December 2012

Special posts were created to cover recent writings by me that have appeared in the District Bulletin and Canberra Bird Notes. 

In December 2012 116 species were reported to me.  I am beginning to run out of superlatives!  This is 10 more than the total in November 2012, and 17 (!!) more than recorded in December 2011.  

Migration appears to have settled down, as would be expected by December.  Sacred Kingfishers have returned and a small flock of White-throated Needletails made an appearance over the Hoskinstown Plain early in the month.  The latter species are more commonly seen travelling in front of storm systems and since it looks as though storms may be our main form of rain this Summer keep an eye out (and up) when a system moves in.

Other exciting sightings have resulted in adding yet another species to the overall list (now 177 species) for the area.  This was an Australian Spotted Crake seen at the Molonglo Crossing on Briars-Sharrow Rd.  The  Intermediate Egret first reported last month was again observed on a swamp in the Plain.  Some less common birds have returned after being absent for a few months including Black Falcon, Royal Spoonbill and Nankeen Night-heron.  

On the missing in action side of the ledger, the Banded Lapwings have moved on from the Hoskinstown Plain as the crop in which they were located have grown.   Superb Parrots only made a brief visit this year, probably due to   the Acacias on which they feed being trashed by Sulphur-crested Cockatoos.

25 species have been recorded breeding (widely defined) as indicated in red in the list below.  

Thank you to observers and landholders in Widgiewa Rd; Hoskinstown, Plains Rd; the Molonglo Valley and Radcliffe.  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; Hoary-headed Grebe;  Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant; Great Cormorant; White‑necked Heron; Intermediate Egret; Great Egret: White‑faced Heron; Nankeen Night Heron; Australian White Ibis; Straw-necked Ibis; Royal Spoonbill; Australian Spotted Crake;  Dusky Moorhen;  Eurasian Coot; Black-winged Stilt;Masked Lapwing;  Latham’s Snipe.

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; Brown Goshawk; Spotted Harrier; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon; Black 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; Rock Dove;  Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon;  Tawny Frogmouth; Australian Owlet-nightjar; White-throated Needletail;  Horsfield's Bronze‑Cuckoo; Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Brush Cuckoo; Southern Boobook; Laughing Kookaburra; Sacred Kingfisher; 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; WillieWagtail; Leaden Flycatcher;  Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin; Flame Robin; Eastern Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow; Fairy Martin; Tree Martin

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species:  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; 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; Varied Sitella; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; White‑-winged Triller; Olive‑backed Oriole;  Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark; Rufous Songlark; 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