Breaking news is of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Lake Murdeduke near Winchelsea, west of Melbourne. This is a national rarity, and does not occur every year. Remarkably Lake Murdeduke played host to the very same species way back in 1987 !
Even more remarkable is the sighting of a leg flagged South Island Pied Oystercatcher, a New Zealand species, at Broadwater in coastal NSW. On investigation it turns out that the bird was banded in Westernport Bay, Victoria in August 2016 but was logged as an Australian Pied Oystercatcher. Thus it has turned into a first record for the Victorian list !
Other wader reports have included the long staying Red-necked Phalarope at Werribee, Pectoral Sandpiper at Swan Hill, and Wood Sandpiper at Edithvale wetlands. As happened in the last couple of years, reports of Eastern Koel are coming in from many parts of southern and eastern Victoria. They have gone from being a rarity to a regular summer migrant in just a few years.