Twitchathon Results from 10th December 2013

The stand out winners of the BONE December Twitchathon were the "Eagles" with 49 species. Ted, Jo and Ros saw some great birds within the timeframe. The Orange-footed Gannets and the Windy Wrens also racked up some different species to the Eagles, just showing that in the ST Helens area, if you keep your eyes open you can usually see over 50 bird species in just 2 hours of birding! 
 
Best birding wishes,
Liz 



Eagles' Bird List:

Black Swan	Cygnus atratus
Australian Shelduck	Tadorna tadornoides
Grey Teal	Anas gracilis
Chestnut Teal	Anas castanea
Hardhead	Aythya australis
Hoary-headed Grebe	Poliocephalus poliocephalus
Australasian Gannet	Morus serator
Little Pied Cormorant	Microcarbo melanoleucos
Great Cormorant	Phalacrocorax carbo
Little Black Cormorant	Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
Eastern Great Egret	Ardea modesta
White-faced Heron	Egretta novaehollandiae
Royal Spoonbill	Platalea regia
Swamp Harrier	Circus approximans
Eurasian Coot	Fulica atra
Australian Pied Oystercatcher	Haematopus longirostris
Red-capped Plover	Charadrius ruficapillus
Black-fronted Dotterel	Elseyornis melanops
Masked Lapwing	Vanellus miles
Caspian Tern	Hydroprogne caspia
Crested Tern	Thalasseus bergii
Pacific Gull	Larus pacificus
Silver Gull	Chroicocephalus novaehollindiae
Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo	Calyptorynchus funereus
Galah	Eolophus roseicapillus
Green Rosella	Platycercus caledonicus
Pallid Cuckoo	Cacomantis pallidus
Laughing Kookaburra	Dacelo novaeguineae
Superb Fairy-wren	Malurus cyaneus
Striated Pardalote	Pardalotus striatus
Striated Fieldwren	Calamanthus fuliginosus
Brown Thornbill	Acanthiza pusilla
Yellow-throated Honeyeater	Lichenostomus flavicollis
Little Wattlebird	Anthochaera chrysoptera
Yellow Wattlebird	Anthochaera paradoxa
Yellow-throated Honeyeater	Lichenostomus flavicollis
New Holland Honeyeater	Phylidonyris  novaehollandiae
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike	Coracina novaehollandiae
Golden Whistler	Pachycephala pectoralis
Dusky Woodswallow	Artamus cyanopterus
Australian Magpie	Cracticus tibicen
Grey Currawong	Strepera versicolor
Grey Fantail	Rhipidura albiscapa
Forest Raven	Corvus tasmanicus
Welcome Swallow	Hirundo neoxena
Common Blackbird	Turdus merula
Common Starling	Sturnus vulgaris
House Sparrow	Passer domesticus
European Greenfinch	Carduelis carduelis

Striated Pardalote wing display at Cloud 9

Thought it might have been a mating display or trying to scare me away, but it turned out (as I found on Internet) that they just do it once in a while. 

The nest is in the hollow which is visible in a couple of photos and movies. After the display he actually goes inside and comes out a couple of seconds later with a twig in his beak and returns to the nest after he's shaken it a few times! Probably dusting!? All very interesting don't you think? These were taken about 4 weeks ago, then they disappeared but have been back for a few days now and I'm been busy again! 

Cheers,
Annette.



Striated Pardalote stretches its wings

The Shining Bronze Cuckoo crash-landed on our neighbours veranda. She managed to take the photo before he took off again. 

The Grey Fantail fledgling was gettting flying lessons from Mum and I managed to take the photos just before it took off for it's first flight. You might appreciate I'm very chuffed with that one!