In November 2010 a very good score of 97 species of birds were recorded in the
catchment area of the Gazette with 19 species recorded as breeding. Thanks to several observers in: Hoskinstown;
the Molonglo Valley, Primrose Valley, Radcliffe, Wanna Wanna and Widgiewa Road.
As
well as the relatively unusual (for this area) species of Little Corella, Superb
Parrot and Channel-billed Cuckoo (and the Common Myna unfortunately seen in
Hoskinstown), three new species have been added to the list this month. The Scarlet Honeyeater is unusual away from
the Coast, while Latham’s Snipe and Whistling Kite are both quite common in the
ACT. These reports from the Hoskinstown
Plain are the first made to me for this area.
Migrants are shown in italics below and species for which breeding (broadly defined) has
been observed this month are underlined.
1 Waterbirds: Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck;
Grey Teal; Chestnut Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Australasian
Grebe; Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant; White‑faced Heron;
Eurasian Coot; Masked Lapwing; Latham’s Snipe.
2 Birds of Prey: Whistling Kite, Brown Goshawk; Wedge-tailed
Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon; Australian Hobby;
Peregrine Falcon.
3 Parrots and
Relatives: Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo; Gang‑gang
Cockatoo; Galah; Little Corella;
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo; Australian King-parrot; Superb Parrot; Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella; Red‑rumped
parrot.
4 Kingfishers
and other non-songbirds: Stubble Quail; Common Bronzewing; Crested
Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Channel-billed
Cuckoo; Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo;Shining Bronze-cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo;
Fan-tailed Cuckoo; Brush Cuckoo; Southern Boobook;; Laughing
Kookaburra; Sacred Kingfisher; Rainbow Bee‑eater;
Dollarbird;
5 Honeyeaters: Eastern
Spinebill; Yellow-faced Honeyeater; White-eared
Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird;
Scarlet Honeyeater; Brown‑headed Honeyeater; Noisy Friarbird
6 Flycatchers
and similar species: Rufous
Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Leaden Flycatcher; Magpie-lark; Flame Robin;
Hooded 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;
Southern Whiteface; Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; Silvereye; Double-barred
Finch; Red-browed Finch; Diamond Firetail; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch
8 Other, smaller
birds: White-throated Treecreeper; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; Olive-backed
Oriole; Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark; Australian
Reed-warbler; Rufous Songlark; Common
Blackbird; Common Myna; 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
Birding Locations
Rather than going out and
about this month, I will draw attention to two internet sites that I think are
of value to people in this community.
They are both quite new and will get bigger and better as people and
organisations submit records to them.
The first is the Atlas of NSWWildlife which is rather focussed on the flora and fauna of official reserves in
NSW. It is run by an element of the NSW Government. However it is possible for
individuals to add data from their own sightings to this database. As well as birds the site also collects data
on plants and other types of animals. It
can also be sarched so that people can find what has been recorded in an area.
The second site is very new
in that it was only launched in the last month.
This is the Atlas of Living Australia which is managed through CSIRO. The site includes a facility to access all
records within the Atlas within a 5km radius of your home. Again, it is possible for individuals to
provide data.
