The Rainbow Bird 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 Grebes 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 Ducks 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 birds 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 Herons 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 cormorants, 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 Parrots, Straw-necked Ibis, 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 Spoonbills and Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike. Many of these species were in very large numbers. Birds are in our Nature May 2017 - 2 The Rainbow Bird 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 Glossy Ibis 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! Birds are in our Nature May 2017 - 3 The Rainbow Bird 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 passerines 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) Birds are in our Nature May 2017 - 4 The Rainbow Bird 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.