Birdline Victoria Weekly Update

Birdline Victoria Published sightings for the week ending 14 Sep 2014. Sun 14 Sep Black-eared Cuckoo Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park–Mt. Arapiles Following up earlier report. Heard then seen along left side of Summit Road, a few hundred metres west of the C240. Awesome views while it perched. James Mustafa, Owen Lishmund Banded Lapwing (8). Williams Landing 3027. At 1730 hours, I observed four adult Banded Lapwings and four juveniles in a large grassed paddock east of Palmers Road (between Williams Landing Boulevard and Freya Drive). The four juveniles were with an adult pair and the two other adult birds appeared to be a pair. Peter Gibbons. Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Travancore Park, Travancore A single Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater calling from the top of a Plane Tree adjacent to the Park. Flew off east in the direction of Royal Park. Very uncommon. Chris and Rosemary Lester Sat 13 Sep Cape Gannet Point Danger Single Cape Gannet located amongst the hundreds of Australasian Gannet’s in the colony at Point Danger. Spent a lot of time huddled down (partnerless) but darker area around the eye still prominent and clearly different from Aus Gannets. Long gular stripe clearly seen when the bird lifted it’s head up for a look around. Lighter iris also observed. Cape Gannet and colony was observed through scopes from outside the fence. James Mustafa, Owen Lishmund, Tony Bischoff and Rob Farnes Curlew Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Latham’s Snipe, White-winged Triller Boomahnoomoonah Road Wetland (Yarrawonga) A Curlew Sandpiper was seen actively feeding in the middle of the wetland with a small flock of 4 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, in non-breeding plumage. My first ever record in NE Victoria and probably the only record in many years with no records on eBird or Birdata for NE Victoria either. Also spring returns of a Latham’s Snipe and two male White-winged Trillers. Michael Ramsey Black-eared Cuckoo Plunkett’s Rd, Newstead Multiple birds calling mid-afternoon along with Pallid, Fan-tailed, Shining and Horsfield’s bronze-cuckoos. Geoff Park Fri 12 Sep White-fronted Honeyeater Skipton In blossoming plum tree in garden in Skipton, observed from close by, poor photo taken (attached) before it was chased off into a neighbours yard, heard singing for 10 minutes or so. Tristan Kennedy Straw-necked Ibis, White Ibis MacLeod Morass Wildlife Reserve, Bairnsdale Large rookery approx 24 ha, with ibis nesting in reedbeds near northern end of Morass. Provisional estimate 11,000 to 20,000 birds, mostly Straw-necked Ibis; proportion incubating not determined. Rookery site shifts from year to year; this is an earlier start to breeding than most years. Chris Healey, BirdLife East Gippsland Freckled Duck MacLeod Morass Wildlife Reserve, Bairnsdale 9 Freckled Duck in company with small numbers of Black Duck, Chestnut Teal and Grey Teal. Also Aus Spotted Crake, Aus Reed-warbler. Chris Healey, BirdLife East Gippsland White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike, Black-winged Stilt and Red-kneed Dotterel Woodlands Historic Park 1 lone bird in a flock with Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes, was singled out and as the black-faced flew this bird stayed behind giving us great extended views, many pictures and even was rewarded with its beautiful call. A cracking bird for this area. The Stilts and Red-kneed Dotterel were found down at the large dam in south east corner, 3 new birds for the park for a day out… Philip Peel and Matt Mccrae Wed 10 Sep Black-eared Cuckoo Mount Arapiles Two birds calling on Circuit Track near Summit Road, one seen well. Also seen on this track were several Shy Heathwrens, Gilbert’s Whistlers, White-winged Trillers, White-fronted Honeyeaters and a Peregrine Falcon. Richard and Margaret Alcorn Tue 9 Sep Noisy Friarbird Newry, East Gippsland Not sure if they are common here or not, but haven’t seen one here before and it was suggested I report it here. Coming in to eat the nectar in the Nectarine Blossom. Debbie Radde Mon 8 Sep White-headed pigeon Karbeethong (Mallacoota) I first saw this species here during a visit in May 2014. On this trip I have seen 1-3 on each of the last 4 days. This morning I observed 3 in a tree near the intersection of Karbeethong Avenue and Lakeside Drive. One bird was doing a bobbing DIsplay followed by putting a wing over its target bird. About 40 minutes later and about 1km away I saw another bird carrying a twig into dense garden plantings. So they seem to be breeding. Martin Butterfield Sun 7 Sep 33 Latham’s Snipe ‘Golden Pond’, Peterbough, this is a small wetland on the western edge of Peterborough, named Golden Pond by members of BirdLife Warrnambool (all visible birds where counted by Peter Barrand through his telescope) Samantha Greiner + all on the Cross Boarder Camp Out at Warrnambool Square-tailed Kite Hanging Rock An adult being swooped repeatedly by a vociferous Australian Magpie as it flew from south to north over the upper section of Hanging Rock at 1515 hours. Charles Silveira Gould’s Petrel, Killer Whale BirdLife Australia Portland Pelagic Despite what turned out to be a very quiet day on the water for pelagic seabirds, we still had a couple of highlights. There were 2 Gould’s Petrels observed on the way out to the shelf and a pod of 4-5 Killer Whales out past the shelf. We are still looking at the identity of a juvenile albatross, which might be a Grey-headed or a Black-browed. Otherwise, a day of small species numbers and low numbers of birds overall. Chris Lester, Paul Dodd, Tim Bawden et al Sat 6 Sep Yellow-faced Honeyeater – migration Merri Estuary–Rutledges Cutting, Kelly Swamp and Saltwater Swamp we saw 5-10 small flocks (around 16 in each group but up to 20 birds in one flock) at this location and again at the Killarney Sports Ground, they flew from the west along the dunes system towards the east and Warrnambool Samantha Greiner + all on the Cross Boarder Camp Out at Warrnambool