November 2012

A special post was created to show off the Striated Pardalotes at our place.  I also put a post about other breeding activities on my main blog.

In October 2012 108 species were reported to me.  It is 5 less than the astonishing total in October 2012, and the same number as recorded in November 2011.  

Most of the migrants (shown in italics below) expected by November have returned and the number of reports of cuckoos have picked up in the past month.  Fan-tailed Cuckoos have been calling continually at our place, and a Brush Cuckoo called most of a recent night.  I have received one report of Rainbow Bee-eaters flying high over the start of Widgiewa Rd. 

The Banded Lapwings have continued to be observed in large numbers (up to 40 birds) on the Hoskinstown Plain.  Other exciting sightings have resulted in adding 3 additional species to the overall list for the area.  While leading a COG outing to Yanununbeyan SCA we found a nesting Chestnut-rumped Heathwren near Corner Hill.  An Intermediate Egret was observed on a swamp in the Plain, and an Australian Pelican was seen flying over Carwoola on the Hoskinstown Plain.  The total list of species seen in the area over the past 6 years is now 176.

Looking to the future I notice that seed has set on many of the wattles (Acacia sp.).  This genus has been the food source for the Superb Parrots reported from the Hoskinstown Plain in the past two summers and I would be really keen to hear of reports of them, especially in other locales around the area.

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

Thank you to observers and landholders in Widgiewa Rd; Hoskinstown, Plains Rd; the Molonglo Valley and Wanna Wanna Rd.  As always observations are welcomed, especially of breeding events.

List of species observed

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

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

3 Parrots and Relatives:  Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo; Gang‑gang 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; Australian Owlet-nightjar; Horsfield's Bronze‑Cuckoo;  Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Brush Cuckoo;  Southern Boobok, Eastern Barn Owl; Laughing Kookaburra; Rainbow Bee‑eater; 

5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill; Yellow-faced Honeyeater; White-eared Honeyeater; Yellow-tufted 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; Red‑capped Robin, Flame Robin;  Eastern Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow; Fairy Martin; Tree Martin

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species:  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Chestnut-rumped Heathwren; Weebill; White-throated Gerygone; Striated Thornbill; Yellow‑rumped Thornbill; Buff‑rumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill; 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; Australian Reed-warbler; Rufous Songlark; Brown Songlark; Common Blackbird; Common Starling; Mistletoebird; Australasian  Pipit;

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

Striated Pardalotes-R-Us

When we first moved here I put up a couple of hollow logs with entrance tunnels to entice Striated Pardalotes to nest in them.  These were treated with great disdain.

On 8 November 2012 I noticed 3 Striated Pardalotes behaving in a 'thoughts-about-breeding' manner on the South side of our house.   Today (9 November 2012) the same sort of behaviour was going on outside my study on the North side.

The little birds seemed able to cling to the bricks at strange angles while calling loudly.  Although I only got one bird in a photo, at times all three were doing this with their wings extended and fluttering.

 They were also perching on a wire which had been used for roses.

From the wire perch they were flying up out of my sight and various chittering noises were being made.  On going on to the deck it appeared that a piece if beading had fallen off leaving a gap about 1cm wide.  To my astonishment the pardalotes were entering that and obviously planning to set up a nest in the ceiling.  This didn't seem like a good idea from the peace and quiet (or structural integrity) perspectives.

The first step was to ensure as far as possible that there were no pardalotes inside and then replace the beading.  The birds still seemed to be very keen on the site so I have relocated one of the hollow logs.

Within a minute the birds were inspecting the log, and when I showed Frances my handiwork 5 minutes later a pardalote zipped out of the log, startling her more than somewhat!  They seemed to lose interest here aftera a few days and them moved to a gap into the ceiling of my shed.  After much moving next material that site has also gone quiet.