Annual report 2017 - Overall

This is an overall report on birds observed in Carwoola in 2017.  I have largely followed the model used for the Annual Report for 2011 to 2016, in particular the decision to adopt a multi-post approach.  However what follows has to some extent evolved during writing.  .  (For those that think the result is still too long, the Canberra Ornithologists Group Annual Bird Report is 80 A5 pages - and 2Mb to download!)

While responsibility for the analysis in this Report is down to me, the opportunity to compile the Report is entirely due to the efforts of observers to report interesting sightings to me.  I thank you all - may this continue.

This report will be a bit heavy on numbers but I will attempt to explain them in terms of their meaning rather than simply a barrage of percentages!  For those who wish to skip the statistics I have tried to highlight the main points in bold blue.

I use the term Carwoola to cover the catchment area of the Stoney Creek Gazette,  As well as Carwoola itself (now united following the merger of Queanbeyan and Palerang Councils) it includes a bunch of  other localities (including Primrose Valley and, importantly from the view of birding, Hoskinstown) to the SE of Queanbeyan.  It is illustrated in this sketch map:

The database I maintain is pretty well restricted to that area to provide some consistency.  However if very interesting birds are reported in a some what wider area:

·                     where people might like to go and view the birds (eg the Plumed Whistling Ducks on dams close to Bungendore); or

·                     the sighting suggests we should keep an eye out  in case they also turn up here

I will also include them on this blog but not the database nor - other than mentions like this - in my reports.

The group of folk reporting has been quite stable this year (including the return of some observers) apart from the usual emptying out in Winter.   

By the end of 2017 we had recorded, over a 11 year period, 195 species in the catchment area of the Gazette (see full list here - the hyperlinks in that post take you to pages of photos).   1 species (Azure Kingfisher) was observed for the first time in 2016.  By the end of 2017  18 have been recorded in every month since this project started in 2007.  This is the same result as at the end of 2016. 

Over the 11 year period 99 species (50.8% of species observed) have been recorded undertaking breeding activity.  2 species (Brown-headed Honeyeater and Australian King-Parrot) were recorded breeding for the first time in 2017.  More details on breeding activity are provided in another post to this blog (see link below). 

The cumulative number of species observed for the first time or recorded breeding for the first time are shown for each year below.

It is interesting that over a 30 year period the Garden Bird Survey, run by the Canberra Ornithologists Group has recorded 239 species with 108 of these (46.2%) recorded as breeding.  Given the much shorter time span and far fewer observers I think we have, to quote Young Mister Grace, "...all done very well."

In 2017, 156 species were recorded in the study area.  This is the  equal highest number recorded in the study area (equal to the number of species reported in 2015) and amounts to 79.5% of those ever recorded in the area.  This graph shows the number of species recorded per year.

The weather for 2017 is reviewed here  and appears not to have had a great impact on the birds around the area. This is particularly surprising in view of the year being very dry and our own block, among many others, being incinerated in the February 17 fire.  I fact I have been very surprised at the diversity around our house since the fire with more species of birds seen in that area in the period July to December 2017 than for any similar period since 2007.

In 2017 30.9% of the species recorded were observed undertaking some form of breeding activity.   This is a small decrease on 2016 but is still similar to other recent years.

Links to other sections of this report

Breeding Birds

2017 compared to 2016

2017 compared with 10 previous years.

Annual Report 2017: 2017 compared with 10 previous years

A starting point is the number of species reported in each month.

In the table-image above (which becomes much more legible if you click it) the year in which the highest number of species was observed for each month is highlighted in green.  Most of these months occur between September 2011 and May 2013 when observer activity was at peak levels and abundant rain fell, leading to an explosion of water birds on the Hoskinstown Plain. However we did establish new high marks in November 2015 and April and June 2016.

While we usually short of observers (including this author) in the July, the row showing 2017 as a % of the average for the period since 2010 shows that we are still holding up.  Thank you to all observers who have contributed observations.

As reported in the overview we added 1 species to the list in 2017.  

18 species have been recorded in every month throughout the 9 years (obviously including every month of 2017) These are:

• Australian Wood Duck; Galah; Sulphur-crested cockatoo; Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella; Laughing Kookaburra; White-eared Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Magpie-lark; Welcome swallow; Yellow-rumped thornbill; White-throated treecreeper; Common starling; Grey butcherbird; Australian Magpie; Pied Currawong; Australian Raven; Little Raven.

A simple way of summarising the difference in reporting rate between 2015 and earlier years is by a tree diagram.

The number shown as 'same' is those where the % of available months (106 in total for earlier years, 2 months are missing) is within +/- 5%.   This allows for differential observer effort affecting the result by a small amount.
  
The pattern shown in that tree is somewhat different to that from 2015.  This "comparison of comparisons" is summarised in the following table.

	Comparison with previous years
	less	same	more
2015	16	58	77
2016	27	64	60
2017	22	75	58

My conclusion is that the team of observers have got to a point where we know what birds are around and where to find them so the species with the same reporting rate are increasing while those getting reported more frequently are decreasing.

The next table shows the number of increasers and decreasers by category of bird.  (I should point out that these categories are rather arbitrary, but just provide a few groupings that cover birds of broadly similar behaviours and/or habitats.)

Category Decreasers Similar Increasers 1  Waterbirds 1 15 20 2 Birds of Prey 2 6 6 3 Parrots and Relatives 0 5 4 4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds 4 9 9 5 Honeyeaters 1 10 2 6 Flycatchers and similar species 4 7 4 7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species 8 9 2 8 Other, smaller birds 2 8 9 9 Other, larger birds 0 7 1 Total  22 76 57

Many of the changes have been hinted at in earlier sections. 

The high number of 'increasers' in waterbirds was somewhat of a surprise in view of the exodus of such birds referred to in several parts if this Report.   

In some cases - not only waterbirds - a rating of increaser may be an artefact of arithmetic, because 

• a sighting a species in 1 month of 2017 (which infers the bird is unusual) is equivalent to 8.3% 
• if it was only reported in 3 or less months of the preceding 10 years (quite likely for an unusual bird) it would still meet the "rule" for increase whereas in fact it was simply an unusual bird of about the same reporting rate.  4 Waterbirds and 2 others meet this situation. .

Also I, at least, have been more aware in recent years which water features were likely to be productive.  For example Musk Duck and (particularly) Black Swan are nearly always observable when looking down on Foxlow Lagoon (but nowhere else).

Flycatchers etc and Thornbills etc may be a cause for concern as they have several decreasers and few increasers.  Of course a single years observations are insufficient to prove this: I shall investigate further when I work out exactly how to do that.

The results for Parrots, Honeyeaters and Other larger birds all indicate a stable situation.

No group showed a noticeable drop.

Links to other sections of this report

Overview
Breeding Birds

2017 compared to 2016

December 2017

A magnificent photo of 2 magnificent Wedge-tailed Eagles.  Many thanks Rachael Due Madsen!

But wait: zooming in, there's more.  Not a set of steak knives but proof that they are, as is well known, doing their bit to improve rabbit numbers.!

I was also sent an image of a 60% yellow plumaged Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo seen at the end of Briars-Sharrow Rd.  Thanks for the image John Hyles.

A somewhat similar patterned bird was reported to COG from Wamboin in 2004 and earlier.  Given the longevity of many parrot/cockatoo species it is possibly the same bird.

Overall, birds were a bit low in diversity this month.  We only recorded 95 species in contrast to the average (since 2010) of 107 species.  The major group missing are waterbirds, and comment on the COG chatline suggests most of them have gone to breed in the flooded areas of Victoria.

11 species have been recorded undertaking some form of breeding activity.  The most notable has been Banded Lapwings which have not only returned to the Hoskinstown Plain but have raised 2 chicks despite choosing to nest in a paddock full of large cattle!  A pair of Noisy Friarbirds have nested in a pin oak in our lawn.  When I last checked they had 3 young.  They also have, as described in the linked post a Very Bad Attitude.  Breeding species are marked in red in the list below.

As always, thanks to the observers who have provided reports to me for the month.  These have covered sites in Nummerak Close, Douglas Close, Whiskers Creek Rd, Widgiewa Rd, Knox Close, Wanna Wanna Rd, and Hoskinstown Village and Plain.  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 Wood Duck; Grey Teal;  Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe; Little Pied Cormorant; White‑necked Heron;  White‑faced Heron; Australian White Ibis; Eurasian  Coot;  Masked Lapwing; Banded Lapwing; 

2 Birds of Prey:  Brown Goshawk; Collared Sparrowhawk; Spotted Harrier; 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): 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; Brush Cuckoo; Southern Boobook; Laughing Kookaburra; Sacred Kingfisher; Dollarbird

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

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

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

Noisy Friarbird nest

A few days ago I noticed that a Noisy Friarbird was frequently visiting a pin oak in our garden.  On applying my binoculars to one of its visits I realised that there was nest there.

Today I set up my telescope (with phone-camera adapter) on the spot and was very surprised to see up to 3 chicks poking their heads up.  My surprise arises because:

• the nest has obviously been in operation for about 3 weeks and I hadn't noticed it; and
• fencing contractors have been working  - including using a JCB backhoe - within 5 metres of the nest.

Here are a couple of photos.  The first just shows the nest.

 If you look closely at this one the head of a chick is just visible: the eye and the yellow gape are the things to look for.

I will try and get some clearer shots on a less windy day!

On Christmas day it was much cooler and in my checking of the nest I couldn't see any chicks. I was seriously hoping that a Currawong (Strepera graculina illegittima) hadn't raided the nest.  However on Boxing Day the adults were still coming to the nest and sticking their heads in.  Then an adult arrived and settled down to brood.

From about Boxing Day it became a bit tricky walking across the lawn as the adult birds practiced their swooping tactics.   More fencing work happened on the 27th and 28th and on the evening of the 28th I made it across the lawn without being swooped.  Had the adults abandoned the nest?  My next trip across the lawn gave a major swoop, so all is OK.  In addition, unlike the Pied Currawongs the Friarbirds aren't sexist: Frances also gets swooped.

Quite late in the evening of the 28th there was a large amount of Noisy Friarbird calling from the top of the Big Yellow Box.  At least 3 birds were up there calling and flying about in an agitated manner.  Eventually a brown Goshawk departed with the 3 Friarbirds in close formation behind it.

It isn't just raptors and humans that get chased: on the evening of the 30th December a pair of gang-gangs came into the garden and were immediately harassed by the friarbirds.  As Gang-gangs don't look like raptors, and don't fly like raptors, this must be some instinctive reaction to movement in the vicinity of the nest.

We walked across the lawn on 4 January and didn't get swooped!  A there had been more fencing going on we were unsure if this meant the chicks had fledged or if the parents had given up and abandoned.  Checking from a stepladder the nest was empty so a successful event!

November 2017

It is astonishing how often clicking the button to send the brief report to the Editor of the Gazette causes an exciting bird to appear.

I still think our second-ever report of Scarlet Honeyeater (image from Avibase)  ...

.. has to be bird of the month.  Two birds were seen on Wanna Wanna Rd.  They have been seen regularly in Canberra this season.  (Further afield there is a massive irruption in  Victoria.)

However to hear that Banded Lapwings have been spotted on the Plain (Western side this year) was a big surprise.  4 birds were seen on 30 November, and 5 on 1 December.  Some of the birds appeared to be sticking to one spot so may be nesting, despite the paddock being well-endowed with cattle.

With those as highlights there were a bunch of other goodies also seen:

• Cattle Egret,  Brown and Rufous Songlarks on the Plain;
• Brush Cuckoo, Eastern Koel Red-capped Robin and Nankeen Night-Heronat Whiskers Creek Rd; and
• Masked Woodswallow at Knox Close.

Given this extensive list of " unusuals" it was a bit weird to find the overall diversity a little below average.

It appears that the major group of MIAs are waterbirds.  Of the 38 species seen at least once in November only 16 (42%) seen in 2017.  Numbers and diversity have been very light on Foxlow Lagoon and some of the other hot-spots have become physical and metaphorical dry-spots!  It is particularly noticeable that most Herons and their relatives (Ibis; Spoonbills) are missing.  Presumably they are still undertaking procreational duty at the swamps of the Riverina.

Nearly all migrants have arrived, with Western Gerygone (hard to identify),  Rainbow Bee-eater (which often travels up the Molonglo as a passage migrant, but not this year) and the very uncommon Channel-billled Cuckoo the only ones yet to be reported.  Of the 29 species 17 arrived on time, 6 were early and 2 arrived late.

23 species were observed breeding.  I was excited to see Sacred Kingfishers starting to excavate a nest hollow in a Yellow Box near our house ...

 ... which counts as a possible breeding record.  They appear to have given up, which has made our live a lot quieter.  However a pair have taken up occupancy of a hollow in Knox Close.  My family of Tawny Frogmouths have left the nest ...

..  as have broods in Knox Close and Wanna Wanna Rd.

Breeding species are shown in red text in the list below.

As always, thanks to the observers who have provided reports to me for the month.  These have covered sites in Douglas Close, Whiskers Creek Rd, Widgiewa Rd, Knox Close, Wanna Wanna Rd, Molonglo Valley, and Hoskinstown Village and Plain.  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;  Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe; Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant; Cattle Egret; White‑faced Heron; Nankeen Night Heron;  Eurasian  Coot;  Masked Lapwing; Banded Lapwing

2 Birds of Prey:  Collared Sparrowhawk; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Little 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; 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; Common Koel;  Shining Bronze‑cuckoo; Pallid Cuckoo; Fan‑tailed Cuckoo; Brush Cuckoo; Southern Boobook;  Laughing Kookaburra; Sacred Kingfisher; Dollarbird

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

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush;  Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Leaden Flycatcher; Magpie-lark; Red‑capped 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;   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; White‑-winged Triller; Olive‑backed Oriole; Masked Woodswallow; Dusky Woodswallow;Skylark; Australian Reed-warbler; Rufous Songlark; 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

October 2017

The most exciting sighting this month was a huge flock (~200 birds) of White-browed (see above) and Masked Woodswallows which turned up at our place for a few hours mid-month.   White-winged Trillers vary in their abundance: some years none, other years they are everywhere.  This year they seem to be in good numbers. Those species and a few others are covered in an ad-hoc blogpost.

Red-capped Robins have been seen at our house on a few occasions recently.  The most recent visit is covered by a post. A White-fronted Chat was seen beside Hoskinstown Rd (where Banded Lapwings resided 2 years ago).

There has been a further Grey Goshawk sighting, off Captains Flat Rd (not far from the Molonglo).  I wondered if this was the bird reported in September was following the River but the first sighting was a grey bird, while the one in October was white-phase.  Two members of this species in the area is quite exciting..  

Overall 102 species of birds have been recorded in the month.  This is pretty much on average - quite an achievement considering the dry and/or blackened state of a fair chunk of the study area.

Thinking about the level of diversity I record the species occurring each week in a 3Ha area based on our house and keep a cumulative tally of the number of species seen since the start of July.  This year the diversity began quite low - up to 8 species below the average.  However in mid-September (GBS week 38) a bunch of species were added to the list and its just kept growing.

In terms of breeding, I have received reports of 18 species at various stages of the breeding cycle.  The most interesting have been Sacred Kingfishers in Knox Close, Olive -backed Orioles copulating in Wanna Wanna Rd and Australian King-Parrots inspecting a hollow on the Community Plant Walk in Stoney Creek NR!   After spotting an egg under a very agitated dad on 19 October ...

... there is now at least one chick is in the Tawny Frogmouth nest in our yard.  

An unusual breeding record was a pair of Pacific Black Ducks standing on the muddy shore of a dam with an egg between: intention clear, execution appalling.  The species observed breeding are shown in red text in the list below.

Of the regular migrants 12 of the expected species have returned on time, one “usual“ was late and six have been early.  2 less common species have not yet been recorded.  Overall, I’d  rate it as an early year.

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, Knox Close, Wanna Wanna Rd, Molonglo Valley, Primrose Valley and Hoskinstown Village and Plain.  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; Australian Shoveler; Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; Hardhead; Australasian Grebe; Hoary-headed Grebe; Little Pied Cormorant; Australian Pelican;  White‑necked Heron; White‑faced Heron; Eurasian  Coot; Black-winged Stilt; Masked Lapwing;

2 Birds of Prey:  Brown Goshawk; Collared Sparrowhawk; Grey Goshawk; 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; 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; Yellow-tufted Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird; White-fronted Chat; Scarlet Honeyeater , Brown‑headed Honeyeater; White-naped Honeyeater; Noisy Friarbird; 

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Rufous Whistler; Grey Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; Willie Wagtail; Leaden Flycatcher; Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin; Red‑capped Robin, Flame 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 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; Varied Sitella; Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike; White‑-winged Triller; Olive‑backed Oriole; Masked Woodswallow; White‑browed Woodswallow; Dusky Woodswallow; Skylark; 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