BIRD OF THE MONTH

Each month I like to select the bird that has given me the most pleasure and reward it by calling it my Bird of the Month. Sometimes it is easy (for example, if I get a lifer); sometimes it is difficult (if I haven't seen anything special). Most months it is surprisingly easy. Birds tend to self select. However, winter in Melbourne can be hard. Mostly, I enjoy the process. I go through the birds I've seen, I remember good trips. It is fun. So far, this year has been a mixed bunch. January was easy. I saw a Common Kingfisher on Cocos - a lifer, and an exceptionally beautiful bird. February was even easier. I saw the White-necked Petrel, a bird I had been wanting to see for decades. It was bigger and even more beautiful than I'd been led to believe. March was not so obvious. In the end I settled on an Eastern Spinebill - not a rare bird, but to me a special one nonetheless. I grew up with spinebills in my backyard in Ringwood and I have been sorely lamenting the fact that, despite all my native planting for that very purpose, they have refused to turn up in my new garden in East Kew. In March I saw one, just fleetingly admittedly, but I saw one unambiguously in the garden next door. Good enough for Bird of the Month for me!

This lovely photo by Ken Haines is not of the bird next door, but I couldn't tell the difference. (All the birds in Victoria are the same race.) The winner for April again was not obvious. I'd been to Werribee, hoping for a Black Tern, which, unfortunately, I did not see. But that day I had been struck by the large number of Australian Crakes. They all wanted to say hello. I think of crakes as being secretive and shy. These birds were not. I've always loved crakes and rails and I do not see them every month. On reflection, the crake was a clear winner. In the end May was easy, despite a large number of excellent contenders. I went to Sherbrooke and saw several Superb Lyrebirds. I saw Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos at Hay's Paddock. I visited Kamarooka and saw lots of wonderful birds, each worthy of being awarded Bird of the Month. There were honeyeaters (Purple-gaped, Tawny-crowned, White-eared and more), Red-capped Robins, Purple-backed Fairywrens, Shy Heathwrens, Crested Bellbird and (a most worthy nomination) Western Whistlers that I didn't know occurred in Victoria. So May was already spoiled for choice when I saw my clear winner: an Olive-backed Oriole in my street. It was sitting on top of a silver birch singing its heart out. In May! These summer migrants should be far north by May, certainly not sitting in my street singing. Another clear winner.

Again, the photo is by Ken Haines and again, it is not the bird in question. However, it is a Victorian Olive-backed Oriole so it is near enough for me. Now as June comes to a close, I am considering who deserves my award this month. I have been to Eden where I admired five species of albatross, each one worthy of Bird of the Month appellation. I saw friendly Buff-banded Rail at Eden, and, even better, Southern Emu-wren. En route I saw Spotted Quail-thrush and, again at Eden, I saw a magnificent white Grey Goshawk. Plenty to choose from. But the winner is none of these. The winner is Dame Edna! A bird I have been wanting to see ever since I heard of her existence. She lives in Royal Park and I look for her each time I visit. This time I saw her. She is an old female Superb Fairywren with a male's blue tail. I have been told that the experts think this is due to her age and an excessive build up of testosterone over the years. This fascinated me, as (in my ignorance) I had not heard of it before. I just happen to be reading 'The Wisdom of Birds' by Tim Birkhead (which I thoroughly recommend by the way) and came across a passage discussing just this issue: female birds exhibiting male characteristics. Here's the relevant bit (from page 282): 'Science is often sexist and, perhaps not surprisingly, until recently it was widely assumed that male hormones controlled male sexual traits - like a cockerel's plumes. The truth is that many male characteristics are determined not by the male hormone testosterone, but by the absence of the female hormone, oestrogen. Typically, males do not secrete oestrogen (or at least not very much), and consequently produce male plumage. Females secrete oestrogen and develop female plumage. A female with a diseased ovary that ceases to produce oestrogen reverts to the default situation of male plumage.' Fascinating. Whatever the cause, Dame Edna is the clear winner for June. And here she is:

The photo is by Peter Petinatos, and you can see that she has a female's orange eye-ring and a male's blue tail. So, so far at least, winter has not been difficult for selecting my Bird of the Month. Fingers crossed for July!

IT IS WINTER AND I GO TO EDEN

On the first of the month, I like to go birding, to start the month's birdlist off appropriately. I often walk to Willsmere Billabong, then on to Darebin Parklands, which is what I did on 1 June 2023. I saw all the usual suspects, including a Common Bronzewing, ducks, parrots and a very vocal Grey Butcherbird. I dipped on Red-rumped Parrots - one of many birds I used to consider a certainty, but alas no longer so. I did see a Buff-banded Rail beside the creek, only my second sighting of this species on this walk. I ended the day with 35 species, which is acceptable for Kew in winter.

The next day I set off with my birding mate, Ken Haines, for Eden in New South Wales, where we were booked to do back to back pelagics on the M.V. Connemara on Saturday and Sunday. The highlight of the drive to Eden was three (perhaps four) Spotted Quail-thrush spotted by keen-eyed Ken beside the road. Unfortunately, they did not hang around to get acquainted, but they managed to get on my birdlist. We stayed in Reflections Holiday Park and arrived in time for a walk around Lake Curaio, where we met several very friendly Buff-banded Rail, who really did want to get acquainted. We also saw some Southern Emu-wren - always a thrill.

On Saturday morning, we arrived at the wharf in good time for our 7 a.m. departure. We met Julian, our leader, Mark, the captain, and Luke, the crew. There were twelve passengers in all, a perfect number for the size of the boat. It was cold, but we had only one or two drops of rain all day. The birds behaved well. One or two Brown Skuas accompanied us most of the day. There were lots of Australasian Gannets. They may be common, but they are very beautiful birds. We saw five species of albatross, which isn't bad. There were several people on board who were experiencing their first pelagic. How very special to see five species of albatross on your very first pelagic! The first (and most numerous) was a Shy, then Yellow-nosed, Black-browed, Buller's and finally, Campbell's.

The albatross were, for me, the highlight of the day. Others were more excited by the one Cape Petrel who put in an appearance in the afternoon. No birds were in big numbers. We saw a single Fairy Prion, one Grey-faced Petrel, one Providence Petrel, one Short-tailed Shearwater, a few Wilson's Storm Petrels (but not many), one White-chinned Petrel and two Northern Giant Petrels. There were some Grey-backed Storm Petrels, but they did not come very close to the boat. I dipped on the one Fluttering Shearwater, seen early in the day on the other side of the boat. Coming into port in the afternoon, we saw plenty of Black-faced Cormorants and several Little Penguins. There were White-bellied Sea Eagles (always very regal) and a few Pelicans. My list for the day totalled 25, which I thought was pretty good. We saw lots of Common Dolphins and a few Bottle-nosed. Some tail splashing Humpbacks right near the boat were quite spectacular - and a new experience for me.

The boat returned at about quarter to four, giving us time to explore Lake Curaio a bit further in the daylight. There was a noisy colony of Bell Miners which dominated, but didn't deter some inquisitive whipbirds (or a Brown Antechinus for that matter). The highlight today was undoubtedly a pure white Grey Goshawk, a bird I don't see often enough. (I think I'm correct in saying that I haven't seen one since June 2013.) I thought Sunday could not be as good as Saturday, and I was right. I did manage to add the missing Fluttering Shearwater to my list, but that was all.

The good photos on this page are by Ken Haines. That's the Southern Emu-wren, the Buller's Albatross and the Fairy Prion. The lousy ones are mine, taken with my phone. We spent the night at Lakes Entrance and arrived home in time for lunch on Monday. What better way to spend the first weekend of winter? I can't think of any.