MY ETERNAL QUEST FOR A WHITE-NECKED PETREL

Every February I travel to New South Wales to do a pelagic in search of the elusive White-necked Petrel.  In recent years boats go from Kiama.

This year I was fortunate when Ken Haines said he was driving up and offered me a lift.  Pelagics from Kiama go on the fourth Saturday of the month.  This year there was an additional trip going on Sunday, so I had double the chance of seeing my bird.

We left on Thursday afternoon and spent the night at Glenrowan caravan park, because Ken had heard it was a good spot for Turquoise Parrots.  And so it proved to be.

Turquoise Parrot, photo by Ken Haines

A water fountain outside the caravan park office attracted a variety of birds, including a sprinkling of Turquoise Parrots.  Walking around the park we saw perhaps thirty of the parrots, in groups of two or three, on the ground or in the trees.  We were satisfied that we'd made the right decision to stop in Glenrowan.  Excellent views of Speckled Warblers confirmed this opinion.  We also saw White-browed Babblers, Peaceful Dove and a single Rainbow Bee-eater.  We did not see Double-barred Finches, which we were told were usually present.

Speckled Warbler, photo by Ken Haines

Pleased with our birdlist we returned to our cabin for tea.  Sitting on the veranda, Ken called me outside to witness a spectacular flyby of Turquoise Parrots.  They came, and they kept coming.  Ken estimated there were at least 150 birds.  Thank you, Glenrowan!

On Friday we drove to Wingdang where we'd booked a cabin right beside the water.  We saw 49 birds on Friday, highlights being Oriental Dollarbirds, a Jacky Winter, my first Sooty Oystercatcher for the year, a Caspian Tern and a Little Eagle.

I don't know why but I awoke on Saturday feeling very confident.  Surely 2020 would be the year I finally saw my White-necked Petrel.  I boarded the boat in a positive mood.  There'd been a cyclone on Lord Howe Island and strong easterly winds could have blown all sorts of exciting birds into our path.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater, photo by Brook Whylie

We saw lots of shearwaters and several shy-type albatrosses.  We saw gannets and gulls and a sea-eagle.  There were a few Pomarine Skuas (but no other jaegers), one Black-browed Albatross and one White-tailed Tropicbird.  At one stage, we thought we had a Black Petrel, but this suggestion was later rejected by the experts.  As well as the usual Greater Crested Terns, we also saw Common Terns.  The most exciting bird of the day was a very cooperative Streaked Shearwater, happy to give us all excellent views.  But there was no hint of a White-necked Petrel.

Hutton's Shearwater, photo by Brook Whylie

On Sunday, again I thought I was in with a chance.  A different day and different birds.  Sadly, even fewer than yesterday.  The day's total was just 13 species, not very impressive at all. The only bird we saw on Sunday that we hadn't seen on Saturday was a Brown Booby - an unusual bird for Kiama.  The bird of the day for me was a Fluttering Shearwater that sat beside the boat giving us all a very good look.

Fluttering Shearwater, photo by Ken Haines

We spent Sunday night in Goulburn and drove home to Melbourne on Monday.  We had plenty of time and decided to treat ourselves to a quick peak at Chiltern's No 1 and No 2 dams.  There were few birds at No 1.  It was warm and the wrong time of day for passerines.  Nevertheless we continued on to No 2.  Again, very few birds.  Pelicans and teal on the water, fairywrens and Red-rumped Parrots in the bush.  Very disappointed, we were attempting to call up a Fuscous Honeyeater, when Ken suddenly saw a large raptor circling the dam.  He drew my attention to it and I was initially confused.  It was large and pale and had bulls' eyes characteristic of a Black-breasted Buzzard, a bird we don't get in Victoria.  This bird did not have a black breast.  However, the bulls' eyes were obvious and diagnostic.  Looking at the illustrations in 'The Australian Bird Guide' when I was home, I decided it was an immature bird.  It did not have the rich rufous of a juvenile, but was splotchy with some rufous and some grey:  the outstanding feature was those characteristic bulls' eyes.  A very exciting record for Victoria.

So I returned home, celebrating my buzzard rather than lamenting the lack of a White-necked Petrel.

KENTISH PLOVER

2020 is starting quite well.  We've had an unidentified shelduck at Werribee, a split in the Graceful Honeyeater giving us a new species (Cryptic Honeyeater in FNQ) and a twitch to Kurnell near Sydney for a Kentish Plover.

I flew to Sydney on 11 January.  The bird had not been seen for several days, despite people looking for it on at least two days.  I thought I'd probably miss out but it was certainly worth a go.

I flew to Sydney, picked up a hire car, drove to Captain Cook Drive, parked opposite the skate park.  Arrived at 9.30.  Walked up and down the beach.  Tide was wrong and there were few waders.  I'd been told the optimum tide would be about noon.  The bird had been seen associating with Red-capped Plovers.

Some time after noon, I found a flock of Red-capped Plovers and my heart leapt.  I examined each bird in the flock.  I think there were 13.  But no Kentish Plover.

By 1 o'clock I'd decided the Kentish Plover had moved on.  I'd visited all the spots where the bird had been seen.

I decided to walk further up the beach.  I knew the bird would not be there because there were lots of noisy kids and dogs.  But I had nothing better to do until my flight home.

Suddenly, in the midst of the noisiest part of the beach, there was a different wader.  I had thought it would look very like a Red-capped Plover.  (My early bird books regard the Kentish Plover as a race of the Red-capped.)  But it did not.  It was much paler and easily identified.  A successful twitch is always a good feeling.  But this dear little bird felt particularly good because I'd been sure that I'd missed out.

A wonderful start to 2020!

Kentish Plover

Kentish Plover

UNIDENTIFIED SHELDUCK

There is an unidentified shelduck at Werribee's Western Treatment Plant.  The experts cannot decide what it is.

Unidentified Shelduck, photo by Ken Haines

Initially some people thought it was a female Paradise Shelduck from New Zealand.  Paradise Shelducks have turned up in Australia before.  I saw one at Lake Wollumboola in New South Wales in January 2016.  That was a male.  The theory was that the Werribee bird was a juvenile female transitioning to adult plumage.

Paradise Shelduck from Heather & Robertson's Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand.

This possibility has been ruled out as the plumage is too uniform for a bird that is transitioning, which should show mottling with some dark immature feathers.

Unidentified Shelduck with Australian Shelduck, photo by Ken Haines

Another suggestion (apparently favoured by our local South African birders) is that it is a South African or Cape Shelduck.

South African Shelduck from 'Wildfowl of the World'

This is regarded as unlikely because this species is not migratory and South Africa is a long way away!

Unidentified Shelduck

The bird is moulting and we all eagerly await its new plumage.  It would be a shame to leave its identity unresolved or to have to regard it as a mutant Australian Shelduck because we cannot be sure.

Unidentified Shelduck

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.