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Home , Australian white ibis, Freckled duck, Nankeen night heron

The Rainbow

Volume 6 Number 2 May 2017 (Issue 90)

In this Issue

Breeding Waterbirds Page 1

Outing to Iraak Page 2

March Outing Page 3

Great Crested Page 5

Breeding Waterbirds Dame Mary Gilmore Page 5

The recent flood of the Murray River has temporarily covered much of that Trip to Hong Kong Page 7 river’s floodplains and, as a result, topped up numerous lakes and Identifying Page 9 billabongs alongside its banks. An amazing explosion of waterbird breeding has resulted. Eulogy for Ken Rix Page 10

There has been a large influx to the Murray River valley of adult that Outing to Fort Courage Page 12 were looking to take advantage of the excellent breeding conditions. There The Challenge Page 13 have been sightings of more White-necked and Nankeen Night- herons this year than have occurred for many years. Most of the baby birds Book Review: Kangaroo Page 14 resulting from these visitors have now matured but there are still nesting Notices: Facebook Page Page 15 , particularly Great Cormorants, and Great Crested Grebes at Lindsay’s Photos Page 16 this time (mid-April). Above is a pictorial celebration of this event. Club Calendar Page 17

Photos and article by Allan Taylor Interesting Sightings Page 17

The Rainbow Bird

Outing to Iraak

Our outing on Sunday the 12th February was to Bullock Swamp at Iraak and our leader was Peter Dunstan.

We left the Bike Hub at around 8 am in 5 cars and met up with Peter, Alec and Sharon, and Jenny and Gary at Rudds Road at around 9 am. Rudds Road is guarded by a red stop light which has been showing “red” for at least 4 weeks. In real “Ned Kelly” tradition we ignored the light and pulled up at the river end of the Rudds Road levy bank. We were punished for our crime, when we walked back along the levy, by being caught in the rain that had been threatening all morning. However, this was not before we had had a good look at the large numbers of White-necked Herons, Nankeen Night-herons, Black Kites, Pacific Black Ducks and other ducks, as well as grebes, Magpie-larks, Welcome Swallows and Variegated and Splendid Fairy-wrens.

Fortunately, the rain passed and we moved further along Rudds Road to get to the nesting colony of the large waterbirds. This colony was situated on the right-hand side of the road, across some private property on the edge of the billabong and there we saw numerous nests. Pauline Bartels counted 24 nests in just one tree. Many photographs were taken. The place was alive with birds (plus, of course, a few dead ones). Amongst those seen were plenty of Red-rumped , Straw-necked , Galahs, Little Corellas, Peaceful Doves, Pacific Black Ducks, as well as a Sacred Kingfisher, Grey Shrike-thrush, Brown Treecreepers, White-plumed Honeyeaters, Yellow Rosellas, Rainbow Bee-eaters, Darters, Wood Ducks, Great Egrets, Magpie-larks and Sulphur-crested Cockatoos but the stars were the White-necked Herons and Nankeen Night-herons.

We left all this activity and journeyed along the river to Johnson’s Bend seeing, on the way, Apostlebirds, Whistling and Black Kites, Mulga Parrots, Kookaburra and more Corellas.

At 10.15 am we had smoko and, after a half-hour’s break we re-commenced our journey, driving past Peter and Chris’s home in the distance (Peter invited any or all of the club members to visit him and Chris there at any time) and arrived back at Bullock Swamp. Peter said that 680 acres of the swamp had been flooded. At the swamp we saw very large numbers of the waterbirds including, as well as those already seen, White-faced Herons, Little Pied Cormorants, Little Black Cormorants, Hardheads, Australian and Little Ravens, Sacred Ibis, plus Magpies, Dotterels, Yellow-billed and Royal and Black-faced -shrike. Many of these were in very large numbers.

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At 11.30 we moved on to Lake Iraak. There were even more great sightings: Australasian Shelducks, Shovelers, Chestnut Teal, Hardhead, Pink-eared and Pacific Black Ducks; Purple Swamphens, Black Swans, Masked Lapwings, Willy Wagtails, Mallee Ringneck and Bluebonnet Parrots, Spiny Cheeked and Singing Honeyeaters, Sacred Kingfisher, Pied Butcherbird, Magpie-larks; as well as many Black-winged Stilts and Welcome Swallows. These were all being watched by Whistling Kites and a Swamp Harrier that seemed to, also, be keeping an eye on a nest. More photos were taken of 7 there.

By this time it was 12.15 and most of us headed for home, although some members stayed to explore Lake Iraak further.

The total bird species seen had been 50. This was a great result for half a day’s birding and seeing the large number of water-birds was a once in a generation experience. Thank you Peter!

By Dianna Stewart

Photos by Allan Taylor and Peter Dunstan, respectively. March Outing

For the majority of the 14 members who participated in our March outing, it was an interstate trip, consisting, as it did, of visits to several sites on the NSW side of the river. The outing was ably led by native New South Welshman, Allan, who, as well as using his local knowledge to take us to some really nice locations, managed to arrange a very pleasant day weather-wise. After a preceding long run of days with maximum temperatures in the mid to high 30s (culminating in 37º on the eve of our outing), we experienced a very pleasant maximum of just 28º. Early on, there were a few rumblings of thunder, and even a few spots of rain, but all-in-all, we could not have wished for better weather.

The outing was primarily listed as a visit to the Mourquong Wetlands, but, as Allan pointed out, in the morning, given that access to the swamps was essentially to the western side, we would be looking directly into the sun (and the resultant glare off the water) as we searched for the rare waders we hoped may be present. So the decision was taken to visit a couple of other bush locations first, in the hope that the sun would be far enough around to the north as to not be such a problem when we got to the swamps later in the morning. Unfortunately, this perfectly sound reasoning spoiled the day for one unlucky couple… they made their way directly to the Mourquong Wetlands, only to be left at the (locked) gate!

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Oblivious to their predicament, the rest of us visited scrubland adjacent to Hollands Lake, then proceeded to the extensive bushland that lies between Hollands Lake and the Mourquong swamps. We spent a productive half-hour or so in a lovely patch of predominantly Mallee, in beautiful condition (complete with spinifex…… Night Parrots anyone?…… No?…… Damn!!)

Despite the temperate conditions, the usual suspects were clamouring for a “cuppa”, so we indulged them, before moving onto a nearby patch of Belah and Rosewood. In both the Mallee, and the Belah, there was a good range of bushland species present, including the perennial favourite - Red- capped Robins - but for me, Whistlers were the stand-out …. no, not the Kites!!……. Rufous, Gilbert’s and Golden Whistlers. (Did you know?…. the scientific name for this group of 8 species - Pachycephala - means Thickheads! How unkind!!)

So, then it was onto the Mourquong Wetlands. It was fortunate that we had had such a good morning thus far, as the Wetlands were not quite up to their usual standard…… (although there were plenty of another of my favourites - White-winged Fairy-wrens…… see, I don’t really regard all simply as raptor food!) There were good numbers of waders on the far side, which we were fairly certain were Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, but distance and lighting conditions precluded any chance of picking up some rarer species among them.

Lunch was partaken in the Buronga Wetlands Reserve…. what a pleasant little spot! Despite having passed it a “hundred times”, I had never taken the time to check it out. (I have been back three times since!!) Highlight here was the Baillon’s Crake, sighted as soon as we arrived, and the impetus for many of us to deploy our chairs right there and then on the water’s edge, for a pleasant lunch break. No more sightings of the crake, but we dined under the watchful eye of a pair of Australasian Grebes.

After lunch we proceeded to Gol Gol Swamp, with high hopes that we might see the four Cape Barren Geese that Pauline F had sighted there, less than 24 hours earlier. However, that was not to be. We had to content ourselves with more “Sharpies”, a few Ducks, and a Kite or two. However, with a total of 74 species for the day, no-one was complaining.

By Lindsay Cupper

Photos by Finley Japp (female Rufous Whistler) and Allan Taylor (Baillon’s Crake)

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Great Crested Grebes

In recent times, the most reliable spot to sight Great Crested Grebes has been Lake Hattah, although they are sometimes seen at Lake Cardross and a few other spots in the area. Recently, (mid- March,) Jayna and I sighted some in the watercourse that connects Lakes Mournpall and Yerang. There was a couple of grebes with young – one or two of which were taking rides on Mum’s back.

A few days later, Pauline Follett and I went to the same spot and sighted two couples with young – one group was considerably older than the other. Because the light-source came from behind the grebes at the time, the photos we took weren’t very satisfactory. I therefore went back a day or two later, only to find no sight of them on the little creek. By doing some, I thought, very clever detective work I followed the creek back to its source at Lake Mournpall. This spot is the arrival point of the road to the lake (Mournpall Track) from the Lake Hattah information centre and boasts the signpost to Lake Yerang and a Parks Victoria sign with a description of some of the wildlife that Lake Mournpall supports. Feeling sure that I knew all that there is to know about the Hattah Lakes and their environment (I don’t, of course), I didn’t bother to read it.

However – back to my search for the grebes… I didn’t find any Great Crested Grebes with young but, on looking amongst and beyond the gum saplings that border the lake, I started to see more and more grebes and their nests. On a succeeding visit, I managed to get a few photos of some of the braver Great Crested Grebes that were actually on their nests. Walking back to the car, I decided to read the sign. It says –

Great Crested Grebes Breed Here By Allan Taylor

Dame Mary Gilmore

I was leafing through one of the books in the Favalora collection when I noticed a reference to a book by Dame Mary Gilmore called “Old Days, Old Ways”. Knowing that she was, at one time, a teacher at Silverton, Broken Hill, I thought that the book might contain some insights into the history of the West Darling area, and even of our local area. I, therefore, purchased a copy though the internet.

Dame Mary Gilmore’s image is recorded on each Australian $10 note, along with that of “Banjo” Paterson.

The book, however, was more a collection of recollections about life and customs in the 1800s rather than a slice of history but very readable, nonetheless.

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One story that might be of interest to readers is her description of the actions of a cuckoo in parasitising a Welcome Swallows’ nest. She mentioned that, at that time (when she was a girl) neither the swallows nor the had any real fear of humans. She described how she saw the larger bird, which she first thought was a hawk of some kind, fly towards the swallows’ nest – only to be hassled away by several swallows. The cuckoo, before leaving the vicinity of the nest, had ejected an towards it but, because of the distraction caused by the swallows, the egg had missed the nest and was shattered on the ground. The same thing occurred on the following day but, on the third day, the cuckoo was successful because the male swallow had briefly left the nesting area.

Dame Mary described how the cuckoo rapidly flew to the nest, hovered and turned and ejected the egg in, virtually, the same action. I had, until reading about that incident, thought that the cuckoo would actually sit on the hosts’ nest in order to lay the egg.

I had a second reason for buying the book. My great-uncle, Harry Taylor, was a friend of Dame Mary and they both went to Paraguay in December 1893 to form and live in a utopian, communist-style community. The new settlement was named “New ” and was to be operated in a fashion that was to be, in the minds of the settlers, superior to those existing in Australia at the time. Members of the New Australia colony in Paraguay. The experiment soon failed. One of the reasons was that it had been formed as a temperance organisation and some of the settlers wanted to change this arrangement. I suspect, however, that the reasons for the disbandment of the co-operative society was more to do with its structure – there has, always, to be someone or some group in control, which inevitably leads to resentment and discontent.

The book, briefly, mentioned my uncle’s name but doesn’t say much about the New Australia experiment.

Some of the settlers remained in Paraguay and there are people of Australian background still living there. By Allan Taylor

“Welcome to the community of New Australia” the sign says near Villarica in Paraguay.

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Trip to Hong Kong

Searching for birds in a concrete jungle

At the end of March, my family and I flew to Hong Kong, a city/country (blurry line: technically SAR) of 7 million people (about the same as all of New South Wales) in an area half the size of . My cousin and his family live on the relatively unpopulated island of Lantau away from the hustle and bustle of Kowloon and the main city, but even so the birds seemed scarce as we landed at the airport and took the taxi in the evening light.

Hong Kong does, however, have some significant bird spots, the most notable of which being Mai Po Nature Reserve, which boasts an impressive list of over 400 species of birds, (49 of which are of global conservation concern) 40 crab species, 20 mammal species and 100 species of butterfly. The network of tidal flats, mangroves and traditional shrimp ponds was recognized as an area of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention in 1995. It plays a key role in the migration along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, where 50 million birds migrate from as far south as Tasmania up to Siberia and back every year.

The WWF-managed reserve is located in the very north-west of the Hong Kong mainland, so close to the Chinese border that special permits are needed to access the tidal flats. I had heard it took a while to obtain such permits, and so as soon as I had learned of Mai Po and had persuaded Mum and Dad that we should go, I began filling out the necessary registration.

So on the first day of visiting the “concrete jungle” we came to be pretty much by ourselves in a network of marshes and inter-tidal mudflats. After getting the seal of approval from the warden, we walked through to the entrance and to the first hide looking out onto the shrimp ponds, where we were rewarded with views of Marsh Sandpipers, Little Egrets, Chinese Pond- and White- breasted Water-hen.

I was anxious to get out to the tidal flats in time for the high tide, and so we weaved our way through the shrimp ponds (gei wai in Cantonese) on well-made footpaths, past unidentifiable brown birds (they’re hard enough in familiar territory), flocks of black birds, and groups of grey birds, to the entrance to the restricted area, past which you need the special permit I mentioned earlier.

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After this the changed: we were walking on boardwalks over mangroves, where red crabs and mudskippers abided. We got out to the hide overlooking the mudflats and alas, the water was already well above the mud, which meant the rare waders I was hoping to see would be roosting at some other place. I was a little bit disappointed that I hadn’t gotten there in time, though I felt a bit better when we talked to some others who had been there for quite some time but hadn’t seen anything any way.

We walked around to another one of the hides overlooking the mudflats, and here I was excited to see a couple of Black- faced Spoonbills (seen left) land and begin feeding. 40% of the entire population of these globally threatened birds winter in Mai Po Nature Reserve, one of the reasons the reserve was created.

After this, we had lunch then went on to ponds 16/17, where a Critically Endangered Siberian had turned up the previous December and stayed on since: one of the first Hong Kong records for the species. And it was there! As soon we entered the hide we saw it, stretching its wing out, the marshes contrasting starkly with the skyscrapers of China behind it. As well as the , on ponds 16 and 17 there were thousands of birds like Pied Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits, curlews, greenshanks, more Black-faced Spoonbills, and ducks such as shovelers and Gargarney. Certainly a memorable experience!

After visiting ponds 16/17, we were all pretty tired. Mum and I quickly went past some other ponds as we went back, seeing Yellow-bellied Prinias (birds similar to the Cisticolas) Grey Herons, a Pied Kingfisher, and as we were walking back, some Water Buffalo wading through the mud. Content, and grateful that Mum, Dad, Lila and Bridget had been willing to come too, we set back to my cousin’s place, where sat down and began the task of editing the 500+ photos I had taken that day. By Finley Japp

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Identifying Ducks

The following photos show three species of ducks that could be confused in the field.

Female Blue-billed

Female Blue-billed Duck Female

Female Blue-billed Duck Female Musk Duck

The Blue-billed duck often has its tail erect, as shown in the top an bottom pictures. This, also, applies to the Musk Duck but it swims lower in the water – often with not more than the head above. Note its wedge-shaped bill. It appears black from a distance. The Freckled Duck has a slight crest and its is longer and down-sloped – like the duck in Hey! Hey! Its Saturday!”

See male ducks next page.

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The males are shown below: Blue-billed Duck male and female (left), Freckled Duck male and female (centre:note residual red breeding colour in male’s bill, and Musk Duck male (right).

By Allan Taylor

Eulogy for Ken Rix

(copy of eulogy given by Lindsay Cupper at Ken Rix’s wake)

When I was asked to say a few words today, I thought it would be nice to tell a funny story or two about Ken but, the truth is, I can’t think of one to tell. But that is not to say that we didn’t have a lot of fun together, for despite our age difference, we enjoyed a lot of laughs together, and lots of friendly banter.

Being originally a Birdwoodton boy, I have known the Rix family most of my life, but it was only in quite recent years that I met, got to know, and became good mates with Ken. In fact, I think it is only barely a decade since I first met him, but I feel we became firm friends fast, and I cherish these last 10 years.

Of course, the thing we had most in common was our love of birds and it was through this interest that we first met, when I joined the local Birdwatchers group. It was not long after that, early in 2007, that he told me that he and Marilyn, along with Allan and Marg Bottrell, and Col and Di Stewart, were going to tackle the Canning Stock Route through remote Western Australia. In no way seeking to invite myself along I said how much I would like to do that trip sometime. Ken’s response was “Well would you consider coming along with us oldies, to make sure we get through OK?” I reckon that there has never been another occasion, before or since, that Ken has admitted to being anything more than a “young bloke”.

As it turned out, I reckon, on balance I proved to be more of a liability…. I mean I was always the first up each morning, and had the fire lit, and the billy on for the oldies, but against that, of the 8 flat tyres the convoy of 4 vehicles suffered, I contributed 5!.... of course, Ken was the only one not to get a puncture…. and I was the one who managed to break a rear spring.

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We all had a really great time on that trip, but sadly, though Ken and I often talked of doing other birding trips together, somehow apart from local 1 day outings, it never happened.

Ruth and I were planning to join Ken and Marilyn on a trip to Costa Rica when Ken’s cancer returned the first time. After that we were hoping that he had recovered enough for us to head up the Strzelecki Track together, but the cancer beat that too.

In his final weeks, I found it hard to talk to Ken about his impending death, but we did refer to it briefly, when Ken thanked me for my years of friendship…… I let him know that I just wished that there could have been more of them. As those of you who shared the Canning trip will know I am a bit of a Johnny Cash tragic, and since that conversation, the words that have been playing constantly in my head are “I wish I had known you when you were a little younger…”.

So our birding interests, apart from our local were mainly centred around our regular chats where we shared our bird observations. I should point out that, although it is probably fair to say, my name is more widely known by the bird-watching fraternity, when it came to bird knowledge, Ken was very much the master and I the student. I see we have a few birdwatchers here this morning. I will risk the rest of you having your eyes glaze over, by talking figures. In his lifetime Ken had personally seen 686 Australian bird species. Now that may not mean much to most of you, but that is truly a prodigious figure…. leaving very few Australian birds unseen by Ken. But more than that, he wasn’t content to just see the birds, but as with most things in life, he wanted to learn as much as he could about them.

Rather poignantly, the absolute last word I heard Ken utter, a couple of days before his death, was the name of a bird – “Barking ”, when he was trying to respond to a discussion Jeff and I were having at his bedside. I am going to miss our chats about the birds and the bush. I remember back in the 80, for a while after my father died, after he and I photographed birds together for 8 years, whenever I saw something of interest bird-wise, my first reaction was “I must tell the old man about that”, then I would remember that he was no longer around. And I know that for a long time into the future now, whenever I see something interesting, my first thought will be: “I wish Ken was here”.

*****

Thanks Lindsay, well said!

I would just like to add, from a personal viewpoint, that I learnt a lot from Ken and valued his enthusiasm, both on the private outings we had together and the more formal club outings were his strong personality always enlivened the day. He was never impatient when I would describe a new bird sighting (for me) which was, in truth, “old hat” to him and would provide me new information about each sighting.

Thanks Ken!

Allan

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Outing to Fort Courage

Our outing on Saturday, 8th April commenced, as usual, from the bike hub in Pine Ave. We had a good roll-up with 15 members and five cars in the convoy.

En route to Fort Courage we visited the Perry Sandhills. We circumvented the sandhills and saw White-winged Fairy-wren, White-fronted Chat and Emu. Further along the Renmark Rd, we came to the Greater Darling Anabranch and bridge (also known as the 10 mile). We followed the Anabranch to where it joins the 6 Mile Creek, and had morning tea. The Anabranch then forms islands before entering the Murray River. There were quite a number of different species here, and would be our best spot for birds for the day. These included White-necked Heron, Pink-eared Duck, Yellow-billed , Grey Teal, White-faced Heron, Laughing Kookaburra, Pied , Great Cormorant, Eastern Great Egret and approximately 24 Black- fronted Dotterel feeding along the water’s edge.

Finally we arrived at the Fort Courage Caravan Park, which is located on the banks of the Murray River, 19km downstream from Wentworth. It is a very popular location for anglers and campers. It is an oasis, which boasts green lawns and trees, a boat ramp, amenities and BBQ areas amid the surrounding flat saltbush country. There were not many birds here, but we did observe a Yellow-billed Spoonbill which was standing in a disused Whistling Kites nest across the river. It was uncertain as to whether it was nesting or resting. The usual Noisy Miners and Blue-faced Honeyeaters were enjoying the benefits of the camping ground, including the sprinklers which acted as their showers. We also took advantage of the shade and had our lunch. We saw two Eastern Water Skink nearby, adjacent to the river.

After some discussion, it was decided that we would travel further along the Renmark Road and then turn off to the river. We found an attractive river bend with some majestic River Red Gums. The area was evidently very popular with campers at Easter- time, as part of the river front had been cordoned off with rope by the adjoining station owners.

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On the drive home, a Brown Falcon and Australasian Pipit were seen along the Renmark Rd. The clouds were building and a thunderstorm came upon us. At Wentworth a flock of Galah took full advantage of the rain, and comically hung upside down on power lines, with their wings out, to wash the dust off their .

After seeing a very limited number of bird species, we concluded that the outing was still a success, as we had enjoyed some scenic parts of the Murray River on the western side of Wentworth, and had a lovely time in the company of fellow bird members. By Pauline Follett Bird species seen on the day: Emu Weebill Australian Shelduck Yellow-billed Spoonbill Southern Whiteface Australian Wood Duck Whistling Kite White-plumed Honeyeater Pink-eared Duck Black Kite Noisy Miner Grey Teal Nankeen Kestrel White-fronted Chat Crested Pigeon Brown Falcon Blue-faced Honeyeater Australasian Darter Black-fronted Dotterel Grey Butcherbird Great Cormorant Masked Lapwing Pied Cormorant Galah Australian Raven Australian Laughing Kookaburra Magpie-lark White-necked Heron Brown Treecreeper Welcome Swallow Eastern Great Egret Superb Fairy-wren Australasian Pipit White-faced Heron White-winged Fairy-wren

The Challenge

In this edition of the Rainbow Bird, we actually aren’t quite sure what this bird is, so if you think you know the answer, please email Allan or me.

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Book Review

Kangaroo

By HJ Frith and JH Calaby

This book is one of the Favaloro Collection. While it doesn’t have birds as its subject matter, the book relates to the that we see on almost all of our excursions.

Students of birds, invariably, become students of the environment. This is because the various bird species that we see inhabit their own preferred habitat and seek out their own food sources. We get to know these birding spots and, along the way, find that we are studying the ecology of such locations.

The book points out, for example, that the Red Kangaroo prefers the wide open spaces. This is not only because it likes to roam those areas but because the open plains grow the soft grasses, such as spear grass, that it prefers to eat. The authors spent a large part of their working life studying kangaroos and this involved much aerial counting and trapping of the animal. Their counts showed, for instance, that the average population densities of Red Kangaroos vary between 8 kangaroos per square mile (sometimes more in prime grazing country) to 1 kangaroo to 30 square miles in the arid districts.

A lot of a researcher’s time is taken up in counting and tagging individual . Counting can be done from the air but tagging must be done by capturing the individual kangaroos. Capturing animals by using tranquiliser darts is unreliable because of the very small target on the hip of the kangaroo and the problem of ensuring that the dosage isn’t lethal. The same applies to introducing tranquilisers into watering points. The scientists, therefore, have to resort to a system of fences, yards and traps, usually at watering points.

The three kangaroo species that live in the Mildura District are the Red Kangaroo and the Eastern and Western Grey Kangaroos. The sub-species of the Western Grey Kangaroo that lives in this area is the Mallee or Black-faced Kangaroo. As its name implies, it is often seen in mallee scrub where it eats vegetation, such as triodia, that is unpalatable to the Red Kangaroo. The Eastern Grey Kangaroo isn’t common around Mildura but, if my identification of them is correct, a small mob of them lives in the eastern end of the Kelso Block. Their colour is more fawn than grey, I think. Red Kangaroos live close by and Western Greys are more often found at the western end of that block. Small colonies of Euros live in the River Darling river bend flats which is considered unusual because all other colonies exist in areas of rocky outcrops.

The Red Kangaroo moults twice a year and the coloration of the male can change from grey to red while the females are usually blue-grey although, occasionally, red. The book details the history of the first sightings and studies of kangaroos by Europeans and details the possible of mammals into the Macropodidae (the kangaroo group) and other marsupials.

There are chapters on distribution, feeding, breeding and behaviour of kangaroos.

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The book mentions the oft-told story of male kangaroos disembowelling a man. It says that, in the wild, this would be extremely unlikely and we know, from our own observations, that it is next to impossible to get close to a kangaroo when we come across them in the bush. Injuries that do occur to humans result from mature “tame” animals which are cornered and, even then, the injuries are usually relatively minor. I remember my very young son trying to pat a kangaroo in a mob that used to live on Mildura’s now defunct Golden River Fauna Gardens and being struck by the animal’s front paw.

The Kangaroo’s predators are dingoes, foxes, wedge-tailed eagles and man. Dingoes would, almost invariably, opt for the easy option and attack the smaller species of kangaroos or a very young joey. This would apply, even more so, to foxes. The eagles usually eat injured or very young joeys. A few years’ ago I saw two Wedge-tailed Eagles feeding on a large male Red Kangaroo some 20 meters away from the electric fence that borders Settlement Road and the Millewa wheat-lands. I can only presume that the kangaroo had injured itself while climbing under the fence or, alternatively, the two eagles had attacked it at the time when the kangaroo was most vulnerable in doing so. The book describes how a Wedge-tailed Eagle was seen swooping a female kangaroo in the hope that the female would drop its joey while fleeing the bird. Apparently, it is known that female kangaroos will do so in the event that they have to flee danger. They do this by relaxing the muscles around the pouch with the result that the joey is often dislodged and the kangaroo, with less weight, is able to flee more quickly and for a longer period. According to the book, once separated from the mother, the joey seldom re-joins the mother and other kangaroos will shun it. It perishes, of course.

Western Grey Kangaroo with joey Red Kangaroo Eastern Grey Kangaroo? at Kelso Block

By Allan Taylor

NOTICES

Facebook Page

For those who don’t already know, Peter Dunstan has set up a webpage in Facebook entitled “Mildura Birdlife”.

Several members of our club have been downloading photos onto it and the site is well worth a look. They are of above-average quality and have been, mostly, inspired by the explosion of waterbird populations at Bullock Swamp and Hattah. Even better, other members are encouraged to download pictures.

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Lindsay’s Photos

Congratulations to Lindsay for winning a “Highly Commended” award for his photo of a Nankeen Night-heron at the Botanic Garden’s Magenta Art & Photography show this Easter. A copy of that photo is shown below (the first photo) plus three other Night-heron photos, as well as that of a Great Egret which, I think, is also a potentially award-winning image. Note the dramatic pose which displays all the well-defined feathers with minimal shadows.

The Nankeen Night-heron photos were taken at Bullock Swamp while the Egret photo was taken at the Hattah Lakes.

Birds are in our Nature May 2017 – 16 The Rainbow Bird

Club Calendar Date Location May Monday 8th Hattah with Echuca Group. June Saturday 19th (weekend Ned’s Corner Camp. This is dependent on arrangement that suit before is Queen’s Birthday) them. July Sunday 9th Walpolla August Saturday 5th Campout at Scotia or Tarawi. This is dependent on arrangements that suit them. September Sunday 10th Castle’s Crossing as part of the wider outing listed. October Saturday 7th King’s Billabong. An invitation to the public for Bird Week. November Sunday 12th Mallee Cliffs. December Saturday 9th Christmas break up. Wentworth loch.

Interesting Sightings Date Species Location Notes Seen by 4/3/2017 Major Mitchell’s Dareton 3 S Fischer Cockatoo 6/3/2017 Dollarbird Nangiloc 2 sitting high up in a P Follett & J gum tree. Podgorski 11/3/2017 Cape Barren Geese Gol Gol Lake 4 – rare in NSW/ P Follett Sunraysia. Mid- Great Crested Lake Mournpall/ 2 pairs with young J Podgorski, P March Grebes Lake Yerang Follett, A Taylor Late Southern Whiteface Gol Gol Lake In hopbush H Devilee, B March Williams White-necked Lake Konardin In a nest L Cupper Herons Great Cormorants Lake Walla Walla Nesting in dead trees in P Follett, A Taylor the middle of the lake. Freckled Duck Lake Walla Walla P Follett, A Taylor Sharp-tailed Eastern side of Gol 200 B McMillan Sandpipers Gol Swamp White-browed Kings Billabong Woodswallows Little Corella Kings Billabong – near causeway Great Crested Lake Mournpall nesting A Taylor Grebes 1/4/2017 White-browed Lake Konardin ≈200 A Taylor & P Woodswallows Follett 3/4/2017 White-browed Near Yanac, A & S Hawtin Woodswallows Victoria 3/4/2017 Freckled Duck Mildura Sewage 20 A Taylor Farm 5/4/2017 Freckled Duck Mildura Sewage 500 – males going out P Follett & J Farm of breeding. Podgorski 11/4/2017 Lake Little Hattah 4 – feeding in the lake P Follett, J Podgorski, A Taylor 19/4/2017 Intermediate Egret Buronga Wetland 1 feeding. P Follett

Birds are in our Nature May 2017 - 17