| Fri 27 |  | Princess Parrot, Scarlet-chested Parrot, Major Mitchell's CockatooNeale Junction NR, Western Australia |
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| Up to 63 Princess Parrot were seen over the 27th and 28th of Jan, within 4km (west) of the junction. Also, a total of 16 Scarlet-chested Parrot were seen, 14 of which were within 5km (north) of the junction. 11 Major Mitchell's Cockatoo were seen 17km east of the junction. |
| Nigel Jackett, Bruce Greatwich, Bret Stewart, Jordan Vos, Steve Patrick and Nathan Waugh 2/2 #116585 |
| | Great ShearwaterMistral Point, Maroubra, New South Wales |
| Great Shearwater seen off Mistral Point in the late afternoon. (Moderator's note: A good sighting however Great Shearwaters are on the Review list of BARC so that the observation would be subject to their Review.AKM) |
| Ray Gobbe and Fiona Brook 27/1 #114635 |
| Wed 25 | | Gould's PetrelManly Marina!!!, Queensland |
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| Found by visiting UK Birder M/P. Lee. Record passed to Rob Morris by Paul Walbridge. |
| M.P .Lee (via Paul Walbridge) 27/1 #114576 |
| Mon 16 | | Possible Western Sandpiper Nairns, Coodanup, Western Australia |
| I went down to search for the possible Western Sandpiper this afternoon from 6:00 - 7:30pm, which had been seen and photographed by Craig Lester on 7th January. I did not locate it and conditions were expectantly appalling (30knt wind and high tide). Red-necked Stints were approachable, only about 400 though. Many were hiding in the samphire were not visible no doubt. A single Sharp-tailed Sandpiper was also present with the RNS's.
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| Nathan Waugh per Craig Lester 17/1 #109970 |
| Sun 15 | | White WagtailLake Gwelup , Western Australia |
| Thanks to Andrew Hobbs, I went to Lake Gwelup with Rob Lambert. Park in Seagrave Street at the south of the lake (where it is cut off in the middle), and walk down the path to the boardwalk and the pergola type hide. Quite a few others turned up while we were there. The bird was very easy to find.
The bird was on the mud to the right behind the ducks. It sheltered in the shade of a thin dead typha reed a few times, but it usually did not take too long for it to come out.
It is sub species 'leucopsis'. Bright white forehead. White face. Black crown leading down the back of the neck grading into the grey of its back. Quite a bit of white on the wing at rest. The end of the wings at rest are brownish, maybe worn feathers? The black bib on the upper breast is quite washed out.
We also saw of interest.
Buff-banded Rail (2)
Australian Spotted Crake (2)
Baillon's Crake (1)
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin (2) An introduced bird to a few lakes around Perth and maybe in decline.
There should be a lot of photos, as it was found by the Birdlife WA photographic group!! |
| per Frank O'Connor 15/1 #109264 |
| | White Wagtail & Chestnut-breasted MannikinLake Gwelup, Western Australia |
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| White Wagtail
leucopsis (1) First reported this morning by Birdlife WA Photographic group and seen by quite a few birders during the afternoon. The lack of black eyeline, the white throat above the bib and the small bib indicates that this is the subspecies 'leucopsis'.
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin (2) Introduced bird to several lakes around Perth Full list |
| Bruce Wedderburn 15/1 #109261 |
| | White Wagtail Lake Gwelup , Western Australia |
| Andrew Hobbs just called me. The Birdlife Australia WA photographic
group saw a White Wagtail at Lake Gwelup this morning. It was on the
mudflats near and could be seen from the boardwalk in the south west corner. This is the first record for WA for maybe a decade, and possibly the first for the south west. |
| Frank O'Connor per Andrew Hobbs 15/1 #109191 |
| Sat 14 | | Possible Grey NightjarChristmas Island Airport , Christmas Island |
| On Tuesday night, I tried the Christmas Island airport for nightjars. No response to the call of Savanna Nightjar. But when I played the call of a male Grey Nightjar, a bird flew straight over my head calling loudly but its call was very different. I couldn't get the torch on it fast enough so I did not see it. I could hear it calling over the far side of the airport, and there seemed to be possibly a second bird calling.
But the other people I had been on the Cocos Islands with arrived yesterday, and we went to the airport at dusk. At about 18:50 after I had played the call of Grey Nightjar, a nightjar 'floated'
past. It did not call. We did not get on to it. However 10 or 15 minutes later it flew past again. Again, it did not call. This time we got a small LED torch on it. No easily discernible markings. A medium sized nightjar. We waited about another 20 minutes but did not see it again.
We finally quit and had dinner, and then returned to our accommodation and grabbed our respective field guides of Asian birds. All six of us came to the same conclusion that it was a female Grey Nightjar. The SE Asia field guide by Robson notes that the female Grey Nightjar makes a different call, and the 'description' of the female call is the only nightjar call described in our field guides that could be interpreted to sound like what I heard. I am the only one who heard it call.
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| per Frank O'Connor 17/1 #109971 |
| Thu 12 | | Black Bittern Cocos Island, Cocos-Keeling Islands |
| Local resident Pam Jones has reported a Black Bittern (second record?
for the islands) |
| Pam Jones per Rohan Clarke 12/1 #108469 |
| | Hodgson's Hawk Cuckoo, Asian Koel, Yellow Bittern, Grey Wagtail & Eurasian TealCocos Island, Cocos-Keeling Islands |
| Mike Carter and four others report the following rarities from Cocos Islands in the last few days. Hodgson's Hawk Cuckoo (1, possibly 2), Asian Koel (female), Yellow Bittern, Grey Wagtail, the long staying Eurasian Teal (Green-winged Teal), a probable Japanese Sparrowhawk and an Intermediate Egret. |
| Mike Carter and four others per Rohan Clarke 12/1 #108468 |
| Wed 11 | | Rockhopper PenguinDenmark, Western Australia |
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| Two penguins have been found on beaches in Denmark on the south coast of WA. They are believed to be one-year-old Northern Rockhoppers which are normally found on Amsterdam Island in the Indian Ocean, 4,000 kilometres from WA. Denmark vet David Edmond has taken in the two, which have come ashore to moult, for safety.
The two penguins will be released on a nearby island. Further information |
| per ABC News 12/1 #108548 |
| | House Swift Broome Port area , Western Australia |
| A House Swift was seen over the Broome Port area at 17:45 yesterday evening. No doubt the sighting is associated with the recent passage of Cyclone Heidi that is now over Port Hedland. |
| George Swann per Rohan Clarke 12/1 #108467 |
| Sat 7 | | Scarlet-chested Parrot, Little Crow etcGluepot Reserve, South Australia |
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| Had 3 immature/female Scarlet-chested Parrots on the eastern end of Gluepot. One responded to Crested Bellbird playback from my ipod. In fact I had RIngneck, Mulga Parrot, Common Bronzewing, Striated Pardalote, Variegated Fairy-wren, Hooded Robin, Yellow-plumed Honeyeater all respond to the playback. The one bird I didn't get was the Crested Bellbird which was calling nearby! The bird in question flew within 3 metres of me & I got good photos. I also had a small group of Little Crows with a few Australian Ravens mixed in fly over. Their distinctive uk uk calls & slender appearance (good flight photos) confirmed ID. Other highlights were Striated Grasswrens, Chestnut Quail-thrush, at least 5 Spotted Nightjars along the track the night before, a Tawny Frogmouth and 2 Little Button-quail.. |
| Kevin Bartram 13/1 #108592 |
| | Spotted Whistling-DuckLeanyer Sewage Ponds, Darwin, Northern Territory |
| The Spotted Whistling-Duck first seen 27/12/11 at Leanyer Sewage Ponds was refound this afternoon and was observed from 1640 to 1810. This is the first record of the species for the Northern Territory. |
| Peter Kyne 7/1 #106631 |
| Fri 6 | | Semipalmated PloverBundaberg, Queensland |
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| Found by Chris Barnes near Bundaberg on privately owned land.
Since seen by Nev & Jann Capell, Bill & Jack Moorhead.
2 further expeditions on Fri afternoon and Saturday morning failed to find it. |
| Nev Capell 8/1 #106758 |
| | Buff-breasted Button-quailHills opposite Lake Mitchel, Queensland |
| Male and female seen on the rocky slopes. the female seen on the ground briefly but well. |
| Rob Morris 8/1 #106724 |
| Mon 2 | | Oriental PratincoleLord Howe Island, marsh adjacent to airport, New South Wales |
| During a week on Lord Howe Island (26/12/2011 to 2/1/2012) we had a total of 41 bird species. Besides the "usual suspects" we had the following: Australian Wood Duck: 1 male, airport 30/12/2011; Hardhead: 1 female, airport 30/12/2011; Wandering Albatross (exulans) 1, Ball’s Pyramid 1/1/2012; White-necked Petrel 2, Ball’s Pyramid 1/1/2012; Great Cormorant: up to 4, main island 26/12/2011-1/1/2012; Wandering Tattler: 1, Ned’s Beach 30/12/2011 and again 2/1/2012; Oriental Pratincole: 1, airport 2/1/2012. We did not see the two winter-breeding tubenoses and the introduced Masked Owl. Besides birds, we saw a bat (ID pending), Lord Howe Island Gecko, Rainbow Skink (not LHI Skink) and lots of fish. |
| Nikolas Haass & Raja Stephenson 3/1 #106054 |