Latest News Deniliquin
and district (southern New South Wales) Philip N. Maher Revegetation plots around Deniliquin
Notes from the Beechworth/Chiltern area October 2008
Picture by Marco Lammers, a Dutch birder who lost his Madonna Girlie Show Recent sightings Deniliquin district 24 July 2010: Joel and Fiona Porter kindly took Stuart Rankin and me for a tour of their property at Boorooban today . Best birds were a pair of bush stone-curlews, four flame robins, about four red-cap robins, two fantail cuckoos, a pallid cuckoo, a Horsfield's bronze cuckoo, a couple of western gerygones, a couple of black falcons, a huge flock of white-fronted chats, rufous songlarks singing their heads off, brown songlarks, black-tailed native-hens in full breeding colour, a couple of male chestnut teal and about ten Australasian shovellers. 2 June 2010: Eleven Major Mitchell's cockatoos seen on Zara Station this morning and a pallid cuckoo and four superb parrots on the Zara sandhill. 31 May 2010: There was a white-browed scrubwren in our garden today; while not being a new species for the garden, it marks a rare occurrance this far from the river. 26 May 2010: The two pairs of Major Mitchells seen on the 19th in the Wanganella area were seen again today, pretty much in the same spot. 20 May 2010: Steve Seymour and I had a flock of about a dozen superb parrots fly through the Zara Station sandhill regeneration area while we were working there today. Zara is about half way between the Murray or Murrumbidgee rivers so it is hard to say where these birds have bred. 18 & 19 May 2010: Two pairs of Major Mitchell cockatoos in the Wanganella area; two pallid cuckoos, one in the Wanganella area and the other about four kilometres out the Conargo Road; and on Zara Station, a pair of wedgetail eagles preparing to nest. 16 May 2010: An immature pallid cuckoo in the boree at Union Plain. Also at Union Plain, an olive-backed oriole, which has been around for a week or two, mimicking various species — today, superb parrot. 15 May 2010: Magpie larks have bred very late out at Union Plain with three fledglings seen today; also superb parrots around the farm and about six common bronzewing pigeons. (S Bull) 14 May 2010: About twenty superb parrots at Robert Nevinson's house today. At least three inland dotterels seen by Robert on the 13th and plains-wanderer on the 4th May. 13 May 2010: On investigating a great commotion in the back yard, I found pied currawongs, magpies and little ravens in hot pursuit of a barn owl. 3 May 2010: Three fantail cuckoos in the Deniliquin State Forest (S Rankin). 3 May 2010: Spotted harrier above the homestead on Union Plain (S Bull). 1 May 2010: While walking early this morning, Susan and Neil Bull flushed a boobook owl from an old man saltbush. It flew into the revegetaion plot on the other side of the track. Given that old man saltbush comprises mostly vertical branches and is dense, it is an odd place for a boobook to roost. 30 April 2010 Australasian bittern, flushed out of cumbungi in a dam east of Deniliquin. Also a group of eight and in another spot two white-backed swallows, again east of town. 28 April 2010: About 200 to 300 dusky woodswallows on the edge of Moira Forest, south of Mathoura, this morning feeding on grasshoppers; with them were ten or more black-faced cuckoo-shrikes and one olive-backed oriole. 25 April: A diamond dove was heard calling this morning near the shearing shed on Union Plain. A diamond dove was seen in this locality on 22 February (see entry for that date). 22 April 2010: There is a massive hatching of meadow argus butterflies in the district due to the early March rain and the current unseasonal warm weather. 12 April 2010: Early morning walk through the Deniliquin State Forest didn't produce anything unusual for the site except for a few superb parrots at the back of the golf course; however, it was good to see an array of birds such as chestnut-rumped, buff-rumped, striated and yellow thornbills, western warbler, grey fantail, rufous whistler, grey shrike-thrush, red-capped robin, brown and white-throated treecreepers, white-winged chough and common bronzewing. 9 April 2010: Following the rains, the Wanganella and Monimail plots look great. Monimail had four ground cuckoo-shrikes; heaps of superb parrots and spiny-cheeked honeyeaters feeding babies. The Wanganella plot had six spiny-cheeked honeyeaters, the first I have ever recorded there. 8 April 2010: Just home from our 2010 Central and Northern Thailand tour with side trips to Laos and Northern Borneo (Sabah). In the five weeks we have been away, Deniliquin has had nearly six inches of rain. We have had more rain in the first quarter of 2010 than all of 2009. I called into my Gulpa plot on the way home; plants are growing like crazy and butterflies and moths were everywhere but not one insectivorous bird species to be seen. Looking forward to seeing the Wanganella and Monimail plots tomorrow. 23 February 2010: a sighting of yellow-footed antechinus Antechinus flavipes down at Gulpa Island State Forest this morning with US birder Stefan Williams. These cute little mammals were commonly recorded in the redgum forests before the drought; it is at least two years since I have seen one. We got the usual array of species — pair of Gilbert's whistlers looking for a nest site; immature painted honeyeater and so on but not superb parrots. Stefan was mainly chasing families: we saw emu, white-fronted chat, apostlebird/white-winged chough, and the pair of plains-wanderers seen on the last two outings. 22 February 2010: a single diamond dove feeding on the roadside at Union Plain; the first seen probably anywhere in the district for about two years. Susan Bull 21 February 2010: a hot windy day not conducive to good birding. UK birders Keith and Julie Ellis and I didn't do too badly given the conditions. We managed to get, among other species, about forty superb parrots, three Australasian bitterns, a painted honeyeater, a black falcon, two inland dotterels and three plains-wanderers — a female durng the day and a mating pair after dark. The day finished with rain falling on the plains. 21 February 2010: a white-fronted honeyeater has been in the Eremophila alternifolia in our garden on and off for two months. 16 February 2010: Major Mitchell's cockatoos were calling near the Monimail revegetation site today. This would be the most southern point I have recorded Major Mitchell's in this district. 15 February 2010: We jetted in from the SW Western Australia and Christmas Island tours on the 13th and hit the ground running, racing into the CBD to collect David Wilcove, Professor of Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Public Affairs at Princeton University, and heading to Deniliquin. We did well over the next two days getting five plains-wanderers (two mating pairs and a single male), one little button-quail, two inland dotterels, four orange chats, one black falcon, ten superb parrots, three immature painted honeyeaters, two Australasian bitterns, pair of Gilbert's whistlers, pair of crested shrike-tits with a juvenile, a hobby, a juvenile collared sparrowhawk and a bunch of fat-tailed dunnarts, among other species. 15 February 2010: Susan and Neil Bull, Union Plain, have had, up until today, a dollarbird in their garden for the past two weeks. 25 January 2010: An outing earlier this month, only three days after a successful plains-wanderer weekend, produced no plains-wanderers so last night Robert and his three children, his father John, friends from town, Tom and Stuart, and I had a look in one of the paddocks that was good for wanderers earlier in the season but then vacated. We got four male plains-wanderers — at least two were juveniles (one was on the wing so we didn't get a decent look at it) and the other was an adult. There were 20+ white-browed woodswallows up at Boorooban earlier in the evening. While at Boorooban I collected some sugarwood Myoporum platycarpum, quandong Santalum acuminatum and rosewood Alectryon oleifolium (formerly Helerodendrum oleifolium) seeds. Rosewood is a lovely shaped tree that attracts various mistletoe spp., particularly harlequin and fleshy mistletoes. The mistletoes attract small insectivorous birds while ringnecks and bluebonnets relish the rosewood seeds. Rosewood has a very low germination rate but it is well worth growing. 21 January 2010: six plumed whistling-ducks in the front paddock of Union Plain. Susan Bull 2 & 3 January 210 Plains-wanderer Weekend — best birds on Saturday morning were Australasian bittern, pair of brolga, many painted honeyeaters including the nesting pair seen on the last plains-wanderer weekend, now with young; and five ground cuckoo-shrikes, east of town. A narrow-winged pearl-white was a new butterfly for Philip. In the afternoon we saw about thirty superb parrots, a pair of black falcons pirating food, orange chats, the pair of ground cuckoo-shrikes with juvenile, the adults first observed building a nest on 14 October; pair of inland dotterels, a mating pair of plains-wanderers, four little button-quails, two stubble quails, two barn owls and two boobook owls. Sunday morning's best birds were a pair of Gilbert's whistlers, crested shriketit, about three diamond firetails and azure kingfisher. Total number of bird species for the weekend was 136 seen and four heard. Deniliquin experienced a violent thunderstorm on Friday night. (While some people's guttering overflowed, ours simply fell off). Temperatures for the weekend were mild with cool southerly winds. 15 & 16 December 2009: white-fronted honeyeater in our garden in an Eremophila longifolia. Last seen March this year in the same eremophila. 12 & 13 December 2009 Plains-wanderer Weekend. Saturday's best birds: eight plains-wanderers — one mating pair, four other females and two other males; Australian painted snipe, little bittern and little button-quail. Best Sunday morning bird painted honeyeater on a nest, three birds (female on nest and two males) seen, likely there are two pairs. Eighteen plumed whistling-ducks seen, the first recorded since 2006. 143 species seen, one heard. The weather was perfect, around 28 degrees C both days and little wind. A very satisfying weekend!
9 December 2009 evening reconnaissance for this weekend's Plains-wanderer Weekend. On the way we checked out the little bittern R. Nevinson heard Sunday afternnonon along the Billabong at Wanganella; I heard it but didn't wade in looking for it. Incidentally, S. Rankin saw a little bittern by the Edward River last week in the Deniliquin State Forest. Out on the plains we got three pairs of Australian pratincoles, one of which had a half-grown young (it may have had another but I didn't see it); a pair of orange chats, a pair of inland dotterels, an owlet nightjar, three to four stubble quails, a little button-quail and one female plains-wanderer — the same bird that crossed J. Nevinson's path in daylight last week. The ground cuckoo-shrike chick is now out of the nest but still in the same tree. 6 & 7 December 2009 Plains-wanderer Weekend: 141 species seen, two heard Best birds — square-tailed kite, one female plains-wanderer, two pairs of black falcons, a lovely adult spotted harrier, stubble quail, an Australasian bittern seen in two rice crops, a pair of brolgas building a nest in a rice crop, a pair of inland dotterels with four full-grown young, several pairs of superb parrots with flying young, north and east of town; pair of southern boobooks spotlighted, three barn owls, one of which was flushed in the daytime; a dollarbird in blackbox at Boorooban, a pair of ground cuckoo-shrikes (this pair, which was first observed on 2 October and seen building a nest on 14 October, has one almost fulll-fledged young). Good weather with little wind and a top temperature for the weekend of 28 C (82 F) on Sunday. 4 & 5 December 2009: a pair of ground cuckoo-shrikes with two chicks at the Monimail, north of Pretty Pine. 28 & 29 November 2009 Plains-wanderer Weekend: two separate juvenile plains-wanderers (a male and a female) and an adult male. 144 species seen, four heard Best birds: a pair of Major Mitchell's cockatoo, inland dotterels with three clutches of half-grown young, a pair of freckled duck, Australasian bittern, Australian pratincole, pair of peregrine falcons and three black falcons, a pair and a single — two of thirteen species of raptor seen, red-backed kingfisher, superb parrots and at least fifteen black honeyeaters. 22 November 2009. Colin, Ros and I have gone over to the mallee but before we left this morning, we got a pair of brolga to the east of Deniliquin. 21 November 2009 outing with two Brits, Colin and Ros. With glorious rain falling on the plains we got three plains-wanderers, a female and male juvenile, of which one (the male), was the same bird Tony, Stella and I saw on 19 November. The third plains-wanderer was an adult female that was calling. We also got two juvenile little button-quails, a pair of Australian pratincoles with a baby, an inland dotterel with half-grown young. Mammals included six fat-tailed dunnarts, and reptilia, two curl snakes Suta suta. During the day we saw two spotted harriers, two Major Mitchell's cockatoos feeding on native cypress seeds, fifteen mallee ringnecks, also feeding on native cypress seeds, little eagle in Deniliquin, two black honeyeaters feeding on eremophila in the revegetation plot at Gulpa Island SF, lots of flying juvenile superb parrots, and the usual Gulpa species: Gilbert's whistler, crested shrike-tit, diamond firetail ... 19 November 2009 outing with two Brits,Tony and Stella. We found two young plains-wanderers, a male and a female, between two and three months old, proving me wrong that there has not been any early breeding success this season. We also saw about ten inland dotterels including adults with three-quarter grown young; about ten Australian pratincoles, some on nests; orange chats and stubble quail and black and striped honeyeaters. The Major Mitchell's cockatoo young are set to fly any time, The ground cuckoo-shrikes' young are still quite small and will be there for a while yet. Down in Gulpa Island SF I found another pair of Gilbert's whistlers, making three pairs of which I'm aware. Superb parrots now have a lot of young out of the nest. East of town we got a spotted crake and Australasian bittern, my first A. bittern since early October. 14 & 15 November 2009: Plains-wanderer Weekend, five plains-wanderers: two females and three males. 138 species seen and two heard. The first Plains-wanderer Weekend of the season kicked off with a few surprises. Woodswallows, for instance, had been moving about in big numbers but most had departed the district and we would not have expected them to return unless we saw some decent rain. So we were taken aback to find large numbers of mainly white-browed either building nests or searching for nest sites in Gulpa Island SF. If they continue to nest, it will be one of the largest breeding events in the district for many years. Tagging along with them was a single crimson chat, my second record for the river redgum forest — ever. There are a lot of caterpillars in the forest at the moment, which may have attracted the woodswallows. A thunderstorm dumped 25 mm of rain on a strip of the plains about three weeks ago which appears to have prompted a hatching of a veritable plague of small flying insects (Rutherglen bugs). These highly annoying insects made searching for plains-wanderers somewhat trying. They would get in your eyes, ears, nose, down your shirt and up your pants. These irritations were but a small price to pay for the positive effect they had on plains-wanderers as we are suddenly seeing more of them, and more importantly, it seems to have prompted some breeding events. On our reconnaissance for this Plains-wanderer Weekend (see below) we found a nest with three eggs and on Saturday night we came upon a mating pair in the general vicinity of that nest. Earlier breeding attempts appear not to have been successful. The mercury got to around the 100 F mark on both days. 11 November 2009: Robert, John, Steve Seymour and I reconnoitred tonight for the upcoming Plains-wanderer Weekend in the midst of a lightning storm and a few drops of rain. We ended the night with six plains-wanderers — four males and two females. Two of the males and a female were close together and one of those males came off a nest with three eggs under a creeping saltbush. Robert found an inland dotterel with three little chicks in the vicinity of the plains-wanderer with eggs, and a pratincole on a nest. He also found an eastern hooded scaly-foot Pygopus schraderi on his doorstep when he returned home. 9 November 2009: An all day excursion wtih VENT. This morning produced, among the usual species we have been getting in Gulpa Island SF, black-eared cuckoo and shining bronze-cuckoo. To the east of Deniliquin we got glossy ibis, sharp-tailed sandpiper and red-kneed dotterel. It was all going so well in the afternoon with the ground cuckoo-shrikes, orange chats, inland dotterels, pratincoles, banded lapwings, black falcon and spotted harrier — up until the point when we failed to find a plains-wanderer. 7 November 2009: All day excursion for three Finnish birders. Morning: nothing that we haven't regularly recorded of late, except an olive-backed oriole calling in Gulpa Island SF and about ten royal spoonbils east of Deniliquin. Thirty to forty superb parrots observed feeding in a wheat crop. The afternoon and evening expedition reaped a ground cuckoo-shrike feeding babies, pair of Australian pratincoles, owlet nightjar (eventually), Major Mitchell's cockatoo, two little button-quail, spotted harrier, inland dotterel, orange chat and a female plains-wanderer called up at dusk; and a fat-tailed dunnart. 7 November 2009: White-fronted honeyeater seen by J Nevinson north of Wanganella, the first for 12 months or so. 6 November 2009: Black honeyeater seen flying from the Union Plain front revegetation plot; it probably had been feeding on flowering mistletoe. Quite a few black honeyeaters about but rewarding to see one in one of our revegetation areas. 2 November 2009: An all day excursion for Mark Harper from Surfbirder (UK), two of his friends, and David Batzler from the States: Notable birds in the morning were superb parrot, Gilbert's whistler, diamond firetail, little eagle, white-browed babbler, crested shriketit, Baillon's crake, black honeyeater and striped honeyeater. In the afternoon, among other species, we got Major Mitchell cockatoo, owlet nightjar, orange chat, spotted harrier, banded lapwing, inland dotterel, Australian pratincole and the ground cuckoo-shrikes, which have produced, presumedly, two babies. The tawny frogmouths have also produced two babies, the first successful breeding for at least eight years on the plains-wanderer property. Spotlighting resulted in a female plains-wanderer, about ten stubble quail and one little button-quail. 31 October 2009: Robert led a group from Tropical Birding out on the plains in the evening. They got, among other birds, ground cuckoo-shrike, orange chat, Australian pratincole, inland dotterel, budgerigar, black falcon and spotted 27 October 2009: part of an eight-day tour with Josep del Hoyo, the editior of The Handbook of the Birds of the World and founder of the Internet Bird Collection, and Alejandro Sánchez, Chief Executive of the Spanish Ornithological Society. Both Josep and Alejandro are Spanish members of the Global Council of Birdlife International. The species they saw around Deniliquin included two female plains-wanderers, little button-quail, stubble quail, orange chat, inland dotterel, Australian pratincole, black falcon, spotted harrier, little eagle, Baillon's and spotted crakes, superb parrot, Gilbert's whistler, diamond firetail, crested shriketit, hooded robin, red-kneed dotterel, red-necked avocet and the previously mentioned nesting ground cuckoo-shrikes. 22 October 2009: female plains-wanderer seen in the daylight; pratincoles are back. 18 October 2009. Again with Carole and Dave, a quick trip over to some closeby mallee: one malleefowl, about thirty regent parrotsincluding flying young, chestnut quail-thrush. 17 October 2009 excursion with two Brits, Carole and Dave. Called in the cavalry, aka John and Robert, last night after the fiasco of my last outing. We got a plains-wanderer in under an hour, two little button-quails, turned up the inland dotterels in the afternoon, ground cuckoo-shrike still sitting tight on its nest, four black falcons for the day, influx of budgerigars in three different places, south, east and north of town; and very large group of chestnut-crowned babblers. Surprise sighting of a blue-winged parrot in the sandhill area in Gulpa Island State Forest in the morning; not my first for the Gulpa area but we haven't recorded one there for many years. 15 October 2009 excursion with two Americans, John and Karen. Morning: square-tailed kite again, one red-necked avocet, five red-necked stints. Evening: big dip on plains-wanderers and inland dotterels! Did get ground cuckoo-shrike on nest, black falcons, crimson chats ... not a great night. 14 October 2009 (morning) Braving terrible weather a Birdquest group was rewarded with an Australian painted snipe, the first I have seen in the Deniliquin district for about sixteen years. Evening: the usual suspects including three plains-wanderers (two males and a female); a pair of ground cuckoo-shrikes building a nest north of Wanganella; a separate group seen by R. Nevinson; three black falcons, six crimson chats; the little button-quails seem to have moved on. 13 October 2009 a quick trip for Rita and John Squires, ex Cassowary House, reaped a mating pair of plains-wanderers. 7 & 8 October 2009 excursion for eight Swedish guys. Best birds: stubble quail, spotted harrier, two black falcons, Australian spotted crake, little button-quail, two female plains-wanderers, fifteen inland dotterel, Major Mitchell cockatoo, twenty superb parrots, ten budgerigars, Horsfield's bronze-cuckoo, Australian owlet-nightjar, white-winged fairy-wren, orange chat, Gilbert's whistler, and two white-bellied cuckoo-shrikes — the first I have seen in Gulpa Island State Forest since about 2001. 2, 3 & 4 October 2009 Sunbird (UK) annual outing. Best birds: square-tailed kite, two Australasian bitterns, twenty inland dotterels, six black honeyeaters, three ground cuckoo-shrikes (one in one locality and two in another), one female plains-wanderer, one pied honeyeater feeding in Eremophila bignoniflora in Robert's garden. 1 October 2009 excursion for three overseas birders. Best birds: female plains-wanderer, inland dotterel with chicks, little buttonquail, first pratincole of the season and a pair of crimson chats. Earlier in the day we got the freckled duck seen on the 30th September. Between 29 September and 3 October 2009, there was a sizable movement of red-backed kingfishers through the district, with about eight birds seen in that timeframe. 29 & 30 September 2009 excursion for two Brits, Martin and Ann. Among the notable were one female plains-wanderer; about ten inland dotterels, some juveniles; several black honeyeaters including a first record for my plot at Gulpa Island; two late-leaving flame robins; superb parrots feeding on ruby saltbush berries; masses of white-winged trillers; rainbow bee-eaters; crimson and orange chats; Major Mitchell's breeding; hundreds of masked and white-browed woodwallows with budgerigars; black falcon; two Gilberts whistlers, owlet nightjar and a freckled duck on the 30th, the first for two years. 9 September 2009: an adult grey falcon seen perched in a belah tree between Hay and Hillston (Riverina, NSW); day 2, Strzelecki Track Outback tour. 14 July 2009: Robert and I checked out the plains-wanderer situation tonight, having not been out since early March. After a slow start, and with gentle rain falling, we got a pair. We saw lots of stubble quail and fat-tailed dunnarts, and a couple of singing bushlarks and brown songlarks, some pipits and a barn owl. We didn't look for inland dotterel or banded lapwing but Robert has seen them about. 9 March 2009: white-fronted honeyeater still in our garden feeding on the Eremophila longifolia. 9 March 2009: again with the Norwegians — best birds, boobook owl, varied sittella, immature brown goshawk and little eagle, which is particularly interesting to Jan who has studied New Guinea's little eagle and Australia's little eagle and is proposing the species be split. Late afternoon we got two Australasian bitterns in a rice crop, two pairs of brolga, one pair in a rice crop and the other in a large dam; a magpie goose in the same dam; two black falcons, one in town and the other east of town; and a flock of about 200 cockatiels.
8 March 2009 evening: The four Norwegian birders who were on the Tasmanian bird and mammal tour arrived in town for some inland birding. They did well with a male plains-wanderer, stubble quail, little button-quail, owlet-nightjar, inland dotterel and banded lapwing among others; also fat-tailed dunnart.
18 February 2009: white-fronted honeyeater in our garden feeding on the Eremophila longifolia. 18 February 2009: group of varied sittellas seen in the Deniliquin State Forest early this morning. 14 February 2009: The luck of the Irish was not with us tonight. No plains-wanderers were found on an impromptu plains-wanderer excursion for two Irish birders. Given the extreme heat conditions in the last week of January and first eight days of February, it is surprising that any birds are out on the Hay plains at all. We got about five stubble quail; little button-quail - a couple of adults and three juveniles; about ten inland dotterels, two brown songlarks; singing bushlark; pipits; about forty banded lapwings; and three superb parrots back in the boree country. Also on the plains, about a dozen fat-tailed dunnarts, three with pouched young. 8 February 2009: black honeyeater still in our garden 2 — 4 February 2009. A small group of varied sittellas feeding in the same regums and black box for the last three mornings in the Deniliquin State Forest. This species, like many other woodland birds, is declining in the district. 2 February 2009. Two juvenile black honeyeaters in our Deniliquin garden feeding on the Eremophila longifolia. 18 January 2009. One or two black honeyeaters at Wanganella sandhill revegetation plot feeding on Eremophila longifolia. The first record for this species in a planted E. longifolia in the plot. A stencilled hairstreak butterfly at the Monimail revegetaion plot feeding on quandong flowers. Also a crested tooth-grinder grasshopper at the Monimail revegetation plot.
15 January 2009. We found a freshly dead sugar glider on the road in the Deniliquin State Forest early this morning. No injuries were evident. It may have perished with yesterday's extreme and prolonged heat. The mercury reached 38.4 degrees C (101 F) by 11 am, maxed at 43.5 C (110 F) and was still loitering at 40 C (104 F) at 8 pm.
11 January 2009, owlet nightjar at Union Plain, heard and then seen in a black box Eucalyptus largiflorens, mid-afternoon, about 40 metres from Susan and Neil's house. The tawny frogmouths first seen with eggs on 26 November have successfullly fledged young (see 26 November entry).
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31 December 2008, personal tour, best birds: diamond dove, my first record in this district this season; seen in sandhill country east of Deniliquin. Baillon's & spotted crakes, two pairs of Australasian bitterns in rice crops, little bittern calling in North Deniliquin, Major Mitchell cockatoo, black falcon, about 20 superb parrots (adults and juveniles on the move), owlet nightjar, Australian pratincole, inland dotterel, male plains-wanderer, little buttonquail, stubble quail. The plains-wanderer was the 400th Australian bird for Mary, one of our British clients — got at one minute to midnight. We closed 2008 with a 100% success rate with our flagship species.
23 December 2008 personal tour, female plains-wanderer seen in less than five minutes; same female that it took several hours to find on the last plains-wanderer weekend.
20 & 21 December 2008 plains-wanderer weekend: best bird, a pair of plains-wanderers seen after Robert and I had gven up on them. After months of being relatively easy, they presented a challenge on Saturday night. The pair was found in an adjacent paddock when we were homeward bound. Took the cockiness right out of Robert and me! Other good sightings were inland dotterels, two on nests; several pairs of little buttonquail; orange chats; two black falcons, one catching grasshoppers; little bittern; a pair of Australasian bitterns mating; and a leaden flycatcher. Total number of bird species seen: 138 and 3 heard.
6 & 7 December 2008 plains-wanderer weekend: best birds, female plains-wanderer, little buttonquail, Australasian bittern, orange chat, Australian pratincole with two young in 'nest'. Total number of bird species seen on the plains-wanderer weekend, 130 and 1 heard. Also the common but hard to find legless lizard, Delma inornata.
4 December, oriental plover, feeding with Australian pratincoles
on the plains north of Wanganella; my first record for the Riverina. (Last seen on this property by J. Nevinson around 1990). Also seen: two pairs of plains-wanderers and little buttonquail.
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oriental plover 4 December 2008 |
oriental plover with Australian pratincole |
3 December, five ground cuckoo-shrikes, north of Wanganella — only stayed one day (R Nevinson).
30 November 2008, Plains-wanderer Weekend: best birds Sunday morning: little bittern, two Australasian bitterns, Baillon's crake, black honeyeater. Total number of bird species seen on the plains-wanderer weekend, 137 and 6 heard.
29 November 2008, Plains-wanderer Weekend: best bird Saturday evening: two male plains-wanderers, one with four eggs.
29 November 2008, Plains-wanderer Weekend: best bird Saturday morning, square-tailed kite in Gulpa Island State Forest, no doubt attracted to the hundreds of white-browed woodswallows starting to nest there. First square-tailed kite for a plains-wanderer weekend. Also, about 50 adults and flying young superb parrots. These young, the first for the season, are out of the nest a good week earlier than normal.
26 November 2008: found a tawny frogmouth nesting in an Acacia salicina over a small dam on 'Union Plain'* . The nest is constructed with twigs of the introduced weeping willow Salix x sepulcralis, which is close by. While there have been five nests found around town this year, this 'Union Plain' frogmouth breeding record is the first for that property for about eight years.
19 November 2008: a little button-quail in the Wanganella sandhill TSR revegetation plot, Hay Road.
16 November 2008: white-fronted honeyeater in our garden in the Eremophila longifolia.
16 November 2008 best Sunday morning sightings of plains-wanderer weekend: two Australasian bitterns, superb parrots in town, two brolgas east of town, black honeyeater, pair of little eagles with young on nest, light phase and dark phase birds. Total number for the plains-wanderer weekend: 136 species and three heard.
15 November best evening sightings of plains-wanderer weekend: one male and one female plains-wanderer, one little button-quail, pair of stubble-quail, 100+ inland dotterels, (another 100 in another paddock seen by J Nevinson), fat-tailed dunnart, (total Saturday count: 118 species seen + 5 heard ).
15 November best Saturday afternoon birds of plains-wanderer weekend: gull-billed tern, owlet-nightjar (saw one, heard two others), two black falcons.
15 November best bird Saturday morning of plains-wanderer weekend: wood sandpiper on drainage water, near sewage works.
13 November 2008, plains-wanderer excursion: a pair of plains-wanderers, and one other female; a little button-quail, a stubble quail and 56+ inland dotterel. One to two pairs of crimson chats recorded at Boorooban, the first since November 2005.
13 November 2008, brown honeyeater, first record for the Deniliquin district, feeding in the same Eremophila longifolia clump as the black honeyeater on 5 November; black honeyeater is still there.
13 November 2008, Australasian bittern, east of Deniliquin; same locality as 10 November bittern, different bird.
10 November 2008, Australasian bittern, east of Deniliquin
9 November 2008, on the plains north of Wanganella: one female and two male plains-wanderers, still large numbers of inland dotterel, about 10 pairs of Australian pratincole, and stubble quails have returned.
8 November 2008, a little button-quail in the Monimail TSR revegetation plot, Hay Road.
8 November 2008, a group of 15 superb parrots feeding on a Dodonaea viscosa subsp. cuneata in the Gulpa Island SF revegetation plot, about 12 kilometres south of Deniliquin.
8 November 2008, a pair of brolga flying west, roughly 20 kilometres south of Mathoura, Moira channel area (Susan & Neil Bull); another pair of brolga seen 5 November, about 30 kilometres south-east of Deniliquin.
5 November 2008, an adult male black honeyeater in flowering Eremophila longifolia east of Deniliquin.
1 November 2008, amethyst hairstreak (butterfly), many on Senna artemisioides at Wanganella.
November — October 2008, inland dotterel, 60+ present in large group on plains north of Wanganella.
November, October and late September 2008, Australian pratincole, sporadic sightings on the plains north of Wanganella from late September and through October; about four pairs in early November looked like they had settled in.
November — October, plains-wanderers, two mating pairs were seen in late October but there is no evidence of a successful breeding event so far this season. Plains-wanderers have been seen throughout 2008. There have been about forty plains-wanderer excursions for the year, rendering a 100% success rate in locating this species in very forlorn circumstances, i.e., drought.
24 — 29 October 2008, two budgerigars and a large flock of mostly white-browed woodswallows on 28 & 29 October. Both species seen in Eremophila bignonflora at 'Union Plain', my sister and brother-in-law's farm, north of Deniliquin on 29 October (Susan Bull).
3 October 2008, magpie goose, five birds resident on irrigation storage dam (bore water) east of Deniliquin. Also three birds attempting to nest at Corowa STW in October (Steve Seymore).
October 2008, two adult male red-backed kingfishers attempting to set up breeding territories at old gravel pits but both seemingly had moved on by early November.
November — October, a few spotted crakes seen at two localities. Little surface water remains in the district.
October 2008, only one pair of spotless crakes left in the district.
Late October, a few pairs of rainbow bee-eaters have turned up at six localities, about a month later than what is considered normal. This is more than last season and the most seen in the district since a cold snap on 2 & 3 February 2005 all but wiped this species out. Since that time, few, if any, have bred successfully south of Booroorban.
Early November — October 2008, large flocks of woodswallows, mostly masked but some white-browed, were in a black box Eucalyptus largiflorens at Boorooban in October but only a few pairs nested and were feeding young in early November. Other flocks were seen in Gulpa Island State Forest in October but have not settled. Also a large flock seen late October at Union Plain, feeding in Eremophila bignonflora (as mentioned above).
23 October 2008, a pair of crested shrike-tit at a nest in a river redgum Eucalyptus camaldulensis over the Edward River in Gulpa Island State Forest. Now scarce in redgum forests.
October 2008, at least two pairs of Gilbert's whistler attempting to nest in Gulpa Island State Forest.
October 2008, at least three groups of hooded robin nesting in Gulpa Island State Forest.
October 2008, white-winged trillers are moderately common in Gulpa Island State Forest in October but no confirmed breeding to date. Possibly some have moved on; scarce elsewhere in district.
October 2008, a few pairs and small flocks of cockatiels, mainly south and east of town. There were some breeding attempts in river redgums in town and in a clump of yellow box Eucalyptus melliodora south of town.
Early November — October 2008, up to sixty superb parrots, mainly males, feeding in a canola crop south of Deniliquin. A few pairs are attempting to breed in redgums in the town area, as they have done in recent years. Breeding is now more dispersed than formerly due to the drought.
4 & 5 October 2008, two single black falcons near Deniliquin; one bird at Boorooban on
19 October.
October 2008, a few pairs of orange chat in cottonbush country north of Wanganella.
1 October 2008, an adult Australasian bittern.
October 2008, a pair of diamond firetail nesting in the Tuppal Reserve in a black box. The nest was decorated with yellow buttons Chrysocephalum apiculatum and white paper daisy Rhodanthe corymbiflora.
30 September 2008, an adult inland dotterel with three small chicks north of Wanganella and another with one small chick on 2 September 2008.
* Union Plain, a cropping and grazing farm 19 kilometres north of Deniliquin, belongs to Neil and Susan Bull. Neil, Susan and I have been revegetating parts of the property over the last 20 years or so.
 |
| 6 December 2008 plains country at sunset |
Deniliquin's total rainfall in 2008 was 326 mm; uncannily, 2007's total rainfall was also 326 mm (12.8 inches). The long term average for Deniliquin is 404 mm (15.9 inches). Almost forty-one percent of 2008's rain fell in November and December.
The plains north of Wanganella received varying amounts of rainfall. One of the properties where we look for plains-wanderers received 229 mm of rain in 2008 and 250 mm in 2007; that property's long term average is 304 mm (12 inches).
———————————
February 2007 — February 2008
Ratites
Emu: Despite the drought a few emus managed to breed out on the plains and in the river redgum forest. The year’s first young (8) was seen on the plains on 31 August. Only a few per clutch seemed to make it through the summer.
Quail
Winter’s usual influx of stubble quail out on the plains became scarcer in the spring when that season’s rains failed. There was a small influx in January and February after some patchy thunderstorms in November and December. No breeding was recorded.
Waterbirds
Mostly waterbirds were a non-event with little surface water about the district. Forest Creek at Wanganella has been dry for 12 months and we have lost that resource for the conceivable future. The only water left in the district was a few ponds about town, irrigation channels (filled for domestic and stock purposes, not irrigation), a few storage dams of bore water, a couple of rice crops irrigated with bore water, and a few ground water pits, which are dropping rapidly. Most of what waterbirds there were left the district after the big Queensland rains flooded some of the Darling and Bulloo river systems.
Ducks
Single freckled ducks were seen about the town and east of town in October and early December, with none seen since the SW Queensland flooding event. What grey teals and hardheads there were, left in December/January. Pink-eared ducks were scarce this summer with most leaving the district in November, earlier than the other ducks. Just a few shovellers were seen at the sewage treatment works in December.
Magpie Goose
Up to five on a storage dam east of Deniliquin in November and December – provenance unknown.
Grebe
Most hoary-headed grebes left the district in December and January.
Darter and cormorants
A few darters were about in early December with six seen on a storage dam. A pair bred successfully on the Edward River in Deniliquin, which is the first breeding record (of which I’m aware) for the town area and illustrates the desperation of this species to breed. Formerly, they would only have bred in colonies in large riverine wetlands with other waterbirds. Most cormorants had departed the district by late December.
Pelican
A few pelicans remain in the district feeding in drying out canals and occasionally a few still scavenge at the rubbish tip.
Egrets and herons
Just a scattering of great egrets and white-necked herons about in the spring and early summer. The last group of white-necked herons was seen migrating north on 16 December, presumably heading for the Paroo and other flooding rivers in northern NSW and south-west Queensland. There was only one intermediate egret seen for the year (25 November 2007).
Bitterns
Incredibly, little bitterns turned up at a small cumbungi-lined drainage lagoon in North Deniliquin in late November 2007. Up to six birds were seen on the 2 December Plains-wanderer Weekend when a couple of males were heard calling. They were obviously keen to breed but this is unlikely to have occurred as they disappeared late December/early January, probably heading to better conditions up north. Australasian bitterns have been quite scarce all of spring/summer with just a few turning up in the irrigation area east of Deniliquin. The first was seen 24 November in one of the district’s few rice crops. Up to six birds were seen in this crop on the16 December Plains-wanderer Weekend and a few birds were seen at this locality for the rest of the summer.
Ibis and spoonbill
A few small flocks of glossy ibises were seen in spring and early summer with the last group seen on 2 December. Undoubtedly they moved north to breed, as did virtually all the straw-necked and white ibis and royal spoonbill, in December and January.
Raptors
Just a few black-shouldered kite seen over summer. Black kite were scattered through the district and built up to hundreds at the Deniliquin tip towards the end of summer. Whistling kites were also scattered about the irrigation country and river in low numbers. A few white-breasted sea-eagles are present along the river, with a pair seen about town on several occasions by D. Seymour.
Swamp harrier numbers were well down. A couple were still around the Wanganella swamp over summer even though the swamp is dry. For several months they flew over the dry beds of cumbungi, so they must have been finding something to eat. I guess they have been hunting there for so long they don’t want to leave. Several pairs have nested there annually.
Wedge-tail eagles remain common throughout the district although I don’t think many young were raised this year. Little eagles are uncommon; a pair of light and dark morph are still breeding in the middle of town and raised one young. This is the only pair seen with any regularity. A few black falcons are still seen occasionally on the plains but are now more likely to be seen in the irrigation country or around town. In the spring and summer they were sometimes seen following farm machinery cutting hay or harvesting crops east of town. One or two birds hang around the Deniliquin tip taking food from the black kites and ravens.
Seemingly, peregrine falcons are having trouble finding prey along the river as they are now scattered around the district well away from the river where they usually reside. A pair frequented the rice meal in December preying on the nearby flock of grey teal until the teal departed after the Queensland rains.
Brolga
Just a single pair was seen over summer on a rice crop east of town. Quite a bit of displaying was taking place; however, breeding did not occur, presumably a rice crop is not an ideal breeding habitat for them.
Crakes
Baillon’s crakes started to turn up on small cumbungi-lined ponds about the town on 8 September 2007. They were present in low numbers at a couple of localities from that date until 1 January 2008, when it is likely they also moved north. A few spotted crake were present over spring/summer at ponds that still held water. Their presence in early January 2008 was surprising as I expected them to depart much earlier, along with the black-tailed native hens and red-kneed dotterels; they all breed in the same habitat, i.e., lignum and canegrass swamps. This type of habitat had flooded in northern NSW. Spotless crakes are barely hanging on in the district with the demise of the Wanganella swamps and the drying out of the once permanent groundwater gravel pits in the irrigation country. No buff-banded rails were seen this summer.
Small groups of black-tailed native-hen were present in spring. They departed around 2 December with the aforementioned flooding up north. None had returned to the district by the end of summer.
Button-quail
Little button-quails were seen in very low numbers on the plains in spring/summer. The first was seen on 7 September 07, then one on 19 October 07, none in November, and then one or two turned up on 15 December 07 in a locality that was subject to thunderstorms in November and December. They were only seen a couple of times and to my knowledge, didn't breed.
No red-chested button-quails were seen all year and it is now quite a few years since they have been recorded.
No painted button-quail have been seen this year. Due to the dryness there was no breeding, therefore no calling. There were a few scratchings seen along Gulpa Creek.
Waders
Plains-wanderers are still hanging in there although they have disappeared from most of their regular haunts, which have been bare now for two years. There has not been enough rain in that period to grow the couple of inches of herbage they need. Fortunately, an area of the property received a little more rain and a few plains-wanderers have moved there and have been breeding with some success. A mating pair was recorded on 30 September 07. Immatures were seen on 26 October 07 and on 24 November 07; whether these bred locally is not known.
They bred with more success after thunderstorm rain in November/December 07. An adult male with two well-grown juveniles were seen on 1 December 07. Mating pairs were seen on 15 and 22 December 07 and on 1 January 08. Another immature was seen on 29 December 07 and then an adult male with four chicks on 8 February 08. So they definitely finished the summer off in better shape than they started it.
A single little curlew was reported by D. Webb in November 07 at Tullakool Evaporative Basin (TEB). A couple of wood sandpipers were also present at Tullakool for most of the summer. There were low numbers of sharp-tailed sandpipers, marsh sandpipers, curlew sandpipers, greenshanks and red-necked stints. Five banded stilts were present on 7 February 08, the first recorded for some time. All red-necked avocets departed Tullakool this summer, which would suggest they were heading north to breed.
Inland dotterels have been about in reasonable numbers. The first one for the season was seen 30 September 07 and with up to six seen through October. Towards the end of November, the numbers increased to about 12 birds, then up to 18 by mid December. On 22 December, 14 birds were recorded with at least one on a nest with two eggs. They left their regular haunts towards the end of summer as it became desolate and started turning up about 15 kilometres away where we had not recorded them previously.
Banded lapwings were about in reasonable numbers with over 100 seen on 29 September 07. However, their numbers fluctuated greatly. A small group with immatures was recorded on a property south-east of Deniliquin — it is now an unusual occurrence to see them east of town.
A few red-kneed dotterels were about in the spring and early summer on ponds about town. Most had departed by mid December, after the Queensland rains. None had returned by the end of February 08.
Terns
A single Caspian tern was recorded on 19 October 07 on a storage dam east of Deniliquin, the furthermost east I have recorded this species. This bird then turned up at the Deniliquin STW a few days later.
Australian pratincoles started coming in towards the end of September 07. The first nest was seen on 19 October, with another two nests seen on 25 October 07; another pair already had juvenile young on 24 October. In another paddock a pair with large juveniles was seen on 13 December 07. They departed early, probably hastened by the big rains up north and dry conditions locally. The last bird was seen on 15 December 07.
Doves
What must be a first, not one diamond dove in the district this past spring and summer.
Cockatoos and parrots
Major Mitchell's have been hard to find with just two pairs in sandhill country near Boorooban on 16 November 07 and a pair seen on the 29/30 December 07 Plains-wanderer Weekend.
Just a few cockatiels were recorded in the district this past spring and summer, mainly seen on the east side of town.
Lorikeets were about during winter and early spring 07, with the three small lorikeets present for at least two months. Musk turned up in June, and in July there were good numbers of purple-crowned and by August, little were present as well. This was an unprecedented event, no doubt brought about by the complete failure of flowering eucalypts in the box/ironbark forests of central Victoria. In Deniliquin they were mainly feeding in lemon-scented gums Corymbia citriodora and spotted gums Corymbia maculata.
Superb parrots continue to have a trying time; however they did manage to fledge some young. Food was so short in the Gulpa Island State Forest at breeding time that they again resorted to a canola crop, with about 30 adults feeding in a crop on 15 October. On the same day, about 20 were recorded feeding on seedheads of an annual velt grass Ehrharta longifolia and flatweed Hypochaeris radicata in the sandhills in Gulpa Island. On 25 October, about 20 birds were again feeding in the sandhills but this time on the heads of small purslane Calandrinia eremaea. The seedheads of this plant are minute, so they would have been spending a lot of time for little reward.
So focused were they on their feeding that they could be approached to within five metres. I have never seen them eat velt grass or small purslane previously. As has been the case in recent years when there has not been enough food to support the juveniles, they left the forest as soon as the young fledged.
In late November and early December 07 they became difficult to find and I wondered if breeding had failed completely; however, on 13 December 07 about 50 adults and juveniles were again feeding on ripening narrow-leafed hopbush Dodonaea viscosa ssp. angustissima along a lane east of town. They remained in this area, in varying numbers, for the remainder of summer. On 8 February 08, about 20 were feeding in another lane east of town, this time on ruby saltbush berries Enchylaena tomentosa.
In January and February 08 small groups of superbs were recorded in the boree country north of Pretty Pine feeding in grey mistletoe Amyema quandang; and one or two pairs again attempted to nest along the Edward River in town but I believe without success. On 17 June 07, a pair of superbs flew past my home in Deniliquin, a first for the yard list.
On 25 November 07 a crimson rosella was seen east of town. It is impossible to say whether it was an aviary escapee or a wild bird but it behaved like a wild bird.
For the second consecutive year not a single budgerigar was seen in the district.
A Neophema parrot was heard in the Deniliquin State Forest on 18 July 07. It only gave one call and I am unsure whether it was a blue-winged or a turquoise parrot. It is most likely the latter as they have been recorded in the forest on a previous occasion. A few blue-winged parrots were recorded on on the plains north of Wanganella in March/April 07, the usual time they move north. However, not a single bird was recorded in September/October 07 when you would expect to see them on the return journey south.
Cuckoos
Cuckoos remain rarity in the district with just the odd pallid cuckoo passing through in July/August 07. A couple of shining bronze-cuckoo were calling along the Billabong Creek at Wanganella on 18 September 07 — my only record for the year.
A few fantail cuckoos were about the town over winter but did not stay long. My sister, Susan, had an early fantail cuckoo on 'Union Plain' on 15 March 07. Immature Horsfield's bronze-cuckoos were seen over summer indicating that some breeding had occurred but even this species is scarce.
A single black-eared cuckoo was recorded in the Gulpa Island SF sandhill area on 19 October 07, the first record here for some years.
Owls, frogmouths and owlet nightjar
Barn owls are still about in low numbers with one or two seen on all plains-wanderer weekends in 2007. Likewise boobook owls are about in low numbers but there was not much calling in the spring and I doubt that breeding was successful.
Tawny frogmouths managed to raise a few young about the town with one clutch of four seen, which is exceptional. No breeding was recorded in the box clumps on the plains.
There's been a big drop in owlet nightjar numbers throughout the district. They appear to have all but disappeared from the box clumps on the plains where they were once common. Only at one locality along Tuppal Creek could we find an owlet nightjar on the plains-wanderer weekends. My old friend Bill Labbit ponders whether the severe frosts of last winter may have killed them given they would not have had much condition on them.
Swifts
Swifts were another non-starter in the district this summer; the only birds I recorded were six white-throated needletails over the Murray River at Howlong at dusk Christmas Day 07.
Kingfishers
Azure kingfisher numbers along the Edward River have been down and this species was not recorded at all on our 2007 plains-wanderer weekends. Not a single red-backed kingfisher was seen in the district this year to my knowledge.
Bee-eaters and dollarbird
Just a few pairs of rainbow bee-eaters seen this season; a couple of pairs attempted breeding on a sandridge east of town and a pair south of town; a few were heard on the sandridges in Gulpa Island SF. A few pairs must have bred somewhere in the district as some recently fledged young were seen east of town in December 07. This is probably the most I have seen since the population crash of February 2005
Dollarbird numbers were also down this season with just a few pairs seen along the river.
Honeyeaters
Numbers for all honeyeaters are well down but the worst affected are probably the Melithreptus genus, the insectivorous brown-headed and black-chinned etc. Just a single black-chinned was seen in Gulpa Island SF this year on the 15 October 07.
Striped honeyeater has disappeared from several localities where they were formerly common. Only in one locality are they holding their numbers, that is, the boree with mistletoe beside an irrigation canal east of town.
Not a single painted honeyeater seen in the district this summer.
There's been the occasional white-fronted honeyeater passing through town in recent years but a couple turned up in our garden on 31 October 07. At least one of those garden birds stayed around until the end of summer. It would disappear for a few days, then turn up again, mainly feeding in the Eremophila longifolia. It is unheard of for this honeyeater to stick around the district for so long.
Just a few black honeyeaters were recorded this summer. Three were seen in an Eremophila clump east of town on 30 October 07. The following day there was a female or immature in our garden, which stayed for just one day, and the last seen for the season were three birds at another Eremophila clump east of town on 17 November.
Chats
Orange chats were about in quite good numbers in the cottonbush country north of Wanganella during the spring and summer. They also bred successfully with some juveniles seen. They appear to like this area when it is in drought and can be seen feeding between the cottonbushes. Ten years ago this area would have been choked with grasses (mainly introduced).
White-fronted chats are now quite uncommon in the district.
Robins
At least one pair of scarlet robins was recorded in Gulpa Island SF on the December 07 plains-wanderer weekends, indicating that this species is still trying to breed in the district. Red-capped robins are hanging on with quite a few juveniles seen in Gulpa Isand SF and elsewhere over summer. Hooded robins have fledged young in the sandhill country in Gulpa Island SF although they were often difficult to locate, suggesting they forage over a large area. Small groups of flame robin were recorded in Gulpa Island over winter and on 'Union Plain', about 20 kilometres north-east of town. A single flame robin was seen at Wanganella on 1 September 07.
Babblers
Despite the drought, grey-crowned and white-browed babblers seem to be hanging on; however, the Boorooban area was so dry over summer that chestnut-crowned babblers became impossible to locate.
Sittella
Varied sittellas attempted to breed again in Gulpa Island SF with an active nest seen on 26 October although the success of that was not established. More than any other species, sittella numbers have dropped throughout the riverine forests and are now uncommon.
Shrike-tit
Crested shrike-tits managed to breed successfully in Gulpa Island with an adult and juveniles seen on our the plains-wanderer weekend on 24 November 07 but this species too is becoming scarce.
Whistlers
Again, at least three pairs of Gilbert's whistlers were located on the sandhills of Gulpa Island SF and breeding was attempted in October; however, and the outcome of these breeding events was not determined as no young was seen.
Flycatchers
A single female leaden flycatcher was seen in the Gulpa Island SF on 25 October, the only record for this species.
Cuckoo-shrikes
Both white-bellied and ground cuckoo-shrikes have all but disappeared from the district.
Trillers
A few white-winged trillers turned up in the spring, mainly in Gulpa Island SF; most had departed by January 08.
Woodswallows
White-browed and mask woodswallows were only in low numbers this summer and the only breeding I am aware of occurred in the Gulpa Island SF; roughly six pairs of white-browed woodswallows managed to flede young in December 07.
Bushlark and songlark
Singing bushlark numbers were also well down, as were brown songlarks, out on the plains. Both species were restricted to areas that recorded extra rainfall and both species managed to raise a few young in early spring and after the December 07 rains. A few pairs of brown songlark also bred south of town in some grassy paddocks after that rain event. Rufous songlarks were much less plentiful. They arrived early, with one in our garden late July. Some were attempting breeding along lanes east of town in August. They departed after breeding and most were gone by the end of October.
Finches
Diamond finches are still present, albeit, in very low numbers with just a few seen along Tuppal Creek and at Gulpa Island SF. Not a single juvenile was seen all summer.
Mammals
Fat-tailed dunnarts are surviving the drought, a few were seen on all 2007 plains-wanderer weekends.
Black wallaby
Black wallabies are still being recorded in the district. Two were seen east of town on 16 October 07, one of which was being chased by a fox! Another was seen in Gulpa Island SF on the 29/30 December 07 plains-wanderer weekend.
Reptiles
An Eastern brown snake was spotlighted on an extremely hot night on a plains-wanderer weekend, 29 December 07. This sighting is atypical as the species is mainly diurnal.
Butterflies
Butterfly numbers were well down last spring/summer. The highlights included several tailed emperors Polyura sempronius seen up close feeding on sugar gum Eucalyptus cladocalyx sap at the Deniliquin cemetery on the 25 November 07 plains-wanderer weekend. They rarely seem to settle in the area.
Saltbush blue, amethyst hairstreak and stencilled hairstreak were all feeding on the flowers of Hakea leucoptera on 'Union Plain' on 3 December 07. A few satin azure were seen about fleshy mistletoe Amyema miraculosum at Wanganella on 30 December 07 plains-wanderer weekend.
_____________
There was a report of about 20 brolga on an irrigation storage dam near Tocumwal in the autumn/winter 2008 period.
Drought report :
To the end of December 2007, we have
had 326 mm (12.8 inches) of rain in Deniliquin. The mean average for Deniliquin is 404 mm (just shy of 16 inches).
____________
spring 2006 to mid
summer 2007
(September 06 to January 07, with occasional references to earlier 2006 records
Climatic
conditions
My hopeful
prediction of The Great Drought waning expressed in the previous Latest
News came to nought. Two thousand and six saw a crippling drought in
the Riverina, with barely any rain in the first six months of the year.
Runoff into our major river systems was the lowest ever recorded. While
2002 was probably a drier year, the cumulative effect of six low rainfall
years in succession had a catastrophic effect on vegetation. The
most obvious evidence is thousands of dead, dying and stressed river
redgums along the Murray/ Darling systems.
Waterbirds
(A few Australasian
bitterns may have managed to breed in rice crops and storage
dams east of Deniliquin in the summer of 05/06 with a probable immature
seen east of Deniliquin on 11 April 2006).
On 30 September 2006 the first bittern of the season was seen at Wanganella
swamp — the first at that locality for some years. Subsequently,
up to four were seen east of Deniliquin during December. Not a single
call was heard and no breeding recorded. There were very few rice crops
in the district and all swamps suitable for breeding were dry.
To my knowledge, not a single little bittern was seen
or heard in the Deniliquin district this summer.
Crakes were in abundance from late September to December with almost
every pond or dam in the district with a cover of cumbungi supporting
Baillon’s and spotted crake
and with some spotless as well. All three species were
together in great numbers at the Wanganella swamp during December until
the swamp was rendered all but dry. All three species were present
at a drainage lagoon at the outskirts of Deniliquin in December but
this also was soon dry. There must have been a huge exodus of crakes
from the district in early 2007.
Freckled duck have deserted the district; the only sighting of this species was a single bird on a pond in Deniliquin during October 06. Apart from a few flocks of black duck and grey teal and wood duck, ducks generally are in short supply.
The only ducks that appear to have bred with any success this spring/summer are wood duck and a few pairs of Australian shelduck.
A few flocks of glossy ibis were seen in the Wanganella area, and east of town, in November and December.
A single little egret was seen fishing just below Stevens Weir in late December.
Raptors
The first sighting for around five years of square-tailed kite in the district occurred on
28 December when T. Wheller observed an adult along the Cobb Highway south of Mathoura. A British birder observed, presumedly, the same bird in the same area 1 January. The bird had probably been pushed out of the mountains by the summer bushfires.
The dry conditions inland saw the return of large numbers of black kite in this district.
An adult white-breasted sea-eagle was seen over the highway at Gulpa on 26 November and a sub-adult at a drying out lagoon near Gulpa Creek on 31 December.
Spotted harriers were in short supply with a few passing through in September and October. They were largely absent in November; a few adults were seen over lucerne and grass paddocks in irrigation country, east of Deniliquin, during two of December’s Plains-wanderer Weekends.
A pair of brown goshawks managed to raise two young in Gulpa Island SF. Two barely fledged young were seen being fed a lizard by the male on 31 December.
Wedge-tailed eagles continue to be abundant throughout the district and some successful breeding has occurred. The same cannot be said of little eagle, which are scarce in the district despite the recent rabbit plague. Pairs were seen in the Gulpa Island SF, around Deniliquin and a single bird at Wanganella in the spring/summer. No breeding occurred to my knowledge.
Brown falcons and nankeen kestrels have been in good numbers lately in the irrigation country. Brown falcons have raised clutches of up to four young, demonstrating the incredible resilience of this species.
Black falcons were about in low numbers. In the spring, there were a few out on the plains but mostly they were around the irrigation country in the odd paddock of lucerne or tall dead grass that harboured good numbers of brown songlark, singing bushlark and stubble quail. During November and December they were seen around farm machinery that was cutting hay or harvesting wheat. No breeding was recorded to my knowledge.
Rather amazingly, the pair of brolgas again nested at the Wanganella swamp and appears to have successfully raised one young. The chick was last seen in mid December when it was about three-quarters grown. There was continuous fox baiting in this locality this season by the Rural Lands Protection Board (RLPB) and it seems that this is the only way this species can now successfully breed in the Riverina. The swamp subsequently dried out completely .
Button-quail
Little button-quail have been scarce with just the odd one passing through the plains country in October and November. There were no repeat sightings at the same locality. Red-chested button-quail have not been seen for several years. Painted button-quail have been seen regularly in Gulpa Island SF since October. A female was heard calling on only one occasion and I don’t believe the species bred this season.
Waders
Plains-wanderer
After the successful breeding season of 2005/2006, it has been all downhill for this species. They have been present all year in low numbers with a possible influx in November and December in a paddock that still retained some grass cover — with five seen on the 9/10 December 2006 Plains-wanderer Weekend.
Most of their normal breeding habitat is now bare and we are finding them only in one locality that retains some of last season’s dead grass cover.
In early October we saw pairs courting; however, nothing seems to have come of this breeding attempt as no young was seen. The occasional immature-looking bird (pale legs) was seen from October to December so it is possible that some have bred elsewhere in the district. The country north of Wanganella is so dry that around 25 mls of rain in early November was not enough to stimulate breeding.
A few inland dotterel were out on the plains early in the year with records in January and March 2006, thereafter they largely disappeared for most of the year until a couple turned up in early September. They then seemed to disappear until 11 October when good numbers started to come in to stay. By 26 October, up to 30 inland dotterels were present, and in varying numbers stayed for the remainder of that year. As far as I can tell, there was no attempt to breed, seemingly being even too dry for them!
A small number of banded lapwing managed to breed out of the plains in the early spring. Their numbers fluctuated greatly over summer although generally they have been fairly scarce. A few flocks of 20 to 30 started turning up during January 07.
Australian pratincoles managed to raise a few young despite the drought. They began turning up in fairly large numbers in early November, which is quite late for them. They kept moving from paddock to paddock and only a few pairs settled down to nest and raise young. Over 30 birds were present in one paddock on the 9 December Plains-wanderer Weekend but were largely gone by the 16 December Plains-wanderer Weekend. The rest left early, vacating the area mid to late January; their departure perhaps hastened by the big rains in the inland at that time.
At least two Latham’s snipe were located along drains on the edge of town during December. This species is now a rarity in the district.
Good numbers of waders were present at the Tullakool Evaporative Basin during November with a couple of thousand present on 17 November. These comprised mostly red-necked stint, curlew sandpiper, sharp-tailed sandpiper and marsh sandpiper.A few hundred red-necked avocet and black-winged stilt were also present.
There was one unusual looking wader present that I suspect was a hybrid curlew sandpiper/pectoral sandpiper. It had a long decurved bill with a pale base. The breast was heavily spotted rather than streaked and with a sharp cut-off line as in a pectoral sandpiper.
Two wood sandpipers were present all summer. A single wood sandpiper was also seen at the drying out Wanganella swamps on 9 December.
Two pairs of bush stone-curlews, located on the travelling stock routes north and west of Deniliquin in early November, were particularly satisfying records given the species has become rare in the district.
Pigeons and doves
Spotted doves have been resident in the town for about 10 years but their numbers, thankfully, have been declining due to the drought.
Common bronzewing have bred despite the drought with quite a few males calling in Gulpa Island SF and elsewhere in December. On 17 December in Gulpa a nest, on a redgum stump with coppicing regrowth, contained two small young.
No diamond doves were seen in the sandhill country in Gulpa Island this season. A few arrived in sandhill country near Booroorban in November. Although, initially the males were calling, they appear not to have bred and had probably departed by the end of December
Cockatoos and parrots
Long-billed corellas have not been about in the huge numbers (4000-5000) that they were in during the last severe drought period of 2002-2003. They now appear to be dispersed in smaller flocks of hundreds rather than thousands. With the ground so hard for them to dig in, they are working hard for their food and of late, are targeting sporting ovals where the ground is softer.
There were a few small flocks of little corella in the irrigation country east of town over summer; these are the first I have seen locally for some time. I suspect that the long-bills are so numerous locally that to some extent they keep the little corellas out of the district.
On our Plains-wanderer Weekend on 9/10 December, we recorded 18 adult Major Mitchell cockatoos feeding on ripening native willow Acacia salicina seedpods in sandhill country near Booroorban. Breeding was for the most part unsuccessful. One pair, at least, attempted nesting in September but the nest was soon abandoned. This is the largest flock I have encountered in the Booroorban area although R. Nevinson has recorded larger numbers west of Boorooorban. Fourteen Major Mitchells were feeding on dillon bush Nitraria billardieri berries in the same area on 30 December. In January, two Major Mitchells were seen near Booroorban, which appeared to be young birds (per comm. R. Nevinson) so it would seem at least one pair has raised young.
Cockatiels have been fairly scarce all summer with just a few small groups seen mainly to the east of town. Not a single budgerigar has appeared in the district this season. The only record of budgerigars that I know of in the Riverina is a small group seen by D Webb south of Griffith.
Superb parrots did it tough this year with only a low number of juveniles recorded. Many birds did not even return to the forest to attempt breeding this season and spent the spring/summer in the boree Acacia pendula country north of Pretty Pine and in pine country east of town. This was unheard of prior to the current drought.
Superb parrots breeding in Gulpa Island SF were having difficulty finding food in late October and about 80 were recorded feeding in a nearby canola crop. This was the first time I have seen them feeding on canola.
Breeding was more staggered this year with the first juveniles of the season seen on the Gulpa TSR on18 November, a couple of weeks earlier than what I consider normal. About 10 adults and juveniles were present, with the adults feeding on ruby saltbush berries Enchylaena tomentosa.
By 9 December most superbs had left the forest. Around 100 adults and some juveniles were recorded along a lane east of Deniliquin feeding on ripening narrow-leaf hopbush Dodonaea attenuata seeds and on Eremophila longifolia flowers. About two weeks later they were feeding on a heavy infestation of lerp on yellow box Eucalyptus melliodora trees at the same locality.
Cuckoos
Cuckoos are again a rarity in the district in particular the pallid, with just one seen in early spring in boree country and another immature bird in mid December at Gulpa TSR.The odd fan-tailed cuckoo and shining bronze-cuckoo passed through the district in spring but none stayed to breed in the redgum as they once did. The only cuckoo that nested in the district was the Horsefields with just a few juveniles seen with groups of white-winged or superb fairywrens.
Owls
Surprisingly, quite a few pairs of boobook owl managed to raise young this season. Even out on the plains a pair managed to raise three young. Let’s hope they survived.
There seemed to be some movement going on with barn owls with six seen out on the plains on the 9/10 December Plains-wanderer Weekend and then none thereafter. Probably little breeding has occurred this year with this species.
Frogmouth and owlet nightjarTawny frogmouths have bred well around the town this season with at least four nests found in quite a small area along the river. All of these nests appeared to be successful and fledged young. They seemed to congregate their nests around town this year, probably due to the availability of insects around the street lights and it being desperately dry away from town. One great sighting was a nest built inside a disused chough nest with an adult and young in the nest. Out on the plains in the box clumps there was some breeding attempted by frogmouths but none were successful.
Owlet nightjar are getting scarce in the box clumps on the plains and don’t appear to have bred this season.
Swifts
Swifts are also scarce so far this season with only three small groups of fork-tails during November and December, one each at Gulpa, Deniliquin and Wanganella.
Kingfishers and bee-eater
Azure kingfishers appear to be holding their own with regular sightings on the Edward River and Gulpa Creek over summer. Single birds were also seen on the Edward River below Stevens Weir and the Werai Forest where they had largely disappeared in the 1980s and 90s. The river is a bit clearer, possibly due to reduced flows of water being pushed through the system due to the ongoing drought. Beds of water plants have begun reappearing in the river in the last couple of years after being eliminated by the European carp invasion in the mid 1970s.
Sacred kingfishes have been about in reduced numbers and have been making an attempt at breeding.I think this is the first season I have not had a single sighting of red-backed kingfisher in the district, nor any sighting in the mallee country in north-west Victoria. They seem to have all stayed to the north this season. It is now many years since we had a breeding pair in the Deniliquin season.
Rainbow bee-eaters are also struggling to survive in the southern Riverina after being all but wiped out in the cold snap in February 2005. A few turned up in the sandhill country east of Deniliquin and in Gulpa Island SF but were late arriving and I don’t think settled down to breed. The only locality where I know breeding was attempted was in sandhill country near Booroorban to the north of Deniliquin where some birds survived the cold snap of two years ago. There have been severe cold snaps again this summer that must have taken a toll on breeding passerines and non-passerines.
Treecreepers
Brown treecreepers are progressing ever deeper into the river redgum forest as the forest dries out and the trees become more drought stressed. This species is now more common in areas that were once dominated by white-throated treecreeper.
Fairy-wrens
Variegated fairy-wrens are moving south due to the drought. I have recently recorded them in dense needlewood thickets in the Monimail area, which is about 15 kms south of Wanganella wetlands, in nitre goosefoot, where I had previously recorded them.
The lignum and goosefoot swamps north of Wanganella, which were the stronghold of the wrens, are now so deathly dry that only the hardiest of birds could survive there.
HoneyeatersRed wattlebirds continue to be quite common in the town area and have successfully raised young again this season.
A gratifying record was a spiny-cheeked honeyeater in a revegetation area at Gulpa in early October. It was feeding on ruby saltbush berries, a favourite of this species. This is my first record south of town. There has been the occasional singing honeyeater here in previous years.
On the 17 December Plains-wanderer Weekend, we recorded a pair of black-chinned honeyeaters in flowering river redgum in Gulpa Island SF. They were gone by the following Plains-wanderer Weekend. This is my first record here since about 2000 when the drought started to kick in.
Painted honeyeaters have been elusive again this season with just three single sightings. The first sighting was on 27 November in roadside boree, east of Deniliquin; the next sighting was about 20 km away in similar habitat on 16 December; and then again on 30 December in the first locality. All were single males although there may have been a second male calling on 30 December. They appeared to be moving around the district, futilely searching for somewhere to breed. However, it may not be too late as only yesterday (4 February) a pair of mistletoebirds was building a nest out in the boree country. The two species often nest at similar times and localities.
Black honeyeaters were recorded regularly this season in two localities — in patches of flowering Eremophilia longifolia to the north and east of Deniliquin. They were first recorded on 4 October and the final record was12 January. Three or four was the maximum number seen.
Not a single pied honeyeater was seen in the district this season despite the dry conditions inland. It would seem that it was too dry here to attract them in.
Chats
In October Orange chats turned up south of Wanganella, which is not a common occurrence. (The last time they were south of Wanganella, I think, was the severe drought of 2002). They were present there in the dillion and cottonbush for about six weeks with flocks of white-fronted chats. There was also a scattering in the saltbush country north of Wanganella that were still present in December.
Robins, babblers, sittella, shrike-tit and whistlers
Amazingly, some species seem to have done quite well in the sandhill country in Gulpa Island SF, despite the extremely dry conditions prevailing. There were the best numbers of red-capped robins for many years with quite a few juveniles fledged. An immature scarlet robin was seen in mid December, indicating that a few are still breeding in Gulpa. A pair of hooded robin managed to raise young and white-browed babblers, a species that has been declining for many years, seems to be making a comeback.
There were at least two pairs of Gilbert’s whistlers attempting breeding in an area where previously I hadn’t had them although I doubt they bred successfully.
Possibly the birds were doing better this season because there was not the lush growth of introduced grasses that have been growing on and around the sandhills in recent years. This type of heavy ground cover does not suit Gilbert’s whistlers and other passerines, which like to feed on bare ground.
The sandhill country looks terrible with many of the old pines collapsing due to old age and drought and many of the stressed river redgums have very sparse canopies. The understorey plants, the fringe myrtle Calytrix tetragona and dwarf cherries Exocarpus strictus, do not look great but despite this some birds are doing okay.
Although they have declined in number both varied sittella and crested shrike-tit successfully fledged young in Gulpa Island SF this season.
Cuckoo-shrikes and trillers
Ground cuckoo-shrikes continue to be a scarce in the district. There have been a couple of groups seen by D. Nevinson in the Booroorban area over summer. On the 16 December Plains-wanderer Weekend we encountered a singe bird in boree country south of Wanganella; and on 7 January a group of about six birds was seen about 20 km south of Conargo. On 13 July, I encountered five near Howlong (NSW), close to the eastern limits of their range.
Only a small number of white-winged trillers migrated into the district this season and were seen scattered about in low numbers. The only locality where breeding was attempted was in the river redgum at Gulpa Island SF; however, no fledged young was seen and I doubt many successfully bred.
Orioles
It would appear that a pair of olive-backed orioles might have successfully raised young along the river in town. B. Holden heard a male singing over a couple of weeks in November along the river and a few weeks later T. Wheller and S. Seymour located a recently fledged young in the Island Sanctuary. This is only the second breeding record I know of in Deniliquin. On 10 December, an adult was seen near Gulpa that appeared to be migrating south.
Woodswallows
There have not been as many flocks of masked and white-browed woodswallows about this season as there have been in previous years. A large mixed flock of 200-300 was present in sandhill country near Booroorban in October, November and December; however, they were restless and breeding was not attempted.
Small groups of white-browed managed to breed successfully in the river redgum forest at Gulpa and were feeding young in nests on 10 December. Birds were well south this season with groups seen west of Kilmore, Victoria, on a couple of occasions in December.
White-breasted woodswallows have been reasonably widespread this season. There were quite a few in the irrigation country east of town, which is rather unusual. Also quite a few pairs successfully fledged young along the river.
Black-faced woodswallows continue to be a scarce in the district with just a few pairs seen around sandridges near Booroorban and on 27 January 07, a few were seen south of town – my only record south of town for the season.
A few dusky woodswallow managed to fledge young in Gulpa Island SF this season.
Bushlark and songlarks
Singing bushlark and brown songlark are quite scarce out on the plains this season and probably only a few bred in early spring. Good numbers of bushlark and some brown songlark were present in November and December in the irrigation country in small paddocks of lucerne being grown for hay or old stubble paddocks where there has been no livestock.
Very few rufous songlarks appeared this season. They were mainly along a few lightly timbered, ungrazed lanes east of town and a few possibly bred there. Probably, most had departed before the end of December.
Finches
A few small groups of diamond firetail have been about at Gulpa Island SF and along Tuppal Creek over spring/summer; however, very few have bred and only one juvenile has been seen on sandhills near Mathoura.
The drought has pushed red-browed finches more into the town area and they were regularly seen in my garden during December. They have spread along the river well west of Deniliquin in recent times. In late January there was a small group feeding on the lawn at Stevens Weir.
European goldfinch has all but disappeared from the town with just one seen 17 December.
Mistletoebird
Mistletoe has not been fruiting well due to the drought and the cool weather conditions in the spring/summer. Mistletoebirds are generally scarce with just a scattering throughout the district, mainly in river redgum forest and boree country. A pair was building a nest in boree on the TSR near Hartwood Station northeast of Deniliquin on18 November and pair was building a nest in an Acacia victoriae in boree country at Monimail, north of Deniliquin on 4 February 07. Quite a disparity in breeding timeframes.
Mammals
In mid January 2007 I had a sighting of an echidna in Deniliquin SF at dusk. This was my first sighting at this locality. While I occasionally see their tracks, I have only seen about five echidnas in my life in this district.
Fat-tailed dunnarts generally have been scarce out on the plains although their numbers appeared to be on the rise in December and January.
Swamp wallabies are continuing their spread in the district with two seen on farmland south and east of town in December, and my sister, Susan, saw one on her farm northeast of town in October.
A few Yellow-footed antechinus were seen in box country near Tuppal Creek and in river redgum at Gulpa Island SF in October and November.
Reptiles
The drought has impacted on snake numbers. I have seen just a few eastern browns, no red-bellied black snakes and only one tiger snake in the swamps at Wanganella.
A few curl snakes were spotlighted out on the plains north of Wanganella in late December. At the same time we located a few tessellated geckos Diplodactylus tessellates that we had not previously recorded locally. An upshot of the ground being so bare is that small creatures are easier to see at night.
Butterflies
The drought has played havoc with butterfly numbers in the district. I have not seen a single yellow admiral this season; however, I did see a few stencilled hairstreak Jalmenus ictinus (which I had not previously identified) feeding on native jasmine Jasminum lineare in boree country at Monimail, south of Wanganella 4 January 07.
Butterflies seen this season include dainty swallowtail, spotted jezabel, caper white, cabbage white, common brown, meadow argus, painted lady, chequered copper, satin azure, stencilled hairstreak, amethyst hairstreak Jalmenus icilius (at Gulpa area feeding on flowering needlewood Hakea tephrosperma and Melaleuca lancelata), two-spotted line-blue (feeding on flowering Acacia victoriae Monimail area), saltbush blue and common grass-blue.
In my garden, I believe I saw a grass-dart, presumedly on distribution, the greenish Ocybadistes walkeri, feeding on flowers of an introduced herb.
________________________
spring/early summer 2005
The
Great Drought that has wrought havoc on southern Australia in the last
five years or so is showing signs of breaking. I know, I started the
last Latest News with a similar statement! Reasonable rain fell
from June onwards, with above average rain in October.
Although most of the passerines are breeding like crazy, there has not been enough heavy rain to fill swamps or cause major flooding of the rivers, so waterbirds are still struggling to regain their numbers. However, waterbirds are making the most of what flooding there is in the Murray River with a substantial rookery in the Reedbeds swamps near Mathoura. This flooding has been aided by 'environmental' water.
On
5 December intermediate and great egrets were starting
to nest with many birds on eggs and many still building nests. At this
stage, there are about 250 pairs of intermediate and 150 pairs of great
egret. Many are nesting low in willow trees and present a magnificent
sight. Alongside the egrets are good numbers of little pied and
little black cormorants and a few darters. Nankeen
night herons are starting to nest high up in adjoining river redgums.
About 4000 straw-necked ibis are nesting on the beds of giant
rush not far away; the majority are on eggs and a few hundred have small
young. White ibis are in lower numbers, mainly with young, and
about 100 pairs of royal spoonbill are just starting to nest.
A couple of pairs of spotless crake were calling in the phragmites
beds, as were three or four little bitterns. On a previous visit
on 23 October, both Australasian and little bitterns were
calling so breeding should be well under way for those species.
It is to be hoped that water levels will be maintained for sufficient
time to allow the waterbirds to breed successfully. This is the first
major breeding event for these species since the summer of 2000 so it
is imperative that these birds succeed in 2005/06.
Undoubtedly a large hatching of grasshoppers in the Mathoura area over
the last few weeks added to the inducement for straw-necked ibis
to breed in the area. (The big lignum swamps north of Hay have been
dry for many years so ibis would not have needed much inducement). The
Reedbeds site, this season, contains the greatest nesting of straw-necked
ibis that I have recorded in the river redgum forests on the NSW side
of the Murray.
Grasshoppers are in good supply in the Wanganella district and several
thousand pairs of straw-necked ibis are also attempting to nest in the
Wanganella swamps. This area is also receiving some environmental flows
to maintain water levels. Under this more favourable water regime several
Australasian bitterns were heard calling in November, the first
record in
the Wanganella district for many
years.
A few pairs of spotted and Baillon's crakes were moving
about in October and on 16 October there were all three species, including
spotless, at one small wetland east of Deniliquin. Some rain
events followed and spotted and Baillon's have hardly been seen since,
although I believe I saw a Baillon's in the talons of a swamp harrier
at the Wanganella swamps a week or two later.
Summer migrants
Good rains in October brought in some reasonable flocks of white-browed
woodswallow and smaller numbers of masked woodswallow; and
as is (strangely) often the case, small flocks of budgerigars
followed them. Most of the budgies passed through although in one locality,
a large black box clump south of Deniliquin, small flocks are settling
in and appear to be going to nest alongside the woodswallows.
Budgerigars have also been about in the Booroorban district in
good numbers but don't appear to have settled down. White-browed
woodswallows started nesting in black box clumps near Booroorban
but most abandoned nests in early November after unsettled weather.
Large flocks of white-browed and masked woodswallows appeared
in late November in sandhill country near Booroorban with many juvenile
birds that probably had been bred to the north of the Riverine Plain.
Rufous
songlarks have been in reasonable numbers east of town with many
juveniles starting to appear. There has been a mere scattering of
brown songlarks on the plains this year, probably indicative of
their low numbers due to drought. Stubble quail are also in short
supply on the plains, having deserted the area in September. Singing
bushlarks are also relatively scarce this season. The scarcity of
these species is probably the reason that spotted harriers completely
deserted the area in October. Presumedly, they have moved somewhere
north east of the Deniliquin district. (Spotted harriers are also scarce
in the Victorian mallee with just the odd pair seen near Mildura).
White-winged trillers have been in fair numbers both north and
south of Deniliquin but don't appear to have nested as yet.
Orange chat numbers have been fluctuating widely in the cottonbush
country north of Wanganella since they first arrived in about July.
Initially they were in quite large flocks, then all but disappeared
in September, only to return again in October. They settled down in
November and some appear to have bred. Likewise, a few pairs of crimson
chat appeared in October but most passed through with just a couple
of pairs nesting in saltbush country on the plains in November. They
now appear to have raised young and departed.
The first diamond dove of the season was located in sandhill
country near Booroorban on 30 September, and it was also the first in
that location for two years. Since then more have appeared in the Booroorban
district, as well as south of Deniliquin in November, and on my sister's
farm north east of town – also in November.
Blue-winged parrots passed through the district in October, mainly
on the plains but one male was seen in a box clump south of town in
late October (last seen 30 October).
A
male painted honeyeater was located on the sandhills in the Gulpa
Island State Forest on 27 November on a Plains-wanderer Weekend. This
is the first record in Gulpa Island for about five years and the first
anywhere in the district for two years. It was still present on 4 December
and found a mate as they were feeding young in a nest on 18 December.
Local resident highlights
The first record of black-chinned honeyeater in the district
for about five years was had in October. It was attracted by flowering
eucalypts that a friend and I had planted on his property along the
Tuppal Creek over 20 years ago.
Painted
button-quails were calling well in Gulpa Island SF in October and
November with adult females seen on several occasions.
An adult male scarlet robin was feeding young in a grey box clump
in Gulpa Island SF on 16 October – the first breeding record in
the district for some years.
At least two pairs of Major Mitchell Cockatoo have successfully
raised young in the Booroorban area this season with two nests seen
to fledge young in about mid November.
Just two pairs of Gilbert's whistler remain in Gulpa Island SF.
Fortunately, one pair at least has raised young with three or four juveniles
seen with adults on 20 November.
Superb
parrots are also breeding well with the first fledged young seen
on 21 November, a couple of weeks earlier than 'normal'. Many pairs
with juveniles were seen on the 4 December Plains-wanderer Weekend.
Diamond
firetails remain scarce with just a pair or two around Gulpa Island
and along Tuppal Creek but they too are breeding with a pair at Gulpa
seen with five fledged juveniles on 4 December.
Plains-wanderers
have survived the drought and grasshopper plague much better than expected.
As
the grass cover returned following the rain,
plains-wanderers were back in most of their old haunts. Initially they
were scarce in September and early October, with just a few females
calling. On foot at dusk on quite a few occasions in October and early
November we managed to find a calling female. Males with three or four
small chicks were seen on 13 and 21 November. A fledged immature 2-3
month old was seen on 19 November and another on 28 November, which
indicates that breeding has been going on since about August. Other
adult birds seemed to have arrived later as the herbage became more
suitable for them in other paddocks. More mating pairs were seen in
late November in areas where we have not seen them for two years. In
early December an immature female and male (about 3-4 months) were located
close together, which suggests that they breed in their first year as
they are only seen in pairs at breeding time. I've long suspected that
they are capable of breeding in their first year. Another mating pair
of adults was seen in mid December, indicating that breeding will continue
for some time yet.
In late October/early November a few inland dotterels passed
through the Wanganella district. A few appeared again in early December
and whether they stay remains to be seen.
Australian
pratincoles are late arriving with the first birds, an adult and
an immature, located on 10 December. Undoubtedly, the good rains in
the inland have enticed them to breed further north and it will be interesting
to see if any breed in our area this season, or indeed, if any hang
around at all.
Little
button-quails have been out on the plains in good numbers. They
started moving in in early October and were calling strongly after dusk
from about 10 October for several weeks. This species doesn't dillydally
after arriving in the district, quickly breeding. The first juvenile
was seen on 19 November and many more clutches of flying young have
been seen since that time.
Banded lapwing numbers have been fluctuating widely, as is their
way, over the last few months. During September, their usual breeding
period, they were scarce with only a few pairs nesting on the plains.
In early December, quite large numbers of adults and immatures began
to appear, indicating they bred further north this season.
Black honeyeaters have almost been a non-event with just a few
passing through in late October/early November.
Victorian
Mallee
Birding in the Victorian mallee has been excellent this season, with
all the mallee birds breeding madly. Malleefowl has once again
become relatively easy after being almost impossible to see in recent
years. Bill Labbit located about 10 active mounds near Annuello in October.
I have seen two active mounds in Hattah NP and a third in the Sunset
Country west of Hattah. On 16 November, a record five adult malleefowl
were seen in one day, four near Annuello and one in Hattah, all of them
away from mounds.
Red-lored whistlers are again back in their old haunts in the
Sunset Country after having all but disappeared in the last two years.
Three calling males were seen in late October and early November west
of Hattah.
Mallee emu-wrens and striated grasswren have also been
particularly easy and are obviously breeding. Quite a few groups of
both species were seen in October/November.
Recently fledged emuwrens were seen with adults on 16 November
in Hattah and a pair was feeding young in a nest in Sunset Country on
11 November.
Crimson chats and budgerigars appeared to be breeding
in the Werrimull area west of Mildura on 11 November.
Scores of white-browed woodswallows and lesser numbers of
masked woodswallows, many with fledged young, were present
in belah country near Yarrara on 11 November. Also present in this locality
in flowering eremophia (both longifolia and glabra) were
dozens of white-fronted honeyeaters; about 10 black honeyeaters,
including immatures; and one pair of pied honeyeater, also with
immature young. Large numbers of spiny-cheeked honeyeaters were
also present. Many of the larger honeyeaters were feeding on the big
fleshy berries of Pimelia microcephala that had an abundance
of fruit. White-browed treecreepers were feeding young not far
away and to complete the scene, a male Gilbert's whistler was
singing nearby.
Several hybrid black-eared miner/yellow-throated miners were
also seen in Sunset Country in November with one appearing to be close
to a pure black-eared miner.
Owlet nightjars appear to be extraordinarily scarce in the mallee
at present. A concerted effort was made on several occasions before
we eventually saw a single bird. They were quite common in the mallee
pre-drought.
Red-backed kingfishers are also very scarce with just a single
pair located south of Hattah in sand dunes.
Redthroats appear to have died out in the Pine Plains area in
Wyperfield NP where we located a pair two years ago.
The
poor health of the floodplain vegetation in the north end of Hattah/Kulkyne
NP is immensely worrying. Due to lack of flooding many hundreds of very
old river redgums and black box trees are dead or dying along the Murray
River floodplain. I fear many of these trees are doomed if there is
no flood down the Murray River in the next year or two – unless
there is substantial local rainfall to alleviate stress and buy some
time for these trees.
I have been reliably told that between Booligal and Oxley most of the
ancient river redgums on the Lachlan River are already dead. This is
a major environmental change that we are currently experiencing. –
and a complete and utter disaster.
On a brighter note, two pairs of spotted nightjar were located
in Hattah and the Sunset Country in October/November. The pair seen
on 11 November was obviously on a breeding territory.
A pair of Rufous Fieldwren was feeding young on the Roak plain
west of Hattah NP on 17 November.
Foothill forests of north east Victoria
There was some great birding to be had in the foothill forests around
Wangaratta, Chiltern and Beechworth in October and November following
the good rains.
On 11 October about three male painted honeyeaters were calling
in the Killawarra Forest – the most for some years.
Spotted quail-thrushes were calling well in the Pilot Range in
forest that had escaped the inferno of February 2003, with two males
calling in that location on 14 November.
Another was seen in burnt forest about 10 km away on the same day, my
first record in the burnt area post fire.
A pair of white-bellied cuckoo-shrike was building a nest in
unburnt forest in the Pilot Range on 13 October.
Many species have yet to recolonise the worst hit areas of the February
2003 bushfires in Pilot Range NP. A one hour count in a severely burnt
area that had been the best birding spot in the Pilot Range produced
just 13 species on 14 November. Some of the species still to return
to this area are spotted quail-thrush, chestnut-rumped heathwren
and white-bellied cuckoo-shrike – and powerful owl,
which I will be surprised to see again in this location as all the hollow
trees big enough to support possums or owls have been reduced to cinders.
Chestnut-rumped heathwren appear to have disappeared from the
Chiltern and Beechworth areas since the fires and/or drought, with no
response to tape of their call at many former locations.
Species I did record in the burnt area include white-winged triller,
which I think is my first record ever here and painted button-quail
(female calling) and white-throated nightjar (male calling) on
14 November; the button-quail and nightjar being my first records back
at this location since the fire.
Turquoise parrots were also back in the Pilot Range with about
10 feeding by the roadside in the burnt area on the Chiltern/Beechworth
road on 13 October.
An unexpected prize on 14 November was a pair of regent honeyeaters
feeding in planted eucalypts near Chiltern No. 1 dam. The pair was defending
a flowering eucalypt from other honeyeaters. We saw a noisy friarbird
chase a regent honeyeater from a flowering bottlebrush when the honeyeater
ventured about 100 metres away from its territory; only for the regent,
on being pursued back to its feed tree, turn around and see the friarbird
out of its territory.
Ivan and Anne Gugga have planted many trees near their house in this
area and while the regents weren't in their plantings, other species
were, including black-chinned honeyeaters with three juvenile
young, a pair of crested shrike-tit and small flocks of little
lorikeet – all species that have become scarce in the forest.
A barking owl was located by chance on 13 October not far from
Chiltern.
A visit to the high mountain forests near Myrtleford on the morning
of 12 October produced most of the specialities of the area including
pilotbird, red-browed treecreeper, Bassian thrush,
rose robin, flame robin and olive whistler. There
was no sign of a pair of sooty owls seen in February. This February
sighting made me wonder if there was altitudinal movement in this species
as they were at about 800 metres. (We got lucky with a male sooty near
Marysville the following evening).
An active bower of a satin bowerbird was located near Myrtleford
on 12 October.
______________________________________________________________________________
|
1 November 2004 to 25 February 2005
Philip
N. Maher
The
bad news is that bird numbers in the Riverina hit rock bottom this summer.
The good news is that the rain in November, December and January and
the exceptional rain in early February suggests the drought conditions
of the last five years may be coming to an end. From November to 10
February, Deniliquin received nearly 230 millimetres (almost 9 in),
more than half the town's mean annual rainfall.
It will take several good seasons and flooding down the river systems
for the bird life to recover from the onslaught of drought and lack
of major flooding in the Murray/Darling since 2000.
The floodplain vegetation of black box Eucalyptus largiflorens
and river redgum Eucalyptus camaldulensis is under severe stress
in many areas where there has been no flooding for ten years or more.
Several isolated clumps of redgum out on the plains are at the point
of no return. A lot of these areas can no longer receive floodwater
from the river systems as roads, channels and other constructions have
cut them off. Some of these trees could be close to 1000 years old.
_______________________________________________________
Quail
Stubble quail had disappeared from the
plains in October/November. About 13 centimetres (approx. five inches)
of rain north of Wanganella in December brought some back and as these
birds were calling, they were probably intending to breed. However,
a plague of grasshoppers in January stripped the area of summer grasses
and most of the quail dispersed. It is likely that some will return
after the recent rain.
An adult brown quail with half-grown young was seen on the edge
of a sandhill near the Wanganella swamps on 28 November.
Ducks
On 2 January around 50 freckled ducks were
located on the Tullakool evaporative basin; numbers had increased to
about 60 by 5 January and to about 100 by 18 January.
Desperate to breed, ducks were on the move after the heavy rains in
December. Two or three pairs of pink-ears were seen on shallow
rainwater swamps out on the plains but most of these swamps only held
water for a few weeks, not long enough for burrowing frogs to breed
successfully, let alone ducks.
A couple of pairs of plumed whistle-ducks, now a rarity in the
district, were seen in irrigation country east of town in November and
December. A few pairs of musk duck have been attempting to nest
in Reedbeds Swamp along Gulpa Creek near Mathoura. I’m not sure
if they were successful as the water level dropped about 30 centimetres
(12 inches) in late December, which caused some other species of waterbirds
to abandon their breeding attempts.
Both Australasian shoveler and hardhead are scarce in
the district with just a few of each seen at the Tullakool evaporation
basin during January. Unusual for hardhead to be outnumbered by freckled
duck!
Waterbirds
At least 10 pairs of great-crested grebes
had been attempting to breed in Reedbeds swamp, along the Gulpa Creek,
near Mathoura. (The late November Plains-wanderer Weekend participants
witnessed this species displaying).
However, the drop in water level of about 30 centimetres
(see musk duck above) in late December caused them to abandon their
breeding attempt. On my next visit to the Reedbeds, the adults were
in a flock whereas previously they had been in scattered pairs. The
same thing happened to little bitterns. Many males were calling
in the phragmites clumps in late November/early December. After the
water level dropping, not a single male was heard or seen and no nests
were located. This shows how vulnerable these species are to fluctuating
water levels — fluctuated by the group in charge of environmental
flows, I might add!
On a brighter side, there are about 50 pairs of royal spoonbills,
possibly a thousand pairs of straw-necked and white ibis
and maybe a hundred pairs of great egret, which as far as I know
are still nesting despite the water level dropping. The egrets must
be struggling to feed their young — in early February there was
a flock, ostensibly, feeding on mice out near the Cobb Highway, south
of Mathoura. (Mice are starting to plague in the district).
In November and December there was a great influx of royal spoonbills
with 40 to 50 birds on rice crops to the east of Deniliquin. All these
birds were coming into breeding plumage but sadly, due to no major flooding
in most of the Murray/Darling system, there was no place for most of
them to breed.
There are not too many rice crops in the district because of the drought
but Australasian bitterns have been breeding in what crops there
are. They moved into rice crops in late November when the rice was barely
15 centimetres (six inches) high and were clearly visible. One crop
out on the Finley Road had three pairs present in early December. Most
other crops east of town had at least one pair living in them. They
were also calling in crops in the Tullakool district in January. It
has been a cool summer and it will be interesting to see the impact
this has on breeding success.
There were a few small flocks of glossy ibis about the rice crops
in November and December and also at Tullakool evaporative basin in
January.
Raptors
With mice starting to plague and a grasshopper
plague in full swing there have been quite a few raptors about. Also,
rabbits have been in good numbers although the rabbit calicivirus has
knocked them back a bit. The mice brought in plenty of black-shouldered
kites. On several occasions black falcons were seen taking
mice from black kites, brown falcons and ravens
— and also from each other. The black kites and ravens
had been picking up mice from behind working farm machinery. On 1 February
there were at least three black falcons, several black kites,
a whistling kite, a kestrel, a brown falcon, a
wedge-tailed eagle and an immature spotted harrier all
in view around a working potato harvester east of Deniliquin.
A pair of swamp harriers successfully raised three young in a small (c1 ha) water storage filled with cumbungi, east of Deniliquin.
Spotted harriers had been scarce in the district this season but the grasshopper plague and the good rains in December and early February brought a few back. Worryingly, a dead, adult spotted harrier was picked up on 30 January, north of Wanganella, after there had been grasshopper spraying in the area.
The rabbit plague has brought a few little eagles back into the district with sporadic sightings at Gulpa, Wanganella, Booroorban and east of Deniliquin; although I doubt that any bred in the district this season — unlike the1980s and ‘90s when we had many breeding pairs. (Likewise, in the Victoria mallee, where little eagles were once common, you’d be hard pressed now to see one at all).
Collared sparrowhawks have bred well in the district this season with three lots of fledged young seen over a couple of days in January, two in Gulpa and one east of town. The breeding season of this species, within this district, seems well synchronised as all young had fledged within a few days of each other.
Cranes
The Wanganella brolgas looked like they might finally raise young this season. On 28 November, the pair had a single young that was almost half grown. Sadly, that was the last time it was seen, presumedly taken by foxes, despite the Rural Lands Protection Board ranger laying fox baits before the brolgas bred. It bodes badly for the future of the species in this district.
Crakes
We were seeing the three species of crakes (spotless, spotted and Baillon’s) at waterholes east of Deniliquin during November. In December, though still present, the spotless became difficult to see, then easier again recently. After the rain in December the Baillon’s seemed to disperse, with the last sighting on 27 December. After the heavy rain north of Wanganella in December the spotted crakes moved into shallow lignum and goosefoot swamps along with hundreds of black-tailed native hens. However, the water wasn’t deep enough to sustain breeding and most of the birds had dispersed again after a few weeks. It is now over ten years since these species bred in the district in any numbers.
Button-quail
Little button-quail had disappeared completely from the plains until the heavy rains in December, when a few pairs returned to the cottonbush Maireana aphylla country and were probably going to breed. However, the grasshopper plague a few weeks later stripped the plains bare and the button-quails seem to have dispersed again.
Painted button-quails have been fairly hard to locate over summer. The only successful breeding that I observed was a male with a clutch of half-grown young seen under dwarf cherry Exocarpus strictus bushes in Gulpa Island SF in December.
Plains-wanderer
Overall, it has been another fairly tough season for plains-wanderers. Quite a few pairs were nesting in September/October although there was not much cover around for them. Some of these, at least, must have been successful as we saw a few juveniles in mid to late December. These juveniles were not seen for long, presumedly the adults, keen to breed again after the big rain in December, had given them their matching orders. With millions of little grasshoppers hatching in late December, providing unlimited food for plains-wanderers, several females were calling strongly in mid January. However, I don't think the latter breeding attempt was very successful as the grasshoppers reached plague proportions and stripped most of the cover from the breeding area.
Another 6 cm (about 2.5 inches) of rain in early February has the grass growing back and the grasshoppers have for the most part moved on, so the plains-wanderers may get another shot at breeding. Like many desert birds they are able to breed at almost any time when conditions are suitable.
Waders
There had been a few migratory waders during January at the Tullakool evaporative basin: a few hundred red-necked stints, curlew sandpipers and sharp-tailed sandpipers, and lesser numbers of marsh sandpipers and a few greenshanks. Also hundreds of red-necked avocets were there in January and up to 50 banded stilts, although these dropped off towards the end of January.
A wood sandpiper was located out on the plains north of Wanganella in late December/January at a shallow goosefoot Chenopodium nitrariaceum swamp that had filled after the heavy rain in early December. Also at the same swamp, at times, were about 200 sharp-tailed sandpipers, the odd marsh sandpiper and over 100 red-kneed dotterels. Although the water was shallow and drying out quickly, at least a couple of pairs of dotterels nested and had young. I don't know whether they were able to raise them successfully before the swamp dried out. This species must be desperate to breed after years of drought.
The same swamp produced a pair of painted snipe in late January but they didn't stay as the swamp was almost dry (R.Nevinson). There was another pair of painted snipe seen in the area in late December in a drying out patch of canegrass (D. Nevinson).
Inland dotterels have been elusive for most of the summer. One or two were seen on 15 September 2004, and then nothing, despite the area looking ideal for them, until suddenly they were back on 17 January, undoubtedly lured by the hordes of hatching grasshoppers. They had been back for a few weeks because on 30 January we saw about 10 adults and at least one chick, approximately one week old.
About six inland dotterels were seen, in a huge dust storm, on 1 February.
There were moderate numbers of banded lapwings about in November including a few immatures that had bred in the area. Most of the banded lapwings dispersed after the rain in December and the species became quite scarce. Not even the grasshopper hatchings have brought them back to the district. A few pairs nested in January after the December rain, which this species doesn't often do, preferring to nest early in the spring. Spring last year was generally too dry for them so they took the opportunity in the more conducive summer.
With the plains being so bare, there have been plenty of Australian pratincoles about. Quite a few pairs were nesting in November/December. I doubt that they had much success as it was still fairly dry in November and there was quite a bit of movement going on. When we had some big rains in early December I think that most of the nests would have been flooded. January was more successful with three or four clutches of young of various ages seen.
Bush stone-curlews
It would seem that bush stone-curlews have had another unsuccessful breeding season in the Booroorban area. One pair appears not to have nested and the other pair nested but seemingly abandoned after a fox-proof fence was erected around them. Let's hope they get used to the fence.
Pigeons and doves
Common bronzewings were calling strongly in Gulpa Island SF in December after the rain.
The first diamond dove was heard ca