August 2017

As we start to move into peak breeding season (to mis-spell as  'peek' with 'birds' and 'breeding' in a post should boost my click count) here is a photo of the force of evil gathering nesting material.

It seemed to have pretty strict selection criteria judging by the number of twigs it picked up and put down.

Also breeding are Masked Lapwings, as evidenced by this egg-laden nest from Widgiewa Rd.  Thanks for the observation and the image Sandra.

On average it appears that breeding is pretty much on time as shown in this image with two species early, three late and 4 on time.  "Uncommon" relates to breeding being rarely recorded, rather than low frequency of observations.

In the month list below breeding birds are shown in red.

While there have been no “rip your shirt off” rarities this month the sightings of Flame Robins have provided considerable interest particularly in the Widgiewa/Whiskers Creek area.  Although I had not recorded the species on our block before this year an observer on Widgiewa Rd reported that they have been seen there occasionally.  Towards the end of the month this species also became entwined with the seasonal matters of breeding activities and returning migrants. 

In total we have recorded 83 species for the month.  

As expected a good jump from July.  It is a little below average with a few quite common species (Silvereye and Red-brown Finch being examples) not being recorded.  In terms of records around our house I scored a large number of additions to my (financial) year list early in the month, with a mixture of returning migrants and less common birds being recorded.

Migrants are beginning to return with all 6 expected species turning up (although Grey Fantails only appeared very late in the month).  2 species have made an early return.

The Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo record was interesting as it was two birds seen feeding on the ground and being mobbed by Flame Robins, suggesting the robins were breeding 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, Wanna Wanna Rd, Molonglo Valley, Forbes Creek and Hoskinstown Village. Please pass on interesting sightings to me by email to martinflab@gmail.com.  

A small point of administration: you'll note a second counter has appeared on the blog.  This is a facility offered by the Fat Birder's website and shows a ranking in the top 1000 birding sites across the whole world.  This blog was hovering around 722^nd when I last checked!

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; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe; Little Pied Cormorant; White‑faced Heron; Eurasian  Coot; Masked Lapwing; 

2 Birds of Prey:  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):  Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon;Tawny Frogmouth; Australian Owlet-nightjar; Horsfield's Bronze‑Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Laughing Kookaburra; Superb lyrebird

5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill; Yellow-faced Honeyeater; White-eared Honeyeater; White‑plumed Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird; 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; 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 Thornbill; Yellow‑rumped Thornbill; Buff‑rumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill; Southern Whiteface; Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike;; Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark; Common Blackbird; 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