Book Review "Birds of Mallacoota"

I was told of this book by one of the volunteers at the Bunker Museum and was able to track a copy down through ABE Books.  It ended up costing $15.00 which seems a little pricey for a 52 page book, but (spoiler alert) good value for an historical reference and absolute delight to own.

The book is the second edition (after the 1st from 1962) and was produced by the Mallacoota School in 1979.  It was printed in Orbost by the Snowy River Mail (which this author is pleased to see still exists).

The book has a brief introduction outlining the background to the book and the history of the area but mainly comprises an annotated list of the bird species recorded in the area.  It concludes with a list of birds which might be added to the list, notes in the habitat in several areas; and a list of the contributors.

The style of the book is most amusing, with most species being reported "straight" but occasional entertaining remarks added.  For example:

Sooty Tern (Sterna fuscata): On 2\June 23rd, 1975, Ken Morrison picked up a live bird grounded in the camp park.  This was the first Victorian record.  The bird later died and is now in the National Museum.  It's still dead. 

Pallid Cuckoo (Cuculus pallidus):  ... Ken Nash of Mallacoota has kept records of the arrival of many birds each spring and his notes on cuckoos are particularly interesting.   Ken is a good bloke and works out at the aerodrome.

One major change since the book was published has been the opening of the Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW), which I find to be a  very important site for ducks and other waterbirds.  By way of example Australasian Shovelers are common there but only make the supplementary section of the book as not being recorded in Mallacoota.   The book comments under the listing for Wood Duck    ".. the first edition of "Birds of Mallacoota" listed most ducks as uncommon ... "  On occasion I have found over 500 ducks of various species at the ponds.   I need to do some more research on the history of the WWTW!

Another 'locational' aspect is the number of references in the book to the Genoa Flats.  I suspect that many people simply fly past there on their way to the Coast.  This may reflect the current dryness of the area.  Also, in the wader entries there are many references to the Goodwin Sands: we must get out there sometime soon.

Of course some of the species names in the book reflect old usages and taxonomists have weaved their magic to revise names.  It is possible however to work out the current name in every case.

Most of the remainder of this review comprises comments on various entries in the list either where the situation has changed in the ensuing 40 years or there is some other useful comment to be made.  In most cases the words of the book are in plain font and my comments are italicised,

• Little Penguin: Often seen at Bastion Point at night... I haven't been to Bastion at night but wonder if that is still the case.
• Australian Pelican My impression is that numbers of this species have increased recently from those cited in the book.  Certainly I wouldn't regard 11 birds as noteworthy with 25+ being common at the wharfs, especially when fish are being cleaned.
• Mangrove Heron: I think now called Striated Heron, but the key point is that I have never seen one in the area and it is not on the Birdlife East Gippsland checklist.  Has it vanished?  The location given (Coulls Inlet near Shady Gully) is easy to check: I must do so!
• Yellow-billed Spoonbill: Quite common and found in the same areas as Royal Spoonbills.  I have not seen this species in the area, whereas Royal Spoonbills are resident around Bottom Lake.
• Mountain Duck (Australian Shelduck):Only a single sighting cited whereas there are usually 2 - 5 at the WWTW.
• Letter-winged Kite: recorded in the irruption year of 1977.  If only one would appear now ...
• Swamp Harrier: .. often seen .. giving seagulls nesting on islands in front of the wharf a very hard time.. Looking at the eBird  records the species seems to be seen frequently in November-December, possibly reflecting when most birders come to the area.  I have personally not recorded the species in the area: I must do better.
• Beach Stone Curlew: An interesting sighting: one was reported from Pambula Beach for several recent years.
• Pigeons:  The situation described in the book is rather different in many respects to how it is currently.
• Two fruit-eating species in the list have not been recorded recently:
• Red-crowned Pigeon (aka Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove);
• Emerald Dove;
• and 2 more at best infrequently:
• Brown Pigeon (aka Brown Cuckoo-Dove); and 
• Topknot Pigeon (but see Crested Pigeon below).
• Spotted Dove is recorded most months, in small numbers
• Peaceful Dove is reported as "Quite a few birds in the area ..." but it is not in the Checklist and has few eBird records since 2000.
• Common Bronzewing appears noteworthy in the book but is an everyday bird around town generally these days.
• Wonga Pigeon is discussed as being likely to be disturbed by development.  That has not happened as they are very common garden birds around the area generally.
• Crested Pigeon is not listed in the book but these days is usually visible along Betka Rd near Mortimers Paddock.  This matches the situation in Canberra where the bird was largely unknown before 1980 but is now one of the commonest garden birds.  I also note that some people used to call this species the Topknot pigeon due to the crest!
• Galah... Not common in this area....  I would now rate them as common with small flocks seen most days.
• Purple-crowned Lorikeet .Much less common than either Rainbow or Musk Lorikeets and only occasional records appear.  Not included in the checklist nor reported to eBird.  However I consider it one to watch for.
• King Parrot Seems to have become much more common.
• Indian Koel: now a common sound of Summer.  In 1979 it appears to have only recently established a toehold in Mallacoota.
• Common Skylark (aka Eurasian Skylark) apparently only just recorded in the area when the book was produced.  Still not common with nearly all records from the Airport area.
• Hooded Robin: the book mentions 2 reports of this species but cautions that some experienced observers have never seen it in the area.  Not on the Checklist not reported to eBird.
• Noisy Friarbird Very rare in this district. Not in the checklist.  Several records for eBird but nearly all for March 2018 (by a number of observers).  Suggests a small number (possibly 1) of vagrant birds came, made a ruckus and moved on.  The comment in the book is still true.
• Regent Honeyeater Distributed reasonably widely throughout area.  Not any more.  Rated nationally as critically endangered - if anyone sees one it should be reported to Birdlife Australia ASAP.
• Scarlet Honeyeater ... sightings very few and far between...  Now a common bird of Spring/Summer especially around Callistemons.
• Little Raven in Supplementary List - A call similar to that of this bird is sometimes heard in the area.  A trap for young players!  The call of the juvenile Australian Raven is very like that of the Little Raven and as far as my dysfunctional old ears go that is what I have heard rather than the true call of the Little Raven.

My overall summary is that the authors of this book deserve much praise.  While quite a few of their records differ from our recent findings having such a historical background is extremely useful

Sundry July photographs from East Gippsland

This will hold photographs that I think interesting  that don't fit in other posts.

I think this small puffball (one of a cluster of 6) is Bovista brunnea.

 When Frances was looking out to sea she noticed water running out of this rock.  Her first thought was a mini-blowhole.  However on watching it is merely the wash from big waves filling a slot in the rock and then leaking out through a concealed crack.

There were some good waves getting used at Davis Beach on the 10th.

 And the sunset on that date was pretty good also.

Sunset 8 July

The sunset looked promising for spectacle on 8 July, with low cloud and a gap on the western horizon.  And so it turned out.

At the start (1636 hours) the view to the NW, looking up the Narrows towards Nungatta Peak, was a little cloudy but pleasant in a Brigadoonish fashion.

 A couple of images looking West at the narrow gap on the horizon.

 By 1639 the mist had cleared to Nungatta.

 The colour begins to intensify by 1648.

 Colour, Nungatta Peak and reflection in the Inlet (1649).

 The Western gap...

That's all folks (1657).

Some orchids at the Betka River

Having received confirmation that the orchid I saw at the start of the Captains Creek FT was the uncommon Pterostylis acuminata I recalled seeing something on the Betka River walk that, with the benefit of hindsight, looked rather similar so I took myself off there to relocate it.

Alas and woe.  My hindsight is about as good as my normal sight (without glasses).  The plant at Betka had no basal rosette and didn't really look like the P acuminata.

I have gone back to our original view that it is a deformed (or still emerging) P. grandiflora or Cobra Greenhood.  We returned here the next day so that Frances could see the "Speculanthas".  The first thing she noticed was a cluster of about 20 P. grandiflora: they were about evenly split between the standard form and these scrawny efforts.

However while there I went for a small explore noting that a number of other plants that looked rather like small greenhoods were growing.  Eventually I found a more advanced specimen of same.  Perhaps 20cm high.

Looking more closely the flowers were inwards facing, which makes them what David Jones helpfully named as Speculantha parviflora.  However his names weren't accepted by some fans of DNA sequencing so are officially kept within the vast genus of Pterostylis and are thus P.  parviflora.  In the excellent book "Orchids of East Gippsland" by the Bairnsdale Field Naturalists Club these are shown as Group 4 Tiny Greenhoods within Pterostylis.  Here are a couple of images showing the flowers in close up.

Unfortunately that lot was a trifle previous as over the following week the flowers "revolved" so that they were't facing inwards!  Thus not "Speculantha".  They are what DJ would call Bunochilus, or the BFN put in a group of Tall Greenhoods.  In taking my photograph on 20 July I triggered the labellum which makes ID difficult but I think it was Pterostylis tunstallii.

I shall return to check.  We did find another (still developing) orchid near Point Difficult which was a lot taller and I think was P. melagramma.  To be watched

On our second visit as we carried on along the track we noticed a cluster of very small (3-5cm tall) greenhoods.

These look to be P. concinna.  While a new species for us our East Gippsland orchid book describes them as "Probably the most common Greenhood in EG...".

But wait!  There's more!  Not steak knives but Pterostylis nutans.  Found beside the Heathland Walk not far from Betka Rd.

That makes 5 species we have found in the last week!

Captains Creek Trail

We did this walk recently and I have posted the details on another blog.  As there is an exciting orchid recorded therein I thought I would share a link here!

Spoonbills change their haunt

For the past several weeks a flock of Royal Spoonbills has been building up in the Lagoon near Broome Street.  On the morning of 4 July they were disturbed by a passing immature White-bellied Sea-Eagle and took off.  Later in the day I noticed them out on a small island in the Inlet.  As far as I can tell this island has no official name.

On the morning of 5 July the spoonbills and the usual Australian Pelicans were still in place.

 This image of a Pelican taking off deserved its own place in this blog.

 On peering closely a pair of the spoonbills were engaged in a fair bit of what ornithologists would refer to as allopreening (or, in New York speak, "making nice"). 

 Although such behaviour isn't cited in HANZAB as a prelude to breeding I suggest we need to keep an eye open for them starting to build nests sometime soon.  A further hint would be if they are seen flying around with sticks in their beak.  From a nesting event I followed closely in Canberra I'd suggest that some of the tall shrubs in the Lagoon would make suitable nest sites.

2 Pacific Gulls were also on the small island, with this one exploring something yucky on the mud.

Having started a birdie post I thought I would include (why? because I can) a snap of three Pelicans in flight I took a few days ago.

Walks off the main road

As a change from the coast oriented walks today we went for a couple of forays off the Genoa Rd.  We started with the Double Creek Nature Trail.  I didn't fire up eBird until we were slightly into the walk- as there were few birds around (other than a horde of Bell Miners) that probably didn't matter too much.

We came across a couple of clumps of Clavulinopsis sulcata which still seems to be common despite the taxonomists changing its name.

This little red jobbie is I think Mycena viscidocruenta.  Although small the bright red colour stands out well.

 The colour and pattern of the gills also matches that species.

There are a lot of ferns on this walk,  In this image three species at least are visible:

1. Maidenhair (Adiantum sp., possibly A. aethiopicum)
2. unknown
3. Bracken (Pteridium esculentum)

 Also quite a few tree-ferns Cyathea australis.

I think this is a Lilli-pilli Syzygium smithii (yes, the name has changed)

As this walk only took a short while we headed off to the Sandy Point track a kilometre or so further towards Genoa.  We only walked a bit of the track: the red dots complete it.

 An interesting blue-grey fungus.

 I think this is Stereum hirsutum.

 A spider's home decorated by dew (still, at about 1530).

I cannot get a match for this - not even to genus - in our local book.  I am reasonably sure it had 5 petals (despite this sample appearing to have 6).

Again few birds around.  It must be habit that gets them to migrate: there were plenty of mosquitoes for them to feed on.

Berry good!

I recent days I have noticed quite a few berry producing plants around the area so thought I would do a specific post about these.  If I have mucked up the ID of anything please let me know by the comments section.

Some of the images have appeared in other posts but I thought it worthwhile to bring them together here.

Sweet Pittosprum Pittosporum undulatum 

Ubiqitous - and berries hang on for months.

Rough-fruit Pittosporum Pittosporum revolutum

Maxwells Forest Walk (25 May 2019; Lat -37.4141 Long 149.8136)

Bolwara (Eupomatia laurina)

Maxwells Forest Walk (25 May 2019; Lat -37.4141 Long 149.8136)

Lilli Pilli Syzygium smithii 

Double Creek Nature Trail (2 July 2019 Lat -37.5297 Long 149.6882)

Shady Gully Bushland Reserve (3 July 2019  Lat -37.5566 Long 149.7527)

Wombat berry Eustrephus latifolius 

Shady Gully Bushland Reserve (3 July 2019  Lat -37.5566 Long 149.7527)

June 2019 Weather Report

As well as the quantitative measures which form most of this report, it may be noteworthy that we have seen quite a few plant species in flower in June, which are described as Spring flowering.  Or it may be that there always a few plants that bloom out of season!

In what follows I make frequent use of data from the BoM site on Betka Rd near the airport.  The heath on the site has been slashed recently and I wonder what effect the change in albedo and the decomposing slashings will have on the readings there.

My overall summary is that the month was (again) quite dry with below average (BoM) to well below average (Angophora Drive) rainfall.  The afternoon humidity (BoM) was well below historical levels but the morning humidity was a bit higher than history.  Temperatures - especially the average maximum - were above average while the mean temperature worked out to a little above average.  Winds were not remarkable.

Rainfall

Rainfall this month shows interesting differences according to the weather station examined.  In the table below "Wunderground" refers to private weather stations on the Weather Underground network.  The 5 sites are marked (approximately) in this Google Earth clip.

• Angophora Drive  41.0 mm
• BoM Mallacoota  66.4 mm
• BoM Gabo Island  55.4 mm
• Wunderground Bellbird Creek 50.3 mm
• Wunderground Maramingo 37.1 mm

It is unusual, in the 4 months that we have been here, for my station at Angophora Drive to be lower than the BoM site, so a little maintenance would seem to be indicated.  (That has happened and all seemed OK with the rainfall cup.) For the time being I am taking the BoM Mallacoota reading (66.4 mm) as a better measure.  This is still well below last year and somewhat less than the median value.

In terms of year to date we have currently received 357 mm which is 92% of the median fall to this month.  We have usually received 49.7% of the years rain by end of June so extrapolating that for the year we are looking at an annual fall of 720 mm.

A similar pattern was seen with the number of rain days in the month.

In recent months the rainfall deficiency has eased for many parts of the country.  As a Victorian example the BoM site at Woodend - near Ballarat - has reported 324.6 mm for the year to end June, after being at 41.6 mm for the year to end April.  A doom-laden graphic is the BoM 14 month rainfall deficiency for Australia.

Updating to the 5 month deficiency shows that there is very little of Victoria or NSW (outside of the NE corner)  with a serious or worse deficiency.

Coming back to the local situation I have compiled series of rolling cumulative rainfall for 18 month and 12 month series for BoM Mallacoota.  Both show the series ticking up in the last few months.

Temperatures

Overall the month was close to average.  We finished with a calculated average 0.2^oC above the long term average and - unlike Europe - had no dramatic extremes.  

Maximum temperatures

The average maximum temperature was well above both the average and the value for 2018.

 Minimum temperatures

The average minimum temperature was a little above both last year and the average, but not significantly so.

Humidity

As is usually the case humidity varied considerably from day to day through the month.  The data in this overall chart are from my weather station: the 1500 values there are very similar to the BoM readings but my station recorded lower values at 0900 (some of the BoM values for 0900 are very low, such as 60% on the 30th - this seems to be due to a breeze blowing the humidity away from the BoM site while we were under a small inversion). The most notable reading from my WS was the very low 1500 hrs on the 30th.

Humidity 0900

For this comparative data I have used information from the BoM site.  The averages cited by BoM are from 1908 to 2010 - I have no idea why the series ends in 2010, although cost-cutting would be the usual suspect.

This year is above the average but below June 2018.

 Humidity 1500

In contrast to the morning readings the afternoon value for June 2019 is well down on the average, as well as the value for 2018.

Wind

The 1500 wind speed suggests the month was not unusually windy at Angophora Drive.

In terms of average daily wind run the month was lower than the past 4 months for which I have records at Angophora Drive which seems to be broadly similar to the historic data from BoM.

The strongest gusts over the month recorded at 3 local stations were:

• Angophora Drive 46.7kph on 4 May
• BoM Mallacoota 72 kph on 3 May
• BoM Gabo Island 81 on 3 May 

The relativities are pretty much as expected (the difference between 3 and 4 May is of no consequence as they were both windy at all three sites).

In terms of the direction of the wind as usual the majority of winds come from the Western half of the rose, with no "on the hour" recordings from ENE, E or SSE.  To some extent these may reflect items blocking the flow, but past research has shown a close match between my wind direction readings and the BoM site.  Also, some of the gust readings do contain records from the 'missing' directions so the blocking is not complete.

I have looked at the reading for the highest speed gust in each hourly interval to see how wind speed varies according to direction.  To give some context to this I have calculated the average speed for the hourly gusts in June and all readings since we moved here.

Although few in number the gusts from the SE quarter seem to have been particularly strong in June.  Looking at the period overall the average speed of gusts seems remarkably unaffected by the direction from which they come.