TWITTERINGS BRANCH OUTING. BirdLife Warrnambool Branch Newsletter. TOWER HILL STATE GAME RESERVE Saturday 6 February 2016

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1 TWITTERINGS BirdLife Warrnambool Branch Newsletter Volume 3 Number 1 April 2016 BRANCH OUTING TOWER HILL STATE GAME RESERVE Saturday 6 February 2016 GRAHAM DIXON Our 2016 season was kicked off with a group outing to Tower Hill. After a dry summer there was little water in the lakes. We started with a drive around to Carey Lane on the west side. From here we walked into the reserve giving us a different aspect. A few bush birds were seen and a good variety of water birds including Banded Stilts and Red-necked Avocets were on the lake. We then ventured back to the main entrance of the reserve, stopping at the bend at the bottom of the hill. We have often found the first one hundred metres of this track yields a variety of birds and we weren't disappointed; lots of activity had us scurrying about trying to identify brief glimpses. The bush along the way from there was quiet so our next stop was the car park at the information centre. Areas in the picnic ground are watered making it very attractive to birds. Near the information centre is a water trough for the wild life. On a hot day, which today was, birds regularly come in for a drink. This is a great place to take photos. In the surrounding bushes birds we saw included White-browed Scrubwren, Redbrowed Finch, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, White-naped Honeyeater and Brown Thornbill. We had considered going on a walk from here, but given the heat and limited time left in the afternoon, we decided it was easier to have a cuppa and let the birds come to us before heading home to rest up prior to our dinner and Annual General Meeting. We were all satisfied, having seen a good variety of birds and enjoyed the afternoon. BIRDLIST BirdLife Warrnambool Branch Outing TOWER HILL STATE GAME RESERVE Saturday 6 February 2016 Emu, Black Swan, Australian Shelduck, Chestnut Teal, Brown Goshawk, Australasian Swamphen, Banded Stilt Red-necked Avocet, Silver Gull, Superb Fairywren, New Holland Honeyeater, White-naped Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Spotted Pardalote, White-browed Scrubwren, Brown Thornbill, Australian Magpie, Grey Shrikethrush, Willie Wagtail, Grey Fantail, Magpie-lark, Little Raven, Silvereye, House Sparrow, Red-browed Finch, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch (27 species) New Holland Honeyeater Photo Graham Dixon

2 2016 ANNUAL GENERAL MEEETING Saturday 6th February 2016 GRAHAM DIXON Once again we headed out to Allansford Hotel; the private room and facilities were well received but during general business we decided to go to the Warrnambool Hotel next year for the sake of variety. After an enjoyable meal I presented a video of photos taken throughout the year at our outings. It was a good way to recap the year. This was followed by the formal meeting after which Peter showed pictures of his and Rhonda s recent trip to Africa. He not only had great bird photos but gave an insight into the country and people they saw. The election of Office Bearers saw current incumbents remaining in their roles with Peter Barrand as President, Graham Dixon as Secretary and Lynn Brown as Treasurer for another year. Committee members nominated were Jock, Michael, Jan, Rhonda, Helen and John. Peter accepted the role of Newsletter Editor again. The position of vice-president was not filled. Peter wanted somebody to accompany him to congress meetings but there were no takers. General business covered a range of topics. These included investigating more powerful walkie-talkies, the suggestion of a campout to the Otway Ranges next year was supported and more cooperation with BirdLife Hamilton is desired. An entertaining and social evening was enjoyed by all. SECRETARY S REPORT GRAHAM DIXON Our past year was quite active. Besides the regular outings three campouts were conducted; one to the Swan Hill region, organised by Helen and Graham, a Tagalong Tour around Tasmania, organised by Lynn while Graeme and Heather organised our campout to Geelong from where we visited the Western Treatment Plant and Serendip Sanctuary. The last two outings included members from other BirdLife Branches. This is a great way to extend our networks and added extra interest. Thanks to all who helped with these events and with monthly outings. An interesting range of monthly outings is scheduled for this year. Extended events are also planned for Lord Howe Island and Nelson and the Christmas Island trip is running again; a lot to look forward to. Our Lake Pertobe brochure has continued to be very popular. Still plenty left though. We also have stock of our South-west birding booklets. I encourage members to keep a small stock of both. Thanks to Peter who has done an outstanding job producing Twitterings, leading us on many expeditions and being our President. Thanks also to Lynn for her work as Treasurer. PRESIDENT S REPORT PETER BARRAND Although this past year has again been a busy one for both BirdLife Warrnambool Branch and for me as Branch President, it has not been quite as hectic as when we organised both the Cross Border Campout and the BirdLife Australia National Congress and Campout. Rhonda and I spent a truly memorable fortnight in Rwanda in July, trekking with Eastern Gorillas and Chimpanzees and observing over two hundred and fifty species of birds, all but a handful of which were lifers. All our BirdLife Warrnambool Big Ticket outings were great successes and were well attended by both BirdLife Warrnambool members and other birdwatchers from further afield. Our Branch Campout to Swan Hill in May, organised and led by Graham and Helen, proved a great weekend, with good company and new birds for most attending; our Tagalong Tour to Tasmania in October, planned and organised by Lynn, with its associated pelagic trip from Eaglehawk Neck, was both a social and birding masterpiece; our Campout to the Western Treatment Plant and Serendip Sanctuary in November, led by Heather and Graeme was another great weekend with a cast of interstate visitors attending and our Expedition to Cocos Keeling and Christmas Islands, also in November, which unfortunately ended up clashing with the Campout as a result of changes to the flight schedules, with Rhonda as chief organiser and head cat herder, where we observed a suite of rare vagrants and discovered a new bird for Australia, capped off a spectacular year for our Branch. Our local outings have been something of a mixed bag; two were attended by only the leaders; Timboon Rail Trail in May saw Heather and Graeme enjoying each other s company and if BirdLife Hamilton members hadn t joined our outing to the Hamilton Wetlands in June, I would have spent the day birdwatching alone. 2 Twitterings April 2016

3 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING These two were the exceptions however and other outings during the year; Peterborough in March, Dunkeld in April, Port Fairy in July, Chatsworth in August, Clarkesdale Reserve in September, Glenthompson in October, led by Paul and Dot from BirdLife Hamilton, and our Christmas BBQ in December, although the Challenge Bird Count did not attract many starters, were all reasonably well attended. My thanks and congratulations go to those members who have put their hands up to organise, lead and participate in all the events we have run this past year; you have all helped to promote BirdLife Warrnambool as a friendly, outgoing and adventurous group. In keeping with established custom we have once again kept committee meetings to an absolute minimum, conducting business during lunch-breaks at our regular outings and corresponding by and phone. While BirdLife Australia membership is growing overall, our area has actually had a small decline, with the numbers of new members joining not keeping pace with those dropping out of the organisation. Now into its fifth year, my monthly column in the Heywood Community Newsletter continues to promote birds and birdwatching in Heywood but perhaps we need to advertise our group more widely across the whole region? I travelled to Melbourne to represent BirdLife Warrnambool at the BirdLife Network Forum in May; my third appearance at this function. It provides a great opportunity to meet with BirdLife members from all over Australia, the National Office staff and members of the BirdLife Board of Directors, to have some input into the direction the BirdLife organisation is heading and to exchange ideas with other members. Highlight of our 2016 program will be our Branch Expedition to Lord Howe Island and we again have an interesting mix of local outings and have included several places we haven t visited for some time. As Editor of our Branch newsletter, Twitterings, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed articles, photographs and sightings during the year. Our newsletter is highly regarded and electronic distribution is still increasing. After a fair stint in the job, Chris has resigned as printer and poster of the hard copies and I would like to thank her for all her work over the past years. Our Branch will need to confront challenges in the near future; faced with an aging membership, illness and increasing work commitments, we need to grow our active membership so that the workload of running the Branch is not left to too few committed members. Remember, it s your BirdLife Warrnambool Branch and without your input the highlights of past years will be distant memories. We need to be active and out there to provide a bright future for Australia s birds. BRANCH OUTING RUTLEDGE CUTTING? Saturday 5 March 2016 PETER BARRAND While the venue was listed as Rutledge Cutting, the group, ably led by Jim and Ray, visited Armstrong Bay, Killarney Beach and the beach at Southern Ocean Mariculture Abalone Farm. In a follow-up Lynn raised the prospect of the Branch purchasing a telescope, as on the day there wasn t a member who owned one present. Something to discuss at a future meeting? BIRDLIST BirdLife Warrnambool Branch Outing Armstrong Bay, Killarney Beach & Southern Ocean Mariculture Abalone Farm, Port Fairy Saturday 5 March 2016 Short-tailed Shearwater, Australian White Ibis, Straw-necked Ibis, White-faced Heron, Australasian Gannet, Little Pied Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Brown Goshawk, Pied Oystercatcher, Sooty Oystercatcher, Masked Lapwing, Pacific Golden Plover, Red-capped Plover, Double-banded Plover, Hooded Dotterel, Ruddy Turnstone, Red-necked Stint, Silver Gull, Pacific Gull, Kelp Gull, Greater Crested Tern, Galah, Blue-winged Parrot, White-fronted Chat, Red Wattlebird, Singing Honeyeater, Australian Magpie Willie Wagtail, Magpie-lark, Little Raven, Welcome Swallow, Common Starling, House Sparrow, European Goldfinch (34 species) Twitterings April

4 BRANCH OUTING NARINGAL AREA Saturday 2 April 2016 HELEN DIXON After early morning showers and strong winds, it turned out a lovely day for a walk through some of the reserves around Naringal. We started at Wilton Reserve and were immediately greeted by a chorus of bird sounds. Honeyeaters in particular were numerous; we saw White-plumed, White-eared, Yellow-faced, White-naped and New Holland. The beautiful bright yellow of the Eastern Yellow Robin is always good to see and a more uncommon find was a flock of Little Corellas. We moved on then to Grasstree Plains Reserve which was a little quieter. We were intrigued with some huge fungi which Lynn later identified as Phlebopus marginatus, one of the boletes, toadstools with pores rather than gills on the underside of the cap. This particular fungus is possibly Australia's largest terrestrial mushroom and can grow to a metre across, so at 20 to 30 cm those we found were only small specimens. The Naringal East Picnic Ground was even quieter, so after a quick walk we moved on to Ralph Illidge Sanctuary where we had lunch. Graeme spotted an Australian Golden Whistler watching over us. We walked down to the river but it was fairly quiet. As we drove out, a Bassian Thrush stopped on the road giving us a good look before moving on. Lynn, Graham and I called into the Ralph Illidge Extension before heading home, but all we found there was a huge apple tree filled with lovely big red apples. It was an enjoyable day with a reasonable bird list. Thanks Jan and Michael for leading us. Phlebopus marginatus Photo Graham Dixon We eventually got good views of White-throated Treecreeper and Spotted Pardalote, along with other birds we d previously seen. Grey Fantails continually flitted around as they do. Bassian Thrush BIRDLIST Photo Graham Dixon BirdLife Warrnambool Branch Outing NARINGAL AREA Saturday 2 April 2016 Straw-necked Ibis, Laughing Kookaburra, Little Corella Crimson Rosella, White-throated Treecreeper, Superb Fairywren, New Holland Honeyeater, White-naped Honeyeater, White-eared Honeyeater, Red Wattlebird, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, White-plumed Honeyeater, Spotted Pardalote, White-browed Scrubwren, Brown Thornbill, Australian Magpie, Australian Golden Whistler, Grey Shrikethrush, Willie Wagtail, Grey Fantail, Little Raven, Eastern Yellow Robin, Welcome Swallow, Bassian Thrush, Common Blackbird, House Sparrow, Red-browed Finch (27 species) 4 Twitterings April 2016

5 INTERESTING SIGHTINGS it on our Saturday outing so we went out again on Sunday morning. We followed the sound towards the far end of the car park at visitors' centre and found the whole family. Attached photo is of dad and a chick. PETER & RHONDA BARRAND 2 February White morph Grey Goshawk observed in house plantation, Stone Street, Heywood. Bird was hunting young rabbits which are living under a large pile of sticks and bark in the plantation and was causing plenty of consternation among the resident New Holland Honeyeater population with alarm calls ringing out across the block. Satin Flycatcher, Tower Hill ROBIN FURNISS Photo Graham Dixon Robin, a newcomer to Warrnambool, encountered a Brown Goshawk along the Lake Pertobe walking track, in the area of willows behind the railway station on 12 November 2015 and again in the same location on 9 April 2016, when she observed the bird taking a mouse from the path about six metres in front of her. TRIVIA APRIL S QUESTION Grey Goshawk, Heywood Photo Peter Barrand 28 February One Brown Goshawk flew in and perched on clothesline in house block, Stone Street, Heywood, where it remained for a few minutes before flying off. 12 April Southern Boobook flushed from Blackwood in lane behind house, Stone Street, Heywood. Bird perched in Blackwood along Fitzroy River. First sighting here for three years. GRAHAM & HELEN DIXON 7 February 2016 Satin Flycatchers breeding at Tower Hill State Game Reserve. Graham reports, Helen and I saw what we thought was an immature Satin Flycatcher at Tower Hill on Friday. We didn't see While colloquially known as the Grey Jay, I am neither found in the boreal forests of North America nor am I a member of the crow and jay family (Corvidae). I am instead a common resident in northern Australia and a migrant in southern Australia including Tasmania. I am? NOVEMBER S ANSWER Which country has the highest number of birds and which country has the highest number of endemic birds? Colombia is credited as having the highest number of bird species, closely followed by Peru and then Brazil. Indonesia is the country which lays claim to the highest number of endemic birds. Twitterings April

6 Mount Leura & Mount Sugarloaf Reserves Survey GRAHAM DIXON Graham Arkinstall, Chairman of the Mount Leura and Mount Sugarloaf Management Committee, enquired if any BirdLife Warrnambool members would be willing to spend time at the reserves assisting to add to the list of birds observed. This may be through just one visit or maybe a few visits across a year. We have changed our September outing to include these locations. In the meantime, if you happen to be birdwatching in these locations, Graham would be delighted to hear from you. A list of observed birds with recent and positive identifications highlighted may be requested from either grahamarkinstall@gmail.com or grahamdixon1@hotmail.com CORRECTION The nesting Tawny Frogmouth photo attributed to Philip Du Guesclin in January s Twitterings was actually taken by Philip s sister Hilary Blakeman. The Tawny Frogmouth was nesting in a small reserve next to where Hilary lives in North Blackburn. BIRDLIFE WARRNAMBOOL BRANCH OUTINGS 2016 Friday 22 Friday 29 April 2016 BRANCH EXPEDITION - LORD HOWE ISLAND Organiser: Helen Dixon Saturday 7 May 2016 CHATSWORTH (Private Property) Meet at Chatsworth Fire Station, Caramut-Chatsworth Road at 10.00am Leader: Lynn Brown Saturday 4 June 2016 HAMILTON WETLANDS Meet in Grange Burn Wetlands carpark, Mount Bainbridge Road, Hamilton at 10.00am Leaders: Peter & Rhonda Barrand Saturday 2 July 2016 PORT FAIRY Morning birdwatching followed by a pub meal Meet at Griffiths Island carpark at 10.00am Organisers: Peter & Rhonda Barrand Saturday 6 August 2016 MOUNT ECCLES NATIONAL PARK Meet in National Park carpark at 10.00am Leaders: Michael & Jan Stone Saturday 3 September 2016 CAMPERDOWN MOUNTAINS & LAKES Meet at Camperdown Visitor Information Centre, 179 Manifold Street at 10.00am Leaders: Graham & Helen Dixon Friday 23 Monday 26 September 2016 CROSS BORDER CAMPOUT Make your own bookings for accommodation, which ranges from motel rooms to cabins and ensuite, grassed or drive through campsites, at the Lake Hamilton Motor Village & Caravan Park. When booking quote BirdLife Address: 8 Ballarat Road, Hamilton Telephone: info@lakehamilton.com.au Website: Organisers: BirdLife Hamilton Branch INTERESTING SIGHTING 10 April 2016 Peter & Rhonda Barrand A flock of at least one hundred and ninety-one Caspian Terns observed on bank of Murray River north of Moorook, South Australia. 6 Twitterings April 2016

7 BRANCH OUTINGS 2016 Saturday 1 October 2016 PETERBOROUGH AREA Meet at amenities block, Irving Road at 10.00am Leaders: Michael & Jan Stone Friday 21 Monday 24 October 2016 We will join the Fleurieu Birdwatchers Inc at Nelson for the weekend. Book your own accommodation at either Kywong Caravan Park Managers: Brett & Del 92 North Nelson Road, Nelson 3292 Telephone: kywongcp@bigpond.com or Casuarina Cabins Neil and Tania Humphries North Nelson Road Nelson 3292 Telephone: mail@casuarinacabins.com.au. When booking quote BirdLife Organisers: Fleurieu Birdwatchers Inc Saturday 5 November 2016 QUAMBY & FITZROY RIVER ESTUARY Meet at intersection of Princes Highway and Thompsons Road, Tyrendarra at 10.00am Leader: Jock Bromell Wednesday 7 December 2016 CHALLENGE BIRD COUNT & CHRISTMAS BBQ Count birds within a 15 kilometre radius of Warrnambool over any 24-hour period from Saturday 3 December 2016 then join us for a BBQ at Lake Pertobe from 12.00pm on Wednesday. Organisers: Peter & Rhonda Barrand A WEEKEND AWAY With work in the fire towers almost over but not officially ending until 30 April this year, we used a cool couple of days to kill not the proverbial two birds but three with one stone; to catch up with family, Riverland Field Naturalists and BirdLife Mildura members in one trip. With family at Berri in South Australia and the two groups having a combined outing to Banrock Station, a place we have driven past on numerous occasions but had never visited; better make that four birds with one stone; a free weekend seemed a perfect opportunity. We headed north into South Australia on Friday 8 April stopping to bird at a few spots along the way. We discovered Hardings Springs Reserve along the Bordertown-Pinnaroo Road and while midday wasn t the ideal time for birdwatching and the country was very dry, we rounded up half a dozen species during a twenty minute walk. The Friends Group who manage the Reserve have constructed a birdhide with elevated water points which would be an interesting spot in the evenings. During our lunch stop further north at Comet Bore in Ngarkat Conservation Park, we observed Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters. Having spent the afternoon with family we headed on to Barmera where we planned to stay the night and were delighted to run into not only the Mildura group at dinner time at the Barmera Hotel but also our family members who had decided to dine out as well. We arrived at the advertised meeting point next morning but no Field Naturalists turned up so we headed on to Banrock Station where the BirdLife members were assembling. The carpark yielded good views of Australian Raven, Yellow-throated Miner, Striated Pardalote and Mulga Parrot among other species. Interesting Sighting RAY SCHULZ 12 April 2016 Ray has reported sighting a Bassian Thrush in the flying fox area at Lake Pertobe, Warrnambool. Bassian Thrush doesn t appear on our Lake Pertobe birdlist, so this is an exciting addition. While the Bassian Thrush is regarded as a wet forest species, it is known to disperse to more open lowland areas in autumn and winter. Yellow-throated Miner Photo Peter Barrand Twitterings April

8 The wetlands at Banrock had recently been filled after being completely dry for some time and the bird were making the most of the windfall; there was a huge cormorant rookery in an area not accessible by foot and many birds were carrying nesting material about. With the high water levels there were no waders present and surprisingly, very few species of duck; we only observed Grey Teal, Chestnut Teal and Musk Duck. Black Swan, Australasian Grebe and Hoaryheaded Grebe were also present and we observed Little Grassbird and Australian Reed Warbler in the extensive reed beds. I think Banrock will become more exciting bird-wise as the water levels begin to drop again. After a very pleasant lunch at the Banrock Station cafe we moved downstream to Waikerie and visited Hart Lagoon Wetland; a complete contrast to Banrock. The water here was much shallower and the wetland teemed with Red-necked Avocets, White-headed Stilts and huge flocks of Pink-eared Duck. There also were good numbers of Australasian Shoveler busy feeding; heads down, bums up and orange legs waving in the air. We had good views of a Brown Goshawk circling overhead and spotted a distant White-breasted Woodswallow. We spent the night at Riverfront Retreat in Kingstonon-Murray, a great place for a relaxing holiday, which had been rented by some of the Mildura members. We observed almost thirty species of birds around the property in a couple of hours including four species of cormorant, Australasian Darter, Peregrine Falcon and Little Friarbird. We farewelled the Mildura group on Sunday morning as they headed off on a river cruise and set out for Heywood. Rather than returning to Berri, we travelled to Loxton via Moorook and on the way encountered a flock of at least one hundred and ninety-one Caspian Terns on the bank of the Murray River; a truly amazing sight. CONGRATULATIONS HELEN DIXON Australasian Shoveler feeding Photo Peter Barrand 8 Twitterings April 2016