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
