Rockleigh 5th October 2019 Marg Brown and I (Graham) had a never to be forgotten morning at Rockleigh on Saturday. It was one of those experiences which reinforces your decision to be involved in conservation and in our Bushland Company in particular.
Following up on information supplied by a University of the Third Age birdwatching group that had visited our property the previous week, we set off very early and were on site by 7am enjoying a lovely cool morning despite the forecast.
The grassy flats NE of the ford were alive with birds with crimson chats being the most outstanding. They were also breeding in the centre of a dormant veldt grass tussock (see below, thanks Marg). White winged trillers were numerous with pipits, whiteface, yellow rumped thornbills and white fronted chats making up the bulk of the ground feeders. Meanwhile white browed and dusky woodswallows were snatching insects, a rufous songlark kept up an almost constant song as it flew from tree to tree and a brown tree-creeper was feeing young in a nearby dead eucalypt. We had a brief glimpse of the sacred kingfisher which the U3A group had reported breeding At the dam we also saw sittellas raising young. The full list of 44 bird species seen in about 4 hours is below:
Bird list 5th October 2019
Peaceful dove
Common bronzewing
Brown falcon
Sulphur crested cockatoo
Galah
Purple crowned lorikeet
Adelaide rosella
Red rumped parrot
Australian ringneck parrot
Horsefield bronze-cuckoo
Pallid Cuckoo
Kookaburra
Sacred kingfisher (B)
Brown tree-creeper (B young)
Yellow thornbill
Yellow rumped thornbill
Whiteface
Striated pardalote
Red wattle bird
White plumed honeyeater
Spiny cheeked honeyeater
New Holland honeyeater
Crimson Chat (B eggs)
White fronted Chat
Australian pipit
Rufous songlark
White winged triller
White browed babbler
Rufous whistler
Grey shrike-thrush
Dusky woodswallow
Masked woodswallow
White-browed woodswallow
Australian magpie
Grey fantail
Diamond firetail
Varied sittella (B. young)
Black faced cuckoo shrike
Little raven
Hooded robin
Tree martin (B? entering hollow)
Mistletoe bird
Starling
Goldfinch
Rockleigh bird list – 15/6/2015 “b”=breeding
Common Name Scientific Name
Little Pied Cormorant – Phalacrocorax melanoleucos
White Necked (Pacific) Heron – Ardea pacifica
White-faced Heron – Egretta novaehollandiae
Nankeen Night Heron – Nycticorax caledonicus
Straw Necked Ibis – Threskiornis spinicollis
Australian Wood Duck – Chenonetta jubata
Australian Shelduck – Tadorna tadornoides
Pacific Black Duck – Anas superciliosa b
Grey Teal – Anas gracilis
Chestnut Teal – Anas castanea
Brown Goshawk – Accipiter fasciatus
Collared Sparrowhawk – Accipiter cirrocephalus
Wedge-tailed Eagle – Aquila audax
Whistling Kite – Haliastur sphenurus
Black Kite – Milvus migrans
Square-tailed Kite – Lophoictinia isura
Black-shouldered Kite – Elanus axillaris
Spotted Harrier – Circus assimilis
Australian Hobby – Falco longipennis
Peregrine Falcon – Falco peregrinus
Brown Falcon – Falco berigora
Nankeen Kestrel – Falco cenchroides
Stubble Quail – Coturnix pectoralis
Brown Quail – Coturnix ypsilophora
Little Button – Quail Turnix velox
Black Fronted Dotterel – Elseyornis melanops
* Rock Dove (Feral pigeon) – Columba livia
* Spotted Turtle Dove – Streptopelia chinensis
Peaceful Dove – Geopelia striata
Common Bronzewing – Phaps chalcoptera
Crested Pigeon – Ocyphaps lophotes
Rainbow Lorikeet – Trichoglossus haematodus
Musk Lorikeet – Glossopsitta concinna
Purple-crowned Lorikeet – Glossopsitta porphyrocephala b
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo – Cacatua galerita
Little Corella – Cacatua sanguinea
Galah – Eolophus roseicapillus
Cockatiel – Nymphicus hollandicus
Crimson Rosella – Platycercus elegans
Australian Ringneck – Barnardius zonarius
Red-rumped Parrot – Psephotus haematonotus
Elegant Parrot – Neophema elegans
Budgerigar – Melopsittacus undulatus
Pallid Cuckoo – Cacomantis pallidus
Fan-tailed Cuckoo – Cacomantis flabelliformis
Black-eared Cuckoo – Chalcites osculans
Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo – Chalcites basalis
Barn Owl – Tyto alba
Southern Boobook – Ninox novaeseelandiae
Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides
Australian Owlet-nightjar – Aegotheles cristatus
Spotted Nightjar – Eurostopodus argus
Laughing Kookaburra – Dacelo novaeguineae
Red-backed Kingfisher – Todiramphus pyrrhopygius
Sacred Kingfisher – Todiramphus sanctus
Rainbow Bee-eater – Merops ornatus
* Skylark – Alauda arvensis
Welcome Swallow – Hirundo neoxena b
Tree Martin – Petrochelidon nigricans b
Australasian Pipit – Anthus novaeseelandiae
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike – Coracina novaehollandiae
Ground Cuckoo-shrike – Coracina maxima
White-winged Triller – Lalage sueurii
White-browed Babbler – Pomatostomus superciliosus
Brown Songlark – Cincloramphus cruralis
Rufous Songlark – Cincloramphus mathewsi
White-fronted Chat – Epthianura albifrons
Crimson Chat – Ephthianura tricolor
Weebill – Smicrornis brevirostris
Southern Whiteface – Aphelocephala leucopsis
Yellow Thornbill – Acanthiza nana
Chestnut-rumped Thornbill – Acanthiza uropygialis
Buff-rumped Thornbill – Acanthiza reguloides
Yellow-rumped Thornbill – Acanthiza chrysorrhoa
Superb Fairy-wren – Malurus cyaneus b
Variegated Fairy-wren – Malurus lamberti
Grey Fantail – Rhipidura albiscapa
Willie Wagtail – Rhipidura leucophrys
Restless Flycatcher – Myiagra inquieta
Jacky Winter – Microeca fascinans
Scarlet Robin – Petroica multicolor
Red-capped Robin – Petroica goodenovii
Hooded Robin – Melanodryas cucullata b
Golden Whistler – Pachycephala pectoralis
Rufous Whistler – Pachycephala rufiventris
Grey Shrike-thrush – Colluricincla harmonica b
Varied Sittella – Daphoenositta chrysoptera
Brown Treecreeper – Climacteris picumnus
Mistletoebird – Dicaeum hirundinaceum
Spotted Pardalote – Pardalotus punctatus
Striated Pardalote – Pardalotus striatus
Silvereye – Zosterops lateralis
White-naped Honeyeater – Melithreptus lunatus
Brown-headed Honeyeater – Melithreptus brevirostris b
Black Chinned Honeyeater – Melithreptus gularis
Black Honeyeater – Sugomel niger b
Eastern Spinebill – Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris
White-fronted Honeyeater – Purnella albifrons
Singing Honeyeater – Lichenostomus virescens
Yellow-faced Honeyeater – Lichenostomus chrysops
Yellow-plumed Honeyeater – Lichenostomus ornatus
White-plumed Honeyeater – Lichenostomus penicillatus
New Holland Honeyeater – Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
Tawny Crowned Honeyeater – Phylidonyris melanops
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater – Acanthagenys rufogularis
Red Wattlebird – Anthochaera carunculata
Little Wattlebird – Anthochaera chrysoptera
Diamond Firetail – Stagonopleura guttata b
Red-browed Finch – Emblema temporalis
Magpie-lark – Grallina cyanoleuca
White-winged Chough – Corcorax melanorhamphos
Masked Woodswallow – Artamus personatus b
White-browed Woodswallow – Artamus superciliosus b
Dusky Woodswallow – Artamus cyanopterus
Grey Currawong – Strepera versicolor
Grey Butcherbird – Cracticus torquatus
Australian Magpie – Cracticus tibicen
Little Raven – Corvus mellori
* House Sparrow – Passer domesticus
* Common Blackbird – Turdus merula
* European Goldfinch – Carduelis carduelis
* Common Starling – Sturnus vulgaris b
* introduced species
121 species