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Hi Birders,
The NSW Central Coast is really humming with birds
at the present time, most of the migrants have arrived and have settled in and
are busy looking for mates and nest sites.
The first Rufous Fantail was seen at Catherine Hill
Bay on 7/10 and the first Cicadabird at Mardi on 8/10. No Brush Cuckoos as yet
although my son Tim, has reported them from Bellingen on 3/10 and Crescent Head
on 7/10 so they are on the way.
All the usual migratory waders have returned except
for the Red Knots. They are only passage migrants but we should have seen some
by now. However the 100mm of rain that fell on 1/10 across the Region, made the
water levels on Tuggerah Lakes rise so that the mud and sand flats usually
frequented by the Knots was under water for a while so they may have pushed on
further south rather than stay around. An added bonus has been a pair of
Sanderlings that have ben present at Soldiers Pt Norah Head from
2/10.
Remarkably we still have White-fronted Terns around
the coastal rock platforms with one being seen at Copacobana on 2/10 and 10+ at
Soldiers Point on 6/10. Common Terns and small numbers of Little Terns have been
present since 27/9. A Giant petrel was seen off Copacobana on 2/10.
We have had good and bad news with our local Bush
Stone-curlew population. The St Huberts Island pair lost one egg to high tides
but the other was rescued and a new nest site made for the birds and while the
remaining egg hatched in due course, the chick died a few days later; The
Saratoga pair still have their chick and the Woy Woy pair have two chicks, the
Kincumber birds are still incubating their 2nd clutch, the first clutch was
destroyed by a horse!. The nest sites of the remaining 3 pairs remain a
mystery.
Pacific Bazas & Grey Goshawks are being seen at
a number of sites and the pair of Bazas at Mardi have been observed to be
checking out their old nest sites.
Alan Morris
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