August 2015

Lets start with a nice snap of one of the commonest species.

How can one not get excited by a male Superb Fairy-wren?

The next photo is of a species occasional in our area, but mainly included because Bill Hall's photo, from Jerrabomberra Wetlands in Canberra:

• is so good; and 
• shows the Australian Hobby improving the Common Starling population.

On the subject of raptors an observer sought my advice about the source of some material she found near her house,  The story and some snaps are in this post on my main blog: cutting to the chase the conclusion of that post was

"So I think I end up with this being a pellet coughed up by a Wedge-tailed Eagle rather than a scat shat by a (Powerful Owl).

Thanks to the several expert members of Canberra ornithological community who provided input to that investigation.

An interesting aspect of this month (and indeed last month) has been the parade of Canberra birders to the area to observe the Banded Lapwings at Hoskinstown.

• The first sighting of the Lapwings was by Canberra visitors and subsequent visitors have called in at other spots.  
• That led to a report of Chestnut-rumped Heathwren in Cuumbeun NR, about 500m off Captains Flat Rd.  Again several people have been to the area with some reporting seeing 2 or more birds of the species.
• One of the local observers called in to checked the Heathwrens and added Pink Robin (# 190) to the list for the area.  It was a female rather than the spiffy male but still a good bird, more commonly found in Tasmania or the Victorian high country than this area.

In addition to all that excitement a local observer reported 2 Blue-billed Ducks on a dam beside Captains Flat Rd.  That is the first record in this project: the birds (species #191) are uncommon in the area generally, although Lake Bathurst is a stronghold. The swamp on the Hoskinstown Plain now has a considerable area of water which was hosting a good collection of ducks in mid-month.  This included 87 Pink-eared Ducks - a high count for the Canberra area, although flocks of thousands sometimes occur on Lake Bathurst.

But wait: there's more!  On 23 August a Nankeen Night-Heron was observed in a property abutting the Molonglo River.  At the excellent trivia night one of our table, from Widgiewa Rd,  described an unusual parrot to me.  I couldn't make an ID at the time but have subsequently worked out it was a female Superb Parrot: they have rarely been seen in the area and then only near Pollack Rd on the Plain.  We have also had reports of Rose Robin (only the second for the area) and White-necked Heron - which has been scarce recently.

As a result of all that excitement we have seriously overachieved in diversity this month.  93 species have been recorded, the second highest for August since I began this project.  It is 14 species more than recorded in both July 2015 and August 2014.  The graph reveals all!

We are now getting in to the serious breeding season so after proving the Banded Lapwings are breeding (thanks Christine D for the image) ....

An ad-hoc post with some detail on breeding activity, including several images of nests, has been created.  The 12 species recorded at points along the procreational spectrum this month are marked in red in the list below.

A second adhoc post has information on migrant arrivals.  Summer Migrants have orange highlight and Winter migrants blue highlight below.

As always thanks to the observers who have provided reports to me for the month.  These have covered sites in Widgiewa Rd, Wanna Wanna, Pony  Place, Bowen Street, Clydesdale Rd, Hoskinstown Plain and Village, Captains Flat Rd and Molonglo Valley.

Please pass on interesting sightings - especially of breeding - to me by email to martinflab@gmail.com.  

On to the main list!

1  Waterbirds (pt 1):  (pt 2); (Pt 3); (Pt 4): Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Pink-eared Duck; Australian Shoveler; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Blue-billed Duck; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe; Darter;  Little Pied Cormorant; White‑necked Heron;  White‑faced Heron; Nankeen Night Heron; Australian White Ibis;  Eurasian  Coot; Masked Lapwing; Banded Lapwing; 

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

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

4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds (Pt 1) (Pt 2) (Pt 3): Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth;  Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo;  Southern Boobook; Laughing Kookaburra; 

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

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Golden Whistler;Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin;  Flame Robin; Rose Robin, Eastern Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow; 

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species (Pt 1) (Pt 2):  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Chestnut-rumped heathwren; Speckled warbler; Weebill; 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; Varied Sitella; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike;Olive‑backed Oriole; Dusky Woodswallow;  Common Blackbird; Common Myna; 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