Green birding 2012

For the last 2 years a group in North America have promoted green birding and this has led an affiliated (or at least like-minded - I am unsure of the formalities or politics) set up a Big Green Day event.  The basic idea is not to use petrol etc while doing your birding.  It doesn't have to be a full day and for the Carwoola part my contribution started at 5pm on 6 May and finished at 1pm on 7 May (when I took the car into town).   Basically there were two bits to my observations:

1. a walk round our property starting at about 8am; and
2. a bike ride from our place to Hoskinstown(ish) starting about 10am. 

I wrote down 44 species in that time.  Quite a few usual suspects were not seen (Crested Pigeon, Red Wattlebird; Masked Lapwing; Weebill, ...) and next year I must give it a better go!

Australian Shelduck, 2 flying over Briars-Sharrow Road
Australian Wood Duck
Pacific Black Duck
Australasian Grebe
Tawny Frogmouth, 2 Whiskers Creek Rd
Little Pied Cormorant
Little Black Cormorant, 2 on dam in middle of Plains Rd
Black-shouldered kite, at least 3 at various spots on the Plain
Nankeen kestrel
Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo
Galah
Sulphur-crested cockatoo
Crimson Rosella
Eastern Rosella
Red-rumped parrot, 6 flew over Windemere Cottage, Plains Rd
Laughing Kookaburra
White-throated treecreeper
Superb Fairy-wren
White-browed scrubwren
Yellow-rumped thornbill
Buff-rumped thornbill
Brown thornbill
Spotted pardalote
Striated pardalote
Eastern spinebill
Golden whistler
Grey shrike-thrush
Australian Magpie
Pied Currawong
Grey currawong
Willie wagtail
Australian Raven
Little Raven, app 50 at various spots where they could scrounge food along Plains Rd
Magpie-lark
Scarlet robin, male, Plains Rd
Flame robin, female, Plains Rd
Eastern Yellow Robin, WhiskersCreek
Welcome swallow
Common starling
Double-barred finch
Red-browed finch
Diamond Firetail, about 5km down Plains Rd
House sparrow
Australasian pipit

I also fitted in a couple of episodes in Sri Lanka - worrying a little that flying to Sri Lanka is hardly Green.  But my hair shirt is a tad thin these days!

April 2012

Report compiled by Julienne Kamprad (thanks Julienne) 

During April a very respectable number of 93 bird species were recorded in the catchment area
of the Gazette. This is only 2 less than the total of the previous month March and 18 more than in April last year. There were no breeding records for the month. The one cuckoo I have seen, a Shining Bronze-cuckoo, was not calling but quietly accompanying a mixed feeding flock of small birds. Right on target the Flame Robin and Golden Whistlers have arrived although not all of the summer migrants have left. Several Red Wattlebirds, Noisy Friarbirds and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters remained to feed on and around the abundantly flowering Brittle Gum.

April’s special sightings
Black Falcon, Spotted Harrier and numerous Black-shouldered Kites graced our sky once again this
month.  Also of note were groups of 4 Cattle Egrets, 4 Varied Sittella, 20 Gang-gang Cockatoos, 20 Crested Pigeons, 50 Southern Whitefaces, 50 Silvereyes, 15 Masked Lapwings, 6 White-faced Herons and 300-400 Little Ravens.

Full List-
Migrant birds are shown in italics below. Thanks to several observers in the Molonglo Valley,
Forbes Creek, Hoskinstown, and Widgiewa Rd.

1 Waterbirds: Musk Duck; Black Swan; Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Grey Teal;
Pacific Black Duck; Australasian Grebe; Darter; Little Pied Cormorant; Cattle Egret; White-faced Heron; Australian White Ibis; Purple Swamphen; Dusky Moorhen; Eurasian Coot; Masked Lapwing.

2 Birds of Prey: Black-shouldered Kite; Brown Goshawk; Collared Sparrowhawk; Spotted Harrier; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon; Black Falcon, Peregrine Falcon.

3 Parrots and Relatives: Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo; Ganggang Cockatoo; Galah;
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo; Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella; Red-rumped parrot

4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds: Stubble Quail; Rock Dove; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Shining Bronzecuckoo; Eastern Barn Owl; Laughing Kookaburra.

5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill; Yellow-faced Honeyeater; White-eared Honeyeater; Noisy Miner;
Red Wattlebird; New Holland Honeyeater; Brownheaded Honeyeater; White-naped Honeyeater;
Noisy Friarbird

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

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species: Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Weebill; White-throated Gerygone; Striated Thornbill; Yellowrumped Thornbill; Buffrumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill; Southern Whiteface; Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; Silvereye; Doublebarred Finch; Red-browed Finch; Diamond Firetail; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds: White-throated Treecreeper; Varied Sittella; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; 
Olive-backed Oriole; Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark; Common Blackbird; Common Myna; Common Starling; Australasian Pipit;

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

March 2012

In March a very good 95 species of birds were recorded in the catchment area of the Gazette.  This is 1 less than the total in February 2012 (a small drop was expected between these months) and 7 more than March 2011.  

Thanks to several observers in the Molonglo Valley, Hoskinstown, and Widgeiwa Rd.

The most interesting sightings this month include:

• a group of up to 19 White-faced Herons on a property in the Hoskinstown Plain;
• several sightings of small flocks (up to 12) White-throated Needletails over Whiskers Creek;   
• a small flock of Rainbow Bee-eaters on Whiskers Creek ( the first for this site); 
• up to 5 New Holland Honeyeaters from a property on Widgiewa Rd.  

Also of note was the return of Eastern Yellow Robins to our property.  We did not record these at all in the first 4 years of our tenure and they then appeared in late 2010, staying around for a year.  After departing in late 2011 they have returned, with the rain, in March 2012.  They are usually thought of as birds of damp forest, on the Coast or on the western side of the Ranges

Only 2 species have been reported as breeding in this month (as shown by bolding in the list below).  Both records were of dependent young, out of the nest and being fed by the adults.   I’d welcome records of any breeding activities seen in the area and, of course, any other records which readers feel interesting..

Migrants are shown in italics below.  The Summer migrants will now be moving off and the birds which leave the high country for the Plains (notably Flame Robins and Golden Whistlers) will be moving in.

1  Waterbirds:   Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Australasian Grebe; Darter; Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant;  White‑faced Heron; Purple Swamphen; Dusky Moorhen;  Eurasian Coot; Masked Lapwing; 

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite; Brown Goshawk; Collared Sparrowhawk;Spotted Harrier; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon; Australian Hobby; Black Falcon, 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: Brown quail; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; White-throated Needletail; Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Eastern Barn Owl;Laughing Kookaburra; Rainbow Bee‑eater; 

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; Grey Fantail; WillieWagtail;Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin; Flame Robin; Eastern Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow; Tree Martin

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species:  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Weebill; Western Gerygone; 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; Brown Treecreeper; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; Dusky Woodswallow;  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;

Rainbow Bee-eaters

On 5 March I was delighted to hear the calls of Rainbow Bee-eaters coming from the direction of Whiskers Creek.  I was even more delighted to see 4 of them hawking amongst the trees a little North of our property.

Unfortunately I have never managed to get an image of them flying.  This is mainly because they move very quickly and can turn on a sixpence (for young folk, that is roughly the size of a 5c coin).  When doing so they display beautiful chestnut primaries.  Truly a rainbow!

The call is very distinctive.  For those who wonder what the call sounds like ask and ye shall receive from the wonderful McCauley Library at Cornell U.  As far as I can work out it was recorded at Tumut, so has our local accent!

My sighting was the 7th in this project with most of the others being in November, suggesting that the birds were migrating through this area.  The deluge of recent days may have disturbed in their usual haunts in river banks.  They are regarded as annual 'regulars' at Hoskinstown while an observer on Widgeiewa has only seen them once in 10 years.

February 2012

In January a very good  96  species of birds were recorded in the catchment area of the Gazette.  This is 2 more than the total in January 2011 and 7 more than  February 2011.  Here is a graph of the situation, showing the long term trend (as assessed by a 12 month moving average) to continue rising!

Thanks to several observers in: the Molonglo Valley, Captains Flat Rd, Hoskinstown, Radcliffe and Widgeiwa Rd.

The most interesting sighting this month was 2 Spotted Harriers (an adult and a juvenile) on the Hoskinstown Plain.  The grassy areas to the East of the Ranges appear to be favoured by the Spotted Harrier rather than the related Swamp Harrier (which has not yet been reported in this project).  This difference possibly reflects their different food preferences (well done Swamp Harrier for preferring rabbits and mice!)  

A wide range of other raptors were also observed with the further sighting of the uncommon Black Falcon being a highlight.   A Nankeen Kestrel - the commonest local raptor - disapproved of the appearance of the Harrier and vigorously swooped it. 

13 species have been reported as breeding in this month (as shown by bolding in the list below).  All records were of dependent young, out of the nest and being fed by the adults.  Four of these species were Honeyeaters, quite possibly with second broods.  They have had a lot of food around recently with nectar being available from the Yellow Box as well as the hordes of insects attracted to the flowering eucalypt.  I’d welcome records of any breeding activities seen in the area and, of course any other records which readers feel interesting..

Migrants are shown in italics below.  The Summer migrants will now be thinking about moving off although most of the usual suspects were reported in the month.  (The absence of several Cuckoo species from the list most likely reflects them not calling, rather than absence).  

Blue text links to a photograph.   

1  Waterbirds:  Musk Duck;  Australian Wood Duck;  Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe;  Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant; Great Cormorant; White‑faced Heron; Australian White Ibis;  Dusky Moorhen;  Eurasian Coot; ; Masked Lapwing; 

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite;  Spotted Harrier; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon;  Black Falcon, 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: Emu; Stubble Quail; Brown quail; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Australian Owlet-nightjar; White-throated Needletail; Painted Button-quail; Shining Bronze‑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: Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush;  Grey Fantail; WillieWagtail; Leaden Flycatcher; Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin; Eastern Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow; Tree Martin

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species:  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Speckled warbler; Weebill; Western Gerygone; White-throated Gerygone; Striated Thornbill;  Yellow‑rumped Thornbill; Buff‑rumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill; Southern Whiteface; Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; Silvereye; Double‑barred Finch; Red‑browed Finch; Diamond Firetail; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper; Varied Sitella; 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

Harrier Pottering

As far as I am aware J K Rowling has not been sighted in the Shire.  However Harriers have been seen.  Since they have all been Spotted one assumes they are from the earlier stages of the Hogwarts saga.

The first observation of a Spotted Harrier (Circus assimilis) of which I am aware was of one near the junction of Woolcara Lane and Captains Flat Road in January 2010.  This was followed up by a sighting in December 2011 in the middle of Briars Sharrow Rd.

Since then there had been a couple of reports of a Spotted Harrier on a property off Plains Rd Hoskinstown.  On 12 February two Harriers were seen on the property on at least two occasions.  Both were Spotted Harriers - probably an adult and a juvenile.  (Unfortunately no photographs are available at this stage.)

The most surprising point is that there have been no sightings of Swamp Harriers (Circus approximans)
 in the area covered by this blog. This may be explained - or at least illustrated -  by the following distribution maps from the Birds Australia Birdata project.

Spotted Harrier

Swamp Harrier

It appears from this that (in SE NSW) the Swamp Harrier favours areas along the Coast and Murrumbidgee while the Spotted Harrier is found more in areas such as the grassy plains of the Molonglo and Western Slopes.  (A response to this post on the COG Chatline notes that a slightly different picture - in terms of number of observations - emerges if the map is zoomed. However the pattern of distribution says the same: Spotted along the Monaro Highway, Swamp in the valleys of Namadgi.) I wonder if this is due to the difference in food preference: although HANZAB is not definitive it would appear that from analysis of pellets that the Spotted Harrier takes more mammals and grassland species than the Swamp Harrier.

A further point of interest from HANZAB about the feeding behaviour of Spotted Harriers: I just noticed a line in my big reference book about Spotted Harriers.  "Often observed hunting with Black Falcons.  Harrier hunting low, Falcon overhead" citing very authoritative observers."  A Black Falcon has indeed been observed in the area where the Spotted Harriers have been seen.

January 2012

Happy New Year!  

In January a very good  94  species of birds were recorded in the catchment area of the Gazette.  This is 5 less than the remarkable total in December 2011 and 1 less than  January 2011.  Here is a graph of the situation, showing the long term trend (as assessed by a 12 month moving average) to continue rising!

The raptorial hordes on the Hoskinstown Plain appear to have returned to more normal numbers and the Water birds are continuing to be seen (it would be nice to get some rain to ensure that continues!).  For a change there are no rarities to report  but in the sense of life being normal the Tawny Frogmouth family left our garden on schedule and returned about 3 weeks later minus the young birds - also as normal.  Slightly less usual was the appearance of a nest with young Noisy Friarbird chicks therein.  Despite a Brown Goshawk hanging around the area the three chicks have all fledged succesfully.

Thanks to several observers in: the Molonglo Valley, Captains Flat Rd, Hoskinstown, Radcliffe and more recent observations are included in this intro but not the list for October.

Migrants are shown in italics below.   22 species which have been recorded breeding (broadly defined, and as expected most of these are Dependent Young records) this month are in bold.  Species for which there are photographs in the blog are underlined.  I’d welcome records of any breeding activities seen in the area and, of course any other records which readers feel interesting..

1  Waterbirds:  Australian Wood Duck; Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; Darter; Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant;  White‑necked Heron; White‑faced Heron; Dusky Moorhen;  EurasianCoot;  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;  Sulphur‑crested Cockatoo; Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella; Red-rumped parrot
 4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds: Stubble Quail; Brown quail; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Australian Owlet-nightjar; White-throated Needletail; Painted Button-quail; Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Southern Boobook; Eastern Barn Owl;  Laughing Kookaburra;Sacred Kingfisher; 

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

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; WillieWagtail; Leaden Flycatcher;  Magpie-lark;  Scarlet Robin; Welcome Swallow; Fairy Martin; Tree Martin

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species:  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Weebill; White-throated Gerygone; Striated Thornbill; Yellow‑rumped Thornbill; Buff‑rumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill; Southern Whiteface; Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; Silvereye; Double‑barred Finch; Red‑browed Finch; Diamond Firetail; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

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