November 2011

Welcome to the first monthly report created as a blog post, rather than a reproduction of a hard copy oriented report! Some information about the rationale for this report is the first post on the blog.  A full list of the birds seen since the project started is included in an early post as is a list of all species recorded as breeding.

The new approach starts with a bang, as in November 2001 108 species were recorded across the area.  This is the most species we have recorded in a single month as shown in the following graph (the adjusted curve allows for seasonal variation).

and is 7 more than October 2011 and 12 (!!) more than November 2010.   

 20 species were recorded breeding in this month.  As shown in this graph, November is a peak breeding month: the polynomial trend is included to remove the statistical "noise" and not to suggest any forecasting ..

Getting back to current events, many thanks to observers in Widgiewa Road, Hoskinstown, Plains Road, Radcliffe and Molonglo River Park for their reports and records.

As is becoming an annual  event at fruiting time for Acaia dealbata, Superb Parrots have been reported from the Hoskinstown Plain.

The outstanding events of the month have been the concentrations of raptors both diurnal and nocturnal on the Hoskinstown Plain.  I reported last month about the large number of Black-shouldered Kites seen on lower Widgiewa Rd (overlooking the Plain).  They have continued to be seen, although perhaps in slightly diminished numbers towards the end of the month.  They have been joined by large numbers - at least 11 and perhaps as many as 20 - of Brown Falcons.  To top this off a Black Falcon  has been seen on the Plain by several observers including this author.   After dark up to 4 Barn Owls have been seen regularly along Plains Rd.


The return of waterbirds has also continued.  This has been particularly noticeable for White-necked Herons (previously known as Pacific Herons) which have been sighted on many of the dams and watercourses around the area.  In addition a sighting of Yellow-billed Spoonbill in Molonglo River Park was the first for the area since I started recording. Also in that area, Black-fronted Dotterels were reported as breeding successfully.

Here follows the list of species observed.  The format of the list has changed slightly, in that through the electronic format it is now possible to link to photographs of the birds in the pages towards the end of the blog.  Of the 163 species recorded since I started these reports 50 have associated photographs.  In the list this is  indicated by the name, in blue or purple type, being underlined.  Migrants are in italics and species for which breeding activity has been recorded in the month are in bold type.

1  Waterbirds:   Australian Wood Duck; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant; White‑necked Heron; Cattle Egret; White‑faced Heron; Nankeen Night Heron; Straw-necked Ibis;Yellow-billed Spoonbill; Purple Swamphen; Dusky Moorhen;  Eurasian Coot; Black‑fronted Dotterel; Masked Lapwing

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; Brown Goshawk; Collared Sparrowhawk; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon; Australian Hobby; Black Falcon, Peregrine Falcon.

3 Parrots and Relatives:  Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo; Gang‑gang Cockatoo; Galah; Sulphur‑crested Cockatoo; Australian King‑parrot; Superb Parrot; Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella; Red-rumped parrot 

4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds: ; Stubble Quail; Rock Dove; Spotted Dove; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Australian Owlet-nightjar; Common Koel; Channel-billed Cuckoo;  Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Brush Cuckoo; Eastern Barn Owl; Laughing Kookaburra;Sacred Kingfisher; Rainbow Bee‑eater; Dollarbird;

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

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

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

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; Olive‑backed Oriole; White‑browed Woodswallow; Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark; Rufous Songlark; 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

Just to get things going!

I have been contemplating doing a blog about the birds of Carwoola for some time.  However I have continued to use the hard copy Stoney Creek Gazette for disseminating summaries of the information gathered (by my own observations and those of several others in the area) each month.  Since it appears that the hard copy Gazette may die in the near future I have decided to bite the bullet and start this.

So that there is something to repay you for visiting the blog here is a link to a page in my 'personal' blog about recent excitements.

My intention is to upload all the past reports to the Gazette as separate posts together with most of my photographs of birds in the area.  That took a little time but has been largely completed by the end of November.

The next major addition will be to work out how to present photographs in the blog.  I suspect that will involve a fair amount of thought so don't hold your breath!

October 2011

 In October a very good  99  species of birds were recorded in the catchment area of the Gazette.  This is 2 less than the remarkable total in September this year and 2 more than October 2010.  Several observers have noted a high level of diversity.

Thanks to several observers in: the Molonglo Valley, Captains Flat Rd, Hoskinstown, Radcliffe and Widgiewa Road.    There have been two records of dead  Barn Owls – most likely hit by vehicles – on Plains Rd (as noted last month this species irrupted into Canberra this year as the mouse plague declines in the West of the State).   At least 3 (live) Barn Owls have been present on Plains Rd in mid November.

Similarly, Black-shouldered Kites have continued to be sighted by a number of observers with the flock at the head of the Hoskinstown Plain reaching 16 birds towards the end of the month.  There are continued observations of up to 10 Brown Falcons and 4 or more Nankeen Kestrels, in a small area which is also likely to be due to feasting on mice.  

A Cattle Egret was also seen in the area, only the second seen on that property in the last 10 years (and the first reported since I started doing these reports).

Migrants are shown in italics below.  Note that most of the regularly reported migrant species have begun to return already.  While there are a few more to come to Carwoola, they have been reported in Canberra.  21 species which have recorded breeding (broadly defined) this month are underlined.  I’d welcome records of any breeding activities seen in the area as well as first arrivals of any migrants not recorded below.

1  Waterbirds:  Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Australasian Grebe; Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant; White‑necked Heron; Cattle Egret; White‑faced Heron; Dusky Moorhen;  Eurasian Coot; Masked Lapwing; Latham’s Snipe,

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; Brown Goshawk; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon.

3 Parrots and Relatives:  Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo; Galah;  Sulphur‑crested Cockatoo; Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella; Red-rumped parrot

4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds: Stubble Quail; Brown quail; Rock Dove; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Painted Button-quail; Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Southern Boobook; Eastern Barn Owl; Laughing Kookaburra;

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

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

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species:  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Speckled warbler; Weebill; Western Gerygone; 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; 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