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Birdline NSW Weekly Update

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Subject: Birdline NSW Weekly Update
From: "Eremaea Birds" <>
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:30:38 +1000
Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 10 Jan 2010.

Sun 10 Jan      Glossy Black-Cockatoo 11 Nords Wharf Rd, Nords Wharf,
Lake Macquarie
A pair of adult Glossy Black-Cockatoos flew over my residence at 7:30pm
this evening.
Martin Cachard

        
        Australian Little Bittern Narrandera Wetlands
Early this morning I sighted 3 Australian Little Bitterns & heard
another calling from the other side of wetlands. 1 of the birds posed at
the edge of the Phragmaties near the outlet bridge for 3 or 4 miniutes
before disappearing back into the reeds. This is the best sighting I
have had since they arrived.
Neville James

        
        Little Lorikeet Cumberland State Forest
First spotted by Nicholas Kane during the "Early Breakie Bird Walk" I
was leading. Three birds clearly seen whilst feeding near the Castle
Hill Rd entrance to the forest by all 9 people in the group.
Jeff Byron

        
Sat 9 Jan       Square-tailed Kite Acacia Gardens, NSW (near Blacktown,
approx. 45km NW of Sydney CBD)
>From my backyard, I saw a Square-tailed Kite about 2:30 pm initially
just above the trees and then climbing high in the air before swooping
down closer to tree top level. I also watched it try to snatch a plastic
bag being blown high in the air by the breeze.
Edwin Vella

        
Fri 8 Jan       Eastern Osprey Bass point, Shellharbour
Female Osprey gliding along the coast in the mid-afternoon Nor'easter.
Saw off half-hearted harassment by a pair of Aust Ravens and then gave a
great display of its hunting skills, plunging into the ocean for a
good-sized fish. Flew off with its catch westwards, along the northern
shoreline.
Robert Griffin

        
        Regent Honeyeater Nurragingy Reserve, Doonside
The Regent HE was still there today at 1pm, mostly in the tree directly
across the creek from where the bottle is jammed in the fence. It seemed
to occasionally shift a little further back into the trees on the far
side of the creek, but it also made one foray across the creek into
Nurragingy Reserve itself. Also there of note today several Scarlet
Honeyeaters, the Brown Honeyeater and a Leaden Flycatcher. Also lots of
Mistletoebirds, Eastern Spinebills, Silvereyes, several Eastern Yellow
Robins and a few Rufous Whistlers.
Tom Wilson

        
        Ruff Pitt Town Lagoon
Ruff briefly seen by others among Sharp-tailed Sandpipers at about 10.30
am today on the SW shore. Subsequently it and the sharpies camped on the
edge of the island immediately opposite for some time. Ruff was clearly
visible from shore with a scope. Aust Spotted and Baillon's Crakes also
present. Also Chestnut-breasted Mannikin on E side of lagoon.
Carl Weber & others

        
Thu 7 Jan       Australian Little Bittern Bushell's Lagoon, Hawkesbury
At the western part of Bushell's Lagoon I found a fledged Aust Little
Bittern juvenile. The water is very low there (probably pumped out for
irrigation of vegetables) and the junvenile, with plenty of down on the
wings, was sitting near the roots of dead willows with its beak directed
to the sky. It was a long way from the reeds. I observed the young bird
for nearly 20 minutes and eventually one parent appeared skulking from
the reeds and fed it with something looking like a big spider. I hope
that the juvenile survives as I saw two big feral cats near the lagoon
banks. On dry mud nearby, I also found a small flock of waders - 12
Pacific Golden Plovers including one with a black belly. They later flew
away and landed on the turf farm.
Ted Wnorowski

        
        Regent Honeyeater Windsor Downs Reserve
Two Regent Honeyeaters were seen feeding in the young (3-4 m tall) gum
trees that are flowering at the end of Sanctuary Ave (near the sewage
treatment plant) at Windsor Downs Reserve. There were also plenty of
other honeyeaters present - Yellow-faced, Brown-headed, White-plumed and
3 Scarlet Honeyeaters. Near the treatment plant fence I also found a
large flock (of 34 birds) White-winged Choughs.
Ted Wnorowski

        
        Ruff Pitt Town Lagoon, Hawkesbury
The Ruff that was originally reported 2 days ago is still present at
this location & is still associating with several Sharp-tailed
Sandpipers (see record shot attached). Late this afternoon it was
observed on the E edge of the lagoon toward the golf course from the
inundated fence-line.
Stephen Willis per Martin Cachard

        
        Powerful Owl Blackbutt Reserve, Newcastle
The resident pair of Powerful Owls were found by Dan Williams this
morning roosting in a patch of wet forest in Newcastle's great urban
forest reserve at Blackbutt. This pair have been media celebrities in
the past and have successfully fledged young over the years (assuming
it's the same pair - highly unlikely there would be 2 pairs within the
reserve).
Mick Roderick, Dan and Trevor Williams, Maggie Hristov

        
        Gang-gang Cockatoo Lane Cove National Park (Epping Side)
One Gang-gang seen high up in gum tree close to Brown's watering hole.
John Harding and Peter Kelly

        
Wed 6 Jan       Pilotbird Fitzroy Falls (Redhill Fire Trail)
Two birds recorded late morning.
Lorne Johnson

        
Tue 5 Jan       Plumed Whistling Duck West Wyalong Condobolin Rd, 33 15
42 S, 147 05 55 E
2 Plumed Whistling Ducks in a small pond of water that had formed at a
roadside culvert after recent storms. 2 juvenile and 2 adult
Wedge-tailed Eagles in adjacent trees. The juveniles seemed to be
practising their flying and landing.
Rosemary Stapleton

        
        Ruff Pitt Town Lagoon, Hawkesbury
Mark Young observed a Ruff on the East side of the lagoon on the
afternoon of the 5th. The bird was hanging around a group of
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers in the muddy area where a fenceline goes into
the lagoon.
Mark Young via Max Breckenridge

        
        Barking Owl Irrawong Reserve, Warriewood Wetlands
At 1700 hours a Barking Owl flew overhead, calling. I only got a brief
glimpse, but the call was enough to identify it. (Moderator's Note: Last
records near to here were at Davistown & Bouddi NP on the Central Coast
side of the Hawkesbury River mouth last year).
Joshua Bergmark

        
        Caspian Tern Long Reef
Two flew north over Long Reef golf course at 11.45, uncomon bird in the
Sydney region
Neil Friswell

        
        Brown Goshawk Bilgola Plateau
Brown Goshawk cruised over about 12.30. Not a common visitor to the
plateau.
Alan McBride

        
Mon 4 Jan       Wedge-tailed Eagle Hidden Valley end of Newmans Road,
Windsor - 33º 35´26.76"S 150º 56´27.21"E
2 Adults with one juvenile. (Moderators note: This is a good breeding
record for the Couty of Cumberland)
Barry Lancaster

        
        White-winged Triller Windsor Turf Farms - 33º 35´19.50"S 150º
44´56.95"E
Female with 2 young, interesting breeding record for County of
Cumberland.
Barry Lancaster

        
        Banded Lapwing Windsor Turf Farms - 33º 36´11.54"S 150º
48´36.65"E
4 Banded Lapwings close to where there were 2 birds recorded last year.
Barry Lancaster

        
        Black-browed Albatross, Long-tailed Jaeger Mistral Point,
Maroubra
A small pod of False Killer Whales was attracting feeding birds today,
highlights being 25 Pomarine Jaegers, 1 Arctic Jaeger, 1 Long-tailed
Jaeger, 1 Sooty Shearwater, 1 Flesh-footed shearwater, 75 Wedge-tailed
Shearwaters, 2 Gannets and a distant Black-browed Albatross.
David Mitford

        
        Lewin's Rail Triangle Pond, Sydney Olympic Park
Bird watched almost continuously feeding along edge of papyrus from
13.30 to 14.15.
Neil Friswell

        
        Powerful Owl, Boobook East Killara
2 Powerful Owls showing well in my backyard on Barrie Street, East
Killara. At least 1 was a juvenile as the high-pitched trilling call was
heard. This is the first I have seen/heard Powerful Owls in this area
for many months. A Boobook was also heard nearby.
Kurtis Lindsay

        
        Regent Honeyeater, Brown Honeyeater Nurragingy Reserve, Doonside
The Regent Honeyeater was showing exactly where he was supposed to -
courtesy of the well placed bottle (see earlier report for this
species/location). Brown Honeyeater in the same vicinity. Keep an eye
out too, for the red-bellied black snake who has his hole just on the
left of the path just a little further down (OK, not a bird, but watch
out for it anyway).
John Cresswell

        
        Scarlet Honeyeater Wilson's Glen, Woodford Blue Mountains
At least three Scarlet Honeyeaters seen today feeding among flowering
gums and wattle at Wilson's Glen. Two of the birds seen were immature
males and the other a female. This is my first record of Scarlet HE's at
Woodford in the mid mountains, they being more common in the lower Blue
Mountains.
Mark Ley

        
Sun 3 Jan       Australian Little Bittern Narrandera Wetlands
An update on the bitterns reported here at the wetlands. One bird was
heard calling and a pair were briefly seen flying between reed beds at
the west end of the wetlands.
Michael Ramsey

        
Sat 2 Jan       Black Falcons ~8 km SW of Boorowa, Nth of Yass
3 birds sighted above/around old wooden railway bridge crossing creek on
road to Cunningar, and resting on isolated gums in paddock immediately
east of the crossing. I've not seen this species before but they were a
good match to flight images in Simpson and Day. No idea if they are
likely to still be there, but if someone could confirm that would be
super.
David Langley

        
Thu 31 Dec      Latham's Snipe Mt Jagungal, Kosciuszko National Park
On the western flank before the final summit, flushed from a stunted
snow gum next to the track, at approx 1800 meters. Unmistakable but
bewildering.
David Langley

        
Tue 1 Dec       Black Kite Wilberforce
Several were seen circling Wilberforce Park for at least 15 minutes.
Mitchell Bentlley

        

Birdline NSW is sponsored by Birding NSW <http://www.birdingnsw.org.au/>
, Birds Australia - Southern NSW & ACT
<http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/basna>  and Cumberland Bird Observers
Club <http://www.cboc.org.au/>  and co-ordinated and hosted by Eremaea
Birds <http://www.eremaea.com> .
==============================www.birding-aus.org
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