Western Australian Bird Notes Quarterly Newsletter of the Western Australian Branch of BirdLife Australia No. 156 December 2015 See p24 for Notice and Agenda for the Annual General Meeting, 22 February 2016. birds are in our nature Orange Chat, Wooleen Station (see p4). Photo by John McMullan Birds of Perth Photo Competition, 2015. Above left: Winning entry by Margaret Owen of a Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo, and above right, the runner-up by Gary Meredith of Rainbow Bee-eaters (see report, p16). Crested Bellbird, Wondinong Station. Photo by Cockatiel, Wooleen Station John McMullan (see p4). Photo by Jennifer Sumpton Western Thick-billed Grasswren , male see above and female to the right (see Australasian Darter, Canning River (see report, p18). Photos by Ben Parkhurst p37). Photo by Alan Watson Front cover: Australian Painted Snipe, Wooleen Station (see report, p4). Photo by Andrew Hobbs Page 2 Western Australian Bird Notes, No. 156 December 2015 Western Australian Branch of EXECUTIVE COMMIttee BirdLife Australia Office: Peregrine House Chair: Mike Bamford 167 Perry Lakes Drive, Floreat WA 6014 Co Vice Chairs: Sue Mather and Nic Dunlop Hours: Monday-Friday 9:30 am to 12.30 pm Telephone: (08) 9383 7749 Secretary: Kathryn Napier E-mail: [email protected] Treasurer: Frank O’Connor BirdLife WA web page: www.birdlife.org.au/wa Chair: Mike Bamford Committee: Mark Henryon, Keith Lightbody, Paul Netscher, Sandra Wallace and Graham Wooller (two BirdLife Western Australia is the WA Branch of the national organisation, BirdLife Australia. We are dedicated to creating a vacancies). brighter future for Australian birds. General meetings: Held at the Bold Park Eco Centre, Perry Lakes Drive, Floreat, commencing 7:30 pm on the 4th Monday of the month (except December) – see ‘Coming events’ for details. Executive meetings: Held at Peregrine House on the 2nd Monday of the month. Communicate any matters for consideration to the Chair. Western Australian Bird Notes ISSN 1445-3983 Joint WABN Editors: Allan Burbidge Tel: (08) 9405 5109 (w) Tel/Fax: (08) 9306 1642 (h) Fax: (08) 9306 1641 (w) E-mail: [email protected] Suzanne Mather Tel: (08) 9389 6416 E-mail: [email protected] Production: Margaret Philippson Phototwitch: Splendid Fairy-wren. Photo by Jennie Stock Printing and distribution: Daniels Printing Craftsmen Tel: (08) 9204 6800 danielspc.com.au Notes for Contributors The Editors request contributors to note: • WABN publishes material of interest to the WA Branch; • contributions should be written or typed with double spacing—a copy on disk or emailed would assist, especially if in MSWord as a document without styles; do not embed pictures or graphics in MS Word; • contributions to be sent direct to the Editors, either at the office or by email: C o n t e n t s Sue Mather: [email protected] 4. Wooleen Station — great 21. Members’ contributions Allan Burbidge: [email protected] campout, snipe and 23. Crossword • WABN uses BirdLife Australia recommended English names; much, much more • except for Observations, contributions will be published 24. Notices 8. Obituary unless the contributor is informed to the contrary. 30. New members • Full Editorial Policy is in WABN 74:10-12 9. Letters to the Editors 31. Country branches • WABN is not peer reviewed 9. Book review 35. Excursion reports 10. Observations 39. Observatory reports Printing Deadlines (at the BirdLife WA Office) 13. Across the Nullarbor: 41. Coming events News from National Office March 2016 issue: 1 February 45. Crossword answers June 2016 issue: 1 May 14 BirdLife WA reports 46. Calendar of events September 2016 issue: 1 August 15. BWA projects December 2016 issue: 1 November 20. Naming of birds Western Australian Bird Notes, No. 156 December 2015 Page 3 WOOLEEN STATION — GREAT CAMPOUT, SNIPE AND MUCH, MUCH, MORE BirdLife Western Australia has an active program two main periods, one in late summer and early autumn of campouts extending throughout the year. Some due to the passage of remnants of tropical storms from campouts hold extra promise, and the recent campout the north-west with a second peak in winter due to the held on Wooleen Station (September 25th to 28th) was standard southern winter storms. This year, the nearby one of them. Not only did it give a great list of arid zone Murchison Settlement recorded falls totalling 116 mm birds rarely seen on campouts closer to Perth, but a few during February and March due to tropical storms. At great surprises. this time both the Murchison and Roderick Rivers flowed, partly filling Lake Wooleen. The lake received more water when another 85 mm was recorded during June and July. WOOLEEN StatION At these times the depth in the middle can be several metres and visitors are able to kayak across the lake Wooleen Station is about 550 km north of Perth and (Pollock and Jones 2015). about 200 km inland, south-east of Shark Bay. It is around 152 000 hectares of mostly Mulga scrub with long stretches of the Murchison and Roderick Rivers running THE CAMPOUT through the property. The station was founded in 1886, at We arrived at lunch time on Friday, with the temperature a time when the general Murchison area was considered heading for the mid-30s with clear skies, the pattern for one of the more productive regions for such use the entire campout. The drive north from Mullewa had (Pollock and Jones 2015). However, heavy overgrazing, been interesting. The recent rainfalls were evident in the exacerbated by good vegetation, with droughts, and highly carpets of everlastings, variable seasons though it was getting meant the vegetation towards the end of the suffered badly. So even wildflower season. We while the area was also saw numerous considered to have a flocks of Budgerigars, diverse flora (Meissner Zebra Finches and and Wright 2010) this occasionally, Cockatiels. overgrazing was such We were looking that in a 1994 report forward to a great by the Department weekend. of Agriculture, the Murchison Shire was Australian Painted Snipe with chicks, Wooleen Station. Photo by Our camp was soon considered to have the Andrew Hobbs set up in the group most heavily degraded campsite next to the rangelands in Western homestead. This was Australia (Curry et al. 1994). quickly followed by a great start to the weekend when Sue showed us a pair of Magpie-lark nesting next to her However, more recently, the current lessees have been camper and a pair of Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike with implementing projects and practices to help restore the several young in a nest in a tall eucalypt nearby. We also natural environment on the property (Pollock and Jones found an Australian Magpie nesting near our camp and 2015). The results of their efforts and the extent of this we had Zebra Finches checking out a nest right above our recovery is now quite evident. camper. One of the major features of the station is Lake Wooleen The campout officially started early on Saturday with which is listed in The Directory of Important Wetlands an early walk from the homestead. We divided into two in Australia (Australian Nature Conservation Agency groups with our group walking down to the flood plain 1996). It is a good example of a major floodplain lake, and along House Creek amidst carpets of dried Mulla one of the few in southern WA, with an area of around Mulla and everlastings. The dense bush had plenty 2200 hectares. It is fed by the Roderick River, which then of birds including several cuckoos, several species empties into the Murchison six kilometres downstream. of honeyeaters including Black and Pied, as well as While the whole lake and surrounding marshes only fill thornbills and Chiming Wedgebills. once every 5-10 years, it is partly inundated in most years. When full, the lake may be several metres deep On our return, we drove down to Lake Wooleen, stopping and is considered fresh water, but becomes brackish as it along the way to look at a large flock of Crimson Chats. dries out. It is a major breeding area for Gull-billed Terns, The water level in the lakes had gone well down from Gelochelidon nilotica (Australian Nature Conservation its high point earlier in the year, leaving the shoreline Agency 1996). several hundred metres out across low samphire flats. But there was still sufficient to support a large population The station is in a low rainfall area with the nearby of birds and we had great views of the massed waterbirds Murchison meteorological station recording an annual and waders via telescope, including several Gull-billed average of 233 mm. This is spread throughout year with Terns. Page 4 Western Australian Bird Notes, No. 156 December 2015 Wooleen Station — great campout, snipe and much, much, more, ctd That afternoon we visited Yewlands Pool, an area During the weekend, separated from the main Wooleen Lake, and it too was an Australian Bustard gradually drying up. Even so, there were Australasian and had been glimpsed Hoary-headed Grebes diving amongst the dense weeds, by only a few people, a good flock of Black-tailed Native-hens, several raptors, including a couple of White-faced and White-necked Herons, and flocks of the visitors. As a result, ubiquitous Budgerigars, Cockatiels and Zebra Finches we had carried out coming in to drink. We were almost finished when a several fruitless male Australian Painted Snipe (a first for many of us) searches for this was spotted, warily walking around us, getting rather species. So after agitated. Then a member stumbled over a log and viewing the snipe, realised there were runners sheltering underneath, so we when a comment quickly retreated. We watched for a while but the adult came that all we was quite agitated so we decided not to disturb them any needed now was for further, and left the male snipe to return to his offspring.