Nine members of Benalla U3A’s Birdwatching group travelled to the Warby Ranges on Thursday 13 October for a walk along Pangarang Track.
 
We stopped briefly at nearby Pine Gully picnic ground for morning tea before driving to the start of the walk to Pangarang Lookout. The Turquoise Parrot was the birding highlight of the day. We were lucky to see 10 of these birds not far from the car park, and a couple of people in our group had very close views of this stunning little parrot.  It is one of the special birds of the Warby Ranges and Chesney Vale Hills.
 
We saw 11 other species of birds, including a pair of Red-capped Robins, a few Grey Fantails and Rufous Whistlers, 4 Varied Sittellas and a male Mistletoebird. We also saw a White-winged Chough sitting on its large mud nest. Other birds were identified by call, including wrens, weebills and pardalotes, but they were hard to find in the vegetation.
 
Unfortunately 4WD tracks had caused severe damage to several sections of this lovely walking track, and the damage was made worse by water erosion after recent heavy rain. But the mozzies were loving the moisture. And so were the sun orchids. Large numbers were in bud, but not quite in flower. The group then returned to Pine Gully to sit in the sun for a well-earned lunch.

Our bird list can be viewed on EBird at  http://ebird.org/ebird/australia/view/checklist/S32182552

Next outing to Mollyullah district on Thursday 10th  November

We will meet at the Barkly St car park at 9.45am, and car pool for our drive to O’Deas Road near Mollyullah. Bring your lunch, thermos and a water bottle. Our visit is to the northern edge of Toombellup State Forest. There is an easy walk along the road, where we can view the birdlife and wildflowers in this pretty valley.
 
We have been invited to visit a nearby farm where we will have our lunch and a cuppa, while enjoying the views down the valley.  John the owner will then lead us on a walk to a waterfall on the property.

​U3A Benalla’s Birdwatching group resumed in September after a two month winter break.  We were fortunate to be invited to visit John and Freida’s lovely bush block in the Chesney Vale Hills on Thursday 8 September.  It was a mild day & our group of 13 saw a number of uncommon woodland birds on the property.

A small flock of White-browed Babblers moved quickly through the garden, but they were difficult to observe. Everyone had close looks at a pair of Jacky Winters which perched quite close to us. We also saw a pair of Crested Shrike-tits, with their attractive lemon breast and striking black and white head.  Eastern Rosellas and a flock of Red-rumped Parrots were seen well, plus a Restless Flycatcher which made its distinctive scissors grinder call as it hovered nearby. A Dusky Woodswallow perched on a branch above our heads, several Brown Treecreepers flew onto nearby tree trunks, and a small flock of White-winged Choughs was easy to see up ahead. Those of us who walked a bit further up the hill were lucky to find a couple of Diamond Firetails feeding on the ground, while three Hooded Robins chased each other through the trees.
 
We were lucky to see so many woodland birds in such a small area. The Chesney Vale Hills are an absolute treasure for birdwatchers. We recorded 34 species in this small area. The list has been entered on EBird http://ebird.org/ebird/australia/view/checklist/S31635063
 
We ate lunch on John’s new deck, with cake, tea and coffee supplied by Freida.  It was lovely to have Rupe join us, as he recovers from his accident.  After lunch, we made a brief visit to Duck Pond, at the far end of Winton Wetlands.  The beautiful Pink-eared Duck showed very well in the scope, but there were few other birds around, so we finished up and headed back to Benalla.  Many thanks to Freida and John for their hospitality.
 
Our next outing is on Thursday 13th October, a day trip to the Warby Ranges. Meet at Barkly Street car park at 9.45am, bring morning tea and lunch and a folding chair if you have one. We will car pool and share transport costs. Our main bird walk will be along Pangarang track.

Hello all,

I am back from my birding trip and looking forward to our next activity this coming Thursday. We will be visiting John and Frieda’s property at Chesneyvale overlooking Winton Wetlands. They have some interesting birdlife around the property and in the adjoining bushland.
 
We will meet at the Barkly Street carpark at 10am, and travel in convoy to the property which is off Lake Mokoan Road. Please bring your lunch and a folding chair if you have one, so that we can continue birding in the afternoon. At this early stage, it promises to be a mild, mainly sunny day.

​Kathy

Kathy has been away during August however she will be back for the next outing which will be to Chesney Vale on Thursday 8th September.  Kathy will undoubtedly be in contact with group members by email before the outing. 
 
The remaining outings for 2016 are scheduled for Thursday 13 October and Thursday 10 November.  

​Ten members of the group visited a sheep property 5km west of Benalla on Thursday 9 June.  After days of wet weather, we were lucky the rain held off for our morning walk.
 
As we drove in, there were two White-necked Herons and a White-faced Heron in a nearby paddock.  In the garden we saw an Eastern Spinebill, a few Superb Fairy-wrens, and a small flock of Red-browed Finches which flew into a shrub beside the driveway.  
 
A short walk took us to a high point on the banks of the Broken River, with a sandy beach below and great views along the river.  We continued our stroll through some massive River Red Gums, looking at White-plumed Honeyeaters, Eastern Rosellas, White-browed Scrubwren and a Grey Shrike-thrush on the way.
 
In the distance we identified two Australian Shelduck (used to be called Mountain Duck) and a large flock of Little Ravens in the paddocks.  A flock of about 70 Galahs flew into the River Red Gums as we made our way back to the house for a late morning tea under the carport.  Some of us had close views of a female Scarlet Robin along the driveway as our cars left the property, making a total of 25 species for the morning.
 
Thanks Carole and Godfrey for organising our visit. It was a great spot to finish the birdwatching program for the semester.
 
A detailed list of birds recorded at each outing is available for download below. Please ring Kathy Costello if you would like a printed copy.

​What’s happening in Semester 2?
There will only be three monthly outings, on Thursday 8 September, Thursday 13 October and Thursday 10 November, as Kathy is unavailable in July and August. More details will be provided in later newsletters.

White Goshawk photographed by Alec Adkins in his Benalla backyard on 10 April 2016. It is a rare bird for this area.
 
Kathy

Eleven members of the group visited Reef Hill State Park, 5km south of Benalla, on Thursday morning 9 June.  Rain threatened but we stayed dry while doing several walks from the picnic area on Reef Hills Road. Birding was pretty quiet. A few Grey Shrike-thrushes flew into the trees above us, and a White-throated Treecreeper landed nearby.  It took some time, but most of the group finally got a look at a male Scarlet Robin.  We also had distant views of 2 large groups of White-winged Choughs.
 
At our next meeting we will visit a property on the Broken River 5 km out of Benalla on the Shepparton Road.   Thanks to Carole and Godfrey, whose son and daughter-in-law own the property, and who have arranged our visit to this lovely spot.
 
Thursday 9 June - Meet at the Barkly St car park at 10am…..and please bring your ideas for semester 2. 

​Kathy Costello
 

​Our next outing is on Thursday 9 June. We will visit a property on the Broken River 5 km out of Benalla on the Shepparton Road. Please meet at the Barkly St car park at 10am. Thanks to Carole and Godfrey, whose son and daughter-in-law own the property, and who have arranged our visit to this lovely spot. Please bring your ideas for semester 2.

Kathy

The list of birds we recorded at Winton Wetlands can be viewed on EBird,  http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29320267

​​Our next outing will be to Reef Hills State Park, 5km south of Benalla next Thursday 12 May. We will turn right into the park from the Midland Highway, about 500 metres past the freeway entrance. Please meet at the car park in Barkly Street behind Aldi at 10am, so we can organise a car pool. The roads in Reef Hills may be a bit muddy after the predicted rain for Sunday and Monday. Bring morning tea and a chair. We should finish about 12 noon. Please note there are no toilet facilities at Reef Hills.

The group made a morning visit to Winton Wetlands, with 21 staying on to enjoy lunch at the Mokoan Hub café.  Our first stop was a woodland area beside Lake Mokoan Road, about 1 km further on from the hub.
 
Conditions are very dry everywhere at present, so the birds were hard to find. We recorded Grey Butcherbird, Blue-faced Honeyeater, a flock of nine Brown-headed Honeyeaters and several groups of Red-rumped Parrots.  We then continued on the Green’s Hill, off Boggy Bridge Rd. There were even fewer birds here, but it still provided an impressive 360 degree panorama of the region, especially for those who had not been there before. Some people did a short walk while others enjoyed morning tea in the picnic shelter.
 
We then drove on to look at the portraits recently painted on a large water tank at the corner of Boggy Bridge Rd and Winton North Road. Birds viewed along the road included three Brown Falcons, a Whistling Kite and a Nankeen Kestrel.  The last carload back to the café found two White-browed Babblers in the car park. A total of 24 bird species was recorded. Thanks to fellow Birdlife Australia member Christine Holmes for helping me lead the walks.
 
Our next outing will be to Reef Hills State Park, 5km off the Midland Highway south of Benalla on Thurs 12th May 2016. Please meet at the car park in Barkly Street behind Aldi at 10am. Bring morning tea and a chair. We should finish about 12 noon. Please note there are no toilet facilities at Reef Hills.   Kathy Costello
​

The group met near the Weary Dunlop Learning Centre for a walk around the red gum woodland section of the lake walking track.  Because we have a large number of participants, we split into two groups, taking off in opposite directions.

Bird numbers were reasonable for a warm, humid morning given that we’ve had almost no rain since January, and a recent heatwave. 

One group had views of an Australian Darter, a Sacred Kingfisher and several Blue-faced Honeyeaters, while the other group saw a flock of Red-browed Firetails and 5 Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes.  

A large flock of King Parrots was also seen flying through the area.  A total of 37 bird species was recorded by the two groups. For those with internet access, the species list has been entered on the Ebird website. To view the bird list, press CTRL + Click on this link http://ebird.org/ebird/australia/view/checklist?subID=S28073941

Thanks to Val La May, Convenor of the Seymour U3A Bird group who helped lead the walk and entered the bird list on Ebird. Thanks also to Christine Pollard who provided the photos for the newsletter and website (see below). Christine’s photos have also been added to the list on Ebird.

Next activity 14 April 2016

Our next activity will be a morning visit to Winton Wetlands on Thursday 14 April. Please meet at the Barkly Street car park in front of the school (behind Aldi) at 9.40am. We plan to visit 2 or 3 locations at the wetlands, with short walks at each location. For those who want morning tea, please bring your own and a folding chair or stool if you have one. Some participants may want to stay on for lunch at the Mokoan Hub. We will car pool for the drive there and back, taking into account people who want to return straight back to Benalla and those staying for lunch.

If you want to lunch at The Hub, please ring or email Kathy Costello (5762 5755 or coskoy@bigpond.com) by Thurs 7 April, so that a booking can be made. As I’ll be away for a few days, Margaret Walshe (5762 3906, margaretwalshe@bigpond.com) will also take bookings.

Acknowledgement:  Christine Pollard.   Thank you, Chris!

There are a number of guides or tools that can help you identify Australian birds. Some of these include printed field guides, bird identification apps for those with smart phones or tablets, information on websites, information on how to use binoculars and last but not least, help from birdwatchers in identifying local birds and their calls.

Printed field guides include:

Pizzey, G and Knight, F  The field guide to the birds of Australia, 9th ed, 2013. Price $37 to $45
Simpson, K and Day, N  Field guide to the birds of Australia, 2004, Price $33 to $40
Morcombe, M     Field guide to Australian birds, 2000, Price $42 to $50
Slater, P The Slater field guide to Australian birds, 2nd ed, 2009, Price $33

Digital field guides

Morcombe’s Birds of Australia $28.60 Google App Store (special price) and Apple iTunes, $37.99, updated Oct 2014
Pizzey and Knight Birds of Australia $49.95, Google App Store and Apple iTunes, updated Dec 2014

Useful websites

Birdlife Australia http://birdlife.org.au/
Birds in Backyards (Birdlife Australia)  http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/
Birdlife Australia, Murray Goulburn Branch, program for 2016 http://birdlife.org.au/group-events/birdlife-murray-goulburn/
Birding-aus (online & Facebook)
Victorian Birders (Facebook)
... and lots more groups on Facebook

Listing sites (to enter lists of birds seen at birding sites so that other birders can see them)

eBird - a world-wide listing database run by Cornell Uni. Dept of Ornithology.  Excellent statistical reports.  Also has a Facebook Page. 

Eremaea Birdline - to report rare or unusual sightings in Australia; linked with eBird.  http://www.eremaea.com

Binoculars - How to use central focussing binoculars – printed guide (pdf) and YouTube video:

Downloadable Document:   Session 1 - Notes for Participants and Nokia Printed Guide - 'How to Use Central Focussing Binoculars' (pdf).

Acknowledgement:  * My thanks go to Val La May, convenor of Seymour and District U3A Bird Appreciation course, for ideas contributed to these notes.  Kathy Costello

Two videos for those interested in finding out more about the amazing shore birds which fly annually from their breeding grounds in the Arctic Circle to summer in Australia, returning every year - flying a total of 30,000 kilometres a year. 

If you would like to know more about birds in the Benalla district and would appreciate help in identifying birds, this new group could be for you.  Kathy Costello is interested in sharing her passion for birdwatching and will run a pilot group during Semester One.  February’s introductory session will be in W4, followed by birdwatching sessions in local habitats rich in a range of bird life including Reef Hills, Winton Wetland and Benalla Lake.  The program will involve mainly morning walks, with the possibility of one or two all day outings to more distant areas such as the Warby Ranges.   If you can bring a pair of binoculars you will gain more value and enjoyment from this activity.