Hi all
I spent much of 2 November visiting sites in Sydney's northwest with my Dad.
All up, with 113 sightings and 7 voice only, we recorded 120 species,
despite some activity being curtailed because of thunderstorms, heavy rain
and diversions due to traffic accidents. The lagoons are all pretty full,
so there was not much mud for waders - we only saw a few - where are they
all? (Perhaps they are at some of the less explored or not accessible
lagoons - there's a lot of puddles up that way at present?) Highlights for
us were:
Cornwallis Rd/Cupitts Lane - 3 pair of Brown Quail and a Pair of King Quail
(cracking views of the latter for my Dad as I flushed them and they flew
straight towards him over 15 yards). We also flushed one single bird - it
was very small and had pale buff outer wings/primaries and was darker
towards the body. It had a dark head but a paler belly - we assumed it was a
juvenile King Quail as we couldn't get anything else to fit - any
suggestions? Lots of Cisticolas here and a pair of Black Shouldered Kites
passing food in mid-air. There was a single Azure Kingfisher (presumably en
route from the river to Bakers Lagoon) and 2 Chestnut Breasted Mannikins.
Elsewhere along Cornwallis Rd a big flock (40+) of Zebra Finches, 1 White
Winged Triller "trilling" and Brown and Rufous Songlarks.
Bushells Lagoon - about 20 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Brown Quail (far end of
causeway from Brewers Lane), 9 Sharp Tailed Sandpipers, lots of White Necked
herons (seemed the be plentiful at all wetlands); 20 Glossy Ibis; 2 Musk
Duck
Castlereagh NR - my first visit here - delayed a bit by the weather! After
about 45 minutes sitting out a thunderstorm in the car, the birds were
active when we finally made it in. There was a female Red Capped Robin
tending to at least 3 spotty fledglings at the gate next to the breakers
yard and 2 Weebill here too. A single Dusky Woodswallow about 500m in. 1
Crested Shrike Tit at the same place. Plenty of Fuscous Honeyeaters,
Speckled Warblers and Buff Rumped Thornbills. Spotted & Striated Pardalotes
with young birds. 1 White Throated Gerygone and 1 Brown Headed Honeyeater as
we walked along the service track for the electricity poles
Pitt Town lagoon - 2 Spotted Crakes - 1 in front of the mound, the other
along the eastern shore; 2 Little Grassbirds in front of the mound; 20
Glossy Ibis in a bay on the eastern shore; a few Shoveler; flushed 4 Lathams
Snipe; 2 Red Kneed & 1 Black fronted Dotterel and 1 very aggressive Willie
Wagtail by the path down to the gate.
Laughtondale Gully Road - my first visit here, but by the time we got there,
time was running short and the weather was closing in again (after 15
minutes the rain was really too hard to make birding a viable activity!). A
flock of 25+ yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos, a Pallid Cuckoo calling
strongly; 1 Common Bronzewing and 1 Double Barred Finch.
Cheers
Tom Wilson
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