Lyrebird Tales Volume 28 Number 3 September 2019 A TRIP TO THE U.K. 2019 (OR; THOUGHTS TO MULL OVER ) By Doug Pocock Nuthatch photo © Alan Spellman Our bird list started with a Great Heron on the river and then Blue, Long-tailed and Great Tits, Nuthatch, Chaffinch and Rock Wren. We knew we were back in the UK! At the head of the gorge was a small weir and many Sand Martins were feeding on the insects. We were impressed by the local authorities who had installed a large wooden board against a bank of earth and had drilled Martin size holes to enable the birds to breed. Continued on page 2 Contents 1-3. Trip to the UK by Doug Pocock 4. Toora, Gippsland by Warren Cousins 5-6. Challenge for high-rise real estate by Valerie Fowler 6. Interesting sightings. Whose feathers? Committee Looking over Loch na Keal, Mull photo © Alan Spellman 7. Proposed outing to Mud Islands notice. We left home on May 27th and flew one stop to Edinburgh. Lillydale Lake update. Birdlife Yarra Valley camp notice. Here we picked up our hire car and were off. In the past we The one that nearly got away. found it best to pre-book accommodation so we headed for 8-9. Reports of Meetings and Outings New Lanark mill town. This was a fascinating place to stay, built by Richard Owen, an early reformer, as an enlightened 10. Calendar of Events place of employment. For instance he did not employ children under the age of ten instead he provided schooling for them. After a good look around the mills and museum we went for a walk along the River Clyde. No dirty industrial ship yards here but delightful wooded gorges and waterfalls. Lyrebird Tales at our hotel at Glencaple overlooking the River Nith estuary. Walking along the river before dinner we saw Great Crested Grebe, Black-backed Gull, Shellduck and Whimbrel. Our reason to stop here was to visit the Caerlaeverock wetland centre next day, run by Peter Scott’s Wetland and Wildlife Trust (WWT). Near the reception centre were bird feeders and we had a good look at both House and Tree Sparrows, I think I can now reliably tell them apart. Others joining in the feeding melee were Greenfinches and Yellowhammers with Rock Doves enjoying the scattered seeds and nuts on the ground. Walking around the wetlands we saw Canada Geese, Lapwings, Widgeon and Little Egret. Stonechat photo © Alan Spellman On to the Mull of Galloway to a B&B at Drummore seeing Sparrows and Starlings along the way. It’s odd to happily include these on a list! We stopped briefly at Culzean Castle where we added Mute Swan, Mallard and Moorhen, then onto the coast near Stranraer. With the tide out we spotted Mergansers, Oystercatchers, Eider Ducks and Ringed Plovers. Thick mist and a heavy drizzle greeted us next morn so we went to Port Logan (Black-headed Gulls and Rock Pipit) and Port Patrick (Fulmars on the cliffs and a lone Black Guillemot in the harbor) as the weather was clearing after lunch we went down to the tip of the Mull of Galloway. There is an RSPB site there and we met a very enthusiastic young warden. Walking over the heathlands, and hoping not to get Meadow Pipit photo © Alan Spellman blown away in the strong wind, we saw Skylarks, Stonechat Moving right along we travelled in England staying at and Redstart while down on the cliffs were Kittiwakes, Lancaster then on to Wales staying at Prestatyn. It was here Common Guillemots and Razorbills. We had hoped for Puffins that we did a very pleasant walk through the sand dunes to but in the strong wind we couldn’t hold the binoculars steady the RSPB site where there is the only breeding colony of enough to scan the rookeries. Little Terns in Britain. We again met a very enthusiastic warden protecting the site. A Peregrine Falcon flew over causing consternation amongst the terns but it didn’t get a feed. Returning through the dunes we saw Meadow Pipit and Reed Warblers. From here we went back into England to visit friends and rellies, castles and cathedrals. Not a lot to see in the more urban areas though we did see Common Buzzard, Red Kites and Jays as we drove along. On the south coast in Sussex we went to Arundel castle, the home of the Duke of Norfolk. After touring the castle the duke didn’t invite us to stay for afternoon tea so we went up the road to the Arundel wetlands run by the WWT. Now this was a conundrum for us. Apart from being a sanctuary for migratory birds it is also used to breed endangered species of ducks and geese. So which are part of the breeding program, therefore not a tick, and which are truly wild and using the Yellowhammer photo © Alan Spellman reserve as part of their natural migration? Magpie Geese, Wandering Whistling-duck and Australian Wood Duck we Next morn the weather was better as we headed off. At could rule out. (Incidentally we have never seen a Wandering Newton Stewart we diverted to an RSPB site, the Wood of Whistling-duck in Australia but we think it is cheating to Cree. After seeing a lot of extra countryside we finally found count that in our Australian list). There were many American, the site. We had lunch there after a pleasant short walk. Asian and African ducks which were interesting but not in the Going via a Neolithic chambered cairn we found the lovely field guide. We didn’t count the Long-tailed Duck, Smew, village of Gatehouse of Fleet. It would have been nice to Northern Pintail, White-fronted Goose or Mandarin Duck even spend more time there but we had to travel on finally arriving though they are in the field guide. 2 Lyrebird Tales Lyrebird Tales However we ticked Egyptian Goose, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, and Widgeon. Leaving the south we had two days near Oxford with Jan’s South African cousins (explanation too long) and then quickly up to Scotland to see my son, Gareth, and his wife and our grand-daughter. They live just south of Edinburgh in a quiet village with plenty of vegetation. From the backyard we saw Great Spotted Woodpecker, Bullfinch and Chiffchaff. After a few days celebrating birthdays and housewarmings we headed up to Mull for a few days. Many readers would have met Alan Spellman from Mull on outings and club meetings, we were lucky as we contacted him and were able to arrange to meet him. Alan very generously gave us two days of his time and drove us around Mull to see birds and beauty spots. Our list with Alan started with the White-tailed Eagle and Common Sandpiper photo © Alan Spellman then Common Sandpiper, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Whinchat, Hen Harrier, Hooded Crow, Wheatear, Arctic Tern, Curlew, Reed Bunting, Redstart, Redshank and Golden Eagle. Apart from the beaut birds we saw some corners of Mull which we would never have seen without him. He also showed us lots of beautiful terrestrial orchids. While on Mull we arranged to visit friends on the Isle of Iona. Alan had told us that the UK twitching world was preparing to descend on Iona in large numbers as there was a report of a Great Spotted Cuckoo on the Island, the first for 50+ years. Our friends lived near where the cuckoo was reported but we saw lots of twitchers but no cuckoo. However we did hear a Corncrake and saw a Great Northern Diver. Back on Mull, while visiting Governor Lachlan Macquarie’s mausoleum we saw Treecreepers and Coal Tits. We returned to the mainland and back to Gareth for a few more days and then home. We had a total of 106 birds on Hooded Crow photo © Alan Spellman our list. Mull Orchids photos © Alan Spellman Common Spot Orchid & Greater Butterfly Orchid Wheatear photo © Alan Spellman Northern Marsh & Heath Spot & (R) Pyramidal Orchids Right photo Hen Harrier (male) © Alan Spellman September 2019 3 Lyrebird Tales Toora, South Gippsland by Warren Cousins perched waiting for the sun to rise. I saw both a couple of times later in the walk, now in hunting mode. Eastern Just prior to my long-awaited trip to the Simpson Desert, Rosellas were quite plentiful; outnumbering it seemed their Brenda and I visited her sister who lives in Toora, South Crimson mates. Also saw some Eastern Spinebills, Flame Gippsland. It is a small farming town with a population of I Robins, Grey Currawong, Grey Shrike-thrush, and White- believe less than 600, and is situated at the foot of Mt Best eared Honeyeaters. with Mt Fatigue to the north. Both offer spectacular views of Corner Inlet and Wilsons Prom. In the north east of the town As we set out for home, one of my favourite birds, a Wedge- is one of Victoria's first wind farms and the spectacular Agnes tailed Eagle, was there to see us off, soaring quite low over Falls - the state's highest single span waterfall. Agnes Falls is the nearby hills. This brought my Toora total to 53 species. easily accessible by car from Toora. I'm sure this will increase as we return here in the future. On arrival I walked the 9km return trip to the nearby internationally recognized wetlands site. There is a bird hide located there, but unless you are quite small, the window cutouts seem much too low, and you get quickly uncomfortable hunched down.