NEW YEAR'S DAY BIRDWATCH 1998

As has become a Hicks family tradition we spent the first day of 1998 and our second New Year's Day down-under on a bird-watching big-day. Usually we limit ourselves to an area within 10 km of home but as we had moved during 1997 (albeit only 5 km from Seaholme to Altona Meadows) we decided to use the same search area as last year.

Seaholme is a small suburb, sandwiched between Williamstown and Altona, to the west of Melbourne, Victoria. Taking Seaholme Station as the centre ofour home range, 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 southernmostpoint. The western border was formed by the Derrimut /Hopkins Road (northof Werribee) while to the north we did not cross the Western Highway. This area offers a range of habitats including suburban gardens, grassland, wetlands and coast but little in the way of woodland. Last year we recorded 74 species but felt we could have done better witha bit more local knowledge and more experience of Australian birds. Our aim was to beat last year's total and if possible push on to the magical ton although to achieve this total we would need to be exceedingly lucky.

New Year's Eve had been warm and sticky and it did not seem much cooler when the alarm roused us from a deep slumber at 05:05. It was still dark outside but the first bird of 1998 was heard before we were out of bed when the distant strains of a Skylark wafted through the open window on the light morning breeze (poetical aren't I?). As night gradually gaveway to day, a Willie Wagtail was the second bird to join the dawn chorus quickly followed by a tuneful Blackbird, noisy White-plumed Honeyeaters and even more raucous Common Mynas. A little later the dulcet tones of an Australian Magpie and the more strident calls of a Red Wattlebird were heard. With the light improving and the eyelids gradually unsticking a flock of Silver Gulls drifting over the house became the first birds seen on New Year's Day.

It was 05:40 and time to get out and about. House Sparrow, Starling and Spotted Turtle Dove were seen in neighbours' gardens as we made our way to Truganina Swamp, my local patch. The swamp forms part of Melbourne Water's drainage system acting as a retarding basin to prevent flooding. Laverton Creek flows through the middle of the swamp and has been widened to facilitate flood control. Much of the area is currently dry grassland due to lack of rain but there are areas of salt marsh and reed-bed; the latter mainly to the east of the creek. There is a small freshwater pond/swamp behind Mount St. Joseph's school which is also in the processing of drying out. Kooringal Golf course, to the south-east, is well wooded but there is no access from the swamp. The Western Purification Plant, to the south-west, is similarly out of bounds but the settling tanks can be viewed through the fence and often hold concentrations of ducks and gulls. Since moving to the area, in May1997, I have recorded 91 species here and over recent weeks have regularly seen over 50 species in a two-hour walk. We were hoping for a similar score today.

As we neared the swamp a pair of Magpie Larks foraged on the grass reserve but more birds were being recorded by sound than sight; the buzzing song of several Golden-headed Cisticolas were heard from the first reed-bed while a Greenfinch wheezed and Superb Fairy Wren twittered nearby; the disjointed jangling notes of an Australian Reed Warbler came from the reed beds alongside the upper reaches of Laverton Creek. All this was a bit frustrating for Andrew and Matthew who wanted to see some birds. On cue, three Little Black Cormorants flew towards the coast, following the line of Laverton Creek while a solitary Australian Pelican and a squadron of Straw-necked Ibises glided towards the settling ponds of the Western Water treatment plant. Little Ravens flew over; Purple Swamphens and Dusky Moorhens streaked for the cover of the creek-side reed-beds. Black Swan, Pacific Black Duck and Hoary-headed Grebe inhabited this narrow, reed-fringed, section of Laverton Creek and the whistled call of Little Grassbird came from the reeds. Where the creek widened and the water became shallower a single Great Egret and White-faced Heron fed beside 15 White-headed Stilts. They were joined by 72 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, 28 Curlew Sandpipers and three Greenshank, while overhead flew Welcome Swallow and Whiskered Tern,the majority still in breeding plumage although some are beginning to look scruffy. On land a female White-fronted Chat searched for food on the cinder track and a couple of Goldfinches feed from the seed head of a giant thistle. Stubble Quail had been heard calling from the grassland west of the creek for the first time in mid-December and we were fortunate to flush one from near the track on New Year's day. As expected the settling ponds and surrounds of the Western Water treatment plant brought a rush of species. Masked Lapwing, Feral Pigeon and Australian White Ibis foraged on the grassy banks while the tanks themselves held numerous Australian Shelducks, Eurasian Coots, Chestnut and Grey Teal. I was particularly pleased to pick out a pair of Australasian Shoveler. These had first been noted on 27 December and I was hoping they would hang around. Little Pied Cormorants sat on the pontoons separating the ponds and a small flock of White-eyed Duck (Hardheads) swam and dived on the pond closest to the road. Three Galahs flew from Kooringal Golf Course, where we think they roost, to feed on the short turf of the water works and a Royal Spoonbill flew down the creek. At 07:08 Yellow-rumped Thornbill became our 50th species(approximately an hour earlier than last year).

We crossed Laverton Creek and headed north beside the golf course fence. Grey Fantail and New Holland Honeyeater were seen in the bushes. By now the sun was up and had burnt off the early morning haze sending temperatures climbing. Marsh Sandpiper and Red-capped Plover were the only new birds seen on the shallow salt marsh on the east side of the swamp but there were a pair of White-headed Stilts with three young about half adult size. Mount St Joseph's pond, situated behind the school of the same name has been slowly drying out over the last month and has been home to several Australian Spotted Crakes and a couple of Latham's Snipe. Fortunately, the muddy margins had not dried out completely and both the crake and snipe found their way onto our list without too much hassle. With the rise in temperature bird activity had dropped off and as we headed homewards across the north end of the swamp we were bothered more by flies than birds, only Black-shouldered Kite, hovering laboriously over the dry grassland and a Brown Falcon perched on the railway's overhead lines were added to the new year's day list. Back home, our resident Tree Sparrows were up and about having been conspicuously absent when we set out, they must be late risers. Over breakfast in the garden Purple-crowned Lorikeets fed in some flowering eucalypts on the other side of the road and a Song Thrush visited our vegetable patch searching for snails. We had scored well on my local patch recording 61 species and were beginning to think the ton might be possible.

By 09:30 breakfast was over and we were on the road, heading for Point Cook Metropolitan Park. Richard's Pipits were common in the roadside fields. Spectacle Lake, in the Point Cook Metropolitan Park, was even drier than when we had last visited on Christmas Day, with even fewer birds present. Red-necked Stint was the only new bird amongst the small numbers of waders. A male Red-rumped Parrot bursting past the narrow windows of the hide in a kaleidoscope of colour was a nice bonus. From the homestead, we walked through the coastal scrub, hearing first then seeing Silvereye, before following the shore to Point Cook. An immature Pacific Gull and, Crested Terns were perched on the rocks while awinter-plumaged Common Tern patrolled off-shore. The buzzy calls of a White-browed Scrub-wren were heard from the brush at the back of the beach where a Singing Honeyeater was also seen. Further round the coast, also perched on rocks exposed by the falling tide were Pied Cormorants and a solitary Pied Oystercatcher. At 12:45 with the sun high in the sky we headed home for some shade and a late lunch. So far we had recorded 72 species, only two less than last year's total.

Only Andrew and I ventured out after lunch, the others deciding to remain at home in the shade. In the dry conditions the Fairy Martins had abandoned the only colony, of 5 nests, that I knew of within the area, so we dipped out there. Our first new bird of the afternoon was a Singing Bushlark, doing a very passable imitation of a Galah, while perched on a fence in the grasslands to the north-west of Laverton. Nearby, in the same fields we had first seen them on New Year's Day 1997, were a flock of 16 Banded Lapwing which included four juveniles. While scanning a mixed flock of Starlings and House Sparrows, one bird parachuted down to the fence with its legs extended, most un-starling-like. Closer examination revealed it to be a male BrownSonglark. This was a lifer and quite a bit bigger than I had expected. Not a bad way to go past last years total. The time was 15:10. Continuing through the grasslands we found a pair of White-browed Wood-Swallows along Woods Road (near Truganina homestead). I had not previously seen either the songlark or the wood-swallow in this area before and wondered whether the inland drought conditions had pushed these birds further south than usual. Nearby an Australian Kestrel hovered over the desiccated grasses. Now it was time to try and pick up species we had so far missed. Australasian Grebes, in breeding plumage were found at Newport Lakes and two Swamp Harriers terrorised the gulls and ducks at the Williamstown wetlands on the north shore of Kororoit Creek. A walk along the levee between Cherry Lake and Kororoit Creek produced a Crested Pigeon, our 80th species at 17:15, Red-browed Firetail and a Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo, but the water level was high in the pool where the creek widens out so no waders were present. Finally, we returned to Point Cook where the Black-tailed Native Hens still refused to show themselves at Spectacle Lake but we were compensated with an Australian Hobby dashing past. Near one of the picnic sites we came close to running over a covey of six Brown Quail that decided to cross the road right in front of the car - at least theygot themselves noticed and on our list. A Little Wattlebird, flying froma flowering gum tree was our 85th and last species of New Year's Day1998.

Is it possible to see 100 species within a 10km radius of Seaholmestation? Well, it should be. In December 1997, I saw 12 species in this area that we did not record on New Year's day. These were Great Cormorant, Little Egret, Black-tailed Native Hen, Red-necked Avocet, Black-fronted Plover, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Arctic Skua, RainbowLorikeet, Fairy Martin, Tree Martin, Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike and Striated Fieldwren. As we get to know our home range better, there is more chance. Maybe next year - if my contract is renewed!

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.