Dear all
Spent a happy day yesterday at Wollombi Point/Saltwater Creek and
Farquahar Inlet with a mate, in calm warm conditions, with very few
people around - excellent for birding. This area is just south of the
Manning River estuary and Taree.
At Saltwater Creek, a sad call had us searching trees overhead and
across the creek, until we noticed a raptor circling above. After much
thought and consulting Slater, we realised this was a juvenile Brahminy
Kite.
At Wollombi Point, most of the fig trees are full of fruit - Regent and
Satin Bowerbirds, Spotted Catbird feasting but no Wompoo Pigeons, or any
other pigeon for that matter, in sight or sound. 1 Striated Heron out on
a sand bar. Lots of Noisy Friarbirds being noisy in the few Eucalypt
salignas just coming into flower, plus Scarlet Honeyeaters. Also lots of
Scaly-breasted Lorikeets around and a few Rainbow.
At Farquahar Inlet, lots of Double-banded Plovers over from NZ, and
Red-neck Stints showing reddish necks, a few Bar-tailed Godwits, one in
bright breeding plumage, a couple of Curlews, and 2 Pacific Golden
Plovers in beautiful breeding plumage, with a few others still rather
drab. A Striated Heron allowed great close views on the rocks near the
start of the walk, and another stayed just ahead of us the whole time we
walked along the inside edge of the lagoon and Little Tern compound, in
which we saw the two resident Beach Stone-curlews, stationed near some
fence posts. Lots of Little Terns fishing, also 3 Caspian, several
Common and at least 30 Crested. Two Little Pied Cormorants, 1
White-faced Heron, 4 Black Swans, heap of Pelicans, 2 Little Egret, 1
Whistling Kite, 1 Black-shouldered Kite, a nearly all-adult plumaged
White-bellied Sea Eagle chased off by an Osprey that then dived into the
surf emerging with a very large fish that it had trouble carrying away.
Interestingly enough, no birds except a few Silver Gulls on the shingle
beach and just a few Silver Gulls, two Pied Cormorants and Crested Terns
on the water. A large bunch of Terns were fishing just off the inlet
mouth through which water was pouring into the surf, presumably Common
and Little. In the picnic area at the end of the track that leads from
the caravan park south with the lagoon on the right, a pair of
Scaly-breasted Lorikeets were occupying a hollow, one inside, the other
popping its head in, trying to enter and being given the heave-ho - or
that's what it looked like.
Nothing exceptional back home in my garden in Gloucester. Rufous
Whistlers are noisy and a Restless Flycatcher is calling after being
absent all summer. The hoards of green Satin Bowerbirds are also back,
eating the native ground cover under my shrubs, pretend bower
construction, and one ivory-billed greenie was making excessive advances
to a black male, who looked totally confused. All that whirring and
wheezing, dancing, wing flipping and tail fanning performed to the wrong
sex, but presumably perfecting his technique. The bower in the front
garden has reappeared but is very sub-standard, and bits of blue plastic
travel around the garden or are carried off by the next door garden's
alpha male.
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
