Birds South East Number 77 October 2016

Crested Bellbird – Bob Green Redthroat – Bob Green

Barossa Valley Campout 10-13 June 2016 Escaping North for a weekend in mid-winter seems like a good idea right? Well 15 people had the same opinion and jumped at the chance to sample some of the Barossa’s birdlife (the back-up plan in case of foul weather was winery visits). Arriving Friday afternoon and holding a briefing for the Saturday activities set us up for the weekend, for a few of the group a quick side trip to see an Australian Bustard near Woods Well (just inland from the Coorong) was made with cracker views of a majestic bird. Saturday morning we met up at Altona CSR Landcare Reserve with our “local guide” for the day, Lisa Girdham. A total of 50 species was seen in three and a half hours, a very good list for a winter visit. Best birds were Diamond Firetail, Red-capped Robin, Yellow Thornbill, and cracker views at the usually secretive Weebills. Although the Diamond Firetails did frustrate some of the group with a fleeting flash over the head and persistent calling but not showing, leaving the bird un-ticked for one unhappy camper.

After enjoying lunch at a park in Lyndoch we set off for Sandy Creek CP, the afternoon spent there produced 32 species with the best being Red-capped Robin, Australian Owlet-nightjar, lots of Rufous Whistlers and great looks at a big chattering of White-winged Choughs, there were seemingly Red-capped Robins everywhere which are always a nice bird for us to see. On the way back to Nuriootpa we called in at the Tanunda Sewage Ponds, where we watched Pink-eared Ducks “vortexing”, thanks to Peter Johns for bringing this behaviour to the groups attention. There were also Hardhead, Musk Duck, Grey Teal and 75 Blue-billed Ducks on the ponds, well worth the visit.

Contents 1. Barossa Valley Campout 10-13 June 2. Birding Highlights 3. Bool Lagoon Update 4. Calendar of Events, Contacts and Sightings

Birds South East

2 Birds South East

The Saturday night dinner at “The Clubhouse” in nearby Tanunda was worth the short drive with a good night had by all as well as a great meal, it also allowed the couple of non-birding companions to join the group for a meal, we were also joined by our day’s guide Lisa, and our guide for the following day Chris Steeles came along. Sunday was an early start with a longer drive out to Brookfield CP with the promise of a ripper day’s birding. Brookfield CP is completely different birding for most of us with the parrots, honeyeaters, fairy-wrens, babbler, thornbills etc all being different from what we are used to. The day’s list came to 47 species with many highlights, but a few being Gilbert’s Whistler, Chestnut-crowned Babbler, Chestnut Quail-thrush, a full colour male Splendid Fairy-wren, a very cooperative Crested Bellbird put on a display and for two of the group Redthroats.

Monday was time for the drive home but a few people decided to call in to Brown’s Rd, Monarto for a look on the way, Aust. Owlet-nightjars again were a highlight and for one camper the long awaited Diamond Firetail became “a tick”, much to her relief, even managing to photograph a colour banded individual. A banded Brown Treecreeper was also able to be identified as having been banded in 2008 as an adult, so a good survivor.

Bob Green

Birding highlights We are now at 8996 records in our database so keep them rolling in and we will see who scores the 10, 000th sighting. Well it’s certainly been a period for some pretty good records, and not just the birds. We have had 340mm of rain in the last ten weeks in Mt Gambier and doesn’t it look like it? Great to see water everywhere around, Bool Lagoon is sitting at about 1/3 full and Mosquito Creek is still flowing, the Coorong in July was the wettest I have seen it for a very long time, and try the drive between Millicent and Kingston to see how much water is sitting in the paddocks.

LunchatBrookfield–BryanHaywood

SplendidFairyWren–BobGreenSquare-tailedkite–LukeLeddy

Birds South East

Probably the biggest highlight since our last newsletter is a Square-tailed Kite seen and photographed on Aug 11th by Luke Leddy, it’s a significant find as the last record in the South East we know of was in the Nangwarry area in 1984. Great job Luke and on behalf of all of us “you lucky bugger!!”. Black-chinned Honeyeaters put in an appearance in the Bangham area with breeding taking place as well, always a great bird to see and a species we need to keep an eye on in SA.

Blue-billed Ducks have been seen at quite a few spots with a high number (Nationally Significant) of 113 at Hack Lagoon recently showing up. Good numbers of Fairy Terns around, 118 at Lake George is amazing, last year almost the entire Coorong population was seen in one feeding flock of 110 birds, let’s hope we see more sightings like this, make sure you report them to us. Southern Whiteface can be difficult to find in the South East, but Eaglehawk Waterhole seems to be a bit of a hot spot, although they are in low numbers.

Southern Emu-wrens are a strange case, we all love seeing them and seem to be on everybody’s want-to-see list but we are turning them up all over the place, the more we look the more new spots we are finding them, and they seem to be in good numbers in places. Also they seem to be responding well to some of the regeneration and restoration activities around, which is a real positive.

So keep the records coming in and don’t forget to participate in the BirdLife Australia Atlas Project and also the Birds SA- Atlas of the Birds of the South East being run by David Paton, the more records we submit the more we will know about our birds. Bob Green - Sightings Coordinator

Bool Lagoon Updates Maureen Christie - 14th September We began the day by visiting Mosquito Creek at Struan. The creek had fallen since it’s peak at the weekend, but it is still very high and running strongly. Wrack at the high water mark enabled us to visualise just how wide and high the stream had been. And so, onto the Bool. Our first sight, as we drove over the slight rise at the Park’s entrance, was breathtaking – a sheet of water as far as you could see. From here it was around to the outlet where we were lucky to meet up with a worker from the Drainage Board. We stood on the crossing and looked at the guage together. With the level at 48.6. he was satisfied that the gates were set correctly. I enquired about Lake George – he advised that it was high, but not full yet.

Black-chinnedHoneyeater

SouthernEmu-wren

SouthernWhiteface

Birds South East

4 Birds South East

We continued driving along Moyhall Road for a short distance. At every turn there were sheets of water in the paddocks. We speculated that there were more swans grazing than sheep! With everything so wet, I wondered about being able to drive up Big Hill. The road is badly pot-holed, but perfectly safe and we were in no danger of being bogged. And the drive was well worth it – Big Hill is now a peninsula surrounded by water. Ross Anderson (DEWNR) – 15th September So far 38,000,000,000 L of water or 38Giga-Litres has been measured as passing the regulator at Struan. However due to the high flows in Mosquito Creek some of the flow went past the regulator and was not measured. Of interest it appears that a significant amount of water (some billions of litres) “disappeared” and did not contribute to filling up the Bool. I reckon it took this amount of water to wet the soil, fill the cracks and raise the groundwater. Following the widespread rain last Thursday and Friday with more than 50mm in most parts of the southeast the creek peaked at 3.9m last Saturday night which is about 300mm above the peak a couple of weeks ago. As a result of the event the gates were opened on the Bool last Friday (9th September), and water is flowing down drain M. To manage downstream flows about 10% of this flow has been diverted up the reflows channel at Callendale. The rest will go to Lake George which is likely to fill it and it may provide for some flushing. Bool is currently at about 48.83m (AHD or above sea level) at Big Hill which is slightly above the Spring target minimum of 48.61. While there is significant capacity in the Bool should further flood events occur, the tea tree and Gunnawar channel board walks are currently under water. Outflows are currently exceeding inflows but this is closely monitored and will be managed to retain the target levels in the Bool. Water is still flowing into Little Bool and Round Swamp. These areas take a long time to fill due to the restricted pipe inlets into these wetlands. Birds are doing well with a lots of nesting activity and many frogs calling. I haven’t heard any growling grass frogs yet.

Abigail Goodman – 6th October After a week of foul weather, we finally had a day of beautiful weather and the perfect opportunity to take my parents (who were visiting from Alice Springs) to visit Bool and Hacks Lagoon! As described by Maureen, the initial view at the entrance to Bool is spectacular! We headed straight around to Big Hill and on the way had some great views of a pair of brown falcons and a black shouldered kite. I had mentioned that Australasian Bitterns were known to visit Bool but given that they are a cryptic species, did not expect to see any. However, sitting among the dry Phragmites and Typha, we saw 2 pairs and a single pair bird! They were bold as brass and not even trying to hide!

The view from Big Hill was magnificent (photos never do it justice). After that we went around to the Hacks carpark with the intention of doing the Pat Om Boardwalk and the Tea Tree Boardwalk. Both Boardwalks were under water but that didn’t actually matter. There was so much bird activity about that there was lots to keep us busy without needing the boardwalks.

We were kept entertained by a Golden Cisticola who was working hard to pull wool off the barbed wire. We also walked around to the Mosquito Creek inlet where the water was bank to bank and moving through quite quickly. We heard Bitterns calling out in Hacks Lagoon while we were there too. Looks like the Bittern survey on the 28th should be a busy one!

PairofAustralasianBitterns–AbigailGoodman

Birds South East

BobGreen

MosquitoCreekInlet–AbigailGoodman

Golden-headedCisticola–AbigailGoodman

Birds South East

6 Birds South East

Calendar of Events

27 October Australasian Bittern Survey Pick Swamp –- Bob Green mob 0407 649 909

28 October Australasian Bittern Survey Bool and Hacks Lagoons –- Bob Green mob 0407 649 909

4-7 Nov Bangham area Woodland Bird Surveys-- Leader: Cassie Hlava mob 0437 376 181

19 Nov Pasture Strip Monitoring-- Leader: Bryan Haywood mob 0427 001 853

Contacts

Convenor, Sightings Coordinator, Conservation Contact

Bob Green

shriketit@bigpond.com

(08) 8725 0549

Secretary

Sue Black

rogerblack40@hotmail.com

PO Box 7, Glencoe, SA, 5291

Deputy Convenor/OH&S

Wayne Bigg

wayne@biggzie.com

Treasurer/ IBA Liaison

Bryan Haywood

brytonwood@bigpond.com

(08) 8726 8112

Newsletter Editor

Abigail Goodman

abigail.goodman@hotmail.com

0422 326 901

Monitoring Officer Cassie Hlava

cassie.hlava@gmail.com

0422402703

Committee Members

Maureen Christie, Jeff Campbell, Wendy Trudgen, Abigail Goodman, Cassie Hlava and Angela Jones

DEADLINES FOR SIGHTINGS/ARTICLES IN OUR 2016 NEWSLETTERS 10 December 2016

Birds South East

Date Common Name Abundance Location Observer/s

07-May-16 Australasian Bittern 3 Pick Swamp J Campbell 20-May-16 Australasian Shoveler 21 Robe Sewage Ponds R Miller 18-Jun-16 Australasian Shoveler 100 Stony Point J Campbell 10-Jun-16 Australian Bustard 1 Near Woods Well, Coorong area L Chaplin & B Green

21-May-16 Australian Owlet-nightjar X Fairview CP J Campbell 16-Jul-16 Australian Owlet-nightjar X Fairview CP J Campbell 21-Jul-16 Banded Lapwing 4 Telford Road, Moorak B, T, H & N Haywood

09-May-16 Banded Stilt 1 Sarnia Swamp, Stewarts Range Rd, Naracoorte R Miller 21-May-16 Banded Stilt 43 "Sims", Cape Douglas B Green 22-May-16 Banded Stilt 25 Lake Bonney NW B Green 01-Jun-16 Banded Stilt 80 Pool of Siloam, Beachport W Trudgeon

3-Jun-16 Barking Owl 1(h) Mulligan plantation, Wattle Range BTHaywood 04-Jun-16 Bar-tailed Godwit 2 Stony Point J Campbell 13-Jun-16 Bassian Thrush 1 Lake Edward, Glencoe S Black 10-Jun-16 Beautiful Firetail 3 Pateanbury Track, Coorong NP B Green 31-Jul-16 Beautiful Firetail 1 Mary Seymour CP B Kester

22-May-16 Black Falcon 1 Lake Bonney NW B Green

07-May-16 Black-chinned Honeyeater 3 Tallageira NCR North East corner Ben Kester

14-May-16 Black-chinned Honeyeater X Bangham CP Rob Farnes

19-Jun-16 Black-chinned Honeyeater 8 Eaglehawk Waterhole, Frances B Green & G Young

07-May-16 Blue-billed Duck 1 Pick Swamp J Campbell 20-May-16 Blue-billed Duck 6 Robe Sewage Ponds R Miller 21-May-16 Blue-billed Duck 7 Pick Swamp B Green 30- Jul-16 Blue-billed Duck 10 Robe Treatment Ponds R Miller 07-Aug-16 Blue-billed Duck 113 Hacks Lagoon B Green 17-Jul-16 Blue-faced Honeyeater 2 Northern edge Tallageira Nature Reserve B Kester

30-Jun-16 Blue-winged Parrot 3 Bryton Wood, Moorak BTHaywood 9-Jul-16 Blue-winged Parrot 30 Honeysuckle Flat plantation, Caroline Forest BTHaywood

21-May-16 Brolga 6 Pick Swamp B Green 19-Jun-16 Brolga 5 Cnr Lower Nelson/Earls Cave Rd Gwen Young 06-Jul-16 Brolga X Pasture Strip, Glencoe G Young, H Bawden

7-Jul-16 Brolga 2 Nangwarry Station BTHaywood 7-Jul-16 Brolga 2 Topperwein Native Forest Reserve (TO3) BTHaywood 9-Jul-16 Brolga 3 Pick Swamp, Piccaninnie Ponds area Mt Gambier Area FOPs

13-Jul-16 Brolga 2 Prior's Swamp, Killanoola R Moorhouse 16-Jul-16 Brolga 2 Earls Lane, Wandilo K Smith

07-Aug-16 Brolga 2 Swampy paddock near Meereek FR B Kester & S Illingworth 29-May-16 Cape Petrel A Pelagic off Port MacDonnell B Haywood et al

20-Jul-16 Cattle Egret 4 Cnr Penola Rd/ Wandilo Forest Rd B Green

23-Jul-16 Chestnut-rumped Heathwren 2 Western Tallageira NCR B Kester & S Illingworth

07-Aug-16 Chestnut-rumped Heathwren 2 Glen Roy CP B Green

07-May-16 Diamond Firetail 6 Tallageira NCR North East edge Ben Kester 21-May-16 Double-banded Plover 13 "Sims", Cape Douglas B Green 04-Jun-16 Double-banded Plover 86 French Point J Campbell 18-Jun-16 Double-banded Plover 106 Danger Point J Campbell 18-Jun-16 Double-banded Plover 180 Glenelg River Estuary J Campbell

Birds South East

8 Birds South East

11-Jul-16 Double-banded Plover 65 Port MacDonnell, base of Breakwater B, T, H & N Haywood 20-Jul-16 Double-banded Plover 370 Lake George M Christie et al

21-May-16 Elegant Parrot 1 Millard Rd, Port MacDonnell B Green 09-Jul-16 Fairy Tern 1 Stony Point J Campbell 20-Jul-16 Fairy Tern 118 Lake George M Christie et al 16-Jul-16 Flame Robin 1 Mullinger Swamp CP B Kester & S Illingworth 23-Jul-16 Flame Robin 5 Old Bringalbert Rd S Illingworth & B Kester 30-Jul-16 Flame Robin 3 Naracoorte Cave Visitor Info Centre area Caves staff

02-Aug-16 Flame Robin 2 Benayeo B Kester 29-May-16 Fluttering Shearwater D Pelagic off Port MacDonnell B Haywood et al 20-May-16 Freckled Duck 4 Robe Sewage Ponds R Miller 29-May-16 Grey Petrel 1 Pelagic off Port MacDonnell B Haywood et al 29-May-16 Grey-backed Storm-Petrel A Pelagic off Port MacDonnell B Haywood et al 29-May-16 Grey-headed Albatross B Pelagic off Port MacDonnell B Haywood et al 01-Jun-16 Grey-tailed Tattler 1 Blackfellows Caves M Christie 11-Jul-16 Grey-tailed Tattler 1 Port MacDonnell, base of Breakwater B, T, H & N Haywood 16-Jul-16 Hooded Robin 4+ Fairview CP J Campbell

29-May-16 Intermediate Egret 1 Pick Swamp B Green 09-Jul-16 Intermediate Egret 1 Stony Point J Campbell 09-Jul-16 Little Egret 2 Stony Point J Campbell

07-May-16 Magpie Goose 768 Pick Swamp J Campbell 17-Jul-16 Magpie Goose 54 Mingbool Rd/ Kaladbro Rd E Coscarelli 24-Jul-16 Magpie Goose 100+ Bool Lagoon GR B Kester & S Illingworth 26-Jul-16 Magpie Goose c.1000 Bool Lagoon GR R Moorhouse

29-May-16 Northern Giant-Petrel A Pelagic off Port MacDonnell B Haywood et al 22-May-16 Olive Whistler 1 Canunda NP B Green 22-May-16 Olive Whistler 1 Lake Bonney NW B Green 28-May-16 Osprey 1 Port MacDonnell Don Mount

7-May-16 Painted Button-quail 1 Fuaran Central plantation, Wattle Range BTHaywood 02-Aug-16 Painted Button-quail 3 Tallageira NCR B Kester 18-May-16 Peregrine Falcon 1 Carpenter Rocks Rd. nr Waters/McLeans Rd N & Brenton Dickins 06-Jun-16 Peregrine Falcon 1 cnr Hawkins/ Wireless Rd, Mt Gambier B Green 21-Jun-16 Peregrine Falcon 1 Honeysuckle Native Forest Reserve (HS6) BTHaywood

4-Jul-16 Peregrine Falcon 2 Blue Lake, Mt Gambier BTHaywood 30-Jul-16 Peregrine Falcon 1 Tallageira NCR B Kester 09-Jul-16 Pied Currawong X Eustace St, Mt Gambier C Hlava 30-Jul-16 Pied Currawong A Sheperdson Rd, Mt Gambier BT Haywood

20-May-16 Pink-eared Duck 50+ Robe Sewage Ponds R Miller 23-May-16 Pink-eared Duck c.100 Pool of Siloam, Beachport K Muggleton 01-Jun-16 Pink-eared Duck c.350 Pool of Siloam, Beachport W Trudgeon 04-Jun-16 Pink-eared Duck 5 Stony Point J Campbell 18-Jun-16 Pink-eared Duck 2 Stony Point J Campbell 18-Jun-16 Pink-eared Duck 30 Glenelg River Estuary J Campbell 06-Jul-16 Pink-eared Duck 6 Lake Leake, Glencoe G Young, H Bawden 7-May-16 Purple-gaped Honeyeater 1 Bray Forest, Bray (SE of Robe) BTHaywood

19-Jun-16 Red-capped Robin 1 Eaglehawk Waterhole, Frances B Green & G Young 16-Jul-16 Red-capped Robin 1+ Fairview CP J Campbell

07-May-16 Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo 6 Tallageira NCR South East side Ben Kester

07-May-16 Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo 40 Frith, Frances Cassie Hlava

09-Jul-16 Red-tailed Black- 15 Naracoorte North Nature Park R Moorhouse

Birds South East

Cockatoo

30-Jul-16 Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo 25-30 Tallageira NCR B Kester

12-Sept-16

Red-tailed Black Cockatoo 2 5km West of Naracoorte R Miller

07-Jul-16 Rock Parrot 1(h) Bird Island, Murray Mouth B Green & M Arney 29-May-16 Shy Albatross D Pelagic off Port MacDonnell B Haywood et al

16-Jul-16 Shy Heathwren 6+ Fairview CP J Campbell 29-May-16 Sooty Albatross B Pelagic off Port MacDonnell B Haywood et al 29-May-16 Southern Boobook 1 ACI Road, Wye Bob Green

16-Jul-16 Southern Boobook X Fairview CP J Campbell 10-Jun-16 Southern Emu-wren X Pateanbury Track, Coorong NP B Green 29-Jul-16 Southern Emu-wren 1 Bull Island Cassinia site BTHaywood & K Gilkes 31-Jul-16 Southern Emu-wren 1 Mary Seymour CP B Kester

07-Aug-16 Southern Emu-wren X Tea-tree Boardwalk, Bool Lagoon B Green 29-May-16 Southern Giant-Petrel B Pelagic off Port MacDonnell B Haywood et al 14-May-16 Southern Scrub-robin X Bangham CP Rob Farnes 19-Jun-16 Southern Whiteface C Eaglehawk Waterhole, Frances B Green & G Young

21-May-16 Spotted Nightjar X Fairview CP J Campbell 16-Jul-16 Spotted Nightjar X Fairview CP J Campbell

11-Aug-16 Square-tailed Kite 1 Naracoorte Parklands L Leddy 16-Jul-16 Varied Sitella 6+ Fairview CP J Campbell

29-May-16 Wandering Albatross C Pelagic off Port MacDonnell B Haywood et al 29-May-16 White-browed Albatross D Pelagic off Port MacDonnell B Haywood et al 14-May-16 White-fronted Honeyeater X Bangham CP Rob Farnes 29-May-16 White-fronted Tern 2 Pelagic off Port MacDonnell B Haywood et al 03-Aug-16 White-fronted Tern 36 Port MacDonnell M Christie et al 12-Jun-16 White-winged Chough 20 Elad Rd, Hundred of Spence R Moorhouse 22-Jun-16 White-winged Chough 5 Yahl Hall Rd, Yahl J Davies 17-Jul-16 White-winged Chough 15 Crooked Lane, Bool Lagoon R Moorhouse 25-Jul-16 White-winged Chough c.10 Glencoe Nursery S Black

01-Aug-16 White-winged Chough 10+ Pear Tree Hill pines, Glencoe S Black 19-May-16 Wilson's Storm-Petrel 1 Lake Butler, Robe Ritchie Todd 20-May-16 Wilson's Storm-Petrel 2 Robe Marina R Miller 07-Aug-16 Yellow-billed Spoonbill 7 Between Apsley & Hynam B Kester & S Illingworth 29-May-16 Yellow-nosed Albatross A Pelagic off Port MacDonnell B Haywood et al

Abundance Code: A = 1-3, B = 4-10, C = 11-30, (h) = heard only, (b) = breeding, b/w = beach-washed

Common Name code: ** = subject to SARDS review