Coast, but it was a pleasant surprise for me. The habitat was tall eucalypt forest, not the vine scrub from which Greg has mostly reported them.

Another 400 metres up the road, I stopped to check out a Barred Cuckoo-shrike high in a tree, and as I was doing so a magnificent female Grey Goshawk passed overhead. Emerald Dove was common at Fairhill Nursery at Ninderry, rounding off an excellent morning’s birding.

AS ===============================

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OBPs

This year’s breeding at Melaleuca has produced 12 juveniles so far. Twenty one adults were observed at the start of the summer ie 33 known birds. Three females of the 21 adults are unaccounted for and believed to have been breeding somewhere else in the range. At Taroona breeding facility, the total number fledged is 24, bringing the number in captivity to around 100. Results from other breeding facilities have not yet been released.

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Barbary Doves In Adelaide

Barbary Doves could well be the most boring subject ever when it comes to birds in Adelaide but one just happened to fly in – fly out to watch me paint the fence. I’d already posted an article today on the Bonaparte Archipelago which is part of the Kimberley if you didn’t know that already and then this Barbary Dove thing happened so I posted another one the same day which is a record.

If you can bear the pain, both can be seen on my blog below.

Chris Shaw seashore@internode.on.net Mobile 0409 675912

My blog – “Top Birds and Everyfing” can be found on the following link

http://topbirdsandeveryfing.typepad.com/top-birds-everyfing/

Gliders, sail planes, they’re wonderful flying machines. It’s the closest you can come to being a bird. Neil Armstrong

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