Thanks to Julienne and John for pinch hitting for me this month while I visited the North Coast!!
In June 2011, 64 species of birds were recorded in the
catchment area of the Gazette. Thanks go to observers in Hoskinstown, Forbes
Creek and Widgiewa Road. Two species were recorded as breeding. A Black Swan
with 3 dependent young was seen on Foxlow Lagoon and an Australasian Grebe also
with 3 dependant young was observed on a dam in Hoskinstown. In the coming
weeks we may be fortunate enough to see Black-shouldered Kites. Sightings of
these kites have been noted in nearby locations where the number of mice has
increased. (Did we ever! see a post in my main blog for events in September -which carried on more on less into November.)
Bird species of June are listed below. Migrants are shown
in italics below and species for which
breeding (broadly defined) has been observed this month
are underlined.
1.Waterbirds: Musk Duck; Black Swan;
Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Australasian
Grebe; White-faced Heron; Dusky Moorhen; Eurasian Coot; Masked Lapwing.
2 Birds of Prey: Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle;
Nankeen Kestrel.
3 Parrots and Relatives: Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo;
Gang-gang Cockatoo; Galah;
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo; Crimson Rosella; Eastern
Rosella.
4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds:
Brown quail; Common
Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Laughing Kookaburra.
5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill; White-eared
Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird;
Brown-headed Honeyeater.
6 Flycatchers and similar species: Golden Whistler; Rufous Whistler;
Grey Shrike-thrush;
Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin;
Welcome Swallow.
7 Thornbills, Finches and similar
species: Superb
Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren;
Speckled warbler; Weebill; Striated Thornbill;
Yellow-rumped Thornbill; Buff-rumped Thornbill;
Brown Thornbill; Southern Whiteface; Silvereye; House
Sparrow; European Goldfinch.
8 Other, smaller birds: White-throated Treecreeper; Varied
Sittella; Dusky Woodswallow;
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.
Winter Birds
During the cooler months birds tend to „mob up‟ to form larger flocks for protection
as they seek winter feed.
The larger birds are most likely to join with other
families of their own species to roam. During the last 6 weeks there has been
local sightings of groups of 50 -200 Little Ravens, up to 100 Aust. Wood Ducks,
200-300 Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, 30-40 White-winged Chough, up to 50
CrimsonRosella and 25 Gang-gangs.
Mixed Feeding Flocks (MFFs) are the go for the smaller
birds that are happy to form loose groups of mixed species. Amongst the trees
in timbered country you may see a MMF of Varied Sittella, Whiteeared
Honeyeater, White-throated Treecreepers, Superb Fairywren, Red-browed Finch,
Buffrumped, Striated & Brown Thornbill, Weebill, Silvereye, White-browed
Scrubwren and Scarlet Robin.
While on the Plain the MMF may be Yellow-rumped
Thornbill, Superb Fairywren, Silvereye, Buffrumped & Brown Thornbill, Flame Robin, Southern
Whiteface, Red-browed Finch and occasionally Double-barred Finch and Diamond
Firetail. The largest number noted recently was a MMF of 100.
However it is likely that rural properties will have
experienced smaller groups
