MY MOVE TO NORTH WARRANDYTE

I have now moved into my beautiful new home on the Yarra River in North Warrandyte.

View from my kitchen window

I've been here eight weeks and the list of birds seen on my property numbers 41 species.  So far, there's just one introduced species, the Common Myna.  When I write 'CB' on my daily walk list, here it means 'Common Bronzewing' not 'Common Blackbird' as it did in Kew. I'm delighted to report that my list does not include the native but most unwelcome Noisy Miner.  Perhaps for this reason I have fairywrens, scrubwrens and thornbills.  I rarely venture out after dark so my birdlist does not yet include any nightbirds.  I believe there are Powerful and Barking Owls, Southern Boobooks and Tawny Frogmouths.  There are choughs up the road which haven't made it to my place since I've been here and the previous owner photographed a Crested Shriketit in the backyard. I've found active nests of Red Wattlebirds, Superb Fairywrens and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and an old nest of an Eastern Yellow Robin.  I'm told the Yellow-faced Honeyeaters are resident all year round, which is interesting as I always thought of these birds as migratory.  When I check Simpson and Day, it says they can be an annual migrant, a partial migrant or nomadic. 'The Australian Bird Guide' talks of annual migration but notes that 'many birds remain in coastal south east Australia.'

River Yarra from my place

Rainbow Lorikeets are present but not in plague proportions as they are in many parts of Melbourne.  Crimson Rosellas are far more common.  The most numerous species is the Red Wattlebird.  I have two cuckoos so far - Brush and Fantailed.  I look forward to adding more to my list.

My backyard

 Echidnas are common and I have a resident wombat who I have not yet met.  My bluetongue likes to sun himself beside the swimming pool.  I'm turning the pool into wetlands and I've changed the design to retain the bluetongue's bricks.  I have a frog pond too, decorated with pink waterlilies.  It is home to Pobblebonks, Common Eastern Froglets and at least one huge Spiny Crayfish.  Yesterday I found a dead blue frog, which I have not yet identified.

My frog pond

It truly is a lovely home and very different from my home in Kew.  Just two things prevent it from being perfect:  (1) the genuine fear of bushfire (I have a bunker); and (2) I cannot walk to the shops.

As I write, an Eastern Spinebill is playing in the garden, luring me outside.  I fear I may not get as much writing done here, as I did in Kew.

BIRDS OF ELTHAM

Having left Greensborough, I've spent the last couple of weeks in Eltham
There were three species I saw in Greensborough which I haven't seen in Eltham. They are Common Bronzewing, Dusky Moorhen and Rock Dove. There were six species I saw in Eltham that I did not see in Greensborough. They were Laughing Kookaburra, Little Corella, Spotted Pardalote, Crimson Roselle, Gang Gang Cockatoo and (disappointingly) Common Starling.

The number of Noisy Miners in Eltham is quite disturbing, and the lack of Silvereyes, thornbills and Eastern Spinebills is sad. Having said that I should point out that only twice did I actually go birding: most of my observations were made walking along Main Road, so I do not pretend that my list is in any way comprehensive.

MRS MOREAU'S WARBLER

I've just finished reading 'Mrs Moreau's Warbler, How Birds Got Their Names' by Stephen Moss. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I found the constant interruption of the narrative with footnotes in tiny print was a minor irritant.
Many ornithologists are mentioned and I am somewhat bemused at the omission of John Gould. Australia is mentioned fleetingly; the book is predominantly Anglocentric. Only on page 263 did I learn that the book was supposed to be about English bird names.

'The Times' is quoted on the cover:  'Stephen Moss unlocks a trove of folk history. . .Not a page goes by without at least one diverting fact.'

The 'diverting fact on page 115 is one that I have written about elsewhere. It concerns the derivation of the name storm petrol.  Moss quotes the late Professor W.B
 Lockwood who wrote 'The Oxford Book of British Bird NamesLondon, 1984) as saying that these tiny birds 'tap the water with their feet as they fly low over the surface of the sea. He (Lockwood) suggested that this "pitter-patter" action led to the name, though the OED. . . Demurs, suggesting that although the origins are now long lost, it may come from the sounds these bird(s) make while mating, or even their smell.'

I found this fascinating as I'd always believed patrels were named after Peter, because they walked on water like St Peter on the Sea of Galilee.

Moss goes on to attribute this theory to William Dampier in 'A voyage to New Holland, etc, in the year 1699.'  Moss asserts this is entirely spurious. He does say that this derivation has  been accepted in many other European  countries, namely Germany, Norway and Spain. Id love to know why Moss is so sure of his grounds.

This quibble notwithstanding, I'd happily recommend 'Mrs Moreau's Warbler to anyone with an interest in the history of ornithology and the naming of birds.

A WEEK IN GREENSBOROUGH

I've just spent a week in Greensborough. I didn't go birding, yet on my walks I saw 21
 species of birds and heard another three.

Greensborough is a very pleasant leafy suburb with lots of flowering eucalyptus. There are even more Noisy Miners and Rainbow Lorikeets than in Kew. Surprisingly there are significantly fewer Red Wattlebirds, and no Little Wattlebirds.

There are fewer exotics:  no sparrows, no starlings, no blackbirds and very few Common Mynas.  Rock Doves and Spotted Doves are in about the same numbers as Kew.

Little Ravens and magpie are as common as in Kew, Grey Butcherbirds are less common, Galahs are more common. I saw two species I've never seen on my walks in Kew:  Dusky Moorhen and Common Bronzewing. White-faced Herons and Australian King Parrots are far more common in Greensborough. I heard many Eastern Rosellas, but perhaps surprisingly, I didn't see one. I saw just a couple of Musk Lorikeets.

Now it will be interesting to see what birds I can see in Eltham.

GOODBYE TO KEW

After 26 years living in Kew, I'm off to leafy North Warrandyte.  I've done well over 1,000 daily walks from my Kew home (I only started in recent years) and my bird total for these walks is 54 species.  My house birdlist had another six species:  Kookaburra, Rufous and Golden Whistler, Rufous Fantail and (most exciting!) Tawny Frogmouth - all seen just once, and Song Thrush, which used to be a common resident over twenty years ago, but which hasn't been seen here this century.

Tawny Frogmouths - a lousy photo, but proof that they came.

One sad loss is the Willie Wagtail, which I used to be able to rely on on my north walk, but which hasn't put in an appearance for some years.  Another bird I used to see, but haven't seen since the invasion of Noisy Miners is the White-plumed Honeyeater.  They were common here in the 1990's.  Another 'new' bird to the district is the Crested Pigeon - not here when we moved in.  Silvereyes are now rare; they used to be common.

Just last week I added a new bird to my walk list:  a pair of Maned Ducks flew into a tree above my head on my south walk.  I had seen them years ago at the neighbours' pool, but never had they graced one of my walks.

Gang Gangs are always a favourite.  I see them on north walks, most often in April, but also in June and August.

Gang Gang photo by Ken Haines

Perhaps the most exciting bird on my walks was the Wedge-tailed Eagle - always a joy to see.  Although the Little Button-quail deserves a mention.  I'm sure the Budgerigar on a west walk was an escaped pet.  The Australian King Parrots were exciting and I hoped they'd stay around, but they did not.

So, it's goodbye to Kew.  I will miss the daily walks.  The terrain and footpaths around North Warrandyte are not quite so friendly.  However, I'm sure my birdlist will be longer.  I know there are Powerful Owls and Scarlet Honeyeaters on my property.  It will be interesting to see how long it takes me to get a total over 60 species.  I am confident it will not take 26 years.

BIRDING AUSTRALIA'S ISLANDS

My latest book, 'Birding Australia's Islands,' has just hit the bookshops.

This tells the story of my birding adventures on 22 of Australia's islands, from Macquarie in the south, to Boigu and Saibai in the north, Lord Howe and Norfolk in the east, and Cocos (Keeling) in the west.  The island I've visited most (apart from Phillip Island in my home state, Victoria) is Christmas Island, where the birds are magnificent.

Three islands in this book I haven't actually stepped foot on.  They are Raine Island in far north Queensland, Cabbage Tree Island in New South Wales and Browse Island in northern Western Australia.  The first two are nature reserves where the public is not permitted to land.  The seas were too rough for me to disembark on the third.

This book is beautifully illustrated with superb photos by some of Australia's best photographers.  Here are a couple of examples:

White-breasted Waterhen by Steve Reynolds

White-breasted Waterhens are now common on Cocos.  They weren't there on my first visit.

Nankeen Kestrel by Brook Whylie

I've seen kestrels on many islands; they have a very widespread distribution.  The bird I saw most on my island adventures is the Sacred Kingfisher.

I really enjoyed writing about Australia's islands.  I could relive all the wonderful trips I've enjoyed over the years.
Link to my Guardian Article

WERRIBEE IN WINTER

Yesterday I spent a beautiful sunny winter's day at Werribee.  There were plenty of birds, if not plenty of species.  We saw unusually large numbers of Pied Cormorants, and both Royal and Yellow-billed Spoonbills.  Also a small flock of female Flame Robins.

We saw lots of swans, lots of Pink-eared Ducks and lots of Swamp Harrriers and several Brown Falcons.

Brown Falcon (not taken yesterday) photo by Ken Haines

I was with birding friends from New South Wales, Janine and Stan Jones.  We saw just 53 species.  We would have seen more, but our birding activities were curtailed when their car, a new Honda, refused to change gear.  We were denied the use of park or reverse.  Stan managed to drive to the Honda dealership in Hopper's Crossing, where the magnificent staff solved the problem in minutes.  No hassles.  All done on warranty.  If only every car dealership were as helpful as the Hopper's Crossing Honda dealership.

From my point of view, the bird of the day was a single Baillon's Crake wandering around on the mud in the T Section.  Other contenders were a handsome Spotted Harrier, a very confiding Little Grassbird, and a pair of parrots we strongly suspected were OBP's.  They were silhouetted, perched on low vegetation, in very poor light.  Before we could get the scope onto them, they flew.  Unfortunately they did not call.  We will never know for sure, but I suspect they were OBP's.

My New South Wales friends thought the Golden-headed Cisticolas were strong contenders for bird of the day, reminding me not to take these common (but very beautiful) birds for granted.

Beach Road was closed, because of an 'event.'  This was mildly annoying.  We must notify Melbourne Water before we visit the WTP, so it seems only fair to me that Melbourne Water should notify us when we are denied access to a major thoroughfare.

It was a great day, road closures and car breakdowns notwithstanding.  The birds were beautiful, the sun was shining and the company was magnificent.