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Some Notes from Mud Islands by JAROSLAV KLAPSTE, Elwood, Victoria

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Some Notes from Mud Islands by JAROSLAV KLAPSTE, Elwood, Victoria September ] KLAPSTE, Some Notes from Mud Island 79 1975 White-browed Scrub-Wren, Sericornis frontalis M-ACT Speckled Warbler, Chthonicola sagittata M-ACT Scarlet Robin, Petroica multicolor C-SA&ACT Flame Robin, P. phoenicea L-SA Hooded Robin, P. cucullata L-SA Southern Yellow Robin, Eopsaltria australis C-ACT Grey Fantail, Rhipidura fuliginosa C-SA&ACT Willie Wagtail, R. leucophrys R-SA&ACT Golden Whistler, Pachycephala pectoralis L-SA&ACT Rufous Whistler, P. rufiventris R-ACT Grey Shrike-Thrush, C olluricincla harmonica L-SA&ACT Brown Treecreeper, Climacteris picumnus L-SA White-throated Treecreeper, C. leucophaea L-ACT Grey-breasted Silvereye, Zosterops lateralis C-SA&ACT Yellow-faced Honeyeater, M eliphaga chrysops L-SA&ACT Red-browed Finch, Aegintha temporalis C-SA&ACT Goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis C-SA&ACT Magpie-Lark, Grallina cyanoleuca L-SA&ACT White-winged Chough, Corcorax melanor- hamphus C-SA&ACT Dusky Woodswallow, Artamus cyanopterus L-ACT Pied Currawong, Strepera graculina C-ACT Grey Currawong, S. versicolor L-ACT Black-backed Magpie, Gymnorhina tibicen C-ACT White-backed Magpie, G. hypoleuca C-SA Satin Bowerbird, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus R-ACT Australian Raven, Corvus coronoides C-SA&ACT Some Notes from Mud Islands By JAROSLAV KLAPSTE, Elwood, Victoria. Mud Islands, situated within the entrance of Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, about 60 km south of Melbourne, are well known for their rich bird-life, particularly sea-birds and waders. There are three closely grouped, low sandy-mud islets, covered with salt-scrub, and in the centre is a large shallow lagoon. The islands are the strong­ hold for Grey Plover, Pluvialis squatarola, and Great Knot, Chlidris tenuirostris, in south-eastern Australia, and they have been visited regularly by observers for many. years. I stayed on Mud Islands on January 25-27, 1975, as one of a group that was lead by Mr. Trevor Pescott, of Geelong. While observing waders, in company with J. Ozols, at approxi­ mately 6 p.m., on January 25, 1975, we saw a large concentration of Common Terns, Sterna hirundo, on a sandspit at low tide, and an actual count showed that the party totalled 206 terns. There were also 25 Crested Terns, S. bergii, 18 Fairy Terns, S. nereis, and one Little Tern, S. albifrons. All the Common Terns were in the non-breeding plumage, and remained resting together for about 80 KLAPSTE [ Bird Watcher half an hour. Our observation position was near the centre of the group with the nearest birds being about 25 m distant. We had excellent views of them, both at rest and in flight. On the other side of the islands there were scattered parties of terns, including 5 Caspian Terns, Hydroprogne caspia, 50 Little Terns, 200 Fairy Terns and 300 Crested Terns. Not very far from our camping place there was a nesting colony of Fairy Terns. It consisted of about 40 pairs, with most of the nests containing two eggs, but some of them had only one. The Crested Tern had nested previously on the islands, and during our visit there were several juveniles seen among the adults. Other juveniles had, apparently, left the islands. There remained only one nest with one egg, which was just hatching. The large congregation of Common Terns in Victoria was unusual. This tern has previously been regarded as rare (Wheeler, 1967) in this State, and a rare vagrant in Australia generally (Macdonald, 1973). During my regular bird-watching in Port Phillip Bay I have seen this species often in summer, usually singly or in small numbers, in most cases less than ten birds. Although the Common Tern is known by local ornithologists to be a regular summer visitor to Port Phillip Bay, there are not many published records of its numbers there, nor from other localities in the State. Consequently, its occurrence in Australia is little known or even unknown overseas. Wetmore (1965) and Hanzak (1967) state that the Common Tern outside America is also found in Europe, Aasia and Africa, without making any mention of Australia. McClure ( 1974) is more specific and writes "A tern found on most of the coasts of the world except Australia, Arctica and Antarctica". However, Campbell (1974) is of the opinion that the Common Tern occasionally visits Eastern Australia. The Common Terns that were observed on Mud Islands belong most probably to the race longipennis, about which Serventy et al. ( 1971) wrote "Small numbers penetrate south along the east coast of Australia to Port Phillip in Victoria during the summer". It would appear that this species was often overlooked in the past, also that the numbers of this bird are increasing year by year. I agree with Simpson (1972) who writes "Common Terns are either increasing in number each year or more observers are now able to distinguish them. Both situations are probably true. Where only a few birds were reported 20 years ago, flocks of up to 70 birds are not uncommon today". In New South Wales 300 Common Terns were recorded on Kooragang Island, in the Hunter River Estuary, on January 15, 1972 (Van Gessell and Kendall, 1972), and at Stockton Bight, in the same area, a maximum number of 1600 was observed on February 6, 1972 (Morris, 1975). There is a Queensland record of 150 Common Terns in the southern part of Moreton Bay, on October 15, 1972 (Dawson and Perkins, 1973), and unpublished reports of up to 300 birds in other parts of the same bay. September ] Some Notes from Mud Island 81 1975 On Mud Islands, on January 25, 1975, I found, among large numbers of waders, the Asiatic Dowitcher, Limnodromus semi­ palmatus. With six other observers we had good observations of this extraordinary rare straggler from western Siberia. Two days later I found the Dowitcher again in the central lagoon. Professor J. Woolley had brought a heavy telescope on a tripod, and we had excellent views of this strange and little known bird. It was feeding mostly among the Knots, Calidris canutus, and Great Knots, C. tenuirostris. I had become familiar with this species on October 27, 1974, when I observed it on Swan Island, together with Fred T. H. Smith, Robert Swindley, Martin Schulz and Peter Klapste. The Asiatic Dowitcher had been discovered in Port Phillip Bay by F. T. H. Smith on January 7, 1973, as a first record for southern Australia. Since that date it was seen several times in the area. On Sunday, March 2, 1975, I saw an Asiatic Dowitcher on The Spit, at the Werribee Farm. At that locality it was seen for the first time more than two years previously (Smith, 1974). It appeared that the bird stayed in the area for at least 26 months. The waders, including the two species of oystercatchers, and their estimated numbers present on Mud Islands, from my obser­ vations, are as follows: Pied Oystercatcher, Haematopus ostralegus 20 Sooty Oystercatcher, H. fuliginosus 2 Red-capped Dotterel, Charadrius alexandrinus 50 Double-banded Dotterel, C. bicinctus 2 Mongolian Sand-Dotterel, C. mongolus 40 Large Sand-Dotterel, C. leschenaultii 1 Eastern Golden Plover, Pluvialis dominica 40 Grey Plover, P. squatarola 80 Turnstone, Arenaria interpres 100 Eastern Curlew, Numenius madagascariensis 50 Asiatic Dowitcher, Limnodromus semipalmatus 1 Greenshank, Tringa nebularia 40 Grey-tailed Tattler, T. brevipes 40 Knot, Calidris canutus 300 Great Knot, C. tenuirostris 50 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, C. acuminata 60 Red-necked Stint, C. ruficollis 400 Curlew-Sandpiper, C. ferruginea 700 Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa.lapponica 50 2026 On these islands we saw a large number of the Short-tailed Shear­ water, Puffinus tenuirostris, which T. Pescott estimated to total 5,000 birds. The Arctic Skua, Stercorarius parasiticus, was sighted several times. On Saturday night, together with J. Ozols, I waited for the 82 GARDNER, Magpie's Nest [ Bird Watcher arrival of White-faced Storm-Petrels, Pelagodroma marina, coming in from the sea to their nesting burrows. The weather was cloudy and the birds returned at 10.30 p.m. The following night, when the cloud covered a brightly shining moon, they returned an hour later. REFERENCES Campbell, B., 1974. The Dictionary of Birds in Colour, p. 335. Dawson, P. D., & Perkins, D. L., 1973. "Annual Bird Count, 1972", The Sunbird, Vol. 4, No.2, pp. 19-29. Hanzak, J., 1967. The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Birds, p. 288. Macdonald, J.D., 1973. Birds of Australia, p. 192. McClure, E. Il, 1974. Migration and Survival of the Birds of Asia, p. 165. Morris, Alan K., 1975. "The Birds of Gosford, Wyong and New­ castle", Australian Birds, 9 : 58. Serventy, D. L., Serventy, V. , & Warham, J., 1971. The Handbook of Australian Sea-Birds, p. 213. Simpson, K., 1972. Birds in Bass Strait, p. 59. Smith, F. T. H., 1974. "A Victorian Record of the Asiatic Dowitcher", Australian Bird Watcher, 5 : 111-118. Van Gessel, F., & Kendall, T., 1972. "A Checklist of the Birds of Kooragang Island", Hunter Natural History, August . 1972, p. 207. Wetmore, A , 1965. Water, Prey and Game Birds of North America, p. 392. Wheeler, W. R., 1967. A Handlist of the Birds of Victoria, p. 23. Observations at a Magpie's Nest. During a recent stay at the Little Desert National Park, western Victoria, in September 1974, we were shown an unusual nest of the Black-backed Magpie, Gym­ norhina tibicen. Unusual because the nest was situated only 89 em (35 in.) from the ground. Located about 1 km from the National Park camping ground alongside the Kiata-Nhill road, in a clump of Sweet Bursaria, Bursaria spinosa, growing through a barbed wire fence. The nest, which was visible from the road, was made from small sticks with the inner cup from dried grasses.
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