August 2012

At times it seemed that we were actually getting through to Spring, but then a front would come through and it snowed!  However the birds are returning, with 12 of the 15 expected migrants reported during the month.  There didn't seem to be a great deal of breeding activity happening although I was excited to find nest building by 'my' Tawny Frogmouths.

Overall we recorded an excellent 97 species of birds in the month which is 10 more than July and 7 more than August 2011.

This chart, , which clearly shows the jump in the last couple of months, needs a bit of work: the average is unduly influenced by the first year, in which I was the only observer.  Watch this blog for developments.

I have put a couple of extra pages up this month dealing with Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos (which seem to be around in largeish flocks) and Noisy Miners (because I had composed the article and it might be of interest).

Other birds of particular interest seen during the month include:

• A second sighting (since this project started) of Latham's Snipe on Plains Road.  This is an important bird subject to a treaty betwen Japan (where they breed) and Australia where they overwinter (note that the bird is referred to as Japanese Snipe - an out of date name).
• Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters in Yanununbeyan SCA (near the Queanbeyan River) during an Australian Native Plants Society outing;
• Hoary-headed Grebes on a marsh on the Hoskinstown Plain

The attention of observers is drawn to the presence of Banded Lapwings currently breeding on the grass of Canberra Airport.  This species was thought to have disappeared from Canberra (see "Birds of the ACT: Two Centuries of Change" by Steve Wilson OAM).  However they have been seen several times in the past two years in the ACT and around Lake Bathurst and Lake George.  It would be really good if residents with open grassland could look closely at any breeding Lapwings to check if they are Masked Lapwings (common in this area) or the Banded Lapwing (images here and here).  Hopefully the linked images show the different appearance of the two species: please let me know if you see Banded Lapwings!

It was also good to be able to use the information we have collected for this area to help answer a question from a post graduate student at ANU about the month of return of migrant species.  I have put up a separate post about that.

Migrant birds are shown in italics below and the 6 breeding species in red. Thanks to several observers in the Molonglo Valley,  Hoskinstown, and Widgiewa Rd. 

1  Waterbirds:  Musk Duck; Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Australian Shoveler; Grey Teal;  Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe; Little Pied Cormorant; White‑necked Heron; White‑faced Heron;  EurasianCoot;Masked Lapwing; Latham’s Snipe

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; WBrown Goshawk; Spotted Harrier; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon; Australian Hobby; Peregrine Falcon.

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

4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds:  Stubble Quail; Brown quail; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Horsfield's Bronze‑Cuckoo; Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo;  Eastern Barn Owl; Laughing Kookaburra;

5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill; Yellow-faced Honeyeater; White-eared Honeyeater; Yellow-tufted Honeyeater; White‑plumed 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; WillieWagtail; Magpie-lark;  Scarlet Robin;  Flame Robin; Eastern Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow;  Tree Martin

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; 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; Skylark; Golden-headed Cisticola;  Common Blackbird; Common Starling; Australasian  Pipit;

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