Whiskered Terns in Carwoola pt 2

Following the initial sighting of Whiskered Terns on the Hoskinstown Plain they appeared to be starting to breed there on 9 December.  Birds were seen carrying vegetation and landing in the reeds in the middle of a Marsh.

Garry and I visited the marsh on the 10th of December and counted at least 40 birds and at least 10 pairs sitting on or near nests.

As far as my research thus far reveals this is the first record of the species breeding in the COG Area of Interest (roughly a rectangle with extrema at Goulburn and Adaminaby) since November 1963.

The pasture around the marsh is, to say the least luxuriant, as shown by the way Herefords only just poke out.

We walked along the edge of the marsh, trying not to think about Tiger Snakes.  Some people get Cleopatra, others get the Asp!

 This gives an idea of the habitat the birds were nesting in.

November 2016

The above cartoon was originally published in Punch in November 1895.  It is pretty much a fair comment on birding in Carwoola 121 years later!

To deal with the less good bits first, this chart shows overall diversity was significantly lower than other recent Novembers.

We fell short in Waterbirds and Raptors with most of the MIAs in other categories being less common birds in this area.

Getting on to the better bits, despite the comment above the more unusual birds were all waterbirds.  I presume this means the change of seasons has led to the waterbirds moving around somewhat with many of those that left the area to seek the floods in Winter still being away and other species turning up.  

The star of the month, from a marsh on the Hoskinstown Plain, was the first record in this area of a Red-necked Avocet, featured below hiding behind an Australian Shelduck.  (I had not previously realised the similarity in colour of the head of the Avocet and the breast of the Shelduck.)

Other unusual sightings for this area, also from the marsh, were the second sighting of Whiskered Terns (8 birds)

 and the fourth of a Silver Gull.  Later in the month I received 2 sightings of Latham's Snipe at other sites on the Plain.

Breeding is still happening with 14 species being recorded in various stages of the process.  " Our" Frogmouths have successfully fledged 2 chicks after a drawn out process.  They have then vanished. A particularly interesting report is of a pair of Sacred Kingfishers occupying a tree-hollow in Knox Place: hopefully they'll complete the process.  The species are marked in red in the list below.

Migration has pretty much finished.  I had initially noted White-winged Triller (which seems to turn up some years and not others) as absent this year but have since got a report of them from Capatans Flat Rd.  Still missing is Rufous Songlark (COG has noted that they seem to have found enough habitat in the West to not need to come this way in 2016).  Neither of the big cuckoos (Channel-billed Cuckoo and Eastern Koel) have definitely turned up here yet, but are in Canberra.

As always, thanks to the observers who have provided reports to me for the month.  These have covered sites in Molonglo River Drive, Whiskers Creek Rd, Widgiewa Rd, Knox Close, Radcliffe Circuit, Douglas Close, Captains Flat Rd, Wanna Wanna, and Hoskinstown Plain.. I'm always happy to receive reports, my email address is martinflab@gmail.com.

Readers might like to also see this post from our block - noting that it shows a Sparrowhawk feeding in a rather sanguinary fashion.

1  Waterbirds (pt 1):  (pt 2); (Pt 3); (Pt 4): Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck;  Australian Shoveler; Grey Teal; Chestnut Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe; Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant; White‑faced Heron; Australian White Ibis; Eurasian Coot; Masked Lapwing; Latham’s Snipe;  Whiskered tern, Silver Gull

2 Birds of Prey:  Collared Sparrowhawk;Wedge-tailed Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; 

3 Parrots and Relatives: Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo; Gang‑gang Cockatoo; Galah;  Little Corella; Sulphur‑crested Cockatoo; Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella; Red-rumped Parrot

4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds (Pt 1) (Pt 2) (Pt 3): Stubble Quail; ; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Horsfield's Bronze‑Cuckoo; Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo;  Laughing Kookaburra; Sacred Kingfisher; 

5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill; Yellow-faced Honeyeater; White-eared Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird; 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; Eastern Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow; Fairy Martin; Tree Martin

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species (Pt 1) (Pt 2):  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren;  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; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; Olive‑backed Oriole; Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark; Golden-headed Cisticola; Australian Reed-warbler; Brown Songlark; Common Blackbird; Common Myna; Common Starling; Australasian  Pipit;

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

Whiskered Terns in Carwoola pt 1

Today (13 November) I got a phone call saying that some terns were flying around the swamp in the Plain.  By the time I had got down there they'd been identified as Whiskered Terns and 8 were counted.  One of them came close several times allowing me to get some photos.  (As it was blowing a gale, and the birds fly quite quickly, the photographic process was "Point the camera in the general direction and press the button."  Seems to have worked OK).

 Sometimes there were up to 3 fairly close.  Here's a "poetry in motion" or Monetesque snap of a vol de deux.

October 2016

In the middle of the month a member of COG reported seeing Chestnut-rumped Heathwrens in Cuumbeun near the gate off Captains Flat Rd.  I was subsequently able to spot them close to the dam on Link Trail.  The red spots in the following map mark the most likely habitat for this species, which has been previously found in the area.

The other reported unusual  bird was a Nankeen Night Heron at a billabong off Wanna Wanna.  At this time of year it may be breeding somewhere in the area.

In total we recorded 96 species in the month.  This is quite a bit below the average since 2010.

17 of the MIAs are waterbirds.  As explained in this post, they have all gone  North and West!

Migrant species have been returning pretty much on schedule, in contrast to last year when a noticeable proportion were early.  The remaining species are White-winged Triller, the two Songlarks and the two big Cuckoos (Koel and Channel-billed Cuckoo).  Pleas let me know if you spot any of these.  I would have expected the 'unusual' Woodswallows - Masked or White-browed to have appeared by now if they were coming so I think they are not appearing this year.

Breeding has been reported well with 17 18 species (marked in red below) at various stages of the procreational process.  It particularly pleasant to watch a pair of Leaden Flycatchers building a nest at a property on Wanna Wanna Rd.  First the female ...

 .. and then the male.  Note the blue-grey colour, very different to the shining jet-black of the closely related - but much less common in this area - Satin Flycatcher

As always, thanks to the observers who have provided reports to me for the month.  These have covered sites in  Whiskers Creek Rd, Widgiewa Rd, Knox Close, Douglas Close, Captains Flat Rd, Wanna Wanna, and Hoskinstown Plain and Village. I'm always happy to receive reports, my email address is martinflab@gmail.com.

1  Waterbirds (pt 1):  (pt 2); (Pt 3); (Pt 4): Musk Duck; Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Australasian Grebe; Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant; Cattle Egret; White‑faced Heron; Nankeen Night Heron; Eurasian  Coot; Masked Lapwing

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; Brown Goshawk; Collared Sparrowhawk; 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; 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;  Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed 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; 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;  Eastern Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow; Fairy Martin; Tree Martin

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species (Pt 1) (Pt 2):  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Chestnut-rumped heathwren; Speckled warbler; Weebill;  White-throated Gerygone; Striated Thornbill; Yellow Thornbill; Yellow‑rumped Thornbill; Buff‑rumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill;Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; Silvereye; Red‑browed Finch; Diamond Firetail; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; Olive‑backed Oriole; Dusky Woodswallow;  Australian Reed-warbler; 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

Waterbird diversity

In recent months it has been difficult to find much diversity of waterbirds around the area.  This is reflected in a graph!

The dotted blue line is the number of species recorded each month.  As it varies through the seasons I have removed that source of variability by taking a 12 point moving average, giving the red line.  That shows a peak in Summer 2012-13 and another in Summer 2015-16 - with a very sharp drop in the last two months.

Why is this so?

I believe this to be due to rainfall effects, but they are far from simple.  The correlation between the original series of waterbird species and rainfall is very weak: a coefficient of -0.03!  However when the moving averages are compared the coefficient is quite strong at -70.7 : note the minus!  In simple words, when there is a period of sustained high rainfall fewer waterbird species are recorded.  This is because they spread out to the many water-bodies and become harder to spot.  On the other hand when there is a dry spell a few water-bodies survive and the birds are concentrated in them.

In the current situation waterbirds have basically vanished from South-eastern Australia.  The national birders chatline has had comments from Werribee (Victoria) to Gatton (Queensland) abut how the birds have vanished.  For some reason this has focused on Coots which have dropped from hundreds of (apparently) resident birds to none, or perhaps one or two breeding pairs.  In contrast a report from the Macquarie Marshes includes:

"...a non-birder,  phoned a couple of days ago to say she had justarrived at Macquarie Marshes (Willie Retreat). They  had come from Bourke and had to get there via Warren as the bridge at Carinda is out. She said there was almost continuous water in the roadside drains from Warren up to Gibson Way with birds by the hundreds in every "long puddle". 

Another more effusive report said

"We arrived two days ago in the Macquarie Marshes and I have to say I doubt in a number of continents and more years than I care to specify, I have ever seen anything like the numbers of birds - in the air, on water and whateverlittle land and trees there are. We counted about 70 plus species in little over an hour cruising along a few kilometres of the Gibson Way.

"Magpie Geese and Brolgas sticking their heads up above the abundant vegetation, Hardheads shepherding chicks while a couple of Australasian Bitterns boom in the reed beds. The second crossing east of Willie had a mixed assemblage of Great Egrets, Little Egrets, Straw and White Ibis using the flowing water for some angling while a couple well feed kites and a Little Eagle watched on.

"As far as the eye can see there were V-formations, flocks and mixed species clusters travelling in any direction and making avian air traffic control a serious issue. All this activity was not only visual as a cacophony of grunts and whistles drifted from the floating breeding centres anddistinctive odour of Ibis preen oil wafted through marshes."

 So what appears to be needed is some good rain here to get water into the ephemeral marsh on the Plain and Foxlow Lagoon and then a dry spell out West to get the birds here.

If this inspires folk to think about visiting the area the second report above also includes:

The road up from Warren has significant stretches underwater and it is"critical travellers check the local conditions. Gibson Way is closed as large sections have been churned up. It probably possible to get through but don't expect locals to applaud as you chew through their council rates on diesel for repairs.

So check the situation and be thoughtful of those who live in the area.

September 2016

The first month of Spring has sprung some good sightings on us. 2 Jacky Winters were reported from Wanna Wanna, the fourth sighting in this project. Two Banded Lapwings have returned to the site just North of Hoskinstown where up to 15 were recorded last year. A single Cattle Egret was living up to its name by hanging with Herefords on the Plain.

A couple of other records are noteworthy.

• An observer thought they could have seen a Channel-billed Cuckoo on Briars-Sharrow Rd.  However as it wasn't heard calling, and the view not great, it was agreed this wouldn't be included in the database.  However it would be worth keeping an eye open for this species (and an ear for this call - described by one local naturalist as like Miles Davis in his most experimental days).
• An Apostlebird has turned up in Watson ACT, about 150km SE of its usual range.  If one has been blown/washed down here others may also be around.

Migrants (orange for Summer migrants, blue for the few Winter species) are returning on schedule and 11 species, marked in red below, have been observed breeding. (Of course the very evident bird song is evidence of either declaring breeding territory or attracting a mate, but more physical evidence is required to count as a confirmed breeding record.)  Breeding activity seems to have decreased during the incessant rain (or perhaps we haven't been going out in it).

As always, thanks to the observers who have provided reports to me for the month.  These have covered sites in  Whiskers Creek Rd, Widgiewa Rd, Douglas Close, Wanna Wanna, and Hoskinstown Plain and Village. I'm always happy to receive reports, my email address is martinflab@gmail.com.

1  Waterbirds (pt 1):  (pt 2); (Pt 3); (Pt 4):  Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Grey Teal;  Pacific Black Duck;  Australasian Grebe;  Little Pied Cormorant; Great Cormorant;   Cattle Egret; White‑faced Heron; Eurasian  Coot; Masked Lapwing; Banded Lapwing; 

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; Brown Goshawk; Collared Sparrowhawk; Wedge-tailed Eagle;; Nankeen Kestrel

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 (Pt 1) (Pt 2) (Pt 3):  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;  Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird; New Holland Honeyeater; , Brown‑headed Honeyeater; White-naped Honeyeater; Noisy Friarbird; 

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Golden Whistler;Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Magpie-lark; Jacky Winter; Scarlet Robin;  Eastern Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow; Fairy Martin; Tree Martin

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species (Pt 1) (Pt 2):  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren;  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;Olive‑backed Oriole; Skylark; Common Blackbird; Common Myna; Common Starling; ; Australasian  Pipit;

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

Birding on Whiskers Creek Rd

I enter the records I personally collect into eBird Australia (which links to the international eBird project run by the Cornell University Ornithology programme).  The Australian venture has offered a challenge this year inviting birders to achieve goals under 5 headings.

a) The Prolific eBirder: submits many eligible lists in the year (Gold: 200; Silver: 100; Bronze: 50 lists).
b) The Consistent eBirder: submits at least one eligible list in many weeks of the year (Gold: 50; Silver: 40; Bronze: 30 weeks). Each week starts on Saturday, and partial weeks count too, so there are in fact 54 eligible weeks in 2016!
c) The Adventurous eBirder: submits eligible lists from many different locations in the year (Gold: 100; Silver: 50; Bronze: 25 different locations).
d) The Faithful eBirder: submits many eligible lists from a single location in the year (Gold: 50; Silver: 25; Bronze: 12 lists at a single location).
e) The Dedicated eBirder: spends many hours birding during the year (Gold: 200; Silver 100; Bronze: 50 hours).

When they last sent round a report on people's progress (late June this year) I had already achieved the annual Gold standard for criteria a and c and was pro-rata across the line on criteria b and e.  However criterion d was a bit of a worry because I don't report to eBird for our house block, for which my observations go through the COG Garden Bird Survey (GBS).

I concluded that the best solution to kicking criterion d along was to do at least 1 count a day on Whiskers Creek Rd (WCR) which we traverse for one purpose or another most days.  I was a little concerned that this might be a slight bias in data towards this site, but concluded:

1. If them's the rules them is what I am going to follow, and 
2. It would be interesting to see what comes out of the intensive exercise.

This main part of this post is a summary of point 2.  Before getting to that a definition of the site and my observation methods is appropriate.

Another prelude: I ended up achieving all 5 goals, as did about 40 other birders Australia-wide.  That led to a random draw of all those who met the criteria.   I won, thus becoming "eBirder of the Year" and getting a copy of the Australian Bird Guide signed by the 6 authors!!!!!

Methods

My first eBird survey of the area was on 14 February 2015.  I started the intensive phase that is the main topic of this post on 18 August 2016 and got to my goal - 50 checklists in 2016 - on 9 September 2016.

Here is a mud map from Google Earth (GE) with the red outline broadly representing the area from which I can hear or see birds.  The straight white line is WCR.

The area within the polygon is very close to 50Ha (also according to GE).  

I didn't always cover the whole polygon: depending upon circumstances I sometimes took a stationary count for 10 minutes at points 1, 2 or 3.   Most commonly I walked 1.2km, from the edge of my GBS site up to WCR  and along to the junction with Widgiewa Rd and then returned making separate records each way.  At other times I might only cover part of the distance.

Results

My major project in this area covers a far larger area (roughly 20,000 Ha) to compile a monthly report for the local community.  Over close to 10 years of recording I and other residents have recorded 190 species of birds in the larger area.  In the 18 months I have been making observations of the WCR area  area I have recorded on eBIRD 66 species in the area (a list is at the end of this post) equivalent to 33% of those seen in the larger area.  (That being said, on reviewing the list I am aware of several other species seen in WCR that I haven't, for one reason or another, recorded on eBird: Shime, Shime.)

The length of the WCR list quite surprised me as WCR is not what I would consider to be high quality birding habitat being a mixture of Eucalypt woodland (with a Kunzea ericoides/Joycea pallida understorey) and pasture.  One large dam is visible from the road at point 3.  

In 2016 I have recorded 53 of the WCR species, of which 39 (61% of those ever recorded in WCR and 20% of the larger area) have been recorded in the intensive period of August and September.  The intensive period has added 6 species to the WCR list.  All of these 'extras' are species expected in the WCR area and it must be only happenstance that I hadn't logged them earlier.

Of the 39 species 5 are regarded by COG as migrants.  Thus the period of intensive activity has added a little to knowledge of when these species returned.  Looking at this a little further:

• it is interesting that Pallid Cuckoo was recorded 5 times in August but only twice in September, whereas Fan-tailed Cuckoo was not recorded in this project until September.  (The records - kept on a weekly basis-  for the GBS show Fan-tailed Cuckoo as having arrived in early August  this year whereas Pallid Cuckoo only arrived at the end of the month: As every academic report concludes "More research is needed.")
• the other 3 species - Olive-backed Oriole, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike and Yellow-faced Honeyeater - all  returned in August and were also seen several times in September.  The call of the Yellow-faced Honeyeater in particular is heard every day.

On average during the intensive period I recorded 8 species per survey, ranging from 5 to 13 species per checklist.  I can't identify any significant explanatory factors behind the variation.

Looking at the major groups of birds I have used for my "Birds of Carwoola" project, the following comments are offered:

• Waterbirds: Only 11% of the species reported in the larger area reported during the intensive period.  As well as the limited water features available in WCR the recent wet weather has caused many waterbirds to leave even the larger area,
• Birds of Prey: Only 1 species reported in WCR in the intensive phase while 16 have been seen in the larger area over the full 10 years.  Raptors have been hard to come by in the larger area in recent months.
• Parrots etc: 6 species - 50% of  'possibles' recorded during the intensive period.  3 of those only recorded in the larger area have only been reported in WCR once and the habitat is not suitable for a fourth species.
• Kingfishers and other non-songbirds: Only 3 of 30 species in the larger area have been reported in the intensive period.  A major factor in this is the number of migrant species which have not yet returned.
• Honeyeaters: 5 of 16 species were recorded in the intensive period.  Given the absence of blossom and insect food sources that isn't too surprising.  I would also regard 8 species as unusual in the larger area and the remaining 3, 2  are migrants which haven't returned yet.
• Flycatchers and similar species: very much under-represented in the intensive period.  Many of the MIAs are migrants which have yet to return.
• Thornbills Finches etc, and Other Smaller Birds: both well under-represented, mainly because: 
• the habitat is not really suited for them; and
• they are not possible to identify, without extreme effort, when they are skulking silently under dense Kunzea scrub.
• Other Larger birds: 7 of 8 possibles recorded (the 8th - Satin Bowerbird - is very unusual in this part of the larger area).

Conclusions

 The exercise has been very interesting.  From my view this has been largely because it has caused me to think about what has been recorded on WCR (and perhaps more importantly what has not been recorded but has been seen there).

It has pointed out significantly the importance of migration and timing in assessing the diversity of birding in an area, which will lead me to invest further time in recording birds here to fill in the blanks in the calendar.  (There are 5 months with no records for the site.)  This is presumably the intention of including this category in the challenges.

The need for further research is quite valid, and could include further investigation of:

• possible explanations of why some species are recorded in the area and others not; 
• changes between seasons; and
• changes between years.

The prerequisite to any of that is of course getting further data!

Species list

Birds seen in the intensive phase are highlighted in green (residents) or orange (migrants).

1  Waterbirds (pt 1):  (pt 2); (Pt 3); (Pt 4): Australian Wood Duck;  Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; White‑faced Heron; Eurasian  Coot; Masked Lapwing; 

2 Birds of Prey:  Whistling Kite, Brown Goshawk; Collared Sparrowhawk;

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

4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds (Pt 1) (Pt 2) (Pt 3): Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Horsfield's Bronze‑Cuckoo; Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo;  Southern Boobook; Laughing Kookaburra; Rainbow Bee‑eater; Dollarbird;

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

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Golden Whistler; Rufous Whistler; Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin; Welcome Swallow; Tree Martin

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species (Pt 1) (Pt 2):  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Speckled warbler; Weebill; Striated Thornbill; Yellow‑rumped Thornbill; Buff‑rumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill; Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; Silvereye; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike;  Olive‑backed Oriole; Dusky Woodswallow; Common Myna; Common Starling; 

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

August 2016

Hoary-headed Grebe

I have commented elsewhere that Carwoola's weather in August was pretty much close to average (for August).  So it was with bird diversity, with the total number of species (86) right on average.

The same largely applies to the 9 bird groups I use in the species list below.  In most cases the number of species reported is less than 1 different (sometimes above, sometimes below) to the average for August.  The biggest difference is for waterbirds with 16 species reported this month compared to an average of 14.5. However, the numbers of each species at each location were quite low as the birds have spread out across the many water bodies evident in the area.

Migration has started to happen in earnest.  Of the 6 species expected to arrive in August, 5 have appeared on time and are highlighted in orange in the list below.  The one late species is Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo, which is balanced by Tree Martins and Olive-backed Oriole being early.  Expectations are covered in a special post.  (The species in blue are ones that spend the Winter here and (mainly) go elsewhere in Summer.)

They are not migrants, but reports of Skylarks always jump up in Spring as they begin their ascending song-flights.  Late in August there were at least 4 singing their hearts out as I walked on the Plain.

Of course we are now in Spring which means fecundity.  16 species, (red text in the list below) have been reported as undertaking some form of breeding activity this month.  That is very much above average - more similar to the number expected in September.  Of course many of those observations were of nest building or breeding display but Black Swans were seen on a nest as was a Hoary-headed Grebe.  (That species is uncommon in the area so a breeding record is very pleasing.)  The Marsh in Hoskinstown Plain is now replete with water and 3 Australian Shelduck ducklings were see there, and 4 Masked Lapwing chicks (aka running fluff-balls) were nearby.

As always, thanks to the observers who have provided reports to me for the month.  These have covered sites in  Whiskers Creek Rd, Widgiewa Rd, Douglas Close, Wanna Wanna, and Hoskinstown Plain and Village. I'm always happy to receive reports, my email address is martinflab@gmail.com.


1  Waterbirds (pt 1):  (pt 2); (Pt 3); (Pt 4): Musk Duck; Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Australian Shoveler; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe; Little Pied Cormorant; White‑necked Heron;  White‑faced Heron; Australian White Ibis;  Eurasian  Coot; Black‑fronted Dotterel; Masked Lapwing; 

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; Collared Sparrowhawk;Wedge-tailed Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel;  Australian Hobby; 

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 (Pt 1) (Pt 2) (Pt 3): Rock Dove; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Laughing Kookaburra;

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

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

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species (Pt 1) (Pt 2):  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; 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; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; Olive‑backed Oriole;  Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark; 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