February 2016

There have been no "rip your shirt off" rarities this month, although seeing a Silver Gull floating in Foxlow Lagoon was only the second record in the area since this project began and could thus be regarded as needing the shirt collar to be loosened.  So could the Cattle Egret seen in a paddock full of stock on Widgiewa Rd: they are not common in this area, and certainly a Summer visit is unexpected.

Another interesting sighting was a 'green' Satin Bowerbird calling from the top of our big Yellow Box.  While they are regulars on Wanna Wanna to the North and Tallaganda (OK, its out of the study area, but not by much) to the East I have never seen nor heard of one in this part of the area before.

With the warm dry weather we have currently been enduring our bird bath has been seeing plenty of action.  This morning about 8 o'clock produced a particularly good flock: Silvereye 6; Striated thornbill 4; Brown thornbill 1; Striated pardalote 2; Yellow-faced Honeyeater 2; Grey fantail 2; Red-browed Finch 6; White throated treecreeper 1.

In total we have recorded 102 species for the month, continuing our string of above average efforts over the past few months.

A generally good sign is the increase in the number of Birds of Prey seen in the area.  To try to get a handle on what has gone on over the duration of this project I plotted the number of raptor species seen each month.

The original series is the dotted blue line: to quote my parents "That is up and down like a fiddlers elbow." and to quote any senior public servant "not helpful.  However taking a 12 month moving average to remove seasonality gives a more interesting picture.

• After a few months getting the project going;
• there is a period of stability at 5-6 species per month;
• then we have a few years of good rain, which takes a while for the impact to appear,leading to a peak in numbers around 11 species per month; and
• most recently a return to the stable level.

Breeding has been happening with Australasian Grebes on Wanna Wanna Rd nesting for a 4th time.  The first 3 efforts produced 5,3 and 1.  Our garden was graced by very young Fan-tailed Cuckoo (consorting with an adult of that species) and later by a young Brush Cuckoo (apparently being looked after by a female Rufous Whistler - not a known host of these cuckoos).  These, and other species working to continue their species are marked in red below.

It should be expected that many migrants will be departing in the next few weeks.  Especially keep an eye and ear open for Rainbow Bee-eaters travelling down the valleys and White-throated Needletails in front of any storms.

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'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; Australian Shoveler; Grey Teal; Chestnut Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe; Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant; Great Cormorant; White‑necked Heron; Cattle Egret; Eastern Great Egret: White‑faced Heron; Eurasian  Coot; Masked Lapwing; Silver Gull

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; Brown Goshawk; Spotted Harrier;Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon; Australian Hobby; 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 (Pt 1) (Pt 2) (Pt 3): Stubble Quail; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Australian Owlet-nightjar; Horsfield's Bronze‑Cuckoo; Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Brush Cuckoo; 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; 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; Diamond Firetail; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; ;Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike;Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark; Golden-headed Cisticola; 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