February 2010

In February 2010 we welcomed a really nice serve of precipitation, filling the dams and overfilling the River and creeks!  To some extent this has made it harder to spot some species of birds as they have spread out somewhat.   88 species of birds were recorded in the catchment area of the Gazette.  Thanks to several observers in: Hoskinstown; the Molonglo Valley, Widgiewa Road,  The list includes 2 new species for the project: Barn Owl and Satin Flycatcher. A Spotted Dove was heard (and possibly seen at dusk) at our place: what an insult!!

Migrants are shown in italics below and species for which breeding has been observed this month are underlined.

1  Waterbirds:  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Australasian Grebe; Little Pied Cormorant; Great Cormorant; White-faced Heron; Australian White Ibis;  Eurasian Coot; Masked Lapwing.

2 Birds of Prey:  Brown Goshawk; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon; 3 Parrots and Relatives:  Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo; Gang-gang Cockatoo; Galah; Sulphur-crested Cockatoo; Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella; Red-rumped parrot.

4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds: Rock Dove; Spotted Dove; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Australian Owlet-nightjar; White-throated Needletail; Pallid Cuckoo; Southern boobook; Barn Owl; Laughing Kookaburra;Sacred Kingfisher; Rainbow Bee-eater;

 5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill; Yellow-faced Honeyeater; White-eared Honeyeater; Yellow-tufted Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird; New Holland Honeyeater; Brown‑headed Honeyeater; Noisy Friarbird

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Leaden Flycatcher; Satin Flycatcher; Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin; Welcome Swallow; Fairy Martin; Tree Martin

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species:  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Speckled warbler; Weebill; White-throated Gerygone; Striated Thornbill; Yellow-rumped Thornbill; Buff‑rumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill; Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; Silvereye; Double-barred Finch; Red‑browed Finch; Diamond Firetail; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; Varied Sitella; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; Dusky Woodswallow; Australian Reed-warbler; Common Blackbird; Common Starling; Mistletoebird; Australasian Pipit;

9  Other, larger birds: Satin Bowerbird; Grey Butcherbird; Australian Magpie; Pied Currawong; Grey Currawong; Australian Raven; Little Raven; White-winged Chough

Other winged things

Although not strictly birds, readers may be interested to hear that a Little Red Flying Fox was found on Widgiewa Rd and a Little Long-eared Bat was captured in our house (and released outdoors).

Birding Locations

I will start this series close to (our) home – Whiskers Creek Road!  In the 3 years that I have been recording the birds in the area I have recorded 93 species on or over our property.   Most of these have been visible from time to time along/from the road itself.  

The area along the road seems to be used as a popular route for birds moving (in both directions) between the Molonglo Valley and the higher country.  Thus it is a good place to spot soaring raptors (especially Wedge-tailed and Little Eagles) and the road has been the main place for spotting Woodswallows (Dusky Woodswallow are common in migration times and the White-browed and Masked species turn up less frequently).  

The power lines along the road are a favoured perch for Nankeen Kestrels, Welcome Swallows and Tree Martins