FAR SOUTH COAST BIRDWATCHERS Inc. Affiliated with Birdlife Australia
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PO Box 180 Pambula NSW 2549 Volume 21 Number 5 FAR SOUTH COAST BIRDWATCHERS Inc. Affiliated with BirdLife Australia NEWSLETTER SEPT/OCT 2016 AUSSIE BACKYARD BIRD COUNT 17-23 October 2016 The Aussie Backyard Bird Count is back for its third year. With over 40,000 participants and over a million birds counted last year, this is becoming one of Australia’s largest citizen science projects. The results from 2015 saw the 10 most common bird species remain unchanged from the previous year, with the Rainbow Lorikeet once again taking out the number one spot. There were minor changes in the order of some of the top 10 birds - Common Myna, Galah and Silver Gull were bumped down a place or two, with House Sparrow, Red Wattlebird and the Welcome Swallow moving up the list. Results can be entered online or via the Aussie Bird Count app if you have a smart phone. More details at: aussiebirdcount.org.au/. NATIONAL TWITCHATHON 29-30 October 2016 If anyone is interested in entering a team in the 2016 Twitchathon, details can be found at: National Rainbow Lorikeet Image: Leo Berzins Twitchathon. EVENING MEETING IN THIS ISSUE Thursday Oct 13, 2016 Meeting Report (August) 2 Meet in the Uniting Church Hall, Henwood St, President’s Message 2 Merimbula, for a 7:30 pm start. New Members 2 Guest Speaker will be Prof Mike Tarburton. Hoodie on Holiday 3 White-throated Needletails and Fork-tailed Swifts are Activity Reports 3 summer birds we search the skies for and send our FSCB Directory 5 sightings to Mike with others from all parts of Australia. Sightings Aug/Sept 6 His studies of these birds and their life here and in the Coming Events 8 northern hemisphere will fill in gaps of unknown facts Land for Wildlife 8 for us. Meeting Report Thursday 11 August, 2016 Jenny Gotley Our President welcomed 39 members and 20 visitors to the meeting to hear Dr Stephen Debus present a talk about Raptors. Firstly, from members came interesting sightings from different parts of our area including Spangled Drongo, Scarlet Honeyeater, Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Square-tailed Kite and Grey Goshawk. A group of eight Glossy Black-Cockatoos was seen at Wapengo. Prior to introducing our speaker Barbara posed a thought-provoking question – “How many different species of raptors are there in the Bega Valley?” Most of us were surprised to hear 18 different species were recorded by FSCB in the database. Dr Stephen Debus had come from the University of New England in Armidale to address us. Some members will be familiar with his book “Birds of Prey of Australia. A Field Guide.” In his presentation he described two families of raptors. Accipitridae includes Goshawks, Eagles, Kites, Harriers, Osprey. They are often seen soaring, with rounded wings sometimes showing ‘fingers’, and have large talons and sometimes feathered legs. Falconidae includes Falcons, Kestrels, Hobbies, Peregrines. These birds fly swiftly with long pointed wings, fairly short tails, and often are seen hovering. Stephen’s diagrams and photos compared different raptor species, and gave further characteristics to narrow down identification. He concluded by describing their calls, and noting that the behaviour of smaller birds and their alarm calls can also tell us a raptor may be in the area. After Stephen answered questions from the audience, Wedge-tailed Eagle Image: Leo Berzins Barbara expressed our appreciation of his visit. Thanks to his presentation our knowledge has been increased, but we also know how much more we need to learn about the accurate identification of these predators. The raffle with 3 prizes was drawn, then supper was served. President’s Message As we greet warmer weather in fits and starts we are beginning to see our migratory birds return to breed. Many ‘1st returns for the season’ are listed under Interesting Sightings, page 6, and I remind you these sightings come from you. Please send your sightings as per the headings on that page to [email protected] and help build a greater picture of what is happening, season to season and year to year. Our database now contains almost 50,000 records and all are shared with BirdLife Australia. Little Terns come to Mogareeka in their hundreds at the end of October to nest and the plan for an event to celebrate the ‘Return of the Terns’ has unfortunately been postponed and will be staged on October 22, 2017, with an even bigger event than planned for this year. Stay tuned! We will still have a club walk there this October 23 to welcome them and then proceed further up the Headland. Our December Meeting will be the AGM and I ask you to start thinking NOW about how you can contribute to FSCB. Change must happen for the betterment of any group and anything you like doing can surely assist in creating a smoothly operating group. Happy birding, Barbara Jones NEW MEMBERS We welcome the following new members and look forward to their participation: Gloria Baker from Tura Beach Jennie Gibson & Ian Berick from Bega. 2 Assistance needed for BioBlitz Libby Hepburn, Chair of The Atlas of Life in the Coastal Wilderness, writes that they are conducting a BioBlitz at Barraga Bay for the Four Winds management in order to provide that organisation with baseline biodiversity data which will assist in revegetation of the 30 acre site and ultimately the creation of an Arboretum. An invitation is extended to FSCB to join them on Nov 11 and Nov 12 to assist the planning and implementation of ornithological surveys at the site. If you would be interested and available, please contact David Jackson (Survey Organiser) 02 6495 9282 [email protected] HOODIE ON HOLIDAY (From the Word about the Hood - Biannual newsletter of BirdLife Australia’s Beach-nesting Birds Program Edition 15 – June 2016) Daniel Lees, Jodie Dunn, Amy Harris and Jono Stevenson. Jodie Dunn, Shorebird Recovery Coordinator for the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service banded and flagged a pair of Hooded Plovers on the 11th of February 2014 at the Murrah River estuary (south of Barragga Bay on the NSW South coast). The pair was flagged Z8 (female) and R5 (male). It appeared Z8 and R5 were not to be as Z8 was paired with X1 for the start of the 2015/16 breeding season. It seems R5 had found new love too and was spotted nesting with a new partner. Throughout the 2015/16 breeding season Z8 and X1 had two unsuccessful breeding attempts, the last sighting of Z8 was in late December, north of the Wapengo Lagoon. On the 3rd of June 2016 Jonathon Stevenson observed and reported a flock of 10 Hooded Plovers on Snake Island, Victoria. The flock consisted of three adults (including orange flag UH), two sub- adults, two juveniles and the adventurous Z8! She had moved a distance of ~400km as the crow flies, and ~450km as the Hooded Plover flies (presumably along the coast), which is a really exciting discovery for a NSW flagged bird to be found so far west. Hooded Plover Image: Leo Berzins Activity Reports GOODENIA RAINFOREST Wednesday August 3, 2016 Barbara Jones Our chilly morning started at Lochiel for car-pooling. Here we saw paddock birds with one White-bellied Sea-Eagle and a Whistling Kite overhead. Moving on to Goodenia Rainforest the track was rough at the beginning but then generally in good condition. The recent winds had twisted and snapped many tall thick-trunked trees leaving piles of debris, mostly cleared from the road. Expanses of large tree ferns looked lush and fresh. The sound of Bell Miners dominated the air with Crescent Honeyeaters competing hard. The clarity of their calls was enhanced by the acoustics of the gully surrounds. Eastern Whipbirds and Superb Lyrebirds similarly called to their partners with shrill voices. White-naped and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters fed on scant blossom and Eastern Spinebills flitted through the lower vegetation. The hardy ones of the group descended into the rainforest gully in search of a Pink Robin while the others patrolled the roadside. The gully was dry, not slippery, with only one patch of running water. We lunched in the picnic area with waves of mizzle passing over. Bird count for the day was 33 species with no Pink Robins. The only pink sightings were two ‘Pink Ribbons’ hanging beside the track. 3 BLACKFELLOWS LAKE Saturday August 13, 2016 Barbara Jones This favourite venue attracted 24 participants on a fine late-winter morning, to explore the 280 acre property. We drove to four stops giving us a good variety of habitats and views. The cleared grazing land, large old eucalypts, woodland, dam, lake and river frontages produced 67 species, including a Superb Lyrebird calling from across the Bega River where we lunched beside the massive river casuarinas. At the assembly point we watched two Whistling Kites and a Grey Goshawk circling quite high, and four Tree Martins flew above us with Welcome Swallows. Jacky Winters are abundant on this property and we had them near us all day. Proceeding as a group we stopped at a patch of eucalypts where one tree kept us busy with a frenzy of activity from Red and Little Wattlebirds, New Holland, Yellow-faced, White-naped and Brown-headed Honeyeaters feeding together in blossom. Several Yellow Thornbills joined in too. Nearby we heard a Peaceful Dove and a Crescent Honeyeater. Moving on to a knoll overlooking Blackfellows Lake we paused for morning tea and watched Little Black Cormorants and Australia Pelicans flying in for shelter or feeding, and a fast-flying Peregrine Falcon and a White-bellied Sea- Eagle caught our attention.