COWRA COMMENTS An occasional newsletter of the Cowra Woodland Birds Program

ISSUE Seventeen– December 2013 Spring Survey Weekend (19-20 October 2013) The Cowra Woodland Birds Program is a series of projects Travelling to Cowra for the spring survey weekend is becoming aimed at reversing the decline of a challenge! Last year, we had heavy snow falls in the Blue woodland birds in the region. The Mountains closing the Great Western Highway, this year it was projects are focused on scientific bushfires. Are floods the challenge for October 2014? research and the management of birds in their woodland habitats. For those of us travelling from , it was a small problem They involve the local compared to those who were living in the area and in real landholders and managers, the danger as winds whipped up the fires which spread and spread, Cowra Shire Council as well as and then continued to rage for days causing loss of properties local birdwatchers and members and large-scale evacuations. I think we all felt a tremendous of BirdLife Southern NSW ( and other birding clubs. relief next week to hear from Ken and Lea Schaefer (who live at Winmalee) that “We managed to stay in one piece. Our place is 2013 CWBP committee OK - but at the bottom of the street 8 houses were not so lucky. John Rankin - Chair Still restricted entry to many roads (even ours) and aircraft still Neale Coutanche Vice-chair bombing to the north of us.” Dan Florance Nick Nicholls Joy Pegler Sue Proust Madeleine Rankin Julian Reid Rosemary Stapleton Maret Vesk

Malcolm Fyfe – survey co-ordinator

Contact: John Rankin Phone: (02) 6342 9282 [email protected] or BirdLife Southern NSW Phone: (02) 9647 1033 [email protected]

Postal Address: CWBP, White-browed Woodswallows © Rosemary Stapleton BirdLife Discovery Centre, Newington Armory In Cowra, it was pleasant weekend with very cold mornings that 1 Jamieson St made many of us reluctant to head out to the survey sites at Sydney Olympic Park 2127 sunrise and even the birds seemed reluctant to move around so

early in the day. However, the days were lovely and sunny and with many shrubs and eucalypts in flower to enjoy. While we didn’t reach last Spring Survey record total 147 species, between us we managed to record 129 species, including 2 new to our list – Eastern Koel and a Brown Cuckoo-Dove!

Newsletter editor: Maret Vesk For those who like statistics, I can report that our Cowra Shire [email protected] list now stands at 223 species!

But it was the large flocks of White-browed Woodswallows and Superb Parrots, and the ‘noisy’ White-winged Trillers and Rufous Songlarks that had everyone’s attention. Survey dates for 2014 On Saturday evening , everyone gathered at the Pridham Centre to enjoy a talk by Guy Fitzhardinge (of “Penny Royal”) on 18/19 January "Land Management for Biodiversity in Cowra Shire" ). It was 12/13 April interesting to hear about our program from a landholder’s 19/20 July viewpoint and everyone enjoyed the opportunity to ask 18/19 October questions from Guy and chat informally with him and other visitors. Contact Malcolm Fyfe on (02) 6253 0772 or The FREE barbeque (provided by the CWBP) was enjoyed by [email protected] all and our THANK YOU to the chefs, the bbq bringer, meat buyer and assorted helpers but especially Madeleine for getting EVENTS everyone and everything to the tables (as well as making salads, dishing out the nibbles and fruit…). Saturday 18 January Of course, there was a price to pay! Chaddy & Frenchy had set The Pridham Centre has up a table (with their Calendars and moneyboxes at hand) been booked for the seeking (nay, demanding?) support for the Cowra Birdbrainers evening. At the moment, Team in the coming 2013 Twitchathon! As the table was right there are no plans for any next to the BBQ it was very difficult to ignore and even if one formal presentations but if managed to avoid them, one also had to escape both Peter and anyone wishes to do so, Sue (Night Poirots Team from Port Macquarie) who also had please warn Neale and John their ‘hands out” for sponsorship. beforehand. Bring along some food & drinks – if the Well, it’s good to know that we supported two winning teams weather is hot, cold (by the way, it’s not too late to contribute!) and the Powerful collations rather than a bbq Owl Project in Sydney. may be more appropriate ! IMPORTANT BIRD AREA SURVEY around Grenfell in Thanks to the warm October 2013 by Birding NSW. weather, the weeds are growing! Elisabeth Karplus reports that their fifth survey took place on Do you remember Neale’s 12 October with 20 surveyors from Birding NSW, Dubbo Field article (“Are you an Naturalists and Grenfell surveying 24 sites and recording 75 incursion just waiting to species compared with 51 species in the April 2013 survey and happen?”) in the October 76 species in the Spring 2012 survey. Cowra Comments? The four key species targeted were Superb Parrots, Diamond Please re-read it BEFORE Firetails, Swift Parrots and Painted Honeyeaters. There were you head off to do the several sightings of both Superb Parrots and Diamond Firetails surveys in January. but no Swift Parrots or Painted Honeyeaters. (During our And be aware of snakes surveys a week later, one lone Painted Honeyeater was sighted hiding in the grass! at Badgery – ed ). Other important woodland birds seen or heard, though not Chaddy and Frenchy necessarily in survey times or on survey sites, were Turquoise reveal all about the Parrots, a Barking Owl, Brown Treecreepers, Speckled COWRA WOODLAND Warblers, Grey-crowned Babblers, Varied Sittellas, Flame BIRDBRAINERS Robins and Hooded Robins. ‘adventures’ in the recent

2013 TWITCHATHON The next Grenfell IBA survey is scheduled for 29 March 2014. on page 3. If you would like to take part, please contact: Allan Richards ( [email protected] ) or Neville Schrader has a Elisabeth Karplus ([email protected] ). very interesting article on

The Variegated Fairy- wren in NSW – see page 9. 2 COWRA WOODLAND BIRDBRAINERS - TWITCHATHON 2013

The much anticipated day had finally arrived. Neale and Frenchy were on their way and all was in readiness for another major assault at the title. After falling 2 birds short last year and still smarting from the wounds (constant reminders from Sue and Peter didn’t help) the Birdbrainers had decided on a different tactic for 2013. Neale was still whinging & whining about running up thousands of kms on his rig ...and don’t mention the Condo red dust…. so it was decided to tackle the more leisurely but tactically difficult Eco race. The tension of anticipation was evident when the boys reached Chaddy’s, as Frenchy was constantly using the little boy’s room and hopping from foot to foot around the yard. With 3 hrs till kick-off, it was decided to break the tension by visiting the customary Condo party. Down the street we ambled to a mate’s place (yes… Chaddy does have one mate) for a couple of coldies and a bit of pre-twitch nerve settlers. We even managed to secure a bit of late sponsorship whilst scoffing down the freebies.

“The Birdbrainers” getting ready to go We finally hit the road about 1 pm and headed out to our secret camp site at Nombinnie Nature Reserve, where we would spend the night. Straws were drawn to see who had to sleep near the Sleep Apnea Wagon, but, the site was so small, there was no escaping the human volcano during the night for Frenchy, Leonie or Chaddy. Frenchy was however seen to be prepared after last year’s sleepless night… he came with ear plugs, cuddle pillow and SpongeBob Squarepants jimjams. No one wants to know what goes on in his tent on these type of trips….especially Fiona. With the camp set up, it was off to the secret starting point as set out in the meticulously planned route map. With 8 mins in hand we killed the motor and prepared for the action. As the clock ticked down nerves were raw and mouths were dry. The buzzer went and bird number one glided in and sat front and centre: Red-capped Robin, thanks for coming. It was on, and the next hour was a roller coaster bird a minute juggernaut ride through the Round Hill wilderness. Hooded Robin, Red- backed Kingfisher, Speckled Warbler, Black Honeyeater and Black-eared Cuckoo all made their way onto Miss Leonie’s tally sheet.

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Black-eared Cuckoo, Round Hill NR A half hour rest beside a secret waterhole also netted Double-barred & Zebra Finches and Diamond Dove. We were in danger of running out of our target birds on the first day. As night approached, it was off to the top of the gravel pit for the first dead cert of the day. Unfortunately for us, the Peregrine was off gallivanting somewhere else and obviously hadn’t read the script. As dark descended upon the despondent group, a rare bird was seen pointing into the darkness… aimed towards where the “dead-cert” was the previous day. Alas, no, this bird unfortunately wasn’t a countable species. The mood was softened somewhat on the trip down from the quarry, when a Singing Honeyeater was spotted and added to the list along with a very lost Great Cormorant, which was seen soaring overhead. A half hour intense listening session at the dam after dark, whilst fighting off hoards of marauding mozzies, was rewarded with the maniacal call of a Spotted Nightjar and then a flyby just for good measure. Added to that was a Tawny Frogmouth later in the evening, and, at the end of Day 1, the tally stood at 65.

I swear — he was here yesterday. Right there . Day 2 Breakfast at Nombinnie 4 Day 2 dawned as bright and sunny as Day 1, and the anticipation of success was buzzing around the camp. A Southern Scrub-robin got the ball rolling as we headed west through the cold air to the Red-lored Whistler spot. The next hour was spent chasing shadows, ghosts and numerous Gilbert’s Whistlers, but no Red Lores. Another disappointing dip. We did find an old, now unused Malleefowl mound, but this didn’t quite fix the dull mood. The next 4 hrs was like the middle third of a footy game. Slugging it out through the mallee, each bird had to be forcefully made to reveal itself. Ten birds in this time was a bit disappointing and the first doubts of success where starting to show. Would we get the required 130 species to be eligible for the Eco Race? We moved to the Whoey Tank area, and were up and running again. White- browed Babbler, Emu, Grey-fronted Honeyeater, Varied Sittella and Bluebonnet got the tally moving before we headed south for Lake Cargelligo. Thankfully the Little Eagle was on its nest near the railway line and El Capitan Chad wasn’t made to look like a total inept ,with his so-called “dead certs”. Chat Alley produced the goods with White-winged Fairy-wren, White-fronted Chat and our nemesis from our 2012 Twitch, the Brown Falcon (with snake in claws). Kookaburra and Sacred Kingfisher at Booberoi Creek and a Painted Honeyeater at Lachlan River Bridge still saw our tally only at 90 birds as we entered Lake Cargelligo town. Not enough!

Painted Honeyeater

A quick run to Deadman’s Point netted another 12 and at lunch we were sitting on 104 species as we ate our gourmet delights by the Lake. It was going to be tight and there were definitely no snow angels on the lawn this time round. A quick run round town got the introduced trio of House Sparrow, European Blackbird and Rock Dove. A timely Black Kite left us needing 20 species as we hit the Cargy Poo Ponds. Not ten feet inside the gate, while trying to outmanoeuvre another twitch team, we were greeted by Plum-headed Finch. As with Budgies last year and Frenchy’s wet pants episode, it was Chaddy’s turn to dampen up & marvel at a new bird for his life list. For years he’s been trying to find them 5 around Cowra, and here they were at Lake Cargelligo all the while. No time for lollygagging, we still had birds to find. With half an hour to go and the tension still rising, the scene became reminiscent of the recent NRL Grand Final. The floodgates opened, and just like those mighty Roosters, we raced towards the finish line with gay abandon as we put the twitch to bed for good. All manner of Pink-eared, Freckled and Shoveler Ducks were spotted amid hoards of Stilts, Avocets and Sandpipers. High fives all round as a lone Silver Gull became important bird no.130. Spotted and Baillon’s Crake were wandering around like domestic chickens and Terns filled the air. There hasn’t been such a gathering of avifauna since Mr Hitchcock made his little movie. With 4 seconds on the clock, we rested by the bird hide and stopped the tally at 137, when a Spotless Crake made its menacing cackle from the reed bed. All done and dusted, the 2013 Twitch was in the bag.

Common Bronzewing Pigeon at Round Hill NR

THE FINAL TALLY !!!

For the record we saw 137 species - the highlight being the Plum-headed Finches. We travelled a distance of 93 km and, sad but true, we did not see a Noisy Miner, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo or Black-shouldered Kite. We only just got a Striated Pardalote in the last ten minutes. Strange how things turn out. It looks as though “Capitan Chaddy & his team of Trusty Seadogs” goal of “Eco Race winners, Champagne Race 2013” has been achieved… without a glimpse of whitecaps or the sniff of salt air. 6

Of course, the real aim of the Twitchathon Race each year is to raise funds for bird conservation projects in NSW. To date, the Cowra Woodland BirdBrainers have raised just on $6,000 for this year’s Twitchathon recipient, the “Powerful Owl Project”. Chaddy & Frenchy’s bird calendar sales, Chaddy’s Condobolin “Birds of the Lachlan” Photographic Exhibition, raffle & calendar sales, & generous donations, (with a special mention to Lachlan Fertilizers Rural) have all helped in this total.

Thankyou to everyone from the Cowra Woodland Bird Program, who have supported the Birdbrainers with their Twitchathon fundraising efforts. Chaddy, Leonie, Neale & Frenchy.

7 PS. We couldn’t NOT MENTION…… that Peter & Sue’s Hastings Birdwatchers Team, the “Night Poirots”, have again, taken out 1st place in the Champagne Race, with a fantastic total of 162 sp. Great stuff & congratulations to Peter & Sue & the other members of their team.

PPS. Although the 2013 Twitchathon is done & dusted, the “Birdbrainers” are still continuing to raise funds for the 2013 Twitchathon recipient, the “Powerful Owl Project”, until 31st December. We still have “Chaddy & Frenchy’s 2014 Desk Calendars for sale” … .$15 ea & “Free Postage” for CWBP Volunteers & Friends thereof. Check out the “Calendar Webpage”, if you haven’t seen the calendar yet: https://sites.google.com/site/australianbirds2014calendar/ So, if you haven’t got your hands on one of these handy, old fashioned yet functional ways of sorting out your future birding commitments, or, if you want another, email Frenchy at : [email protected] (Make sure you put a reference to “Free Postage Offer” in the email, if it doesn’t appear in the “auto subject line” please.)

Variegated Fairy-wren © Warren Chad

The Variegated Fairy-wren in NSW Neville Schrader (Birds NSW – The NSW Bird Atlassers Newsletter, No. 119 December 2013 - Reproduced with permission)

Introduction The Variegated Fairy-wren Malurus lamberti is the most widespread of all the Malurus species in , with five subspecies recognised (Higgins).

Two subspecies occur in NSW, Malurus lamberti lamberti the nominate subspecies and Malurus lamberti assimilis . These two subspecies before reclassification (Christidis and Boles) were known by the common names - Variegated Fairy-wren Malurus lamberti and Purple-backed Fairy-wren M. assimilis . 8

Popular field guides (Slater, Morcombe, Pizzey, Simpson) illustrate a continuous distribution throughout NSW, except for the Snowy Mountains and south-eastern corner.

Distribution The distribution of the Variegated Fairy-wren has been outlined in various publications. McGill indicated the distribution of the coastal wetter rainfall nominate subspecies, as not appearing further west then the higher eastern slopes of the . Whereas the inland drier country subspecies occurs to the western side of the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range to the Warrumbungles, then to Moama (McGill).

Morri, McGill and Holmes further clarified the distribution of the two subspecies. They give lamberti distribution as northern and central tablelands, south to Wallagha Lake; west to The Scrub (near Tenterfield), Dorrigo Plateau, Mt. Royal, Munghorn Gap, Cox’s River and upper Clyde River.

For assimilis , the western plains, slopes and , east to Mole River, Yarrwyck (near Armidale), Wallabadah (?assimilis), Warrumbungle Range, Dubbo, Tottenham, Weddin Mts, Narrandera, Jerilderie and Barham.

The White Box Grassy Woodland appears as an ecological barrier in separating the two subspecies of Malurus lamberti in NSW. The region that has no records appears to match the distribution of White Box E. albens Woodland (Brooker and Kleinig). The species appears to be also absent from the New England, Southern Tablelands and Alpine Region. (See map 1.)

The eastern distribution for Malurus l. lamberti appears to be:-Tenterfield (152°.05’; 29°.05’), Gibralter NP (152°.15’; 29°.35’), Mt Royal, Coolah Tops (149°.45’; 32°.25’), Munghorn Gap NR (149°.45’; 32°.25’), east of Rylstone (150°.15’; 32°.45’), Lithgow (150°.15’; 33°.25’), Kanangara Walls (150°.05’; 33°.55’), Bowral, Moss Vale (150°.25’; 34°.00’) Mittagong (150°.25’; 34°.25’), Mt Budawang (150°.05’; 35°.55’), Mimosa Rock NP (149°.56’; 36°.40’).

The inland subspecies Malurus l. assimilis appears to be : west of Torrington (152°.05’; 29°.05’), west of (151°.05’; 29°.45’), Bundarra (151°.05’; 30°.05’), Mt Yarrowick (151°.25’; 30°.25’), Lake Goran, South of (150°.15’; 31°.15’), Dalton, (148°.55’; 32°.15’), Goonoo Goonoo SF, Narromine (148°.15’; 32°.15’), west of Peak Hill (147°.55’; 33°.35’), Gunning Range, east of Bogan Gate (147°.35’; 33°.05’), Jemalong Weir (147°.45’; 33°.25’), Lake Cowal (147°.25’; 33°.35’), west of Temora (147°.25’; 34°.25’), Narrandera (146°.35’; 34°.45’), Jerilderie (145°.45’; 35°.25’), Moama (144°.45’; 36°.05’).

9 Locations requiring further verification Because of the difficulty of separating different species of Malurus from the Variegated Fairy-wren, the following locations need further confirmation - Yass, Bimbi SF, west of Grenfell, and Darby’s Falls, south of Cowra, Borenore Caves, Wallabadah, Mt. Yarrowyck west of Armidale and east of Inverell.

Identification The main identification problem occurs where there is an overlap with other species of fairy-wrens, especially with brown birds, namely the Superb Fairy-wren, males in eclipse plumage. Inland, the Superb Fairy-wren M. cyaneus , Splendid Fairy-wren M. splendens and White-winged Fairy-wren M. leucopterus can further add to the confusion. This is especially the case where the four species can be encountered within a short distance of each other. Birdlife Vol.2 (2) 42-47 has an excellent article on field marks to separate species of fairy-wren.

The difference between brown females and males in eclipse plumage is the Variegated has a longer tail, a darker and more clearly delineated eye patch then the Superb Fairy-wren. The tail of the Variegated Fairy-wren is tripped white at all ages (Rogers).

The difficulty of separating the distribution of the two subspecies of Variegated Fairy-wren in NSW is that most observers do not attempt to identify what subspecies is being recorded.

Vegetation Association The Variegated Fairy-wren appears to occur in isolated family groups, though often mixed with flocks of the Superb Fairy-wren (on the coast), this being caused, especially on the coast, by clearing and urban expansion. In the inland, assimilis is restricted to uncleared ridges, rocky outcrops and watercourses and mallee thickets similarly caused by land clearing of more productive land for cropping.

The wetter subspecies ( lamberti ) is associated with heath, fringes of rainforest, lantana and swamps.

The drier inland subspecies ( assimilis ) appears to be associated with isolated clumps of tea-tree, acacia, lignum, Nitrare-bush and Cane Grass, along the edges of ephemeral wetlands and watercourses.

Conclusion Atlassers need to take more care in the identification of different species and subspecies of Fairy- wrens in NSW, especially where distributions overlap or sightings are recorded outside the accepted distribution area.

References: Baldwin, M. (1975) Birds of Inverell, NSW Emu 75 113-120 Brooker and Kleingig (1983) Field Guide to Eucalypts, Vol. 1.Inkata Christidis and Boles (2008) Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds CSIRO Heron, S.J (1973) Birds of Goonoo SF Emu 73 119-123 Higgins, P.J., Peter, J.M., and Steele, W.K. (Eds) (2001) Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds Volume 5: Tyrant-flycatchers to Chats, Oxford University Press: Melbourne, Australia. Lindsay, TR (1979) NSW Bird Report 1978 14-1 McGill, A.R. (1970) Australian Warblers BOC Morris AK, McGill, Holmes (1981) Hand list of Birds in 1981 NSWFOC Rogers, K. 1986 A guide to Aging and Sexing Bush Birds Vestgens, WJM (1975) Habitat and Food of Vertebrates at Lake Cowal CSIRO Tech. Memo 12

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