July 2013

If you typed in the address from the Gazette you will have ended up on this page,  This link takes you to the August Report.

This month has been a bit thin on the ground.   Only 63 species were reported in the month of July, the first time we have been below 70 species for 5 years.

To some extent this reflects the absence of observers - even I was away for the second half of the month.  However, a report to COG has also noted the paucity of birds in July.

The most interesting sighting in our area was two White-bellied Sea-Eagles flying over the Hoskinstown Plain, from the direction of the village heading Northwards. There have been 2 reports of Peregrine Falcons.  One from Widgiewa Rd (in hot pursuit of some unidentified prey) and the Hoskinstown Plain (looking for a straggler from a flock of 100+ Galahs)  Other notable sightings include a Barn Owl (heard on the Hoskinstown Plain early in the month; a flock of 120+ Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos flying from Whiskers Creek towards the Taliesin Hills; and an amazing number (at least 15) of Flame Robins feeding along a fence line on the Plain.

Thanks to observers in Widgiewa Rd, and the Hoskinstown Plain for reports.

In Canberra the early breeders are already building their nests so readers should keep their eyes open for such activities.  Certainly the Skylarks are making a lot of song on the Plain and I am expecting 'our' pair of Tawny Frogmouths to start building their nest any time from now.

Please let me know if you see evidence of breeding, or other interesting birding sightings, by email to martinflab@gmail.com.  I'd stress that observations of what you think of as 'ordinary birds' because they are common on your patch can be very useful particularly when observers are few - there are several common species that were not reported this month.

Species seen this month.

1  Waterbirds:  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck;  Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Australasian Grebe;  Little Pied Cormorant; White‑faced Heron;  Masked Lapwing.

2 Birds of Prey:  White-bellied Sea-eagle;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:  Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Eastern Barn Owl; Laughing Kookaburra

5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill;  White-eared Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird; New Holland Honeyeater.

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Golden Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush;  WillieWagtail;  Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin;  Flame Robin; Eastern Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow.

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species:  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Weebill; Striated Thornbill; Yellow‑rumped Thornbill; Buff‑rumped Thornbill;  Double‑barred Finch; Red‑browed Finch; Diamond Firetail; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper;  Skylark; Golden-headed Cisticola; Common Blackbird; Common Starling; Australasian  Pipit;

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