Today, I began my first official
bird survey of the Eastern Creek Waste Services Tip (approx. 40km west of Sydney
CBD, near Blacktown) after being granted special permission to conduct these
surveys by NSW Waste Management Services. Hopefully this will be first of many
good bird surveys within this area of great potential. Besides being
Sydney?s main waste tip, the area
has a well vegetated tree line water course (Eastern Creek itself which looks
ideal for Black Bittern) and large expanses of grass land (which looks
potentially good for quail / button-quail). Well over a thousand Sacred Ibis and
a number of Whistling Kites are using the creek to nest and to roost which is
adjacent to the main tip. The rubbish in the tip attracts all the ibis as well
as 0 numbers of Pelicans and Silver Gulls.
It was not long after my arrival,
I saw the star bird, a nice BLACK FALCON circuling over the grassland and then
later (if not a second Black Falcon) over the rubbish tip allowing good views
for several minutes on both occasions. I am so pleased to no longer have the
need to travel hundreds of kilometers to see this favourite raptor of mine, but
only a few minutes from home. This follows my sighting of a Black Falcon at the
same Tip a few weeks ago while watching from the car park. There were also lots
of Whistling Kites (definitely 7 seen at the one time but because they were
scattered everywhere, with some Kites flying (a few in thermals with the Ibis
and pelicans) and some perched with the ibis along the creek there could have
well been a dozen or more ? certainly the most I?ve ever seen besides seeing 10
recently at Prospect Reservoir next door to this tip). Many of the Kites were
easy to approach as they perched in the eucalypts above. The tip also has what
is intended a bird distraction unit playing from some speakers which sounded
like a Crow (it got me excited when I first heard it as I though I had another
Sydney tick) but of course does not
work.
A list of raptors seen at the tip
for the two hour duration is as follows:
Whistling Kite (7-12 plus)
White-bellied Sea-eagle (1-2)
Black-shouldered Kite (1-2)
Black Falcon (1)
Brown Falcon (2)
Australian Kestrel (2)
I later checked out a few places
in the Hawkesbury area (20 km or so north of the tip) when winds picked up
(mainly gale force westerly winds making birding very difficult) were I saw 3
Wedge-tailed Eagles on the Richmond Turf Farms (including a very good view of
one eagle perched in a leafless
tree, 30-50 metres from the roadside while I was in the car), 5 Sharp-tailed
Sandpipers and 5 Red-kneed Dotterels at Bush?s Lagoon (Richmond), a nice adult
Spotted Harrier and Brown Falcon at Pitt Town Lagoon and finally, very good
looks at 3 Chestnut-rumped Heathwrens in heath land burnt by last summers
bushfires (good to see that the heathwrens have moved back into their
territory).
Another good day birding.
Edwin
Vella
