Geelong Naturalist : monthly magazine of the Geelong Field Naturalists Club

MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE GEELONG FIELD NATURALISTS CLUB INC

Vol 35 No. 10
ISSN 0726-7363 ` MARCH 2000

GEELONG NATURALIST

March 2000 Vol 35 No 10

ISSN 0726-7363

CONTENTS

Mid-week Bird Group Outing 1
“Out and About” 2
President's Report 3
Bird Group Report 4
“A Killer Whale off Cape Otway” Marilyn Hewish 7
Bird of the Month — Southern Emu-wren 8
Library Notes g
“White-fronted Terns in the Geelong Region” Marilyn Hewish 10
VENCA Campout 12
Observations 13

COMING EVENTS

MARCH
7 General Meeting Felicity Farris “Tiger Quolls”
12 Biodiversity Group Excursion
11-13 VFNCA Campout Bellarine Peninsula
Several workshops, activities and excursions planned.
14 Plant Group Meeting * Cancelled See “Plant Group Meeting” Page 1.
15 Biodiversity Group Workshop Meeting
16 Bird Group Excursion + Werribee Treatment Farm Peter Bright
19 Excursion * No excursion due to VFNCA activities earlier in the month
21 Bird Group Meeting Michael Fendley “The Threatened Bird Network”
APRIL
6 Annual General Meeting Members Night
9 Biodiversity Group Excursion
11 Plant Group Meeting * Winston Huggins Flower Dissection for Plant |.D.
12 Biodiversity Group Workshop Meeting
16 Excursion Lal Lal (via Ballarat) Leader: Gordon McCarthy
Barry Lingham
18 Bird Group Meeting Valda Dedman “Pigeons”

* CHANGES TO PROGRAM
+ ADDITIONS TO PROGRAM

GEELONG NATURALIST Vol 35 No. 10 March 2000.

PLANT GROUP MEETING
... Dick Southcombe

In view of the VFNCA Campout
program which immediately
precedes our normal Plant Group
meeting, it has been decided to
cancel our 14th March evening
meeting. Members are urged to
attend the campout excursions
where their skills could be helpful.
See VFNCA campout on Page 12
for details.

o

TED ERREY NATURE CIRCUIT
... Dick Southcombe

Sherryl Garbut Minister for
Environment and Conservation has
advised that our application for
funds to carry out the Ted Errey
Nature Circuit interpretative signage
project in the Brisbane Ranges has
been successful.

A number of our members have
been drafting text, sketches and
layout for signs which will be
positioned on tracks in the Ballan
Road/Stony Creek area. When this
stage of the project has been
completed, hopefully within the next
few weeks, professionals will be
engaged to complete the design
work and manufacture the signs in
time for us to install them before
Christmas and submit a final report
by Friday 26th January 2001.

Assistance throughout the project
will be appreciated.
oO

VFNCA Campout

Dick Southcombe still needs
helpers for this event. His appeal is
on page 12 together with the
campout program.

(m)

ON THE TABLE

‘On the Table’ is ‘On the Floor’ this
month with Ade Foster being in
Sydney to help local gymnasts
prepare for the Olympics.

o

‘POLLY’ S’ MID-WEEK BIRD
OUTING
... Rhonda Jennings

Kay, Ron, Jim, Polly, Don, Rhonda
and Jan Winstanley met at the
Jerringot bird hide at 8.30 am. Jan,
a new member, was welcomed to
the group and wished ‘Happy
Birding’.

Kay was our leader for the day,
taking us to four locations where we
identified or heard 52 species. We
started at Jerringot and the Barwon
Valley Golf Course where we found
37 species. Among these were
Cisticola, Greenfinch, White-fronted
Chat, Little Lorikeet and Black-
fronted Dotterel.

We then went to Balyang Sanctuary
where we walked along the river
path adding another three species to
our list. Among these were the Little
Black and Great Cormorants. Then
we were off to Queens Park bridge
area where it was pleasant walking
in the shade of the trees, as the day
had started to become warm. Here
we added the Fantail, White-browed
Scrub-wren, Gang-gang Cockatoo,
Spotted Pardalote, Grey Currawong
and Brown Thornbills. Our last walk
was at Buckley Falls where we
added Dusky Wood Swallows It was
pleasing to see some juvenile birds
during our excursion.

Kay was very free with her
knowledge of these areas, telling us
which birds we may find at other
times of the year. She was thanked
by us all for a job well done.

Next Outing: Werribee Treatment
Farm. Meeting place: Corner of
Beach Road (Avalon airport road)
and Point Wilson Road.

Time: 8.30 am. Leader: Peter Bright.

Rhonda and Don Jennings are also
new members, having only joined in
November last, and here Rhonda is
already one of Polly’s helpers by
writing up the outing report. Thank
you Rhonda.

Polly has a late word —Ed.

“This is your opportunity to see waders
before they migrate — some will be
showing breeding plumage — lots of
other birds too, of course.”

If you need transport from Geelong,
ring Polly on 5244 0182
o

EXCURSION NOTICE

Due to the VENCA Campout there is
no Club excursion this month .
o

AUSTRALIAN NATURALISTS’
NETWORK 2000 GET
TOGETHER.

... Dick Southcombe

A camp is being organised at Alice
Springs from 21 to 29 July with pre
and post optional safaris. The camp
will be based at MacDonnell Range
Holiday Park which has a range of
accommodation options.

Day excursions suitable for 2WD
cars include field trips to a variety
of habitats at all points of the
compass plus visits to Alice Springs
Desert Park, CSIRO Centre for Arid
Zone Research, Australian Centre
for Remote Sensing (previously
LANDSAT). Olive Pink Botanic
Gardens and the Alice Springs
waterhole.

The optional safaris are 3 days — 18,
19, 20 July — in the Western
MacDonnell Ranges and 6 days —
31 July to 5 August — in the Harts
and Eastern MacDonnell Ranges.

Everything supplied and ‘Tagalongs’
catered for.

For further information, booking
forms etc, contact me on
5243 3916 asap.

o

~

NEW MEMBERS

The following new members
joined in February

Mrs Lorraine Phelan
Ms Amanda Rusiniak
Mr Anthony Welsh

We wish them a
association with the club.

long

GEELONG NATURALIST Vol 35 No. 10 March 2000.

OUT AND ABOUT WITH VALDA

... Valda Dedman

What’s in a name?, Summer
madness, Glassworts, Sea
Heath, Rare Geelong Butterflies

What’s in a name?

A lot of clues about its owner. The
Weebill has a very short bill, fitting
for what is considered Australia’s
smallest bird. Thornbills have small
sharp bills, pointed like a thorn.
The spinebill’s is longer and more
curved, the Spoonbill’s is a gigantic
flat spoon, the Wedgebill’s is the
right shape for propping open a
door. A Boatbill?... well, check the
books yourself.

Form follows function and the
names give some indication of the
bird’s methods of obtaining food
and -its dietary preferences.
Remember, too, that a bird’s beak
serves as hands, lips, teeth and
jaws, and is used in nest-building
and for preening. It’s worth taking a
closer look.

Are bird watcher/counters
especially mad? There | was, one
day in 40 degree heat, the next in
soaking rain. BUT there were
compensations: two Brolgas, 42
Pelicans and 14 pure white Great
Egrets at Reedy Lake, and Royal
Spoonbills and Snipe at the salt
works.

And also the beauty and variety of
the saltmarsh plants, such as the
glassworts and suaeda —
collectively known as “samphire”, a
word derived from “herbe de St.
Pierre” or St. Peter's plant.

Halfe way downe
Hangs one that gathers Sampire:
dreadfull trade

nach William Shakespeare

The glassworts are so named
because their ash is rich in soda
and was formerly used in.
glassmaking.

We have 5 glassworts, from 3
different genera, listed for the
Geelong region. All have succulent,

jointed stems and leaves are
absent or reduced to a narrow rim
on stem segments:

Sarcocornia Gk. sars=flesh, lat.
cornus=horn

Has paired fleshy lobes at the apex
of each branch segment, or article
(get out the magnifying glass to see
them)

S. quinqueflora Beaded

S. blackiana Thick-head (A poor
name for this lovely pale green and
russet plant, breathtakingly
beautiful seen against the light)
Sarcocornia are small, less than
half a metre high. Their tiny flowers
are embedded in the succulent
axis.

Sclerostegia Gk.
stegos=shelter

S. arbuscula Shrubby

An erect, branching shrub to 2
metres high. Favourite perching
site of Orange-bellied Parrots,
which feed on the seeds and also
nip off the fleshy, salty tips. Spikes
of tiny flowers in three rows all
year.

scleros=hard,

Halosarcia’ Gk.
sarx=flesh

H. halcnemoides Grey
H. pergranulata Blackseed

Small erect, branching shrubs; the
Grey is only 15 cm high, the Black-
seeded up to 60 cm. and has more
obvious flower spikes.

halos=salt,

If all this sounds too hard, why not
come along on 11th or 12th March,
to one of the flora & fauna sessions
at the .VFNCA..March 2000
Campout?

Did you know that Sea Heath,
Frankenia pauciflora, - another
interesting saltmarsh plant, was
first collected in Australia by
William Dampier in 1699? It
reminded him of "Heath, much of
the kind we have growing on our
Commons in England”. His
specimens, which still exist, were
not studied by early botanists. The
species was named from a
specimen collected at Shark Bay in
1801 by the Baudin expedition.
“Pauciflora” means “few flowers”,
and you'll always find a few at any
time of the year on this spreading,
mat-like shrub. They are small,
five-petalled and pale pink.

Have | been particularly
unobservant, or have there really
been very few butterflies around
this summer? Apart from the
introduced, destructive and
ubiquitous Cabbage White, which |
privately call the rapist - its name is
Pieris rapae rapae.

Butterflies often have beautiful
names. | would love to find a Fiery
Jewel or a Small Copper or a
Chequered Swallowtail. All are
listed for our area and classed as
“vulnerable”.

The Yellowish Skipper has
become the Altona Skipper in
common parlance, a bit unfair,
since the butterfly is listed for
Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula
and Lake Connewarre. Adults may
feed on Frankenia pauciflora and
are active from September to
November and again in March, so
look out for them this month. The
usual larval food plants are large
coarse sedges such as_ the
Gahnias. Classified as endangered
in Victoria, this species has friends
at Altona, and a management plan.

Populations of the Sword-grass
Brown are being helped by the
Sword-grass Brown Butterfly
Project (SBBP), which was initiated
in 1993 by the Knox Environment
Group, which was interested in the
conservation of this locally
significant species. (It also occurs
at Anglesea). Sword-grass Brown
larvae feed exclusively on Red-
fruited Saw-sedge Gahnia
sieberiana. The aim of the SBBP is
to increase habitat by plantings of
the food plant and later to transfer
pupae to build up butterfly
populations. Schools and the wider
community have been heavily
involved.

Our own Small Ant-blue has
friends at Broadford, among them
the students of Broadford
Secondary College, who have
adopted it as the logo for a
revegetation project. It occurs at
Mt. Piper near Broadford.

(Continued on page 3)

GEELONG NATURALIST Vol 35 No. 10 March 2000.

(Continued from page 2)

The Eltham Copper has a Friends
Group but the beautiful Fiery Jewel
has no one to care for it specially.
So what about it, folks? Together
with our own emblem, which has
similar needs and ant associations,
we could do something to save it.

Of course, we first have to find the
beautiful treasure, which used to be
at the Ocean Grove Nature
Reserve. It is similar to, and
perhaps even more striking than,
the Small-ant Blue. Both sexes are
dark brown with a _ blue-purple
iridescent sheen. Underneath they
have patterns like flames, yellow,
with scarlet bands outlined with
black and white. The scientific
name Hypochrysops ignita reflects
this (Latin ignis=fire).

There is a beautiful photo of the
Fiery Jewel in John Landy’s book A
coastal diary (1993, Macmillan,
Sydney). He went searching for it
at the OGNR, without success. The
larvae feed during the day on
golden wattles and other plants and
return to the coconut ants’ nest at
night. They are always attended by
small black ants. The adults fly
from late October until March.

| don't think there are any coconut
ant nests left at Ocean Grove.
There is however, an opportunity to
visit the reserve on Monday 13th
March as part of the VFNCA
Campout. Keep your eyes open,
and think about what we might do.
| am willing to co-ordinate a project
if | have your support. 3
O

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

... Barry Lingham

March 2000

Two major conservation issues
have been the subject of
submissions from the GFNC this
month

(a) The Regional Forest
Agreements and the
Comprehensive Regional
Assessment documents have been
analysed and the issues related to
forest management for the next 20
years have been commented upon.
The GFNC position, especially
relating to the Otway area, has
been:

e opposing clear-fell logging
practices

e opposing logging in water
catchments

e opposing logging based on
woodchip driven economics

e supporting the extension of
National Parks to encompass
most forest area south of the
Otway divide.

e supporting development of
plantation timber to replace
logging in native forest

e opposing the ‘locking up’ of the
quotas for forest resources in a
20 year plan, supporting a more
flexible 5 year review of the
effects of management
practices.

(b) The Marine Coastal &
Estuarine Investigation draft report
recommended the establishment of
several local Marine Sanctuaries
and a Marine National Park at
Point Addis. The GFNC supports
the establishment of Marine
National Parks and the smaller
Marine Conservation Parks. We
wish to see additional area around
the Barwon Bluff reserved, as well
as further sections of the Cape
Otway coastline.

It is interesting to compare the
general thrust of these two reports;
the ECC report on Marine Coastal
& Estuarine Investigations is a well
planned document, catering for

future pressure on coastal habitat
by preserving dwindling habitat and
by careful management of the uses
of areas of significance.

The RFA document was a thinly
veiled plan to allow wood based
industries unchanging quotas of
resources from crown land forest,
with the emphasis on retaining
current (taxpayer subsidised) wood
extraction industries.

| attended the Appeals hearing
regarding the Planning Amendment
for residential development of
farmland adjacent to the Ocean
Grove Nature Reserve on the 14"
of February at City Hall. This was
my first appearance at one of these
panels, and | was impressed by the
generally relaxed atmosphere and
the supportive directions from the
Panel. Many submissions from
interested groups were made.
Hopefully the final residential
development will retain sufficient
habitat areas for the Bellarine
Yellow Gum and other open
woodland. Mark Trengove has
developed a comprehensive
management plan to improve the
Yellow Gum woodland.

We are all looking forward to the
March Victorian Field Naturalists
Club campout on the Bellarine
Peninsular. Over 100 people have
booked to attend the various
excursions and workshops. As the
host club, we will be also supplying
supper for the evening activities -
please help out by bringing along a
plate if you can.

The Annual General Meeting will
be held in April. All committee
positions will become vacant at this
time, and we need members to
seriously consider helping out
with the committee. For the past
few years we have not filled all
committee positions and this has
added unduly to the work load of
the committee. We must have an
active committee if the GFNC is to
be fully functional.

The nomination forms for
committee positions are included in
this copy of the Naturalist.

o

4 GEELONG NATURALIST Vol35 No.10 March 2000.

BIRD GROUP REPORT
... Barry Lingham
Speaker: Craig Morley
Topic: Birds from the Inside Out

Birds, along with all other living organisms, have adapted to meet the challenges of their environment.

Birds make sounds that are an obvious par of an environment.

Vocal sounds (as distinct from mechanical sounds such as bill clattering) can be divided into two categories:
1. Call notes

2. Songs.

The organ of voice or sound production in birds is the syrinx

We produce our sounds by driving air through the voice box or larynx.

In Birds the Larynx differs in both situation and structure. The larynx of birds lacks vocal cords and has little or no
role in voice production.

The syrinx is situated at or near the bifurcation of the wind-pipe (trachea) and typically comprises:

ə aresonating chamber (Typanium)

e vibrating membranes

e control structures such as cartilage and muscle

The syrinx shows a great deal of variation between species; it is so variable that a generalised description is
impossible.

On the basis of location, there are different types :

1. TRACHEAL- at the base of the TRACHEA, in New World Passerines such as Ovenbirds and Antbirds.

2. BRONCHIAL- at the base of each BRONCHUS. Only clearly identified in some in Cuckoos.

3. TRACHEO-BRONCHIAL- at the junction of the trachea where it divides into the two bronchial tubes. This is the
most widespread.

Basic functioning involves some or all of:
x membranes bulge with air pressure
x membranes vibrate by the moving stream of exhaled air

Amplitude (volume) and pitch (frequency) are affected by three interrelated mechanisms, singly or in combination:
* altering the air pressure in the chamber relative to that in the bronchi

* by partially or completely blocking the air passages with the external labia

* and by varying the tension of the muscles acting on the cartilages supporting the membranes.

A number of researchers are now finding ‘the two voice’ phenomenon, indicating that the right and left halves of the
syrinx are acoustically and neurological independent.

HOW ARE BIRDS ABLE TO FLY?
Birds wings are constructed on an entirely different mechanical principle from bats and pterosaurs.

A flying animal has to support its own weight in air and overcome the drag caused by its own forward motion. The
weight is supported by constantly pushing air down. In order to fly a bird must solve two basic problems:
1. The reduction of weight by

*thin, hollow bones

* extremely light feathers,

* elimination of teeth and jaws,

* a system of branching air-sacs,

* oviparous reproduction

* the atrophy of gonads between breeding seasons,

2. The increase of power.

In birds the lifting surface is formed by the flight feathers, which are stiff and need to be supported only at the base
of the shaft. The wing is a light variable vane for striking the air.

The wing has an asymmetric profile so that air passing over has further to travel than the air passing underneath and
so flows faster. Pressure falls as speed rises therefore the wing experiences reduced air pressure above and
increased pressure beneath.

This pressure difference leads to a lift force acting at right angles to direction of movement.
The magnitude of the lift force depends on two factors:

(Continued on page 5)

GEELONG NATURALIST Vol 35 No. 10 March 2000. 5

(Continued from page 4)

1 the speed of flight
2 the degree of asymmetry in the aerofoil profile.

The wings are attached high up on the thorax with the centre of gravity and the heavy internal organs well below the
shoulder.

In steady level flight a bird must generate forces which support the weight against gravity and provide propulsive
thrust against drag.

To be able to fly birds must have a supply of oxygen. To the bottom of the trachea, the respiratory system of birds
is very similar to that of mammals. In mammals the trachea branches into two 20 or more times, yielding a million or
more tubes which end in airsacs or alveoli where gas exchange with the blood occurs.

In birds the trachea divides evenly only once, then unevenly twice more. the second of these uneven divisions
results in parabronchi in the lungs which form the gas exchange sites.

Birds do not have a diaphragm. A bird's lung is not a hollow dead-end sack; it allows air to pass through it. A bird's
air sacs are not extra lungs. The walls of these sacs do not have a rich blood supply and they have smooth walls -
their function is to act as bellows and air reservoirs.

The entrance of air is due to an increase in volume of the body cavity, which reduces the pressure. Air moves
straight through the lung going directly to the posterior air sacs. During expiration, the body cavity is reduced in
volume and air is forced from the posterior sacs into the lung.

During the next inhalation this air continues to move through the lung into the abdominal sacs and some air is
pushed into the parabronchi.

During expiration air is forced from the posterior sacs into the lung. During the next inhalation this air continues to
move along the parabronchi and into the anterior sacs, making more room for more inspired air. So the anterior air
sacs serve as reservoirs to hold air rich in carbon dioxide prior to exhalation.

Thus the bird has a great advantage of continuous ventilation of the gas exchange areas and there is little dead
space which could dilute incoming air.

Birds must be able to move this oxygen-rich blood efficiently and quickly in order to fly. To achieve this, they have
heart beat rates from around 200 beats per minute in eagles to nearly 500 beats per minute in humming birds.

One conspicuous feature of birds is the egg. To produce a fertilized egg a sperm and an ovum are needed. Sperm
are produced in the testis, ova are produced in the ovary. (only the left ovary develops in birds).

To reduce weight, in the non-breeding season the gonads are small, the testes weighing as little as 0.005% of total
body weight. In response to increased hormone levels at the start of the breeding season they may increase size by
up to 1000 fold.

In each sex the gonads are suspended, in the body cavity, from the dorsal wall. Birds maintain a constant body
temperature - a peculiarity of sperm cells is that they do not develop at high temperatures. Birds keep the testes in
the body cavity to avoid heat loss in cold weather and maintain a stream-lined profile but solve the problem of
maintaining viable sperm in one of two ways:

e producing sperm at night when body temperature drops slightly

e the sperm storage area swells near the vent or cloaca which maybe 4°C lower than body temperature.

Fertilisation takes place in the infundibulum. It then moves to the largest part of the oviduct-the magnum, where
layers of albumen are secreted around the ovum, where it remains for approximately four hours.

It is then transferred to the isthmus for approximately one hour where it receives the keratin shell membranes. The
egg spends most time (18-20 hr in a hen) in the fourth section of oviduct-the large muscular uterus (shell gland).
here it gains some watery albumen and its external limy shell.

During the last few hours in the egg gland, pigmentation of the egg occurs; green or blue from the breakdown of bile
pigments, or red, brown or black from the breakdown of haemoglobin.

Next Meeting (March 21st
Michael Fendley will be speaking on the activities of the Threatened Bird Network.

ese ee g

GEELONG NATURALIST Vol 35 No. 10 March 2000.

FALLS CREEK 2000

These are the plant and bird lists compiled during the excursion to Falls Creek in January and reported
by Rachel Keary. The excursion report is on page 14 of the February issue.

Necklace Fern
Alpine Water-fern
Mother Shield-fern
Mountain Plum Pine
Pale Vanilla-lily

Sky Lily

PLANT LIST

Asplenium flabellifolium
Blechnum pennamarina
Polystichum proliferum
Padocarpus lawrencei
Arthropodium milleflorum
Herpolirion novaezelandiae

Reddish Bog Heath
Coral Heath

Snow Heath
Candle Heath
Leafy Bossiaea
Gorse Bitter-pea

Epacris glacialis
Epacris microphylla
Epacris petrophila
Richea continentis
Bossiaea foliosa
Daviesia ulicifolia

Tasman Flax-lily Dianella tasmanica Rusty-pods Hovea montana

Alpine Leek-orchid Prasophyllum alpinum Alpine Oxylobium Oxylobium

Snow Aciphyll Aciphylla glacialis Cinquefoil Geranium potentilloides
Australian Caraway Oreomyrrhis eriopoda Ivy Goodenia Goodenia hederacea

Alpine Trachymene

Trachymene humilis

Creeping Fan-flower

Scaevola hookeri

Field Daisy Brachyscome decipiens Alpine Mint-bush Prostanthera cuneata
Leafy Daisy Brachyscome rigidula Victorian Christmas-bush Prostanthera lasianthos
Snow Daisy Brachyscome nivalis Alpine Baeckea Baeckea gunniana
Spoon Daisy Brachyscome spathulata Snow Gum Eucalyptus pauciflora
Alpine Cotula Cotula alpina ssp niphophila

Silver Daisy Celmisia asteliifolia Yellow Kunzea Kunzea ericifolia

Common Billy-buttons
Violet Fleabane
Silver Ewartia

Silver Cudweed
Branched Everlasting
Orange Everlasting
Alpine Everlasting

Scaly Buttons

Yam Daisy

Bogong Daisy-bush
Large-leaf Daisy-bush
Dusty Daisy-bush
Alpine Podolepis
Variable Groundsel
Fireseed Groundsel
Alpine Groundsel
Bitter-cress

Royal Bluebell

Mud Pratia
Twin-flower Knawel
Prickly Starwort
Alpine Sundew

Gang-gang Cockatoo
Crimson Rosella

Craspedia glauca
Ergeron pappocromus
Ewartia nubigena
Gnaphalium argentifolium
Helichrysum adenophorum
Helichrysum acuminatum
Ozothamnus alpinus
(Helichrysum alpinum)
Leptorynchos squamatus
Microseris lanceolata
Olearia frostii
Olearia megalophylla
Olearia phlogopappa
Podolepis robusta
Senecio lautus
Senecio linearifolius
Senecio pectinatus
Cardamine lilacina
Wahlenbergia gloriosa
Pratia surrepens
Scleranthus biflorus
Stellaria pungens
Drosera arcturi

BIRD LIST

Black Cormorant
Pacific Black Duck

Gunn’s Willow-herb
Broad Plantain
White Purslane
Alpine Orites

Alpine Marsh-marigold
Dwarf Buttercup
Victorian Buttercup
Bidgee-Widgee
Small-leaf Bramble
Eyebright

Purple Eyebright
Snow Speedwell
Derwent Speedwell
Creamy Stackhousia
Alpine Candles

Tall Rice-flower
Showy Violet
lvy-leaf Violet

Grass Trigger-plant
Alpine Pepper

Bog Moss

Star-fish Fungus

Epilobium gunnianum
Plantago euryphylla
Montia australasica
Orites lancifolia

Caltha introloba
Ranunculus millanii
Ranunculus victoriensis
Acaena anserinifolia
Rubus parvifolius
Euphrasia eichleri
Euphrasia collina
Parahebe sp.
Parahebe derwentiana
Stackhousia monogyna
Stackhousia pulvinaris
Pimelea ligustrina

Viola betonicifolia

Viola hederacea

& V.hederacea small form
Stylidium graminifolium
Tasmannia xerophila
Schafnum cristatum
Aseroe rubra

The opportunists

Birds may not have the sense to count how
many eggs are in their nests but they certainly
are quick to seize any opportunity.

There are “thousands’ of Banded Stilts, gulls and
pelicans nesting on the flooded Lake Eyre.

Kookaburra Wood Duck Pelicans need forty days to rear their young so
` Raven Magpie — black-backed they will need more floodwater — remember
Robin — flame © --white-backed those pictures of dead and dying chicks from
scarlet Richards Pipit previous floods when the lake dried up?
yellow Singing Bushlark

How did they know Lake Eyre was in flood?
Courtesy Radio Melbourne 3LO 5/3/2000.
Oo m

ed

Olive Whistler (juvenile)
Nankeen Kestrel

Eastern Whipbird

GEELONG NATURALIST Vol 35 No. 10 March 2000. 7

A KILLER WHALE OFF CAPE OTWAY

by Marilyn Hewish

OLR
IDS S:

97 Grey St., Bacchus Marsh, Vic. 3340

The hobby of bird-watching can lead to all sorts of other interesting observations.

At dusk on 20 June 1999, | was sea-watching for albatrosses and other seabirds from the cliff-top at Cape
Otway. There was a light northerly wind and the sea was fairly flat except for a low swell. | was scanning
with a Kowa telescope on a tripod, and | saw something tall, thin and black projecting above the waves. It
seemed to be a fin of some kind. It was to the east of Cape Otway between the cape and Point Franklin -
from a map | later estimated about 2 km away from me and maybe 1 km out from shore - and very clear in
the telescope. The light was still reasonably bright. | thought this fin looked to be large, but wasn’t sure
because of the distance and lack of other objects for comparison. | watched the fin for about 15-20 minutes,
taking notes and making drawings until the light started to fade.

Shape and colour: In side view, the fin was considerably taller than it was broad, rising almost straight out of
the sea at the base, and then slanting gradually so it was bent over slightly at the tip. The trailing edge was
concave. The fin was held stiffly upright. From the front, it was held at a slight angle off the vertical, maybe
10 degrees. When a wave trough went past it, | could see a short stretch of back on each side at the base of
the fin. The colour appeared to be uniform black.

Size: | was struggling to estimate the size of the fin, until a mollymawk albatross flew past right next to it.
The fin height was about half the wingspan of the albatross, which would make it about a metre tall.

Activity: The fin stayed visible for the entire time at the same level above the sea, and did not sink or rise.
The angle from the vertical was also consistent. It was moving slowly but consistently towards me, and
weaving so that | got both front and almost side-on views. It appeared to be a purposeful and deliberate
movement.

After | had spent about 10 minutes staring at the fin, some flurries of activity started in front and to the sides
of it. There were many splashes and areas of disturbed water quite distinct against the flat sea, and
sometimes flashes of black bodies within them. At first, the albatross had not passed so | had no idea of the
size of the fin and | was thinking it might belong to a large dolphin. | thought these splashes might be made
by its companions. However, after | got a clearer idea of size, the fin showed itself to be large, and the
things making the splashes were small animals, their whole bodies being not too much larger than the fin. A
few good but brief views of an animal at the top of a leap showed them to be flexible, blunt-nosed and
tapering to the tail, and they jumped out of the water and flopped back in rather than ‘porpoising’. They were
all jumping away from the fin. | came to the conclusion that the fin-bearing creature had drifted into a group
of seals which were rushing away out of its path.

Identification: | had no idea of its identity, except to think it was probably alive (not flotsam) because of the
purposeful movement and regular shape, and maybe a whale or large dolphin because of the size. | ‘knew’ it
wasn't a Killer Whale because | had seen them on David Attenborough’s TV programmes, with very tall,
thin, triangular dorsal fins with straight front and rear edges. The next day | bought a book (Whales and
Dolphins of Australia and New Zealand: an Identification Guide, Alan Baker, 3rd ed., 1999; Allen & Unwin, St
Leonards, NSW) and saw that Killer Whale fins come in two shapes and sizes depending on the sex of the
animal. The only picture in the book that fitted my sighting was the dorsal fin of a female Killer Whale
Orcinus orca.

Recently | sent copies of my sketches and notes to Peter Menkhorst of the Victorian Department of Natural
Resources and Environment. He agreed with my identification and has entered the observation into the
department's wildlife database. The field guide (Baker 1999) describes the female’s dorsal fin as shorter (up
to 0.9 metres) than the male’s (up to 1.8 metres), and slightly hooked. Killer Whales are cosmopolitan in
distribution and common in New Zealand and Australian waters, particularly around Tasmania and along the
east coast. Peter Menkhorst told me that there a few sightings of Killer Whales off the Victorian coast each
year.

Oo

8 GEELONG NATURALIST Vol 35 No. 10 March 2000.
SS SSS ee ara en ra Renna

BIRD OF THE MONTH
... Valda Dedman

Southern Emu-wren
Name Southern Emu-wren Stipiturus malachurus

Description Tiny rufous-brown and grey wren with long grey filamentous tail. Back heavily streaked with sepia or
black. Male has eyebrow, lores, chin and throat bright blue.

Similar Species Mallee Emu-wren (less streaked, different habitat)

Length 170 mm, tail twice as long as body.

Voice Song: Faint high reeling trill. Calls: Five or six rapid thin high piercing notes.
Food Insects and small arthropods.

Habitat Moist low heathland and saltmarsh.

Range Southeast and southwest coastal fringe from sea level to 950 m., Tasmania.
Geelong Bald Hills, Forest Road, Ironbark Basin, Grasstree Park, Lake Connewarre.

Nest Oval with round side entrance . in low tussock or shrub. Usually of grasses, lined with fine grass.

What has Australia’s largest bird and one of its tiniest have in common? The tail feathers are the link between the emu
and the wren. The emu-wren’s extraordinary and elegant tail is composed of just six feathers. Only two other birds in
the world have as few tail feathers and they are not filmy like the Emu-wren’s. Like the feathers of emus, they lack most
of the fine barbs and barbules that normally lock feathers together. The tail plumes are "so fine ... that when the bird

is in flight it is hard to see the tail against a dark background, and the tiny creature seems to have none at all” . So
wrote Charles Belcher about 1912.

The tail is not designed to assist in flight, and often droops behind. The wings are short and rounded; the bird would
rather run about like a mouse than fly. John Gould remarked that, “in fact, when the grasses are wet from dew or rain,
its wings are rendered perfectly unavailable. On the ground it is altogether nimble and active, its creeping mouse-like
motions and the extreme facility with which it turns and bounds over the surface enabling it easily to elude pursuit, and
amply compensating for its powers of flight.”

The bird caught the attention of Australia’s early white settlers and the earliest European painting is dated December
1791.

The species was common in the marshes around Sydney and Botany Bay and later in the botanic gardens, but by 1860
when G. Bennett wrote Gatherings of a Naturalist in Australasia, it had seemingly disappeared. But then, it is always
hard to see in the undergrowth. When disturbed, it flushes only as a last resort and then flutters slowly, low over the
heath, for 30 metres at most.

Some of the best descriptions of the bird are by Miss J. A Fletcher, in the Emu of 1913 and 1915.

“it is more often heard than seen, and is so retiring in its habits, that
it is only discovered by careful watching, flitting through the rushes, and seldom emerging from the concealment they

afford him but occasionally clinging most gracefully to the flowering heads of these plants, on which probably it obtains
its food.”

In the 1850s, when H.W. Wheelwright wrote his Bush Wanderings of a Naturalist, Emu-wrens were still common on the
Mornington Peninsula. He described them as “scarcely larger in body than a great bumblebee”. Emu-wrens have often
been likened to crickets or grasshoppers because of their contact chirps. Their song is feeble and calls so high that they
are outside the range of some people. The rustling noise they make amongst the vegetation often betrays their
presence long before they are heard.

Samuel Hannaford, writing in the Victorian Agricultural & Horticultural Gazette, published in Geelong in October 1857,

(Continued on page 9)

Geelong Field Naturalists Club Inc.
Nomination for Committee positions in 2000/01

MAMEOENOMINATEDIRERSON oe ee ye ee a is oe ee
POSITONINGNINATIED R= fear sce. canteens N oni nee ae Aen a Ae Se
SIIGINVARUIRIE OVF INIOIWAITNVAIIOURE = oo paw ese E ve:
SICINVATAUIRIE OIE SYEICOINIDISIRE © Te, Se cee sana tated, uate eee
Declaration of Acceptance of Nomination
| accept the nomination for the position shown above
SionatüretonNomnaediRenson same nae neste ane eee enn we enue

Please forward this form to the Secretary of the GFNC before the A.G.M.

Geelong Field Naturalists Club Inc.
Nomination for Committee positions in 2000/01

Declaration of Acceptance of Nomination

| accept the nomination for the position shown above

SighaturetomNominateci Perso nimmeenmea sy su. ses cee eea ree aa:

Please forward this form to the Secretary of the GFNC before the A.G.M.

GEELONG NATURALIST Vol 35 No. 10 March 2000. 9

(Continued from page 8)

described their habitat, on the “banks of some of the lagoons so common in the Colony, densely covered with rushes
with an undergrowth of Rhagodia, and Triglochin, and the small grass peculiar to such situations, the Sporobolus”. They
are always found in dense, damp vegetation, although that ranges from sand dunes to peaty heaths at an-elevation of
950 metres.

Belcher noted several areas where you could be sure of finding Emu-wrens. One was the shores of Stingaree Bay,
thence right round to Pt Henry to the Outer Harbour”. Percy Wood recalled finding them still there in his youth, but they
had disappeared by the 1950s, as they had from other parts of Corio Bay and from Bream Creek.

After the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires it was thought that the populations “behind Anglesea” might have disappeared, but
there seems now to be a stable population in the Bald Hills and along Forest Road. In Belcher’s day they were at Gum
Flat, in tussock grass fringing the creek and in heathy country close to the sea at Airey’s Inlet.

At the saltworks Mr Purnell found a nest in samphire scrub on October 25, 1913, which contained one emu-wren egg
and one of Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo. The nest was made of fine dried seaweed, lined with feathers and soft material.

“They are slow nest builders and the female does all the work. The male follows her as she collects and flies to the nest
with material, but does not assist her otherwise than by cheering her with a song. When flying with a piece of grass, she
rolls it first into a neat bundle and does not fly with a long piece hanging, after the manner of some birds. On reaching
the swamp she drops into the centre of a tussock, drops out the other side, and continues so from clump to clump until
the nesting site is reached”. (Fletcher)

Such secretive behaviour may have saved these diminutive birds from human intrusion; habitat destruction and threats
from foxes and domestic animals still puts the species at risk.

However, the recent sighting, by Rob Mackenzie, in October 1999, of at least two Emu-wrens in lignum/saltbush 50

metres from the Barwon River downstream of Lake Connewarre is wonderfully heartening. Perhaps we just need to be
more diligent in our searching.

O

Living with Wildlife covers the
problems posed by birds and
animals such as Cockatoos and

GEO Vol 21 No 4 “Karri Country”
an article on West Australia’s
unique Karri forests.

LIBRARY NOTES

... Betty Moore

Trees & Natural Resources

(Nat. Resources Cons. League of
Victoria) Vol 14 No 4. An article by
David Meagher on Sphagnum
Mosses and their role in alpine
environments explains what makes
Sphagnum Moss a_ fundamental
component of alpine ecosystems.

It has the ability to absorb and hold
many times its own weight in water
and slowly releases it as the soil
dries out in summer. Sphagnum
hummocks provide shelter and
food for may insects which in turn
provide food for frogs and other
vertebrates.

There are also articles on noxious
weeds in Victoria and contingency
plans for dealing with these pests. `

Alan Robley writes about the
Burrowing Bettong and the role of
the rabbit in the decline and
extinction of small native
mammals.

=

Flying Foxes in damage to crops
and houses and gives possible
solutions.

The Web N/letter of the
Threatened Species Network (Vic)
December 1999. One of 18
Victorian projects concerns the
Spiral Sun Orchid. An area on the
coast at Anglesea where this plant
grows has been protected from
human impact by fencing and re-
aligning a walking track.

“The Mystery of the Disappearing
Frogs” a research team in
Queensland is trying to unravel the
mystery.
“Winter Wildlife” is about Japan’s
surprising range of wildlife able to
survive the harsh rigours of winter.
“Life in the High Country” by Dean
Beckman reveals in prose and
photographs the rugged beauty of
the Southern Alps.

o

ERRATA

The following corrections apply to the Plant Group Report by Robert Preston
in the February issue Vol 35 No 9 Page 11.

Actinostrobus pyramidalis — Swan River Cypress or Swamp Cypress

Livistona australis - Cabbage Palm

Corymbia maculata — Spotted Gum.

10 GEELONG NATURALIST Vol 35 No. 10 March 2000.

WHITE-FRONTED TERNS IN THE GEELONG REGION

by Marilyn Hewish :

97 Grey St., Bacchus Marsh, Vic. 3340

White-fronted Terns are elegant seabirds, which are winter migrants to the inshore waters and shores of south-
eastern Australia. On 24 June 1999, | was delighted to find two White-fronted Terns at Apollo Bay. | have
personally found them to be very uncommon birds, and this is only the second time | have seen them in the
Geelong area in 19 years of bird-watching.

The similar White-fronted and Common Terns alternate in our part of the world. White-fronted Terns occur in
winter along the southern Victorian coast and breed in New Zealand and some Bass Strait islands during our
summer. Common Terns are spring-summer visitors here, breeding during our winter in the northern hemisphere,
in North America, Europe and Asia. Because they occur in different seasons, identification of these terns might
seem to be straight forward. It is not always simple however as there are periods of overlap in spring and
autumn, and birds occasionally remain for the off-season. In fact, in listing my sighting of White-fronted Terns in
the Geelong Naturalist (vol. 35/4, Aug. 1999), Barry Lingham wrote, “how many of us would be able to identify
them”.

| decided to revisit my notebook and go through my process of identification, and indulge in a little nostalgia. |
also looked for other records of White-fronted Terns in the Geelong area.

Belcher (1914) knew of the White-fronted Tern and described it correctly as a winter visitor to Geelong. He saw a
few birds in Corio Bay. However, nowadays the birds occur more often along the open ocean coastline and rarely
reach Corio Bay and areas further north. Their season is May-August. They are usually seen in low numbers but
there are occasional irruptions, such as that in 1959 (Pescott 1983). In my experience, White-fronted Terns are
rare in our region. In addition to my own two records (1 at Point Lonsdale, July 1982; 2 at Apollo Bay, June
1999), | found only one other in all the Geelong Bird Reports since 1984: 1 bird at Point Lonsdale, 15 Aug. 1984
(Lawrie Conole).

Point Lonsdale sighting, 25 July 1982

| saw this species for the first time from the Rip View look-out at Point Lonsdale. It was early in my bird-watching
career. Margaret Cameron and | had set ourselves up with two telescopes in a sheltered spot to scan the sea.
We soon noticed two terns patrolling just beyond the line of breakers over the Rip, and even as a beginner bird-
watcher | could see that they were not the familiar Crested Terns. They were paler, smaller, more finely built and
more graceful in flight.

Luckily the birds patrolled for 20-30 minutes, because we needed all that time to agree on identification. It takes
time to pick out features on distant, fast-moving birds which are twisting and turning and flapping their wings, and
| wasn’t too good at aiming a telescope at that stage. | was unfamiliar with the species and wanted to be really
sure, and Margaret is just naturally very careful. Gradually we built up a picture, feature by feature, engaging
meanwhile in what might be called ‘lively discussion’. Eventually, after a period of challenging and cross-
checking each other's observations, we came to full agreement.

The description in my notebook and notes on my sketch read as follows (excluding notes on behaviour and
conditions):
“Very slender and graceful terns. Medium sized, smaller than Crested Terns nearby, but seemed larger
than Fairy or Little Terns. First bird: Very pale overall. All-white except for very pale uniform silver-grey
upperwings and back. Underparts pure white including underwing. Tail deeply forked with very long
outer streamers, pure white. On the head, a broad black crescent-shaped cap, reaching from top of
crown to nape and extending forward to eye. Bill black, long and slender. Second bird: As for adult
except pale upperwings quite strongly marked with narrow dark-grey shoulder mark and large wedge at
end of wing including primaries. Tail white, shallowly forked.”

Apollo Bay sighting, 24 June 1999

My family and | had been on holiday in the Otways and on the last night decided to have dinner in Apollo Bay.
Just before dusk we parked on the foreshore, a little early for our booking, so we wandered down to the jetty fora

' walk. | was immediately intrigued by a mob of Crested Terns gathered on a slipway there, the rails and cross-
arms covered down to water level with a jostling mass of about 300 birds. | like to look at birds, no matter how
common they are. As | scanned the flock | noticed 2 smaller terns among them. The thought of White-fronted
Terns leapt into my mind (because of size and season). One bird was turned away from me and the other was
partly obscured by a Crested Tern, so | settled down to wait for a better view, hoping the light would last.

(Continued on page 11)

GEELONG NATURALIST Vol 35 No. 10 March 2000. 11

(Continued from page 10)

Meanwhile the family had finished their walk and moved on to the restaurant (muttering “Bird-watchers!”). Soon |
had a clear view and made a sketch and notes. And yes - | often carry my binoculars and notebook when going
out to dinner.

“Two birds similar. Finely built medium-sized terns, about 80% length of Crested Tern (including tail).
Tips of wings and tail level in perching position. Very pale. Broad crescent-shaped black cap, reaching
from top of crown to nape, and extending forward to eye: broken on edge over crown by black
speckling. Wings and back very pale silver-grey, with short smudgy darker-grey shoulder mark and very
fine dark-grey line on rear edge of folded wing. Head (except for black cap) and underparts pure white.
Bill long, black. Legs thin, black.”

Identification

There is a group of terns with similar size and shape and colouring, but White-fronted Terns are the palest of
them. The crucial features for identification at Point Lonsdale were: the size and shape, the extreme paleness of
the plumage, white underwings, long bill, and for the immature, large dark wedge on wingtips. One was an adult
bird, probably in transition from breeding to non-breeding plumage, having lost the full black cap but retained the
pale upper wings and long tail streamers; the other was an immature bird, with the dark shoulder bar and wedge
on wingtips, partial cap and short tail. We used the Graham Pizzey field guide (1980).

| identified the birds at Apollo Bay as White-fronted Terns using Pizzey and Knight (1997). The crucial features
were: size and shape, the paleness of the plumage, especially the wings, fine line along rear of folded wing, and
long bill. | thought they were adults in non-breeding plumage because of their partial caps and short tails
(distinguishing them from breeding adults) and short shoulder bars and pale wingtips (distinguishing them from
immatures).

Similar species

The possibility of Common Terns or Arctic Terns (rare inshore visitors) had to be considered. | have now seen all
three species, but not often. So for both sightings, | consulted several field guides and books. The following
features seem to be consistently used in distinguishing the three species.

Common Terns: wings and back darker grey; in adults, primaries (wingtip) darker-grey than rest of upperwing
(not all pale), visible in both perching and flying birds; underwing with broad dusky grey trailing edge on primaries
(not all-white); immature has smaller dark area on wingtip and secondaries dusky grey (not pale).

Arctic Terns: even in non-breeding plumage, tail extends beyond wingtips in perching birds; wings and back
darker grey; greyish-white underparts (not pure white); wingtips darker grey on perching birds; on underwings,
wingtip bordered by strongly-defined dark edge; bill shorter; in immature, no dark wedge on wingtip.

Conclusions

From my experience and reference to Geelong Bird Reports, | conclude that White-fronted Terns are indeed
uncommon in the Geelong region. It is impossible to draw many conclusions from three records. It appears
however that the birds are more common on ocean coasts than in Port Phillip Bay, and that, as Emison et al.
(1987) suggested, they are attracted to bay entrances and areas where turbulent water is produced by tidal
action, such as Point Lonsdale. Movement and mixing of water masses oxygenates the water and brings food to
the surface, providing rich feeding habitat for seabirds.

We are fortunate nowadays in the variety and quality of field guides and books of identification available to us. In
1982 when | saw my first White-fronted Tern, | had Pizzey (1980) and Slater (1972). In 1999, | had a choice in
my own library of these two books plus Simpson and Day (1986), Pizzey (1997), a seabird guide (Harrison 1983)
and, best of all, HANZAB. At times this wealth of information can be confusing. But with several books you can
work out the consistent features, and find illustrations showing the plumage for birds of the particular age class or
transitional stage you saw.

| have come to some reassuring conclusions about what | have learnt over the years as a bird-watcher and note-
taker. In 1982, | needed Margaret to help me with tern identification. | viewed small seabirds as a group so
difficult that they were reserved for elite bird-watchers. | was also put off by the difficulties of distance, constant
movement and mastering the use of a telescope. Even now, I’m only confident with the common seabirds and
many of them become “the ones that got away” as far as identification goes. But with practice and watching
people like Margaret | have learnt to have a try, be patient, look carefully, make drawings and write everything
down. I have also learned to value friendly ‘argument’ as part of the learning experience.

And | have certainly improved in my ability to sketch birds. | wouldn’t show the tern drawing | made in 1982 to my
best friend let alone a rarities committee, but the sketch from 1999 actually resembles a bird even if it is not great
art.

(Continued on page 12)

ee ee Orr — — — — — — ————— eee

12

(Continued from page 11)

References

GEELONG NATURALIST Vol35 No. 10 March 2000.

Slater, P. 1972. A Field Guide to Australian Birds, Vol. 1. Non-passerines, Rigby, Melbourne 1972.
Pizzey, G. and Knight, F. 1997. The Graham Pizzey and Frank Knight Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Angus

& Robertson, Sydney.

Pizzey, G. 1980. A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. Collins, Sydney.

Harrison, P. 1983. Seabirds: an Identification Guide. A.H. & A.W. Reed, Frenchs Forest, NSW.

Simpson, K. and Day, N. 1986. Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. 2nd ed. Viking O'Neil, Ringwood, Vic.

Emison, W.B., Beardsell, C.M., Norman, F.I., Loyn, R.H. and Bennett, S.C. 1987. Atlas of Victorian Birds. Dept.

of Conservation, Forests and Lands, RAOU, Melbourne.

Higgins, P.J. and Davies, S.J.J.F. (eds). 1996. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds
(HANZAB). Vol. 3. Snipe to Pigeons. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

VFNCA CAMPOUT
... Dick Southcombe

As our program has attracted
about 100 people, we need lots
of members to act as hosts and
to make our visitors welcome at
excursions, meals and meetings
during the weekend. Saturday
and Sunday dinners and
Mondays BBQ are being catered
for, but we are relying on
members to provide supper on
Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Please advise Wilma or Shirley
how you can help.

Help would also be appreciated
from 4 pm Friday to set up the
Barwon Water auditorium and at
the evening’s sessions attending

to the projector, PA system,
microscope, display stands,
chairs etc.

Members are invited to attend
as many excursions/evening
sessions as possible, especially
the BBQ at Ocean Grove Nature
Reserve on Monday.

e Dinners/Meeting. Barwon
Water auditorium, Carr
Street South Geelong, 300
metres east of Yarra Street,
Melway 228 C5.

e Excursions depart City
Southside Caravan Park, 87
Barrabool Road, Belmont,
Melway 227 J7

`

Please put your name on the -

helpers, excursion, evening
session lists tonight or call me
on: 5243 3916.

O

(m

EEN S

1

1

2

3

a)
UU

Friday 10th
3.30-6.00
7.00-10.00
7.30-8.00
8.00-9.00
9.00-9.30

Saturday 11th

1. 8.00-3.45

2. 8.30-9.15

2b. 9.30-10.30

2c 9.30-12.30
2d 9.30-12.30
2e 11.00-1.00
2f 1.00-4.00
2h 1.00-4.00
2i 1.00-4.00

2j -4.00
5.00-6.00
6.00-8.00
8.00-9.00
9.00-9.30

Sunday 12th

8.00-4.00

3.30-4.00
8.30-4.00

8.30-4.00

5.30-6.30
6.30-7.45
8.00-9.00

9.00-9.30

Monday 13th

8.45 am
9.00 am

1.00 pm

VFNCA CAMPOUT PROGRAM

Register at City Southside Caravan Park

Register at Barwon Water Auditorium

Welcome

Temperate Reef Ecology — Patrick O'Callaghan., Marine Discovery-MDC
Supper

Please use few cars

Bird Watch / Count at Western Treatment Plant — Werribee $10
To Queenscliff. Park in Weeroona Pde between MDC & toilet block.
Laboratory Session at MDC $7

Marine Biology /Oceanography Cruise.
Assemble at Fisherman’s Wharf via Bay St to board Kyena BYO lunch on board $18
Swan and Sand Islands Flora and Fauna.

Assemble on lawn opposite toilet block. Lunch on lawn or on Kyena
Investigating a Mudflat Ecosystem.

Assemble at MDC. Lunch on lawn or on Kyena $8
Dune and Shore Flora and Fauna. Assemble on lawn near toilet block
Marine Biology /Oceanography Cruise.
Assemble at Fisherman's Wharf via Bay St to board Kyena. BYO lunch on board $18
Swan and Sand Islands Flora and Fauna. Assemble on lawn opposite toilet block
Relax at Point Lonsdale Park at Rip View.

Evening program at Barwon Water Auditorium

Annual General Meeting (continue Sunday evening if necessary)

Dinner & Information exchange with Geoff Howard, $13
parliamentary Secretary for the Environment

Marine Conservation. Tim Allen.
Victorian Co-ordinator Marine & Coastal Community Network

Supper

Please use few cars
Mud Islands Plant & Bird Survey.
Depart Belmont 8.00 am for Fisherman's Wharf, via Bay St, Queenscliff.
Park near wharf or in Weeroona Pde between MDC & Toilet Block.
Board Kyena 9 am, disembark 4 pm. $18
Edward's Point. Plant, Bird & Shell survey of Port Phillip / Swan Bay shore.
Breamlea, Black Rock, Barwon Heads.
Survey of Ocean, shore and estuary Flora & Fauna.
Barwon Heads, Black Rock, Breamlea
Survey of Ocean, shore and estuary Flora & Fauna.

Evening program at Barwon Water Auditorium
AGM reconvenes if necessary.
Dinner, Observations, Future Campouts $13
Evolution & Animals of Pt Lonsdale Rock Platform
Ken Bell - FNCV Marine Research Group
Supper

Pack up camp.
Depart Belmont for Point Lonsdale. Assemble at 9.30 for survey of rock platform
with members of FNCV Marine Research Group until 12.30.
Depart Belmont for Ocean Grove Park (formerly Uniting Church Ingamells Camp)
followed by a walk through the Ocean Grove Nature Reserve
BBQ lunch and farewell at Ocean grove Nature Reserve Information Centre $7
Total of above fees:
Campout fee: _ $22
Total Payable:

I

GEELONG NATURALIST Vol35 No. 10 March 2000. 13

The Editor steps down
... Alban Lloyd-Jones

| advised the President last August that I would be standing down when he does, at the AGM in April, so
the next issue will be the last with me as editor. That was to allow plenty of time for an orderly change over.
By that time, I will have edited 75 issues of the old newsletters and the old, intermediate and current
Geelong Naturalist over a period of six years, I have also been recording the observations for nine years
and have been membership officer for more than eleven years.

The reason is simple, ‘it is time’. We have a club rule which prevents presidents from continuing to serve
indefinitely but there is no such mechanism for removing editors who have reached their use-by-date. In
theory the editor could continue for a very long period but it would be to the detriment of the Geelong
Naturalist. It is the only contact for many of our supporting members and we must keep it fresh and
interesting.

It is impractical to thank everyone involved - in one issue alone we had 25 contributors - but I must
mention Valda Dedman, Joe Hubbard, Dave King and Barry Lingham who, by the sheer volume of their
material, have been the mainstay of the publication over a long period. Then there were the regulars, or
irregulars, who gave me shorter articles which are wonderful for filling blank columns as well as giving the
‘balance’ to the publication and interesting little items for readers.

Currently, it appears that a group of four members will take over the task of editing while another
member will become Membership Officer and I know that you will give them the support which you have
given me. I hope that they derive as much satisfaction as I have done.

In the April issue there will be a notice advising contributors how to submit their material and introducing
the new Editor and Membership Officer.

Finally, I must thank Valerie who gave many , many hours of proof-reading and typing and who knew when
to retire to the garden when an issue was going badly.

OBSERVATION REPORTS -- compiled by Barry Lingham

Observations were submitted by Peter Bright (PB), Marilyn & Dean & Cathy Hewish (MHe,DHe,CHe), Lynne
Barrington (LB), Valerie Lloyd-Jones (VLJ), Margaret Cameron (MAC). Hans Streefkerk (HS), Craig Morley
(CMo), Rachel Keary (RK), Ray Baverstock (RBa), Barry Lingham (BL,), Robert Preston (RP), Dick
Southcombe (DS), Valda Dedman (VWD), John Bottomley (JB)

Several reports of Little Penguins, both alive and dead, show that they are certainly active at present. Lynne
Barrington found several beachwashed birds at Torquay as well as an injured Black-browed Albatross.

Brolgas continue to be noted at Reedy Lake, with Margaret Cameron observing five birds - let us hope that
they remain regular sights in our district. Another bird associated with wetlands is the White-bellied Sea
Eagle. Rachel Keary noted a bird overflying Mt Duneed, with upswept wings and a light colouration
underneath, that was most likely a Sea Eagle. There are unconfirmed reports of these birds nesting along the
Lower Barwon lakes last season.

The Collared Sparrowhawk is an uncommon observation, perhaps because observers are unfamiliar with the
bird. Peter Bright noted a bird at Ocean Grove. Gang-gang Cockatoos are regular visitors to Geelong at this
time of year and several members noted them locally.

The Long Forest Reserve near Melton has an isolated area of Mallee habitat. Marilyn Hewish has seen King
Parrots here, well away from the wet forests of the Otways where most Geelong observers record them. In
the past few months, Marilyn has recorded six species of cuckoo here - Pallid, Fantailed, Black-eared, Brush,
Horsfield’s and Shining Bronze! This is a special place for birds.

RSS SSS SS ES EE A la Cs a Ra EP rt a aN ee

14

(Continued from page 13)

Little Penguin

Black-browed Albatross
Australian Pelican

Hoary-headed Grebe
Great Cormorant
Black Swan

Grey Teal

Royal Spoonbill
Brolga

Latham's Snipe

Hooded Plover

Black-winged Stilt

Arctic Jaeger
Black-shouldered Kite

Black Kite

White-bellied Sea Eagle
Collared Sparrowhawk

Grey Goshawk

Australian Hobby
Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Gang-gang Cockatoo

Galah

Purple-crowned Lorikeet
King Parrot

Crimson Rosella

Brush Cuckoo
White-throated Needletail

Laughing Kookaburra
White-throated Treecreeper
Brown Treecreeper

Spotted Pardalote

Rufous Bristlebird
Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Crescent Honeyeater
Grey Fantail

Satin Flycatcher
Grey Butcherbird

Australian Magpie
Grey Currawong

(Sa)

jo)

— =| |= PA) |= = AO = W
+

31-Jan-00
10-Dec-99
26-Jan-00

06-Feb-00
31-Jan-00

01-Feb-00
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22-Jan-00
10-Feb-00
10-Dec-99

13-Feb-00
13-Feb-00
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28-Jan-00
11-Feb-00

Feb-00
08-Feb-00
09-Feb-00
09-Dec-99
24-Nov-99
13-Feb-00
24-Nov-99
09-Feb-00
01-Feb-00

13-Jan-00
08-Feb-00
24-Nov-99
24-Nov-99
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11-Dec-99
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GEELONG NATURALIST Vol 35 No. 10 March 2000.

Port Philip Bay. PB
Twelve Apostles. MHe
Torquay, Fishermans Beach. Beachwash. Single birds
beachwashed on 30/1, 9/2,15/2 LB
Torquay, Fishermans Beach. Present until 9/2/00. Has injured
leg. LB
Anakie. Flying North parallel with scarp face of Brisbane
Ranges. JB
Lake Lorne. Sitting on nests. PB
Torquay. Fishermans Beach. Also on 6/2 LB
Lake Lorne. On nest. PB
Belmont. Off Barwon Heads Road/Waurn Ponds Creek. VLJ
Leopold, Gateway Sanctuary. LB
Reedy Lake. Two pairs. One with one young. MAC
Alan Noble Sanctuary, Aireys Inlet. HS
Lake Lorne PB
Sand Island. A juvenile. CMo, GG
Lake Lorne. Rarely recorded here. PB
South of Mud Island MHe
Waurn Ponds. One juvenile. VLJ
Bacchus Marsh MHe, DHe
Mt. Duneed. Minor uncertainty attaches to this record. RK
Ocean Grove. PB
Moriac, Reservoir Road. Present for three Days. PW, RBa
Torquay. LB
Sherbrooke River, Port Campbell. Feeding on berries of
Coastal beard-heath MHe
Ocean Grove. BL
Belmont. RP
Mt. Duneed. RK
Barwon Grange DS
Highton. RBa
Mt. Duneed. One juvenile being fed. RK
Belmont, North Valley Road. VWD
Torquay, Taylors Park. Also on 14/2(6), 15/2(3) LB
Torquay. LB

Bacchus Marsh. Variable numbers present since 10/12/99MHe
Long Forest.One male, one female. In Golden Wattle. | MHe
Torquay, Taylors Park. LB
Long Forest. An immature. MHe
Belmont, North Valley Road VWD
Geelong-Ballan Road at Butchers Road. Circling above trees

within half a kilometer of a bush fire JB
Newtown. CMo
Ocean Grove. PB
Long Forest. Adult feeding one begging fledged young. MHe
Long Forest MHe
Long Forest MHe
Highton RBa
Belmont, North Valley Road. VWD
Lavers Hill. MHe
Bacchus Marsh. Small group present since October.

At least one begging young since 6/12/99 MHe
Newtown. One begging young. Still present 9/2/00. CMo
Maits Rest, Otways. MHe

Grasstree Park. Displaying. RBa

Demotts Road, Anakie. A female. MHe
Belmont, North Valley Road. VWD
Highton. Regular since 1/1/00 RBa
Newtown. CMo
Queenscliff. Mimicking Starling, Cockatiel. CMo
Newtown. Present until 14/2/00 CMo

GFNC OFFICE BEARERS (1999-2000)

President Barry Lingham 5255 4291 — lingham.barry.k@edumail.vic.gov.au
Vice-President Vacant
Secretary Vacant
Treasurer Ray Baverstock 5243 7025
Minute Secretary Donna Wood 5221 2956
Immediate Past President Dick Southcombe 5243 3916
Committee Member Ade Foster 5243 9478 adenpeny@netlink.com.au
i Bernie Franke 017 982 072
c Diana Primrose 5250 1811
5 f: Graeme Tribe 5255 2302
i ‘Alison Watson 5229 3488 pwatson@ne.com.au
i A Vacant
s F Vacant
Honorary Librarian Betty Moore 5288 7220
Editor Alban Lloyd-Jones 5243 3704

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP CONVENERS and GEELONG BIRD REPORT EDITOR

Bio-diversity Group Dennis Greenwell 5243 7047
Bird Group Barry Lingham 5255 4291
Plant Group Dick Southcombe 5243 3916
Geelong Bird Report Marilyn Hewish (Pri) 03 5367 3196 (Bus) 03 9344 5715

DISCLAIMER

Responsibility for the accuracy of information and opinions expressed in this magazine
rests with the author of the article. ‘Geelong Naturalist may be quoted without
permission provided that acknowledgment of the club and the author is made.

Geelong Field Naturalists Club Inc.

ROSTERS
LIBRARY SUPPER MAILING

Sheila Silver Mary Hamilton Claire Greenwell
Judy Rowe Dennis Greenwell

Valerie Lloyd-Jones Penny Smith Alban Lloyd-Jones
Margery Rix

Meetings start at 8.00 pm at:
Karingal Community Centre, Corner McKillop and Humble Streets, East Geelong.
Use the Humble Street entrance.

Printed by Ken Jenkin.

GEELONG FIELD NATURALISTS CLUB Inc.
A0013708R
PO Box 1047
Geelong Vic 3220
GFNC web page: http://member.austasia.net/~gfnc

Email address: afnc@mail.austasia.net

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