BIRD OF THE MONTH

BOM may mean Bureau of Meteorology to you. To me it means Bird of the Month. I make this personal award each month to the bird that has given me the most pleasure. It doesn't have to be a lifer; it doesn't have to be a rarity. Simply a bird that's given me pleasure. At the end of the year I have a list of twelve birds that evokes wonderful memories. Sometimes it is quite obvious which bird deserves the award. If, for example, I've seen a lifer. Sometimes it isn't quite so easy. But, so far at least, there's always been some bird that's given me please and warrants the accolade. In June, I wrote of my birds of the month so far for 2023. Now I can complete the year's list. It looks like this: JANUARY: COMMON KINGFISHER - lifer on Cocos. The thing that struck me most at the time about the kingfisher was how absolutely gorgeous it was. It was even more beautiful (if that's possible!) than our Azure Kingfisher. I hadn't expected that. Then, strangely, I saw another Common Kingfisher on Cocos again in November. It was a young bird and wasn't nearly so brightly coloured. I was very pleased that I'd seen the January bird and understood just how spectacular they can be. These birds have a very wide distribution throughout Europe and Asia, but it was a bird that I'd never expected to be able to write onto my Australian list.I took this photo from HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World:

FEBRUARY: WHITE-NECKED PETREL. This was a real bogey bird for me. I'd looked for it for many years with certainly well over twenty interstate trips for the purpose. And, when I eventually saw it, it was not an anticlimax: it was even more beautiful than I'd expected. This beautiful photo is by Paul Walbridge, who runs the Southport pelagics.

MARCH: EASTERN SPINEBILL I grew up with Eastern Spinebills in Ringwood. They used to be in Kew, where I live. Not any more. So, when a spinebill turned up in my neighbour's garden, it was cause for celebration. Unfortunately, seeing a spinebill in Kew today is a rare occasion. This lovely photo by Ken Haines, is not the bird in question.

APRIL: AUSTRALIAN CRAKE. This illustraion is from HANZAB. - an irruption at Werribee

MAY: OLIVE-BACKED ORIOLE A beautiful bird, well worth the appelation of Bird of the Month in its own right, but on this occasion, the award was made because the bird greeted in my street! It was sitting in the neighbour's silver birch. In May! This summer migrant should not have been in Melbourne in May, let alone in my suburban street. Again, this lovely photo by Ken Haines, is not the bird in question.

JUNE: DAME EDNA, FEMALE SUPERB FAIRYWREN This female Superb Fairywren with the diagnostic red around the eye, has the blue tail characteristic of a male bird. I refer any reader wanting to know more about this phenomenon to my blog posting of last June when I quoted Tim Birkhead on the subject. This photo, taken by Peter petinatos, shows the female Superb Fairywren, with a male's blue tail.

JULY: EASTERN GRASS OWL - at the Western Treatment Plant. You are not permitted to go into the farm at night, but I saw this owl while I was travelling on the public roads. It's the first Grass Owl I've ever seen in my home state. The photo is from CSIRO's Australian Bird Guide.

AUGUST: AUSTRALIAN GOLDEN WHISTLER I saw this bird on a BirdLife Australia weekday outing to Mullum Mullum. Yes, I know it is a common bird, but it was breathtakingly beautiful. Quite irrisitible. Again, this photo by Ken Haines is not the bird in question, but he's just as gorgeous!

SEPTEMBER: THICK-BILLED GRASSWREN race cowarie on Cowarie Station, a new race for me. This photo, which I've taken from HANZAB, volume 5, is not the right race. I couldn't find an illustration of race cowarie.

OCTOBER: GREAT CRESTED GREBE When I visited Lake Colac (on the way to Port Fairy) with Ken Haines, there were several pairs of Great Crested Grebes doing their mating dance. It was truly mesmerizing, something I'd heard about but had never witnessed before. This photo by Ken Haines is of the birds in question.

NOVEMBER: LARGE HAWK CUCKOO - lifer on Christmas Island. My trip to Christmas Island in 2023 was fun of course. Christmas Island is always fun. But, on the bird front, it was a little disappointing. I was delighted to score this lifer, quite unexpectedly, on a walk looking for a passerine someone had reported (which we did not see). I took this photo from a Lynx publication, the Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago.

DECEMBER: BAILLON'S CRAKE. Another Werribee irruption. This photo is by Ken Haines (what would I do without him?)

So here I am in 2024, full of hopeful expectations! I scored seven lifers last year (and the year before!) If I can get two this year, I'll be satisfied. Lifers are getting harder and harder to see! But, even if I don't see any at all, I'm sure I'll be able to achieve twelve lovely Birds of the Month to remember the year by.