October 2012

I have done several other posts this month when exciting and interesting events have been reported, so if you have not already done so a snuffle to other posts may be rewarding.

In October 2012 112 species were reported to me.  This is the highest number compiled in a month since the project started.  It is 15 more than September 2012, and 13 more than the number recorded in October 2011.  In part this reflects the excellent diversity of waterbirds on a swamp off Plains Road together with seasonal returns. In the Chart below I have used only the last three years in forming the average to reduce the variability due to changes in number of regular contributors.

Most of the migrants (shown in italics below) expected by Octber have returned although the number of reports of cuckoos continue to be a bit 'thinner than would be expected.  One flock of the less common Woodswallows (White-browed and Masked)was reported.

The most exciting observations have been the influx of Banded Lapwings to the Hoskinstown Plain.  By the end of the month up to 37 birds of this species were foraging in the paddock.  (A further flock of up to 13 birds was present at the same time on a paddock just outside Bungendore.  This is outside the area covered by this project but is mentioned to show the magnitude of this population explosion.

Several species have started breeding as indicated in red in the list below.  The number of species reported breeding is somewhat lower than normal possibly reflecting the colder Winter

List of species observed

1  Waterbirds:  Musk Duck; Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Australian Shoveler; Grey Teal;  Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe; Darter; Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant;  White‑necked Heron; Great Egret: White‑faced Heron; Straw-necked Ibis; Yellow-billed Spoonbill;  Dusky Moorhen;  EurasianCoot; Black-winged Stilt; Black‑fronted Dotterel; Masked Lapwing; Banded Lapwing; Latham’s Snipe, 

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

3 Parrots and Relatives:   Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo; Gang‑gang Cockatoo; Galah;  Little Corella; 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; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Southern Boobook;  Laughing Kookaburra; Dollarbird;

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

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Leaden Flycatcher; Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin; Flame 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; 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; Masked Woodswallow; White‑browed Woodswallow; Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark; Golden-headed Cisticola; Australian Reed-warbler; Brown 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

Bungendore excitements

Last weekend my friend Denis was driving through Bungendore and he noticed at least 6 Banded Lapwings in a paddock beside the Kings Highway, just on the Queanbeyan side of Trucking Yard Lane.  This afternoon (24 October 1615) we stopped briefly and counted 7 Lapwings still there.  A little later another friend, from Wamboin, spent a little more time and got to 12 birds.

On 27 October I passed the paddock latein the afternoon and also got to at least 12 Banded Lapwings.

Earlier today I had got a phone call from Kim to say that he was seeing Plumed Whistling Duck (PWD) on the dam in Trucking Yard Lane.  I was at Gundaroo at the time and couldn't get to the dam until just after seeing the Lapwings.  There were 9 PWD present.

Interestingly, every other duck in the area flew away as we got out of the car but the PWD remained to be photographed!   Until recently they have been very rarely recorded in this area, and this is the second time I have seen them in this location.

The next three magnificent images were taken by Kim McKenzie, earlier in the afternoon of 24 October, as the birds flew into the pond on Trucking Yard Lane from the dam in the next paddock.

Birds seen on Wildflower Walk

This is a list of the birds seen (or in many cases heard) on the Community Wildflower walk to Flannel Tree on 21 October.  The birding picked up considerably when we were on the lower part of the property.


Pacific Black Duck
Crimson Rosella
Shining Bronze-Cuckoo
Pallid Cuckoo
Laughing Kookaburra
White-throated Treecreeper
Superb Fairy-wren
White-browed Scrubwren
White-throated Gerygone
Spotted Pardalote
Striated Pardalote
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
White-eared Honeyeater
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Rufous Whistler
Australian Magpie
Pied Currawong
Grey Currawong
Grey Fantail
Australian Raven
Leaden Flycatcher
White-winged Chough
Australian Reed-Warbler

A second day in the Brassica

On 9 October (ie the day after the previous post) my friend rang to say he had counted 15 Banded Lapwings in his brassica paddock.  As soon could be arranged I was down there again.  We got the count up to 18!  I attempted to use the panorama function on my camera to capture the whole lot but it proved not possible as the birds were spread out over a wide area .

Here are a couple of shots of groups of 3 birds.  Note how the cow-dung impersonates them at times.

I managed to get a halfway reasonable snap of the Brown Songlark which was chucking display flights all over the sky.  During some phases of this the almost-black under the wings and on the belly was clearly visible.

 We also went to check out a large raptor or two we had seen.  One of them - which we thought might be a Swamp Harrier - stooped and landed to be set upon by about 8 Australian Magpies.  For a while it simply walked around in the tall grass, not apparently eating anything, and after the initial onslaught being ignored by the Magpies.

It then flew up again and we realised it was a Brown Falcon.  Here it is, being ignored again by the Magpies.

Swampy days

Being alerted to the presence of Banded Lapwings on the Plain I took myself off there on 8 October and had a wonderful afternoon on a private property.

Here is one of 5 Banded Lapwings.  They have been declared 'extirpated' from the Canberra area, but have been re-establishing themselves recently.  This lot - 5 in total - are the first I have seen in the Carwoola area. Note the breast band and the lack of a face mask.  A brilliant sighting.

The Lapwing story continues the next day!

There were also 30 Black-winged Stilts in the area.  They are taking advantage of the water in the area (and probably declining levels in the inland).  The first image gives an impression of a group flying by, while the second shows them feeding.  Their 'yipping' calls were constant.

This pair seem to have been given ideas by standing on a swan's nest (from which the three cygnets are close to full grown).

 There were several White-necked Herons (previously Pacific Herons, thank you taxonomists) in the area.

Also 1 Great Egret - this has been around for some days, but had not previously been recorded in this project.  Note the Little Black Cormorant in the background.

Other excellent birds seen were 25 Australian Shelducks, great slow-motion fly-bys by the resident Spotted Harrier, 2 Golden-headed Cisticolas and a Brown Songlark.

From the future (29 October).  I went back to the Swamp, passing by at least 37 Banded Lapwings in the same paddock.  On the Swamp were 15 White-necked Herons, 14 White-faced Herons, 35 Black-winged Stilts, 1 Great Egret and 1 Yellow-billed Spoonbill.  Some not too flash images:

September 2012

In September 2012 97 species were reported to me.  This is the same number as in August 2012, although the species mix was different.  Although slightly (4) lower than the number recorded in September 2011 it indicates the season is progressing pretty much on schedule.  In the Chart below I have used only the last three years in forming the average to reduce the variability due to changes in number of regular contributors.

A further species, Great Egret has been added to the list from a swamp on Plains Rd.  This species is quite regularly seen in the broader area but this is the first time one has been reported to me.  The total list for the area now stands at 172 species.

Most of the migrants expected by September have returned although the number of reports of cuckoos have been a bit 'thinner than would be expected.  Several more migrant species are likely to return in October.  There have been a number of reports of the less common Woodswallows (White-browed and Masked) in Canberra in the last few days so it is worth keeping an eye open for these species, which often travel in flocks of >100 birds feeding on insect swarms.

A few species have started breeding  as indicated in red in the list below.

1  Waterbirds:  Musk Duck; Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Australian Shoveler; Grey Teal;  Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe;  Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant; White‑necked Heron;  Great Egret: White‑faced Heron;  EurasianCoot; Black-winged Stilt; Masked Lapwing

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; Brown Goshawk; Collared Sparrowhawk; Spotted Harrier; Wedge-tailed 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: Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Horsfield's Bronze‑Cuckoo; Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Laughing Kookaburra;

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

6 Flycatchers and similar species: 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; 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; White‑-winged Triller; Olive‑backed Oriole; Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark;  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