The Musk Duck

Volume 5 Number 14 June 2020

Silvereye- Ditchfield Lane Photo: Mario Gross

CONVENOR’S REPORT Our AGM in early March was conducted, with Peter Sedgwick now replacing Annette Ferguson on the committee and Graham Dent has been appointed Treasurer. Our inaugural Autumn held camp- out at Port Fairy was also achieved prior to the restrictions placed upon us by Covid19. These restrictions unfortunately cancelled all our subsequent meetings and outings including the much anticipated branch outing using the Golden City Paddlesteamer on Lake Wendouree. With restrictions slowly lifting as soon as we are able, our syllabus will resume. However the last few months have provided an opportunity to become very engaged in what happens in our own backyards. Thanks to Ian Ashton for commencing a monthly branch backyard survey and to all who have participated. This pooled data is a valuable resource in reviewing our branch lists. And for those who agreed, the data was provided to Federation University via Dr. Grant Palmer for his students to utilise. On a very positive note, we were successful in receiving a grant from the Ballarat council to enable the further printing of our branch produced Common of the Ballarat region brochure. Have your bino’s focused on birds and your efforts support habitat conservation. Louise Humble

Meetings & Reports

Meeting Report Mar 11, 2020 Birds of Costa Rica Tim and Wendy Sandiford

Situated in Central America, Costa Rica is well-known as a fine destination for eco-tourism. Protected reserves make up 25% of its total area – with forest still increasing despite population growth. It’s a perfect destination for birders, with 10% of the world’s , 934 in 2019.

The Sandifords spent three weeks there in November 2019, at the end of the wet season, using public transport, local accommodation and hiring guides where possible. They recommend Steve Bird’s book Birds of Costa Rica, identifying more than half of those he included, 157 in all.

Their travels covered a very wide range of habitats with very picturesque settings. 1.San Jose this city’s parks provided immediate viewing including some common species: the raven-like Grackles, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Orange-chinned Parakeets and Inca Dove.

2.Savegre River Valley- at 3000 metres altitude, the Los Santos Reserve is home to many striking , flycatchers, , toucanets, chlorophonia and the very splendid Quetzal. These last can nest in holes created by the Acorn Resplendent Quetzal - Male Woodpeckers.

3.Naman Island’s mangrove cruise provided many Tiger Herons & the migratory American White Ibis.

4.At Monteverde Mountain Cloud Forest Reserve, the turkey-like Crested Guan and Lesson’s Motmot were seen, and we were shown a video of a Lineated Foliage Gleaner making its nest.

5.Arenal National Park, at the foot of a volcano, was home to more interesting and colourful birds (and some rainbow eucalypts): a group of resting Black Vultures, the common Great Kiskadee and lively mixed flocks of both Scarlet and Blue and Yellow Macaws (at the bus Resplendent Quetzal - Female stop on departure). – Shirley Faull.

Lesson's Motmot

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WEDNESDAY OUTING March 11, 2020 Lake Burrumbeet Leader – John Greguke We had wonderful weather for our trip to Lake Burrumbeet, lead by John Gregurke who has a wealth of local knowledge. Starting on the southern shore there was a nice display by resident Whistling Kites In the bush on the shore edge a nice selection of bushbirds including Golden-headed Cisticola and Blue- winged and Red-rumped . Driving over to the Eastern side we were treated to more raptors with Nankeen Kestrel and then Brown Falcon & Black Kites. A six Raptor morning in contrast to low Duck numbers and species. On the Eastern shore along from the caravan park three Yellow-billed Spoonbills were feeding in a bay, good numbers of Pelicans but no waders found and only two lone Black Ducks. That being said we had a respectable 51 bird species recorded. Thanks to those intrepid members who are able to attend our Wednesday outings, this being our only group outing I have to report on. Hopefully Wednesday morning outings can resume in September and we can continue to explore and share local birding spots. -Jenny Garley

Nankeen Kestrel Photo: Jenny Garley

Favourite places – Glengower Cemetery. I was asked if I might write a few words about a favourite birdwatching place. The place I have chosen is very quiet with low visitation and is about twenty minutes from our home in Allendale. I was not the first to visit this place, Roger & Fran Thomas, the Ballarat Field Naturalists and many others no doubt. Helen O’Donnell and the late Wallie Coles visited many times during surveys. I first visited with Helen and Murray Grant while conducting the Swift Parrot surveys. John Gregurke had recorded Swift Parrot at the site. So where is this place? It is commonly referred to as the Campbelltown cemetery but is officially the Glengower Cemetery. A small country cemetery completely surrounded by farmland, the entrance track is through well treed private land that the owner generously allows access. The Birds are quite special as many of them have now become rare in our district. As you walk up the drive it is almost impossible not to see Brown Treecreepers and usually quite a few. Other birds of note are Diamond Firetail, Peaceful Dove, White-bellied Cuckoo- and Jacky Winter. There have been the odd rarity including Black Honeyeater. Since May 2019 I have been making monthly visits with a few extra visits making 16 in total. Most visits are fairly short consisting of a walk up the entrance track from the Creswick Newstead Rd, up to and around the cemetery itself then back to the start. An average of 20 species were recorded on these visits with a minimum of 14 in June 2019 and a maximum of 31 in October 2019.

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Roger and Fran Thomas also visit the cemetery on a regular basis and we have shared our observations. We have produced a bird list for the cemetery trust. This list of 78 species is still growing, the last species to be added was Noisy Miner found by Fran Thomas. Unlike some places these birds are uncommon in the Ballarat region and possibly declining. The number represent how many times I have recorded each species out of 16 visits.

Australian Shelduck 0 Brown Falcon 0 Australian Wood Duck 4 Australian Hobby 3 Pacific Black Duck 0 Galah 14 Common Bronzewing 3 Long-billed Corella 11 Crested Pigeon 6 Sulphur-crested 8 Peaceful Dove 8 Musk Lorikeet 7 Australian Owlet-nightjar 0 Purple-crowned Lorikeet 3 Whistling Kite 6 Crimson Rosella 8 Black Kite 8 Eastern Rosella 8 Brown Goshawk 1 Swift Parrot 0 Wedge-tailed Eagle 2 Red-rumped Parrot 15

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Blue-winged Parrot 1 Crested Shriketit 6 Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo 3 Golden Whistler 2 Shining Bronze-Cuckoo 2 Rufous Whistler 2 Pallid Cuckoo 2 Grey Shrike-thrush 12 Southern Boobook 0 Olive-backed Oriole 0 Kookaburra 4 Masked Woodswallow 3 Sacred Kingfisher 1 White-browed 5 Brown Treecreeper 16 Woodswallow Superb Fairy-wren 15 Dusky Woodswallow 11 Weebill 0 Australian Magpie 15 Yellow-rumped Thornbill 0 Willie Wagtail 16 Buff-rumped Thornbill 0 Australian Raven 10 Brown Thornbill 3 Little Raven 8 Spotted Pardalote 0 Restless Flycatcher 2 Striated Pardalote 9 Magpie- 5 Yellow-faced Honeyeater 3 White-winged Chough 6 White-eared Honeyeater 0 Jacky Winter 3 Fuscous Honeyeater 0 Flame Robin 3 White-plumed Honeyeater 15 Hooded Robin 0 Niosey Miner 0 Rufous Songlark 5 Red Wattlebird 12 Silvereye 2 Black Honeyeater 0 Welcome Swallow 16 New Holland Honeyeater 3 Tree Martin 4 Black-chinned Honeyeater 3 Blackbird 2 Brown-headed 2 Common Starling 3 Honeyeater Mistletoebird 0 White-naped Honeyeater 4 Red-browed 0 Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike 5 Diamond Firetail 5 White-winged Triller 1 House Sparrow 1 White-bellied Cuckoo- 2 European Goldfinch 3 shrike

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April Bird Count Report from Grenville Jenny and Peter Sedgwick 1. House Yard Total 35 species Slow start, then a boom, then a slow and painful fizzle out, hoping for something new, but day after day disappointment. AWARDS Highlights- Flame Robin, Golden Whistler female which was identified for us after an altercation with the window (she recovered) Most photographed- Eastern Spinebill Closest to the window- Superb Blue Wren, cleaning up the overnight moths Most often in the Pool- Striated Thornbill Biggest gang- White-winged Choughs, 7 - 20 Best represented species group- Thornbills (4 species)- Yellow-rumped, Striated, Brown and Buff-rumped. Most unwelcome- Grey Currawongs Notable AWOL- Scarlet Robin, White-naped HE, Brown- headed HE

2. Entire property outside garden. Total (35 acres) Total 35 species 11 different species to the garden. Australian Raven, Magpie-lark, Common Miner (Indian), Wood Duck, Grey Teal, Pacific Black Duck, Australasian Grebe, White faced Heron, Brown Goshawk, Brown Falcon, White-naped HE Notable AWOL- Eastern Rosella, pigeon species, WT Eagle, White- faced Heron

But our absolute May delight on several crispy, frosty morns, was this Australian Owlet-nightjar, dozily sunning itself in it’s hollow doorway. It has been seen in daylight under the same circumstances at odd times over the last few years and is a most welcome, probably part time, resident. His Recovering female Golden Whistler alarming shriek has been heard over summer nights.

Photos: Jenny Sedgwick Australian Owlet-nightjar

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The pioneering lady twitchers of Australia. Image state library South Australia

Unlike similar organisations in 1901, the Australasian ornithologist’s union welcomed women, with six amongst its foundation members. The organisation continues to research and advocate for Australia’s native birds today as Birdlife Australia. In October 1905 members of the union travelled to Adelaide from around Australia for their fifth Congress. The organisation’s mandate was “ to collate and disseminate up to date information relating to the avifauna of Australasia and to secure protection to useful birds from ruthless destruction”. At the conclusion of the conference, 22 bird lovers headed via steamer to Kangaroo Island for ten days to camp and observe the island’s Birdlife and natural environment. After rough weather delayed their landing on Snelling Beach until the morning of October 15, the party made their way with all of their luggage and equipment to the camping ground on the flats at Middle River. A house has been put at their disposal by one of the island’s sheep farmers, and tents nearby were erected for the “ladies” and for “museum purposes”. “The first impressions of the pleasant place, from an ornithologist’s point of view, were that it was a land of Crimson Parrakeets and brilliant Blue Wrens, from the numbers of these beautiful birds seen while the camp was being put in order. But other birds were soon discovered. The following days were spent exploring the island, collecting, recording and photographing the islands’s birds, plants, insects, and geology. A smaller party crossed the island to visit the lighthouse at Cape Borda ( lighthouse keepers were keeping records for the Union of thirds striking the lights there) and returned with a live wallaby and three live little .

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The expedition’s final day on the island was as prolific in sightings as the first. “The valley seemed more than ever filled with birds. Hundreds of Blue-bellied Lorikeets were screaming and feeding on the flowering “blue gum” trees (Eucalyptus leucoxylon) that stood in one of the swampy backwaters. beneath them a Black Duck enticed her young out of harm’s way and near by a flew off screeching. A party of Black-winged Crow- and several Fire-tailed were observed, while Spinebill Crescent Honeyeater, magnirostris, Scarlet-breasted Robin, var., Striated Tit and Brown Tit, var., were much in evidence. A solitary Stone-Plover was disturbed from its mid-day rest”. I all, more than 70 species of birds were officially identified during the expedition, including several sub-species endemic to the island. Above article from Australian Geographic online newsletter May 2020 words by Linda Braidwood. Bird list and possible current bird identification Crimson Parrakeets - ? Adelaide Rosella Blue Wren - ? Superb Blue Wren Blue- bellied Lorikeet-? Purple - Crowned Lorikeet Black Duck - ? Pacific Black Duck White Cockatoo - ? sulphur crested cockatoo Black-winged Crow shrikes ? Ground cuckoo shrike Fire tailed Finches - Beautiful Fire tail Spinebill - Eastern Spinebill Crescent Honeyeater - Crescent Honeyeater Scarlet breasted Robin - Scarlet Robin Striated Tit ? Striated Fieldwren Brown Tit ? Scrub Tit Stone Plover - ? Bush stone Curlew Little Penguins - Little Penguins Melithreptus magnirostris - Brown - headed Honeyeater sp

The Conservation Update - Creswick Trails Project

I believe this is my first update for the year, which is almost half gone! You will remember from last year’s meetings that there is a major project being planned in and around the Creswick Regional Park and including the areas surrounding Cosgrave Reservoir and St Georges Lake. The $4 million Creswick Trails Project proposes to build 100 km of trails in the park mainly for the use of Mountain Bike riders but also including some dual-purpose walking and cycling trails.

Since the isolation restrictions have eased, I have been able to visit some of the areas the trails will run through, and a letter has just been sent to the land managers of the park, expressing concerns about the impact of the trails on birdlife.

More detail on the trails should be released shortly, after environmental assessments are completed. In the meantime, the more information we can gather the better. So, if you have spare time and can get to Creswick you might do a Birdata survey or send your sightings to me at [email protected]. Here’s a list of endangered birds that have previously been seen in the park:

Species Status Victorian Flora & Fauna Guarantee Act Australasian Shoveler Vulnerable Eastern Great Egret Vulnerable Listed Square-tailed Kite Vulnerable Listed Grey Goshawk Vulnerable Listed Latham’s Snipe Near threatened Nominated Powerful Vulnerable Listed Spotted Quail-thrush Near threatened

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Networking Event On 29th February I attended the BEN Networking event at the Ballarat Technical School which is a terrific new building on the SMB campus in Albert St.

There seemed to be over 30 different groups represented, from Ballarat and surrounding areas, but also from Melbourne and Geelong. In the morning each group spoke for a few minutes on what they were doing. This sounded a bit daunting at first but time flew by with so many positive and interesting stories from different environment groups.

I was interested when a lady called Sandra from the Mullawallah Wetlands Friends Group mentioned that the Friends and Landcare group were hoping to try and rehabilitate Flaxmill Swamp in Gregory St. I contacted Sandra later and she put me in touch with Gavin Cerini who emailed me some information. I am hoping to find out more from Gavin shortly, in particular if the Ballarat Common Wetlands figures in their plans.

I hope everyone is keeping well and hope to see you all soon.

Paul Hammond – Conservation Officer

Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary Report As Government restrictions tentatively ease, I trust that this finds you all well. It was lovely to be able to welcome birders and visitors back to the Sanctuary in small numbers in mid- May. With the easing of restrictions, the next scheduled working bee for this year will go ahead on Saturday June 6th 2020 with appropriate social-distancing and hygiene measures in place. The nice, warming job of burning off excessive woody debris in several well-spaced piles around the Clare Miller Environment Centre is on the cards.

With more than 100mm in excess of the average rainfall to the end of May, the many wetlands & dams across Clarkesdale look great. Good rainfall is predicted to continue for some months, so I have applied for grant funding from Golden Plains Shire to replace the defunct pump in the pump-house to enable excess water collected in the Cottage Dam to be pumped back up to Argyle Dam for storage until needed during drier conditions. I have also requested funds to add another 700m of pipes to the siphon pipe system, which would allow three more wetlands to benefit from water re-distribution in the Sanctuary and improve our water storage capacity and water security, a key attribute of high-quality bird habitat.

Gorse, spear thistles, bluebell creeper and grassy weeds have continued to get attention, with progress being slow but steady. Scarlet Robins, Eastern Yellow Robins, Crested Shrike-tits, Eastern Spinebills, Superb Fairy-wrens, Golden Whistlers, White-throated Treecreepers, Yellow-faced, White-naped & New Holland Honeyeaters, Red Wattlebirds, Magpies and Yellow-tailed Black have been my regular companions as I weeded throughout Autumn.

The fungi, which had an early start to the season have continued to proliferate, with another fascinating new fungi for Clarkesdale added to the reserve’s records just last week. I found a number of Lattice or Basket Fungi from the Stinkhorn family in the middle of the track heading to Gordon’s Rock, where the track leaves the trail between bird hides. These fungi “hatch” out of an egg-like structure, appearing to grow before your eyes, expanding into a rubbery, ball shaped lattice 4-5cm across, perfect for rolling down a hill (or being kicked along a trail) to spread the spores. A quick search in the Atlas of Living Australia brought up no previous records in the vicinity of Clarkesdale. Apparently, it is a widespread but uncommon fungus. I haven’t seen one for over 20 years.

The orchids appear to be gearing up for a wonderful spring flowering season, with leaves of Tall Greenhoods, Caladenias, Donkey Orchids, Wax-lips, Spider Orchids, Sun Orchids & rosettes of Nodding and Dwarf Greenhoods appearing in large numbers. I’ve also found another population of Rustyhoods in Linton Flora and Fauna Reserve North.

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BirdLife Ballarat volunteers undertook their three-monthly bird survey on May 14 after an easing of COVID-19 restrictions allowed up to 10 people to participate in outdoor activities whilst maintaining social distances. They had two particular highlights: the first sighting of a Tawny Frogmouth pair during a bird survey (near Cottage Dam), and the discovery of a dead marsupial near Gordon’s Lagoon which turned out to be a Slender-tailed (Common) Dunnart. It was interesting to note that the only other record of a (not- so) Common Dunnart at Clarkesdale was in 1983, with the first “Ranger" of Clarkesdale, Roger Thomas submitting a specimen to

Museum Victoria. Great to know that they are still around.

The next BirdLife Ballarat surveys are scheduled for Tuesday August 4th, 2020 from 8.45am (for 9am start) until 12.30pm at the latest, with the next Friends of Clarkesdale working bee planned for August 1, weather and COVID-19 permitting.

In sad news, I received notification that long-term member of the Friends of Clarkesdale, Photo: Paul Hammond Howard Donald Peter Thomson died in May. Peter was a strong advocate for Clarkesdale in BOCA days and was actively involved in the Sanctuary’s activities and “friends” group for many years. My condolences go to his family and friends.

Regardless of whether you feel that returning to Friends of Clarkesdale activities is right for you at the moment, I wish you all the best of health and hope you continue to find plenty of opportunities to enjoy your local birds.

Emily Noble Coordinator, Clarkesdale Sanctuary 2/6/2020

2020 COMMITTEE

CONVENOR: Louise Humble BIRD REPORT MODERATORS: SECRETARY: Roy Chester Roger Thomas & Murray Grant TREASURER: Graham Dent SUPPER CO-ORDINATORS: CONSERVATION OFFICER: Tim & Wendy Sandiford Paul Hammond BIRD WEEK & PUBLICITY: COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Amanda Ashton Anita Hoare, Ian Ashton, Peter Sedgwick SYLLABUS SUB-COMMITTEE: & Jenny Garley Ian Ashton, Peter Sedgwick & Warwick Remington WEB & NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Jenny Garley

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