January 2016

Latham's Snipe were again seen on a dam near Captains Flat Rd.  The usual sighting of this species is a tail heading for the horizon at warp factor 7, but I was lucky enough to find a couple posing at Kelly's Swamp in Fyshwick so offer a couple of snaps of one of them. First with a reflection ..

 .. and then without.  I have no factual info why the beak was open - possibly something to do with it being 38^oC at the time.

The most surprising sighting of the month was 6 Australian Pelicans cruising around on Foxlow Lagoon.  This is the 4th sighting on the species in this project and the second of the birds on a water body rather than overflying the area.  The other rather uncommon species seen was a Rufous Fantail in our bird bath (after one was reported from Wanna Wanna Rd last month).

It is more normal to see Gang-gangs in the area but a report from Wanna Wanna Rd of 14 in two groups late in the month was a bit surprising - such a big group would normally occur in Autumn when feeding on the Hawthorns.  In the past it was usual for a Spotted Harrier to be reported from the Plain but it has been absent since March last year, so it is good to hear of it hunting in the area again.  The pair of Tawny Frogmouths which reside in our garden most of the year vanished in early November and didn't return until 31 January: I suspect they were fleeing the unpleasant behaviour of a pair of Pied Currawongs,

On the topic of 'unpleasant' Common Mynas continue to be seen at the low end of Douglas Close.  A trap has been installed but thus far hasn't attracted the birds.  (It was interesting that two of these rats-with-wings sat in a nearby cypress as the trap was being set up.)

Another pretty good month for diversity with a total of 106 species recorded.  This is 6 down on the (surprisingly) high number of species reported in December 2015 but 11 more than seen in January 2015.

Most of the usual Summer migrants were reported, although they are harder to spot as they are calling as much , having completed their breeding activity.  It is likely they will start departing later in this month.

Breeding is starting to run down with nearly all reports of dependent young birds.  14 species were recorded breeding in the month and are shown in red in the following list.

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, Bowen Street, Radcliffe Circuit, Hoskinstown Plain and Village, Captains Flat Rd and Molonglo Valley. 

I have also compiled a report covering the whole of 2015 including comparisons with earlier years.  As has been my standard practice it is in 4 parts, starting here.

Summer migrants are highlighted in orange, and Winter migrants in blue.  

1  Waterbirds (pt 1):  (pt 2); (Pt 3); (Pt 4): Black Swan;  Australian Wood Duck; Pink-eared Duck; Australian Shoveler; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe; Darter; Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant; Great Cormorant; Australian Pelican;  White‑necked Heron; White‑faced Heron; Australian White Ibis; Eurasian  Coot; Black-winged Stilt;  Masked Lapwing; Latham’s Snipe 

2 Birds of Prey: Whistling Kite, Brown Goshawk;Spotted Harrier; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon; Australian Hobby.

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 (Pt 1) (Pt 2) (Pt 3): Stubble Quail; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Australian Owlet-nightjar;Common Koel;  Horsfield's Bronze‑Cuckoo; 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; New Holland Honeyeater; Brown‑headed Honeyeater; White-naped Honeyeater; Noisy Friarbird; 

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; Rufous Fantail; 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; Speckled warbler; 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;  Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark;  Australian Reed-warbler; Brown Songlark; 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