Beginners Outing to Newport Lakes and Jawbone Reserve

26 November 2016

Leaders: Hazel and Alan Veevers. Photographs by Eleanor Dilley

 

White-plumed Honeyeater

A fine but overcast day provided good conditions for the 34 members attending the excursion beginning at Newport Lakes. A local birdwatcher, Mary Burbridge, joined in and advised us to take the ridge track to where she had earlier seen a Horsefield’s Bronze-Cuckoo.

Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo

We heard it first, calling repeatedly, then located it and enjoyed the excellent views it gave to all the beginners. Nearby Whistlers were heard and a female Golden and a female Rufous were seen, but unfortunately their colourful mates did not put in an appearance. A Common Bronzewing was then sighted, which delighted Mary as, according to her records, the last report at Newport Lakes was in 2009.

Dusky Moorhen

Superb Fairy-wrens, New Holland Honeyeaters and White-plumed Honeyeaters were plentiful throughout the walk, though there were very few Ducks and Cormorants on the lakes. A pair of Black Swans with cygnets, a Dusky Moorhen with chicks and Australasian Grebes were amongst the birds on the water.

Superb Fairy-wren

A Willie Wagtail on a nest close to the track provided good opportunities for the photographers amongst us.

Willie Wagtail

Before returning to the car park a short walk was taken to the arboretum where Common Greenfinch and Masked Plover were added to the tally.

Common Greenfinch

After lunch most of the members drove down Maddox Road to the Bay where it was high tide. Australian Pelicans, Pied Oystercatchers, Great, Pied and Little Black Cormorants, a Crested Tern and numerous Silver Gulls were perched on the breakwater.

Common Greenshanks

A walk was then taken through Jawbone Reserve. Ten Common Greenshanks in a pond on the saltmarsh and a pair of Black-fronted Dotterels near the new housing development were highlights of this walk.

Black-fronted Dotterels

Again very few Ducks were seen and Spoonbills and Stilts were completely absent. A hovering Nankeen Kestrel was the only raptor seen for the day.

Despite the low numbers of water birds there were still some good sightings and a creditable 53 species was recorded for the day.

Thanks to Eleanor Dilley who provided all the photographs for this posting.

See the complete bird list for the day: bm-nov-2016-bird-list-newport-lakes-jawbone-reserve

You Yangs Birding and Boneseeding

3 September 2016

Written by Merrilyn Serong

Photos by Arthur Carew

On this mostly mild and calm, partly-sunny morning, the 13 participants who assembled at the usual meeting place at 10am managed wonderfully in my absence. A huge thank you to Denise for responding at short notice and collecting signatures, keeping the day well organised, and making clear and complete bird lists at each location. Further thanks to Arthur for providing excellent photos taken on the day. Welcome to the three newcomers and to one who made a return visit after about 16 years. Thanks also to all the regulars who always make the day so successful.

Spring was certainly noticeable with such species as Horsfield’s and Shining Bronze-cuckoos being recorded in two places while Fan-tailed Cuckoos were at all places where the group stopped.

Fan-tailed Cuckoo

Superb Fairy-wrens, Spotted Pardalotes, Red Wattlebirds, Grey Shrike-thrushes and Eastern Yellow Robins were also everywhere. Weebills, New Holland Honeyeaters and Brown-headed Honeyeaters were plentiful. Even Mistletoebirds were found in three places. In contrast, Purple-crowned Lorikeet was only recorded once, as were Kookaburra and Tree Martin. Surprising finds were Rainbow Bee-eater and Yellow-tufted Honeyeater. That was our first record of the latter. Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters occur in numbers at The Brisbane Ranges and would only have to fly 10 to 20 km to be in the You Yangs.

Red Wattlebird

The You Yangs area sits in a rain-shadow, largely due to the Brisbane Ranges blocking rain-bearing winds from the west. Brisbane Ranges habitat tends, therefore, to be wetter than that at the You Yangs. However, at present the You Yangs area is unusually green. The dams have water in them and some are dotted with clumps of white frog spawn. Pobblebonks, Spotted Marsh Frogs and Eastern Common Froglets share the soundscape at the dam above Fawcett’s gullly. Their calls are all quite different from one another, so are easy to distinguish.

Another sign of spring is the flowers, including those of the boneseed itself, of course. In the afternoon of the visit, the group removed one and a half hours’ worth of these flowering plants from a dense growth to the south of our official site. The springtime yellow of the brightly blooming wattles remains. These include Golden, Gold Dust and Hedge Wattles. Elsewhere Dwarf Greenhoods are growing in places that are boneseed-free and usually quite dry.

Willie Wagtail

The last BirdLife You Yangs birding and boneseeding visit for the year is planned for Saturday 3 December. That will be the last time I organise and lead the outings for at least a year. One participant has offered to organise next year’s outings and she and others are prepared to lead one or more, so the project will continue.

A bird list will be posted at http://www.birdlifemelbourne.org.au/outings/site-lists/YouYangs%202016.html

You Yangs birding and boneseeding

5 December 2015

Report by Merrilyn Serong

Photographs by Arthur Carew

Echidna

On our last birding and boneseeding day for the year, the weather was warm, but not too hot for the seven participants. The cloud-cover remained for much of the day, providing us with shelter from the hot sun. The whole place is very, very dry. Some trees that had more or less recovered after the last drought are now clearly suffering again. In places eucalypts are flowering and attracting many butterflies, but we saw no lorikeets at all. It was eerily quiet without their shrieking calls.

Galah

Notable birds that were present in reasonable numbers almost everywhere were Rufous Whistler, Grey Fantail, Weebill and Brown-headed Honeyeater. No surprise with the first two of these species, but the large numbers of the other two were unexpected. There was evidence of breeding in various species, either with active nests or young birds. Good to see, especially in the dry conditions.

Weebill

We recorded a total of 40 bird species, without visiting the Eastern Flat / Seed garden, where we usually find a few more species. The best place for a wide variety of species is generally the area where we start, around the Park Office and dam near the entrance. Here we found 27 species. We made a brief stop at the Valley Picnic Ground to look for Tawny Frogmouths that had been seen there recently, but we did not find them. Our next stop was at the Sand Mine area beside the western section of the Great Circle Drive, where there is still a little water. We didn’t stay long. Further on at the Gravel Pit Tor we found the usually reliable robins and other species before driving on for lunch and a short walk at Fawcett’s Gully. Lastly we spent over an hour at and near our boneseeding site. Some of us concentrated on a number of large plants to the north of the site. They took some effort to remove, but we cleared quite an area. Our plan is to resume where we left off next time.

White-winged Chough

Most of the boneseed plants have finished flowering now, though some blooms still persist. The fruits with their internal hard seeds are developing. It is interesting to note that Drooping Cassinia (Cassinia arcuata) plants are increasing rapidly in number in some areas of our site, particularly at the start of the main path and also along an old disused vehicle track. This native plant is known as a coloniser of disturbed areas and here it no longer has to compete with boneseed.

A list of the bird species recorded on the day will soon be on the BirdLife Melbourne website http://www.birdlifemelbourne.org.au/outings/site-lists/YouYangs%202015.html

There are reports of all the YY visits for the year on my website http://www.timeinthebush.com/you-yangs-2015.html

Willie Wagtail

Our next YY visit will be on Sat 5 March 2016. All BirdLife members are welcome to join us for an enjoyable and useful day. If you would like your email address to be added to my contact list for reminders and lists of birds observed, please email me at Merrilyn@wirejunkie.com