May 2012

This is a full report to supplement the summary to be published in the Gazette.

The cold weather expected in Winter really kicked in for May and many species took the hint.  This includes Homo sapiens as many of the observers seem to have found a need to be somewhere warmer for at least part of the month.  As a result the number of species observed has dropped from 93 in April 2012 to 81 in May 2012.  That is one more  than the number of species reported in May for the last two years!  The following image shows the number of species reported in the last year (ie June 2011 to May 2012) and the average of all available months.

Highlights in the month were: 

• Cattle Egret and Spotted Harrier on Plains Rd; 
• Black Swan nesting near Mills Cross (see image below -the only breeding record for the month); 
• Yellow-tufted Honeyeater at Hoskinstown, 
• continued presence of New Holland Honeyeater in a birdbath at Widgiewa Rd

The low point was a sighting of a Common Myna at the Eastern end of Plains Rd.

Migrant birds are shown in italics below and the breeding species in red. Thanks to several observers in the Molonglo Valley, Forbes Creek, Hoskinstown, and Widgiewa Rd.

1  Waterbirds:  Musk Duck; Black Swan;  Australian Shelduck; Australian Wood Duck;  Grey Teal; Pacific Black Duck; ; Australasian Grebe; Little Black Cormorant; Little Pied Cormorant; Cattle Egret; White‑faced Heron; Eurasian Coot; Black‑fronted Dotterel; Masked Lapwing

2 Birds of Prey:  Black-shouldered Kite;  Brown Goshawk; ;Spotted Harrier; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Nankeen Kestrel; Brown Falcon;

3 Parrots and Relatives:  Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo; Gang‑gang Cockatoo; Galah; Sulphur‑crested Cockatoo;  Crimson Rosella; Eastern Rosella; Red-rumped parrot

4 Kingfishers and other non-songbirds: Stubble Quail; Common Bronzewing; Crested Pigeon; Tawny Frogmouth; Australian Owlet-nightjar; Eastern Barn Owl; Laughing Kookaburra;

5 Honeyeaters: Eastern Spinebill; Yellow-faced Honeyeater; White-eared Honeyeater; Yellow-tufted Honeyeater; Noisy Miner; Red Wattlebird; New Holland Honeyeater; Brown‑headed Honeyeater; White-naped Honeyeater; 

6 Flycatchers and similar species: Golden Whistler;Grey Shrike-thrush; Grey Fantail; WillieWagtail; Magpie-lark; Scarlet Robin; Flame Robin; Eastern Yellow Robin; Welcome Swallow; 

7 Thornbills, Finches and similar species:  Superb Fairy-wren; White-browed Scrubwren; Weebill; Striated Thornbill; Yellow‑rumped Thornbill; Buff‑rumped Thornbill; Brown Thornbill; Southern Whiteface; Spotted Pardalote; Striated Pardalote; Silvereye; Double‑barred Finch; Red‑browed Finch; Diamond Firetail; House Sparrow; European Goldfinch

8 Other, smaller birds:  White-throated Treecreeper;  Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike;   Common Myna; Common Starling; Mistletoebird; Australasian  Pipit;

9  Other, larger birds: Grey Butcherbird; Australian Magpie; Pied Currawong; Grey Currawong; Australian Raven; Little Raven; White-winged Chough