BLUE, GREEN & GOLD OF COFFS HARBOUR 27 JUNE-3 JULY 2005
Eleven eager birders, mostly from Canberra ACT, travelled to the mid-north
Coast on a Follow That Bird Tour to escape the winter cold of Canberra and
to experience the blue, green, gold and warmth of the Coffs Harbour Coast.
Alas, that was the plan however our visit co-incided with a rain depression
that moved down the SE Queensland Coast into northern NSW bringing with it
flooding rains to the North and Mid-north Coast and to the NSW Northern
Tablelands and North-west Slopes.Our blue, green and gold turned to grey for
the first part of the trip although the last half was sunny and the colour
and warmth did return. The heavy rain prevented us from reaching a number of
target locations, particularly some of the rainforest sites so that our
plans had to be changed and different birding sites found. Quite a number of
morning tea and lunch spots found us huddling in shelters to escape the rain
but we had good birding never the less. We were heartened by the fact that
the rain which just about went over all NSW will bring better conditions to
inland NSW and so enhance our birding trips there later in the year!
Our first stop was the infamous Belango SF where we had great views of
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, Crimson Rosellas & nesting Swans; lunch at
Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury River brought us in touch with the coastal bird
communities of Rainbow Lorikeets and Eastern Rosellas; while there were
plenty of Straw-necked Ibis and , Kestrels and Brown Falcons to see from the
coach windows. Our first early morning walk was at Fern Bay near Stockton
and then onto Stockton sandspit where we were found busily identifying
Caspian versus Crested Terns, Little versus Great Egrets, Sea Eagles &
Whistling Kites, and Brown versus Yellow Thornbills. Visits to Old Bar and
Kew were marred with rain, but at Old Bar there were plenty of Australasian
Gannets at sea to see and White-cheeked & Brown Honeyeaters and
Scaly-breasted Lorikeets in the flowering Coast Banksias while at Kew,
Scarlet & Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, Noisy Friarbirds & Striated Thornbills
were in the flowering Swamp Mahoganies.There was much excitement when a stop
at Hacks Ferry near Telegraph Point produced a pair of Black-necked Storks,
which were close to us and then eventually took off, flying over us! Our
last stop for the day was at Boyters Lane, Jerseyville near South West
Rocks, where on some freshwater wetlands we had great views of 2 Brahminy
Kites, Intermediate Egrets, Royal Spoonbill & Black-winged Stilts, plenty of
ducks & Black-shouldered Kites, all seen with a background noise of calling
Torresian Crows. Afternoon tea on the beach at South West Rocks when
watching the wild seas, gave us a view of 2+ Great Skuas.
The heaviest falls of rain was that evening and all of the next day
(Thursday) in and around Coffs Harbour but we pressed on and used the coach
as our bird hide. From it we had great views of Brown Quail, Buff-banded
Rail & Gannets and Darters, plus a Jacana on Lake Smith! The rain commenced
to clear on Thursday afternoon, and so we left the coach and walked out to
the South Breakwater to find Double-barred Finches, Red-whiskered Bul Buls,
Pipit and other bush and waterbirds. Around the newly flooded Coffs Airport,
racecourse and swamp, there were 1000's of Silver Gulls, White &
Straw-necked Ibis, and many Black Ducks, Wood Ducks, White-faced Herons etc
feeding in the shallow water!There was much noise in the nearby heathlands
where Whipbirds, White-cheeked & Brown Honeyeaters and Golden Whistlers had
something to call about. Our finally stop for the day was at the Botanic
Gardens where we again we had close encounters with Buff-banded Rails, while
Satin Bowerbirds & Figbirds were added to our list..
Friday dawned sunny, so our early morning walk was taken along Park Beach
and back though the coastal dune vegetation. Our highlights here were
Eastern Reef Egret, Sacred Kingfisher & Grey Fantail. In the littoral
rainforest at Boambee Point we had great views of a pair of Varied Triller
and Little Shrike-thrush, Drongo and another Sacred Kingfisher and a few
Fairy Martins. At nearby Dolmans Point, Sawtell, the forest Redgum was in
flower and in addition to the usual Lorikeets and Honeyeaters we managed to
find Yellow Robin, Fantailed Cuckoo, Striated Pardalote, and more Drongos
and Scarlet Honeyeaters. The highlights at Bongil Bongil NR were the Azure
Kingfishers, Brown Gerygones & Shining Bronze-cuckoo along the Creek and
another Little Shrike-thrush, and at Bellingen rainforest sites we managed
to catch up with Bar-shouldered Dove, White-headed Pigeon and Brown
Cuckoo-Dove and again great and close views of Brown Quail. Our final stops
for the day were the Ospreys nesting on the rail bridge at Urunga, followed
by a walk out along the board walk, across the estuary, from Urunga Caravan
Park to Hungry Head. From here we saw Pied Oystercatchers, Red-capped &
Double-banded Plovers and Pacific Golden Plovers, one of which was in
breeding plumage. 6 Glossy Black Cockatoos flew over us as we walked out
over the estuary!
On our early morning walk in bushland near Park Beach the following morning
we managed to locate a Satin Bowerbird at his bower! Soon we were returning
south again, our first stop this time at Scots Head, and found Sooty
Oystercatchers on the rocks, and a calling White-throated Gerygone in the
Park where we had morning tea and more Varied Trillers, Scarlet Honeyeaters
and Scaly-breasted Lorikeets in the coastal banksia scrubs. Travelling along
on the Pacific Highway on the Macleay River flood plain enabled us to see
plenty of waterbirds in the newly filled wetlands, Great, Cattle &
Intermediate Egrets and White-necked Herons were some of the highlights but
another pair of Black-necked Storks close to the road at Clybucca was
something to really stop the coach for!!
Our last early morning walk was across the Swansea Channel bridge from our
Motel at Blacksmiths to our breakfast at Cozzi's Cafe in Swansea Shopping
Centre. What a pleasant walk! No new birds but plenty of Darters and all
four Cormorant species to check out, with White-cheeked Honeyeaters and
Silvereyes calling and feeding in the mangroves and banksias. What a great
breakfast to charge us for the walk back! We spent the following few hours
at Galgabra Reserve, South Swansea. This is a know site for Regent
Honeyeaters and Swift Parrots when the Swamp Mahogany is flowering. Alas the
flowering was almost over but those two target species this year have
preferred to follow the flowering of the Spotted Gum around Cessnock this
year, but there were plenty of other birds to find here. Additional birds
were Mistletoebird, Bellminer, White-naped Honeyeater and Variegated
Fairy-wren but the place was jumping and a pair of Sea Eagles kept calling
regularly throughout our visit. The final morning tea was at Terilbah Park,
North Entrance where a pair of Common Greenshanks was an addition to our
list of 139 species.
Every person on the trip had some great birding experiences, some seeing new
species others catching up with some birds that they had not seen for many
years. We visited some lovely coastal locations and despite the rain at the
beginning of the trip were able to enjoy visiting some lovely coastal spots.
Chris Willis did a great job driving in often very trying wet conditions and
Janene displayed great organising skills to keep ahead of the challenges
that the flooding rains brought to us!
Alan Morris, Guide
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