November 2018

There are quite a few highlights in the month but I will begin with the very large flock of Masked and White-browed Woodswallows that have been feeding and engaging in some breeding activities (see below) on the Hoskinstown Plain.  I have done a detailed report here, but this is a very small proportion of the flock

There have been a number of less common species sighted this month.  Bird of the month was a female Koel reported from Knox Close on the 15^th.   Photo by Sandra.

Other less common species have been an Eastern Barn Owl (Captains Flat Rd);  Whistling Kite at Wanna Wanna  Rd and Rainbow Bee-eaters (Forbes Creek).  The Avocets and Stilts at Foxlow Lagoon and the Banded Lapwings on the Plain are ongoing, having almost advanced to resident status.

Despite that list of less common species overall diversity was quite low.  We have recorded 96 species for the month which contrasts poorly with the November average of 103 species.

There seems to be a particular shortage of waterbirds (associated no doubt with the shortage of water) and raptors (plenty of road kill but I suspect little live prey).

As with last month quite a few (16, marked in red below) species have been recorded as breeding.  ‘Our’ Tawny Frogmouth family have left the nest and are exploring the area around our house. 

 The Masked and White-browed Woodswallows on the Plain are engaging in the early stages of the breeding cycle (ie copulation).  They may be nesting but the vegetation is too thick to spot the nests.  Several other species have been seen on nests.

Return migration is close to complete with about equal numbers of species on time and late.  Few species were early.  Except for Pallid Cuckoo, cuckoos in particular are thin in the air, although 5 species have been logged at least once in the month.  Migrants are highlit in orange below.

Thanks to observers from Wanna Wanna Rd, Knox Close, Captains Flat Rd, Whiskers Creek Rd,  Hoskinstown Village and Plain and Forbes Creek.   Please pass on interesting sightings to me by email to martinflab@gmail.com.

1  Waterbirds (pt 1):  (pt 2); (Pt 3); (Pt 4): Australian Wood Duck; Grey Teal;  Pacific Black Duck; Australasian Grebe; Little Pied Cormorant; Great Cormorant;  Eastern Great Egret: White‑faced Heron; Eurasian  Coot; Black-winged Stilt; Red-necked Avocet; Masked Lapwing; Banded Lapwing; Australian 

2 Birds of Prey:  Whistling Kite,  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;  Common Koel; Horsfield's Bronze‑Cuckoo; Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; ; Southern Boobook; Eastern Barn Owl; Azure Kingfisher; Laughing Kookaburra; Sacred Kingfisher; 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 Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Leaden Flycatcher; Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin; Red‑capped Robin, Welcome Swallow; Tree Martin

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

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

October 2018

My response to this great image of a Common Bronzewing

 by Micheáilín Ní Lochlain on the Carwoola Facebook page might be of interest/assistance to a few folk:

The best collection of bird calls is on Avibase https://goo.gl/t32sbu Unfortunately, as with the text descriptions of calls in all Field Guides, you have to know the possibles and then play the recording to compare. There is no equivalent of Shazam which takes a recording and assesses it against a database giving an ID, Also, some of the recordings for this species are pretty much the "before" section of a workshop on removing background noise!

The month has been fairly quiet overall, possibly reflecting observers being elsewhere as well as some migrants not yet turning up and of course the on-going dry weather.  90 species were recorded in total.

The Stilts and Avocets have returned to Foxlow Lagoon where there is still a surprising amount of water.  In a late look-down into the Lagoon they were accompanied by 4 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers which have rarely \been recorded in the area.  Another rarity was a Channel-billed Cuckoo, heard calling in Whiskers Creek at daybreak.

The final comment on unusual species relates to Woodswallows.  Dusky Woodswallows are quite common here but for the ;at few weeks they have been outnumbered by Masked and White-browed Woodswallows.  Even more unusually Masked Woodswallows have outnumbered the White-browed.  The biggest flock, feeding on the ground in  a paddock off PLains Road amounted to around 500 birds.

Breeding continues, including the Tawny Frogmouths at Whiskers Creek Rd.  They have again hatched 2 chicks: still at the small white fluffball stage at the time of writing.  Species noted as breeding are marked in red below.

A fair proportion of migrant species have arrived but 15 of 30 species have yet to be recorded.  3 species were early while 8 were late.  So the season is definitely not early.

Thanks to observers from Wanna Wanna Rd, Knox Close, Captains Flat Rd, Whiskers Creek Rd,  Hoskinstown Village and Plain and Forbes Creek.   Please pass on interesting sightings to me by email to martinflab@gmail.com.

1  Waterbirds (pt 1):  (pt 2); (Pt 3); (Pt 4): Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Pink-eared Duck; Australian Shoveler; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead;  Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe; Great Cormorant; Eastern Great Egret: White‑faced Heron;  Eurasian  Coot; Black-winged Stilt; Red-necked Avocet;  Masked Lapwing; Banded Lapwing; Sharp-tailed Sandpiper; 

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; 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;Channel-billed Cuckoo; Horsfield's Bronze‑Cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo;  Southern Boobook; Laughing Kookaburra; Sacred Kingfisher; Dollarbird; 

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

6 Flycatchers and similar species: r;Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; ; Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Leaden Flycatcher;  Magpie-lark; Flame Robin;  Welcome Swallow; 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;Red‑browed Finch;  House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; White‑-winged Triller; Olive‑backed Oriole; Masked Woodswallow; White‑browed Woodswallow; 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

September 2018

The month has been quiet overall with limited diversity. We have only managed 82 species for the month: an increase on July and August but well below the average for September of 93 species.

The major excitement has been breeding Banded Lapwings on the Plain. By mid-Month 2 birds were brooding and a 3^rd pair had produced 3 chicks.  Very exciting for this broad area.  

A  Powerful Owl is still heard occasionally along Wanna  Wanna Rd, but no nest site has yet been located.  The Pied Stilts and Avocets appeared to have left Foxlow Lagoon when the site was checked from the road in September, but they were back again in early October.

Quite a few other species are breeding including ‘my' Tawny Frogmouths where the male is now incubating.  Striated Pardalotes are building nest and Magpies are nesting in several places.  Pallid Cuckoos are calling and displaying regularly.  Breeding birds have red text below.

Return migration has started with strong movements of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters in flocks of 20-30 birds moving up from the Plain on several mornings but the cool weather is keeping the insects down and thus most of the insectivorous birds have not yet appeared.  The smaller cuckoos in particular are not yet evident although the calls of Pallid Cuckoos are very evident.

Summer migrant species are highlighted in orange below. 

Thanks to observers from Wanna Wanna Rd, Knox Close, Captains Flat Rd, Whiskers Creek Rd,  Hoskinstown plain and Forbes Creek.   Please pass on interesting sightings to me by email to martinflab@gmail.com.

1  Waterbirds (pt 1):  (pt 2); (Pt 3); (Pt 4): Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Grey Teal; Chestnut Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe;;White‑faced Heron; Eurasian  Coot; Black‑fronted Dotterel; Masked Lapwing; Banded Lapwing; 

2 Birds of Prey:   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;  Painted Button-quail; Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Brush Cuckoo; Powerful Owl; Laughing Kookaburra

5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill; Yellow-faced 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;  Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Magpie-lark; , Flame Robin; RWelcome Swallow; 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;  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; 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

August 2018

A pair of Australian King Parrots photographed by Joy Williams.  My household has on occasion  debated whether the male (right) is the most brilliantly coloured bird in the world!

The overall diversity in August seemed, from my personal observations, to be very low.  I wondered if that was due to me having the cold from Hell and thus not getting out much, butincluding the reports from others has confirmed that view.

Looking back at past records August has marked a noticeable increase in diversity compared to June and July but this year it is slightly lower than July.  This may be a result of the rather cold daytime temperatures and the continuing drought.  At the risk of over-burdening this report with graphs here is a view of the proportion of species within each major group seen in August 2018 and the average for August (since 2007).

The values for Waterbirds and Parrots etc are slightly above average while Birds of Prey, Honeyeaters and Flycatchers etc are well down on average.

• Waterbirds are boosted by the continuing presence of Avocets and Stilts at Foxlow Lagoon (close to the only open water in the area);
• Parrots were very low in diversity in the early years: the 2018 value is closer to 'normal';
• Birds of Prey have been very thin on the ground, probably reflecting low amounts of prey (although plenty of road kill is available for the species that can feed on carrion);
• Honeyeaters and Flycatchers both seem to reflect a delayed start to return migration (although that is not so evident in the Kingfishers etc group where cuckoos are largely missing).

I shall look at migrant returns in more detail later, but my gut feeling is that returns are delayed this year.  

Breeding has started to happen, mainly with several species gathering nesting material, as shown by red text in the detailed list below.

Thanks to observers from Wanna Wanna Rd, Knox Close, Captains Flat Rd, Whiskers Creek Rd and Hoskinstown village.   Please pass on interesting sightings to me by email to martinflab@gmail.com

1  Waterbirds (pt 1):  (pt 2); (Pt 3); (Pt 4): Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Pink-eared Duck; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Australasian Grebe; Little Pied Cormorant; White‑faced Heron;  Eurasian  Coot; Black-winged Stilt; Red-necked Avocet; Black‑fronted Dotterel; Red-kneed Dotterel; Masked Lapwing; 

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; 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; 

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

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

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

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;  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; 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

July 2018

In my Gazette notice I commented:

"I’ll repeat my opening to last month “A rather quiet month in terms of birding, possibly reflecting some observers taking a break from the cool (or lower) temperatures.” in the hope that the final few hours bring forth lots of good birds, as happened for June!"

The latest reports certainly brought in a few good species including Darter and Nankeen Night Heron.  As a result of those inputs we got to 77 species for the month, which given the cold and dry conditions I reckon is pretty good.

As well as the Stilt, Avocet and Banded Lapwing sightings listed in the Gazette another interesting sighting over the last months has been an increase in sightings of Black-shouldered Kites.  My memory is they were common some years ago, but have been hard to spot in recent times.  Another observer has commented that more have been seen than recently.  Perhaps they are getting desperate out West?  If so, it may mean that we also get an influx of Barn Owls in Spring if they find prey to locate in the extremely dry country.

No breeding records this month and migrants have not yet started to return.

Thanks to observers from Wanna Wanna Rd, Captains Flat Rd, Whiskers Creek Rd and Hoskinston village and Plain.  Please pass on interesting sightings to me by email to martinflab@gmail.com.  

Before getting to the detailed list of species see readers may be interested to check the Canberra Ornithologists Group's Birdinfo page.  It has just been updated with a lot of information from COG about all the species ever recorded in the area.  Most species also have images and calls.

1  Waterbirds (pt 1):  (pt 2); (Pt 3); (Pt 4):  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Grey Teal;  Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe; Darter; White‑faced Heron; Nankeen Night Heron;   Eurasian  Coot; Black-winged Stilt; Red-necked Avocet; Black‑fronted Dotterel; Red-kneed Dotterel; Masked Lapwing; Banded Lapwing; 

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; Collared Sparrowhawk;Wedge-tailed 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; Powerful Owl; Laughing Kookaburra; 

5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill; White-eared Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird; Brown‑headed Honeyeater; 
6 Flycatchers and similar species: Golden Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin; Welcome Swallow;

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; Red‑browed Finch; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; 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