Broad-billed Sandpiper: 29 December 1997

To build up an appetite for Christmas lunch, I went  for a walk round Point Cook, on Port Phillip Bay about 20 km west of Melbourne city centre - easily reached by following the signs from the Westgate Freeway.

We visited Spectacle Lake which has shrunk to about one-third its winter size, where there were a few waders, Marsh Sandpiper, Greenshank and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper plus Black-tailed Native Hen and Australian Shelduck.

At Point Cook itself (near the homestead) there was a flock of about 1000 waders feeding on the beach, on the falling tide. These were predominately Curlew Sandpiper and Red-necked Stint with a few Sharpies and Red Knot.

Amongst this throng was one Broad-billed Sandpiper (I apologise to the Melbourne and Victorian birders for not posting this earlier, but I only discovered the rarity value of this sighting yesterday). My field notes are as follows:-

Larger than a Red-necked Stint, smaller than Curlew Sandpiper. Most distinctive features a broad white supercilium extending from in front of eye to well-behind the eye. Bill proportionally longer than Red-necked Stint's but shorter than Curlew Sandpiper's although also down-curved. There seemed to be a reddish tinge to the base of the lower mandible otherwise the bill was black. The legs were dark, possibly greenish. Wings extended just beyond the tail. The bird's upperparts were greyish, but not as grey or as uniform as Curlew Sandpiper. Breast and undersides to the undertail coverts were white. There was fine grey

streaking on the ear coverts, extending onto the side of the neck and throat. There was a dark spot or patch on the wing between the bend of the wing and where it joins the body.

I looked hard for the split eye-strip but could not see it. I did not see the bird fly and so did not see the rump pattern. When I left the bird was happily feeding. (any comments on these notes would be gratefully received)

One other sighting of interest was a dark phase Skua heading past the point a long way out. I tentatively identified it as an Arctic Skua because it did not look powerful enough for a Pomarine. However, there was nothing else with which to compare it and it was a long way out.

Hospital Swamp 1/12/1997

Hospital Swamp, part of the Lake Connewarre complex of swamps (south of Geelong, Victoria) has been mentioned in despatches before. My visit on Sunday morning got off to a good start when I saw 4 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos flying over before I had even got out of the car. About 500 Whiskered Terns, the majority in breeding plumage but some beginning to look scruffy around the edges and some in their pale non-breeding plumage drifted over the water and reed beds or rested on an exposed mud bank. Waders were numerous, mostly on the 'public' side of the dyke. First, to catch my eye was a solitary Glossy Ibis. I then turned my attention to the waders and was very pleased to find two of the closest birds were Pectoral Sandpipers. Although the waders were jumpy, frequently flying and circling the bay, these two birds always returned to the same patch of mud (close to the car parking area). The call of a Wood Sandpiper was heard and then seen - this is one of my favourite waders with its spangled upperparts - a very smart bird.

Species List:Black Swan, Australian Shelduck 68, Pacific Black Duck 24, Great Cormorant 2, White-faced Heron 1, Glossy Ibis 1, Swamp Harrier 1, Purple Swamphen, Marsh Sandpiper 1, Greenshank 8, Wood Sandpiper 1, Red-necked Stint, Pectoral Sandpiper 2, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper c350, Curlew Sandpiper < 20, White-headed Stilt, Black-fronted Plover 5, Red-kneed Dotterel 1, Masked Lapwing, Whiskered Tern c500, Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo 4, Superb Fairy-Wren, Red Wattlebird, White-plumed Honeyeater, White-fronted Chat, Magpie Lark, Willie Wagtail, Australian Magpie, Little Raven, Skylark, House Sparrow, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch, Welcome Swallow, Little Grassbird, Blackbird, Starling, Common Myna

Spring Arrivals

A wander around my local patch of Truganina Swamp, Altona (in Melbourne's western suburbs) provided a taste of spring with a singing Horsfields Bronze-Cuckoo, actually first seen a week earlier, followed by a Fan-tailed Cuckoo mobbed by several White-plumed Honeyeaters and a Whiskered Tern in full breeding plumage. Add to this a pair of Black Swans with a nest and Little Ravens carrying nesting material and it seems as though spring has arrived.

Portland Pelagic : 13 April 1997

A week later than planned, inclement weather in the form of very strong winds claimed the scheduled trip, a pelagic from Portland, SW Victoria, went ahead, on 13th April in fine conditions. In fact, the weather was probably too fine, with a low number of species and total numbers of birds recorded. By compensation, those on board were treated to wonderful views of 2, possibly 4, Blue Whales seen about 8 miles south of Lawrence Rock both on the outward and return journey to Portland. One spouted, close enough to the boat to smell its breath and seen rolling on its side with a huge flipper in the air. This close encounter of the Leviathan kind was the highlight for most on board.

Weather was fine with minimal cloud cover for much of the day and temperatures climbing to the high 20s. The wind was 5-10 knots for most of the day but increasing to 20 knots in mid-afternoon giving us a bumpy ride home. The sea was slight with no swell and not a single case of mal-de-mer. We reached the shelf about 20 miles south of Lawrence Rocks, motored west along the shelf and then returned to Portland. Those on board were: Ian Ashton, Gail Berry, Rob Berry, Mike Carter,Peter Crabtree, Murray Grant, Ivor Grainey, Roger Hicks, Martin Hulzebosch, Peter Lansley, Rory O'Brien, Rod Sympson.

Birds
Little Penguin 1 in moult, on Lawrence Rocks and another dead in the seaover the shelf
Black-browed Albatross 30+ attracted to 'chum' put over the side of which about half were the pale-eyed race
Yellow-nosed Albatross 10 - In the morning seen closer inshore than other two species of albatross
Shy Albatross 30 attracted to 'chum' commonest albatross over the shelf
Great-winged Petrel 10 over the deeper water at the shelf
Fleshy-footed Shearwater 4 over the shelf
Short-tailed Shearwater small numbers (<20) in shore and 1 over shelf
Fluttering Shearwater 6
Wilson's Storm Petrel one flock of 30 over the shelf and other individuals seen during the day
White-faced Storm Petrel up to 6 with the Wilson's Storm Petrels and other singles seen through the day.
Common Diving Petrel 1
Australasian Gannet Numerous inshore with the colony on Lawrence Rocks being the focus of their movements
Black-faced Shag 50+ on the rocks of Lawrence Rocks
Pacific Gull Portland Harbour
Silver Gull Portland Harbour and Lawrence Rocks
Crested Tern Portland Harbour and 2 over the shelf
Arctic Skua (Jaeger) 6 2 light phase and 4 dark phase including 2 lightgrey/brown birds
Long-tailed Skua possibly one

Mammals
Blue Whale 2-4 about 8 miles south of Lawrence Rocks

Starlings feeding on mudflats: March 1997

I have regularly recorded Starlings feeding on the beach on my local patch at Seaholme (western suburbs of Melbourne) where they forage amongst the seaweed along the high tide line. Most of the birds recorded have been juveniles with flocks of 30+ being noted, but these are now being 'joined' by winter (non-breeding) plumaged birds which may be juveniles (although most of these still have some vesitiges of their brown plumage at the moment) or adults that have finished breeding.

It is not unusual in the U.K. to see starlings feeding on mud flats or along the high tide line - indeed piles of seaweed above the high tide line seemed to be one flock's favoured feeding area in Whitley Bay, near Newcastle, Northumberland (north England). In Shetland, the beach is probably this species major foraging area during the winter, especially in harder weather.

On a similar vein, one of the few (and possibly only) Starling recorded from PNG was seen at the famous Moitaka sewage farm where it feed on the banks between the settling ponds and in those delightfiully sludgy bits around the ponds edge!

ERECT-CRESTED PENGUIN ON VICTORIAN BEACH

On 23 February 1997, while showing the sights of Victoria’s Great Ocean Road to a non-birding visitor, an unusual penguin was seen on the beach immediately west of the Twelve Apostles viewing platform (map refs. Topographic Map Sheet 7520 - XC828181; Lat/Long 143o 07’E 38o 40’S). We watched the penguin from the cliff top viewing platform, which was about 100 m from the bird, using Zeiss Jenoptem 10x50 Binoculars and Opticron Viewmaster x20 telescope. Numerous tourists enjoying the coastal scenery also stopped to look at the penguin, some taking photographs and video film, but as far as we are aware no other bird-watchers were present.

Description :-
It was larger than the Little Penguins Eudyptula minor seen earlier in our stay in Australia, although there were no other birds available for a direct comparison.

The bill was large, although finer than the illustrations in Slater et al (1986) and Simpson & Day (1996) suggests, and dark with a reddish tinge (rosy according to JHH). The feet were large and pink with dark, possibly black claws. The colour of the eye could not be determined from our observation point. The upper parts were uniformly black from head to tail except for a pale supercilium. This began as a narrow line in front of the eye, almost reaching to the bill, and broadened out behind the eye. Its shape seemed to vary, sometimes being arched over the eye and thinning to a point near the back of the head and at others flaring to be broadest near the back of the head. When the bird turned its head it seemed as though there was a ridge of feathers along either side of the crown. When first seen through binoculars the throat and chin appeared black but on closer observation (through the telescope) this area was grey and grizzled. We thought there probably was bare skin around the base of the bill. The remainder of the underparts were white.

We spent a long time looking at the flippers as Slater et al (1986), the only field guide we had with us, implied that the underwing pattern was one of the more reliable field characteristics. The upper-flipper was black with a thin white trailing edge on the inner half of the wing. The leading edge of the wing (not on the upper surface of the flipper) was pale. The under-flipper had a broad solid black leading edge and black tip. The centre of the under flipper and central portion of the trailing edge were white.

Enclosed is a photocopy of the field notes made at the time and a photo taken using a Canon Sureshot looking through the telescope. We also took some slides but these are still being processed.

Identification:
From these observations we decided it was probably a juvenile Erect-crested Penguin Eudyptes sclateri, based primarily on under-flipper pattern plus shape and extent of the supercilium. Royal Penguin E.chrysolophus was ruled out because the throat was dark. Rockhopper Penguin E. chrysocome was ruled out by the shape of the supercilium, which extended in front of the eye on the observed bird. Fiordland Penguin E. pachyrhynchus was ruled out as it has a white leading edge to the flipper where that on the observed bird was black. The choice between Erect-crested Penguin and Snares Penguin E. robustus was more difficult. In Slater et al (1986) both are shown as having a black leading edge and tip to the to the flipper. We decided this bird was probably Erect-crested Penguin because of the extent of black on the flipper’s leading edge (more extensive on Erect-crested than Snares) and the shape of the black/white feathering join at the wing tip (which is shown as more square on Erect-crested than Snares in Slater et al (1986).

Reference to further books at home reinforced this identification. Simpson & Day (1996) show a greater difference in the under flipper pattern than Slater et al (1986) with Snares Penguin having white feathering in the black leading edge and some black streaking in the white trailing edge of the flipper. The Erect-crested Penguin is depicted as having an entirely black leading edge to the flipper and entirely white central portion to the trailing edge. Harrison (1983) shows Snares Penguin with a narrower black leading edge to the flipper and less black at the flipper tip than for Erect-crested Penguin.

We have had no previous experience of any of the crested Eudyptes penguins and relatively little experience of any other penguins having only previously seen three species in the wild: Little Penguin Eudyptula minor, Yellow-eyed Penguin Megadyptes antipodes and Humboldt Penguin Spheniscus humboldti.

Behaviour:
When we first saw the bird it was standing on the beach, below the high-tide line and apparently following the water out. It shuffled forward a few steps but seemed in no hurry to reach the sea. When the water came further up the beach it retreated a little. At the top of the beach is a small sand-dune system; on the seaward side of this and amongst the vegetation were numerous tracks which were probably made by this penguin suggesting it had been present for a while. When we left it was still standing on the beach below the high water mark.

Prevailing weather conditions:
In the preceding week Melbourne had sweltered in 35+oC temperatures with a cool change passing through on Thursday. Another cool change passed through late on Saturday afternoon accompanied by heavy rain and strong winds. On Sunday morning, the day we observed the penguin, winds were SE and force 6. The wind dropped through the day, but the seas were still big at 15:00 when we arrived at the Twelve Apostles.

Further notes:
This penguin was apparently first noted by national park rangers on 20 February 1997 (M. Cameron pers. comm.). We first saw it on 23 February 1997 and broadcast its whereabouts the following day on the Birding-Aus mailing list. Subsequently, it has been seen by many people although it sometimes hides amongst the tussock grass growing on the small dune system at the base of the cliffs. The latest sighting I have is for the evening of 14 March 1997 (R.Atherton on Birding-Aus). Its arrival coincided with that of several other rare penguin species with a King Penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus on Bruny Island, Tasmania, another Erect-crested Penguin near Portland, Victoria and a Royal Penguin E. chrysolophus at Bridgewater, Victoria.

HANZAB lists only six previous records of Erect-crested Penguin in Australia with one each for South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia and three from Victoria of which the last was a live bird at Phillip Island in February 1979 (Marchant & Higgins 1990). Five of the six previous records have also occurred in February and March. If this record, and that of the bird at Portland are accepted, they will constitute only the seventh and eighth documented occurrence of Erect-crested Penguin in Australia.
Harrison, P. 1983. Seabirds. An Identification Guide. Croom Helm.
Marchant, S. & P.J.Higgins (co-ordinators). 1990. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 1 Ratites to Ducks. Part A, Ratites to Petrels. Oxford.
Simpson, K. & N. Day. 1996. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. 5th Edition. Viking.
Slater, P., P.Slater & R. Slater. 1986. The Slater Field Guide to Australian Birds. Rigby.

Erect-crested Penguin?

This weekend while showing a non-birding visitor the sights of Victoria's Great Ocean Road we happened upon an unusual penguin on the beach immediately north of the 12 Apostles viewing platform. We tentatively identified it as an immature Erect-crested Penguin, mainly based on the pattern on the underside of the flipper, but none of my guide books show the immature plumage of an ECP. (Slater et al,Simpson & Day, and Harrison). There had been very strong winds from the SE the preceding day and night.

Melaleuca Magic

With a population of less than 200, the Orange-bellied Parrot ranks alongside Whooping Crane and Takahe as one of the rarest birds in the world. Like these species, it is the focus of an intensive conservation plan, but unlike the majority of rare birds the Orange-bellied Parrot is also migratory. It winters on the coastal marshes of Victoria and South Australia but breeds in woodland and isolated trees on the edge of the button grass plains of south-west Tasmania, where it is concentrated in the Melaleuca area, south of Bathurst Harbour.

The Orange-bellied Parrot’s rarity, isolated breeding range and migratory habits confer on it an almost mythical status. It is one of those species that most bird-watchers would like to see but have to content themselves with reading accounts of efforts to conserve the species and gazing longingly at published photographs. So it was for me when I took up a one-year contract in Melbourne in March 1996. I wasted no time in contacting the RAOU and was soon taking part in several of their surveys, including the winter Orange-bellied Parrot survey on the coasts of Port Phillip Bay. Unfortunately, my arrival coincided with a period when the Orange-bellied Parrots have been forsaking their traditional winter haunts for as yet undiscovered sites. Despite visiting likely habitat, Swan Bay, Swan Island and Werribee Spit, at the right season I failed to make the acquaintance of a single Orange-bellied Parrot.

In October 1996 I received an Email requesting volunteer wardens for the Orange-bellied Parrot recovery programme. A family conference was unanimous that we should volunteer, Jenny, Andrew (aged 8) and Matthew (aged 7) being as eager as I was to see these enigmatic birds. Mark Holdsworth, the recovery programme coordinator, raised no objections to the boys accompanying us, in fact quite the reverse (which made a very refreshing change to the attitudes of some organisations when we had offered our services elsewhere in the past). So plans were made.

We flew down to Tasmania on 10 January 1997 and spent the weekend round and about Hobart. A dawn visit to Mount Wellington brought the first birds of the trip including the Tasmanian endemics, Yellow-throated Honeyeater, Tasmanian Thornbill, Green Rosella and Tasmanian Scrubwren; search as I might I could not find a Scrubtit. The remainder of the morning was spent enjoying the sights and sounds of Hobart’s Salamanca market before we had brunch at a pavement cafe. The Port Arthur settlement was our destination that afternoon; we dutifully completed a Bird of Prey Watch sheet (recording a Brown Falcon and a Swamp Harrier) as we covered the 100 km from Hobart. The boys were more interested in the cricket pitch, where Shane Warne & Co had recently played a charity game, than the historic buildings, but these held some interest. Up to five pairs of Tree Martins were feeding young in nests above the windows. We returned via the tessellated pavement at Eaglehawk Neck which allowed us to add Strong-billed and Black-headed Honeyeaters to our list. The following day we headed south, seeing a Yellow Wattlebird in suburban Hobart, to take the ferry from Kettering across to Bruny Island. Roadside birds here included Dusky Robin and Tasmanian Native Hen but our main quarry was Forty-spotted Pardalote. We had seen this species on a previous visit to Bruny, seven years ago, and headed back to the same site. We took the first left off the ferry road and followed the coast north towards Barnes Bay. Forty-spotted Pardalotes are supposed to occur in the wooded valley of MacCrackens Creek but we had no luck this time. A little further on we came across a flock of birds moving through the roadside bushes. These proved to be predominantly Spotted and Striated Pardalotes. Jenny managed to pick out several Forty-spots with their paler faces but I struggled until I saw them flying away across open water when their uniform greenish back and rump was conspicuous. Later, we watched a very confiding individual from less than two metres. Nearby a flock of 13 Swift Parrots allowed a similar close approach as they fed in a flowering gum tree. We had a picnic lunch on the sand dunes of Bruny Neck, the narrow isthmus that links the north and south ‘islands’ and the boys even braved the cold waters of the southern ocean. I chose to remain dry. Our weekend ended with a delicious meal on the Hobart waterfront.

Monday morning was spent stocking up on provisions for our two-week stay in Melaleuca - it seemed we would need more than a cessna to transport our mountain of gear into the remote south-west. The weather was perfect for our flight with clear blue skies affording spectacular views over the rugged landscape of this corner of Tasmania. From Cambridge we headed south-west, crossing the Derwent just south of the Tasman Bridge and flying over Hobart city centre, leaving Mount Wellington to the north. At Huonville we left the populated south-east behind although the marks of man were still evident with large areas of clear-felled forest on the slopes above the Picton River. Our pilot pointed out Mount Bob to the south but passed closer to Federation Peak with its curious Hanging Lake. The rugged ridge of the Arthur Range was stark against the northern horizon as we dropped down to Bathurst Harbour before following Melaleuca Inlet up to the airstrip. We circled once, having views over Melaleuca Lagoon and the nearby walkers accommodation and ranger’s hut; the latter to be our home for the next fortnight. Before long we were on the ground, stretching our legs after an exhilarating flight.

As we trundled our pile of gear the 500 m from the airstrip to the huts we enjoyed the surrounding scenery; the button grass plain stretching to the south, Melaleuca Lagoon and its fringe of woodland with rugged Mount Rugby as a backdrop to the north, and lower more rounded, moorland covered hills to the east and west. It was much more open than both Jenny and I had expected with the woodland restricted to the waters edge and in some of the steeper valleys. As expected we could not load everything on a single flight, and while waiting for the remainder of our stores to arrive, we saw our first birds as some Tree Martins swooped over the trees alongside Moth Creek. We also paid a brief visit to the public bird hide, erected in memory of local tin-miner and naturalist Deny King, and there on the bird table were our first Orange-bellied Parrots. MAGIC.

The ranger’s hut at Melaleuca is situated in the forest, predominantly Woolly Teatree and Smithton Peppermint Gum, close to the southern shore of Melaleuca Lagoon. It proved to be a comfortable home-from-home being well provided with a cooker and oven running off bottled gas and electric light powered by solar panels. We occupied one of the bedrooms with boys taking the bunk beds. From the hut’s windows were views into the canopy of the surrounding forest where we saw Strong-billed Honeyeater, Black Currawong and Green Rosella. Olive Whistler and Tasmanian Scrubwren would take cheese from the kitchen windowsill, while a Grey Shrike Thrush would take food from your hand. Andrew and Matthew, after a chat with Albert the ranger, decided that perhaps these birds should have a more natural diet and collected all the dead flies from the ranger’s and walker’s huts. The birds seemed to appreciate these offerings as much as the cheese.

Our duties as volunteer Orange-bellied Parrot wardens were not too onerous. The very comfortable Deny King hide acts as a focal point for visiting tourists. When the weather was fine nearly 20 planes a day landed. We were responsible for keeping the hide neat and tidy and, if present, explaining the conservation programme. A bird-table/feeding station has been established in front of the hide. We had to put seed out for the parrots early in the morning (usually between 0630 and 0700) and evening (1630 - 1700) and then record which birds came to the table. A large proportion of the parrots are colour banded so individuals can be recognised. During our stay we saw 39 different banded birds and had a maximum of 14 unbanded birds in view at one time so recorded a minimum of 53 individuals. Our highest count at the bird table, at any one time, was 44 birds, probably over 30% of the breeding population, a staggering proportion that makes you realise this species’ vulnerability. Several other species also fed at the bird-table including Beautiful Firetails, the males, especially, living up to their name, Olive Whistler and Dusky Robin. Green Rosellas also fed on the supplied seed, apparently only a recently acquired habit. When there were more than three Green Rosellas at the table, and on occasions there were as many as seven, they intimidated the Orange-bellied Parrots and other smaller species with their bulk, keeping them away from the seed. Numerous nest-boxes have been put up to enable easier monitoring of the Orange-bellied Parrot’s breeding success. We kept watch at several in an attempt to identify the parent birds but more than half were unbanded. Orange-bellied Parrots were not the only species to utilise the nest boxes; Tree Martins especially found them to their liking occupying 7 of the 17 we observed while a pair of Starlings bred in another.

Our nearest resident neighbours were Peter and Barbara Willson who operate the tin mining lease south of the airstrip. They have been recording the Orange-bellied Parrots they see at their garden feeding station for many years, We paid them a visit on our first day and they were kind enough to tell us something of the area and its birds, including possible pitfalls when recording the coloured bands. When we returned a few days later, we were pleased to see that the colour combinations we had noted closely matched those Peter and Barbara had recorded in their garden. It gave us confidence in our observations. Towards the end of our stay in Melaleuca we were treated to a tour of their tin mine and shown how they extract the tin ore from the rock. We had never considered mining on such a small scale before and it seemed a hard way to make a living. Andrew and Matthew were especially thrilled to learn that very small amounts of gold are found with the tin and were already to stake their own claim there and then.

If we had expected Melaleuca to be a quiet haven we were surprised. Visitors to the ranger’s hut during our fortnight included Parks & Wildlife scientists, journalists writing a book for Australian Geographic, a BBC film crew getting footage for the latest David Attenborough wildlife spectacular and last, but by no means least, Albert the ranger. At times it felt like all these people were trespassing on our turf when really, of course, it was the other way round. All added, rather than detracted, from our stay in Melaleuca. We watched the film crew in action, helped locate small mammal traps in the button grass plain and watched Mark Holdsworth colour band nestling Orange-bellied Parrots. We were even fortunate enough to hold some of these priceless youngsters - and now fully expect these birds to visit our local patch in Altona!

Although we spent most of our time in the vicinity of Melaleuca airstrip, we did have a memorable ride aboard the Parks and Wildlife patrol boat, Maatsuyker. From the mooring on Melaleuca Creek we headed down Melaleuca Inlet to a very calm Bathurst Harbour, where Mount Rugby and the clouds were reflected in its still waters. Then it was through the narrows which separate Bathurst Harbour from Port Davey before circling the Breaksea Islands which as their name implies, lie across the mouth of the Narrows protecting them from the ocean beyond. A White-bellied Sea-Eagle soared on the updraughts from the islands’ cliffs while Swamp Harrier quartered the grassland. We made a brief landing at the idyllic Bramble Cove where temperate rain-forest comes down to the shore. While I bird-watched, seeing very little, the boys swam and fossicked in the rock-pools. Then it was back to Melaleuca ahead of the freshening sea-breeze.

Weatherwise, we experienced the rough and the smooth. The fine, sunny weather of the first few days gave way to a grey, drizzly period. This was followed by a period of northerly winds, blowing out of central Australia and raising the temperature to a sweltering 38 oC - even I braved the waters of Melaleuca Creek that day. The good, as ever was followed by the bad and the BBC film crew had their departure delayed by 36 hours when the clouds and rain rolled in. Eventually, the clouds cleared and the weather slowly improved over our second week.

Throughout it all we were logging the activities of the Orange-bellied Parrots and other birds, recording 34 species of which eight were only seen on the boat trip. Among the highlights were the five Ground Parrots which Jenny and I flushed from the side of the tracks . Unfortunately, the boys always missed them and had to content themselves with hearing their bell-like calls coming from the button-grass plains at dusk on still evenings. By way of compensation, Andrew managed to see a Lewin’s Rail running across a trail south of the airstrip, a species which still eludes me. We all saw the Southern Emu-Wrens in the taller shrubs alongside the airstrip. A fair selection of animals were also seen including a couple of close (but not too close) encounters with Tiger Snakes. More pleasurable were the several sightings of Spotted-tailed Quoll; seen a few times on the boardwalk leading to the hut and several times around the bird-table, causing all the avian diners to scatter in panic.

It seemed as though our stay in Melaleuca would be brought to a triumphant climax when we saw our first Orange-bellied Parrot fledgling at the bird table on our last morning. We returned to the ranger’s hut in buoyant mood to complete our packing. By the time of our anticipated departure the clouds had once again rolled in, and like the BBC crew before us, we were weathered in for 36 hours. With plenty of food to see us through, it was not really a hardship to spend an extra couple of nights in Melaleuca. We continued with the observations at the bird table but did not see any more fledgling Orange-bellied Parrots. Too soon the weather cleared and we were whisked back to Hobart and thence to Melbourne. It had been a magic fortnight for us all.

There are several people we would like to thank for making this trip possible and enjoyable. Chief amongst these is Mark Holdsworth who gave us the chance to visit south-west Tasmania and become part of the Orange-bellied Parrot recovery programme. Peter and Barbara Willson were extremely friendly, and, dare we say it, a ‘mine’ of information concerning the local area. We are especially grateful to Albert Thompson, the ranger, who could not have been more helpful , organising our boat trip to Port Davey and the replenishing of our dwindling supplies. To all these people a big THANK YOU.

NEW YEAR'S DAY BIRDWATCH 1997

Traditionally New Year's Day has been a bird-watching 'big-day' and 1 January 1997 was not going to be an exception. As in recent years the search for birds would be limited to an area within 10 km of home but there the similarity ends. Having only recently arrived in the southern hemisphere, last new year's day was spent in the depths of darkest Hertfordshire (southern England) where the temperature only barely exceeded zero and visibility was rarely greater than 50 m. Despite the prevailing conditions, 60 species were recorded of which the highlights were a Dipper (unusual in lowland England) and a pair of Common (River) Kingfishers. Along with the change of hemisphere came the change of seasons and associated length of daylight; at least in the northern hemisphere the first dawn of the new year was not much before 08:00 allowing at least some recuperative sleep after the celebrations!

Home for our first year in Australia has been the small suburb of Seaholme, sandwiched between Williamstown and Altona, to the west of Melbourne, Victoria. Taking Seaholme Station, only 100 m from home as the centre of our home range, then Melbourne's western suburbs occupy the north-eastern quadrant while much of the south-eastern quadrant is covered by the waters of Altona Bay. The coast and Marybyrnong River form the southern and eastern boundaries with Point Cook R.A.A.F. base the southernmost point. The western border was formed by theDerrimut/Hopkins Road (north of Werribee) while to the north we did not cross the Western Highway. This area can offer a range of habitats including suburban gardens, grassland, wetlands and coast but little in the way of woodland.

It was still dark when the alarm sounded at 05:00 on the first morning of 1997, but the sky began to brighten while we sipped a refreshing cup of coffee. Like us some birds were active before it was fully light. First awake were Common Mynas closely followed by House Sparrows. The next few birds were all species we had seen regularly from our garden over the last 10-months; Red Wattlebirds breakfasted in a red-flowering eucalypt (we are still struggling to get to grips with the identification of Australian trees); a femaleBlackbird possibly one of the pair that nested under our porch, fed along the edge of a flower bed tossing wood chips to one side as she searched for grubs; Spotted Turtle Doves were also active feeding on the grass verge while flocks of Silver Gulls flew towards the coast and a male Greenfinch sang briefly from his perch on an overhead cable. Starlings were perched on the rooves of houses across the street and White-plumed Honeyeaters visited the tree frequented by the Wattlebirds earlier.

The plan was to walk round my local patch first, following the railway line east, crossing the Cherry Lake overflow before continuing along the shore to Kororoit Creek. Shortly after leaving home, two Common Terns,in winter plumage flying over the houses of Seaholme were a bit of a surprise. I had expected to see them later, but not over suburbia. Little Wattlebirds visited another flowering gum while two juvenile Goldfinches, lacking the red-faces of adults, twittered from a phoneline. As usual there were a couple of Australian Pelican incongruously perched on the lamp-posts by the boat ramp, surely not waiting for a free hand-out at this early hour. Little Raven, Australian Magpie and Magpie Lark foraged on the grassy expanses just behind the beach. Pacific Gulls landed on another lamp-post near the Pelicans. Welcome Swallows swooped low over the waters of Cherry Lake over-flow. They had nested under the railway and road bridge, but no longer seemed to be caring for young. A Song Thrush perched on a fence was the first I had seen in this area for several months and the twentieth species of the day. Of these 20 no fewer than eight species had been introduced to Australia. Once across the Cherry Lake overflow we made our way to the seashore. Two Royal Spoonbills headed east along the coast towards Kororoit Creek. As we crossed the rough ground masquerading as cricket pitch we disturbed a Willie Wagtail and seven Yellow-rumped Thornbills that had been feeding amongst the grasses. The high-pitched contact calls of Superb Fairy Wrens were heard from the nearby bushy perimeter of Altona workers club and two Masked Lapwings flew up from the middle of the cricket pitch where the outfield is continually dug up by the large population of rabbits. The calicivirus does not seem to have reached Altona yet. Skylark, another introduced species sang on high reminding us of summer (and not new year's day) back home. The tide was high and several Black Swans swam close in shore. No other birds were seen west of the rocky point but a single, pale Brown Falcon perched on top of a bush in the area of grassland and scrub known as Altona Coastal Wetland. Up to 300 Red-necked Stint were roosting on the exposed rocks and among them were a few Curlew Sandpipers. A careful check through the telescope revealed that none of the waders were wearing leg-flags. Six Australian Shelduck flew over, the first time I have seen them at this site. BlackSwan were more numerous in the bay between the rocky point and KororoitCreek with 149, all adults, being counted. Is this a flock of non-breeding birds or a moulting flock? A solitary Greenshank fed at the water's edge and two Little Pied Cormorants stood on a sandbank with their wings out to dry. Earlier in the season the song of Golden-headedCisticolas had been a common feature of the grassland, but now the breeding season is almost over only one male was seen performing his song-flight. As we continued along the shore an adult Crested Tern flew in the opposite direction while a flock of Feral Pigeons wheeled over the large storage tanks of the mobil refinery, which dominates the skyline to the north. A single White-faced Heron fed in the shallows accompanied by two Australian White Ibis. Six Chestnut Teal, four males and two females stood at the water's edge, waiting for the tide to recede so they could continue feeding. An adult White-headed Stilt disturbed from the head of a small creek, flew about making its yapping call. Similar agitated behaviour had been noted on a couple of recent visits and it was thought to be nesting nearby. This was confirmed on new year's day when a young stilt (about half adult-size) was seen running across a bare area ofg round. We left the area quickly, so the young stilt would not be left alone longer than necessary. A group of White-fronted Chats, one male and several female plumaged birds flew along the track in front of us. An obvious Grey Teal was feeding at the edge of a pool left behind after a high tide but the six Sharp-tailed Sandpipers were much more difficult to see. The drawn out whistle-call of a Little Grassbird was heard but the bird not seen. An adult Black-shouldered Kite hovered in a laboured fashion over the grassland, soon moving on when mobbed by several Little Ravens. At 07:40 we were bird-watching along the lower part of Kororoit Creek. Just down stream from the ford is a rocky area of the stream with a few small islands which normally attracts several ducks and other waterfowl. New birds here for 1997 included Little Black Cormorant, Pacific BlackDuck and Hoary-headed Grebe. Above the ford, which is only affected bythe highest of tides the only new species was a Dusky Moorhen. The small reed bed which up until Christmas had held a singing Australian Reed Warbler was ominously quiet.

By now Jenny and the boys had had enough bird-watching and headed home while I continued up Kororoit Creek to complete a circuit of Cherry Lake. Two Purple-crowned Lorikeets (a pair?) and several New Holland Honeyeaters (my fiftieth species at 08:10) were feeding in a floweringt ree beside Millers Road. Eurasian Coots were as numerous as ever on Cherry Lake; it seems strange that I so rarely record them on Kororoit Creek. From Millers Road I followed the embankment between Cherry Lake and the extensive reed beds that line Kororoit Creek. Red-browed Firetails flew from the track to nearby bushes where some of their old, bulky, grass nests were seen. The pool formed where the creek widens out amongst the reeds was a haven for birdlife with 14 species seen there including eight Red-necked Avocets and three Black-fronted Plovers. Other waders, apparently using this pool as a high-tide roost as none were actively feeding were eight White-headed Stilt, 13 Greenshank, six Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and five Curlew Sandpipers. A short burst of Australian Reed Warbler song greeted me as I reached the shore of Cherry Lake, thankfully they had not all given up singing. Purple Swamphens frequented the reed beds and a Great Cormorant stood amongst the birds on the point opposite the bird hide. A flock of 67 Australian Shelduck were spread around the western end of the lake. Several Tree Sparrows were in the bushes on the south shore from where a Pied Cormorant was seen to have replaced the Great Cormorant that was there earlier. By 09:45 I had returned home having seen 59 species and looking forward to a cooked breakfast.

After breakfast it was time to explore further afield. Matthew decided he had had enough bird-watching for one day, so Jenny stayed at home with him, while Andrew came with me. Skeleton Creek, was disappointingly devoid of waterbirds, as it had been for the twitchathons back in October and no new birds were seen here. We fared better at Point Cook disturbing a Richard's Pipit form the access road and seeing four Australasian Grebes, two adults plus two full-grown juveniles, on the small pond near the homestead. A single Pacific Golden Plover flew along the coast where Silvereyes and Singing Honeyeaters called from the bushes and a Whistling Kite flew over the car park before dropping into the grasses. The water level in Spectacle Lake was low so there were few waterfowl, but Black-tailed Native Hens fed on the lake's grassy banks and an adult Red-capped Plover stood at the water's edge. An Echidna, ambling across an open space between two bushes during the heat of the day, was our most surprising sighting. It was now 15:00 and difficult to think where new birds might be found. The resident Crested Pigeons could not be found near Point Cook R.A.A.F. base but a male Australian Kestrel was seen perched on a fence post. We headed out to the grasslands around Truganina, north-west of Laverton and explored the many tracks. Singing Bushlarks were reasonably common, frequently perching on fences and a Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo seen in a patch of scrub took the species total to 70 but bird activity was at a minimum in the 30^oC temperature and blustery, dry wind. Most unexpected bird of the day was Banded Lapwing, a flock of 13 was seen sharing afield with several horses from a nearby stables. And with that sighting we headed for home and tea.

I ventured out alone in the evening. Now that the temperature and wind had dropped somewhat, the birds were again active. The Point Cook Crested Pigeons had returned to their usual haunt. From a vantage point near Skeleton Creek a vixen and two cubs were watched trotting across the dried salt pans startling a hare, the fourth animal recorded. The final birds of the day were two Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrikes flying over the creek and a flock of 41 Marsh Sandpipers roosting in the shallows.

So ended my first New Year's Day birdwatch down-under. Few regularly recorded species were missed (e.g. Great Egret, Straw-necked Ibis and Striated Fieldwren) but given the available habitats within 10 km of Seaholme, the total of 74 species was not a bad haul, although I am suremore experienced Australian bird-watchers could have bettered it.