Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 11 Mar 2012.

Sun 11 Mar	Caspian tern, Eastern Curlew Hooka Pt, Port kembla Caspian Tern x6, one Eastern Curlew on the island off Hooka Pt and a swarm of European Goldfinch at nearby Coomaditchy Lagoon. Michael Barton
	Scarlet Honeyeater Wattle Forest, Royal National Park Two male birds in trees behind toilet block in picnic area Chris Pollard
Sat 10 Mar	Painted Button-quail, Chestnut-rumped Heathwren Bucketty Waterhole, Bucketty A visit to Bucketty Waterhole and nearby Mount Manning, found a pair of Painted Button-quail at the edge of the Settlers Road, a Chestnut-rumped Heathwren flew across the road and then a second bird was found, a pair of White-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes and 6 Dusky Woodswallows including dependent young were seen, and Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters were the commonest honeyeater present. White-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes are rare visitors to the Central Coast. Mike Kuhl, Alan Morris & Richard Nowatny
	Azure Kingfisher Bundanoon Staggering views through the nocs of a juvenile Azure Kingfisher perched above a culvert between the sewage treatment works and swamp, not far from home. I was twenty feet away from the bird. It let out a call similar to a Mistletoebird's a few times. A white tip to the bird's beak, took me back a little, as I'd never seen this on an AK before. Simpson showed it to be a juv bird. No other field guide depicted this feature. Lorne Johnson
	Bridled Tern, Red-tailed Tropicbird, White-chinned Petrel, Buller's Albatross Sydney Pelagic A top pelagic day out of Sydney with the highlights being Bridled Tern, Red-tailed Tropicbird, White-chinned Petrel, Buller's Albatross and White-necked Petrel. A great day on the water with a count of 20 species - full report on birding-aus soon. Roger McGovern and all on the Halicat
	Australasian Bittern Longneck Lagoon, Pitt town Two birds were disturbed and flew off. Distinct brown colouring. The Lagoon is flooded and the bridge completely submerged. Would be interested if anyone else has seen them. Mark Clayton
	Spotted Harrier Gooromon Ponds Creek Crossing One bird to the north of the ACT-NSW border hunting over paddocks. Last seen heading west at 09.30. Peter Christian
Fri 9 Mar	Plumed whistling duck, Peregrine falcon Fernleigh Lagoon and Bensons Lane Richmond Lowlands There were 20+ Plumed whistling ducks on Fernleigh Lagoon and visible from the Ridges Lane side. Later a peregrine falcon was seen chasing starlings over the football grounds beside Bensons Lane, Richmond Lowlands. Peter Kelly and Adrian Dick
	Little Eagle, 40+ White-throated Needletail Abbotsbury, SW Sydney While doing a risk assessment with the Western Sydney Parklands for an upcoming walk at the Plough & Harrow I was excited to see a group of around 30 WTNTs. As I left I saw another group of 15 and a large raptor, not the Square-tailed Kite (seen from my garden yesterday - honest!) but a Little Eagle. Three more WTNT were seen at Rooty Hill on my way home, a nice way to finish. Mark Fuller
Thu 8 Mar	Glossy Black Cockatoo Greta, New England Highway, NSW Three Glossy Black Cockatoos flew over the highway and landed in the casuarina bushes (near Greta). Ted Wnorowski
	Australasian Bittern, Glossy Ibis, Plumed Whistling Duck Mother Duck Lagoon, Guyra, NSW Incredible place now. It looks like a big lake with huge flocks of water birds (ducks, herons, ibises, spoonbills. I visited this site early morning and bitterns were booming very loudly. I counted at least 4 A bitterns ( usually standing at the edge of high vegetation). Latham's Snipes were still there in high number ( counted at least 16 birds). They were feeding in the the open on the edge of flooded golf course. Other interesting birds found in the lagoon: Buff-banded rail (family with 5 chicks), Plumed Whistling Duck (15), Musk Duck (5), Glossy Ibis (3), Yellow-billed Spoonbill (5), Pink-eared Duck (60), Wiskered Tern (100+). Ted Wnorowski
	Powerful Owl Woodfield Avenue Bundeena, Royal National Park 21:37 hours, two birds are currently out the front of my house calling to each other. Deryk Engel
Wed 7 Mar	Beach Stone-curlew, Double-banded Plover Farquar Inlet, Old Bar On two seperate days, 5 and 7 March , the pair of Beach Stone-Curlews were seen on the inside of Farquar Inlet, along the 4 wheel drive track that runs on the inside of the sandspit. The birds each time crossed into the fenced area of the Little Tern nesting site. At high tide, most of the waders and terns were gathered at the entrance to the Inlet, including 42 Red-necked Stints, 25 Double-banded Plover, 46 Red-capped Plover 42 Pacifc Golden Plovers, 20+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 8+ Whimbrel, 30 Eastern Curlew, 100+ Little Terns ,44 Common Terns, 1 Caspian Tern, and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters were feeding close inshore. Alan Morris & Allan Benson
	Grey Goshawk Kiama Bends, Kiama (southern end) At 5:20pm while heading north just before Kiama bends I was merging lanes due to roadworks. A Grey Goshawk flew very low across the Princes Hwy right in front of me, being chased by a Magpie. Great views. Carla Jackett
Tue 6 Mar	Wedge-tailed Eagle Near Wollongong Just on the exit ramp/lane to Wollongong off the Princes Hwy, I saw a beautifully plumaged immature Wedge-tailed Eagle sitting on a speed sign. It was only a few metres from me as I drove past it. Carla Jackett
	Sooty Owl Lapstone Sooty Owl observed in my friend's backyard at 21:00 tonight. This is the third time he's seen/heard the bird there in the past week. Unsure whether it's a dispersing young or an adult in a less often used part of its home range. An impressive bird on the western outskirts of Sydney for sure. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Double-banded Dotterel, Great Knot, Little Tern, Red-necked Stint, Pacific Golden Plover Richmond River estuary, Ballina NSW A total of 4 Double-banded Dotterel were observed. A group of 3 on the sailing club sandbar and a single bird on the nearby Kingsford Smith sports fields. Also of note were good numbers of Pacific Golden Plover, 34 Red-necked Stint, 4 Great Knot and 187 Little Tern. David Charley
Mon 5 Mar	Powerful Owl, Australian Hobby Old Bar Rd Old Bar A Powerful Owl called consistantly between 2200-2230 hrs in a park next to No 25 Old Bar Rd. The following night we were ready with taped calls, spotlight etc but the Owl failed to appear. A pair of Hobbies consistantly chased Swallows and lorikeets throughout the day and a juvenile Koel Cuckoo was also still present. Alan Morris
	Grey Goshawk Bankstown 10' Cell 1, low overhead at 7:25 pm, close to the railway line near Clark St., Belmore. Anthony & Vicki Katon
	Gang Gang Cockatoo Bathurst Airport, E of Bathurst. 4 birds, one male, female, two begging young. Neville Schrader
	Pallid Cuckoo, Satin Bowerbird, Striated Heron Gore Creek An immature pallid cuckoo was in the trees just beyond the playground. Further down the track 4/5 female or juvenile satin bowerebids were moving amongst the trees on the Northwood side. The striated heron is still there. Judy Clark
	White-throated Needletail, Satin Flycatcher Galaringi Reserve, Carlingford White-throated Needletail (5) observed. Flying on big loops just above the high transmission powerlines, still there after 15 minutes. Satin Flycatcher (1) Male, calling . Not seen by me in this area before. I have a photograph. Jenny Stiles
Sun 4 Mar	Black-faced Monarch, Scaley-breasted Lorikeet Acaica Gardens An Immature Black-faced Monarch spent an enjoyable day catching food and preening in my backyard yesterday. Also present were 3 Scaley-breasted Lorikeets amongs many Musk and Rainbow Lorikeets that were feeding in the flowering Forest Red Gums down the road. Besides the Monarch, I also added another new bird for my backyard list yesterday, an Australasian Darter (Mo. 76 and 77). Edwin Vella
	Square-tailed Kite North Richmond One Square-tailed Kite seen flying low over the Bells Line of Road near the entrance to Colo High School Carl Corden
	Square-tailed Kite Mollymook / Ulladulla A pair of STKs were seen gliding back an forth over the gardens near the Mollymook bowling greens. While the STKs are commonly seen around this area in the summer months they're the first I've seen a pair together. Unfortunately as binos are frowned upon while bowling, I'm unable to say if one was an imm or give any other information. bob rusk
	Square-tailed Kite Cambridge Gardens near Penrith At 10:15 this morning, a rather ragged looking adult cruised near my house at low altitude surveying the treetops for prey. The bird was missing several primaries. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo, White-throated Needletail Bicentennial Park, Homebush Bay Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo (1) Immature begging constantly and being fed by several Superb Fairywrens. White-throated Needletail (30) Flying low over the park at 9am. Stephen Mannix
	Bar-Tailed Godwit Timbrell Park - Rodd Point 30-40 birds seen while driving from Rodd Point to Timbrell Park. Also a few seen up a bit closer to the Iron Cove Bridge from Rodd Point. Simon Gorta
	Striated Heron mudflats, Gore Creek Bay, Greenwich A single bird perched on a low rock soon during a receding tide. It dived into the water about 2 metres from the rock, then continued hunting in the shallow water, to a nearby exposed mud flat. This was late afternoon. Sheila Walkerden
Sat 3 Mar	Black necked Stork, Magpie Geese, Diamond Dove, Stubble Quail Property near Garah A Jabiru was seen wading on a farm dam and suddenly flew as soon as we approached. A large number of Magpie Geese were also sighted. Heard Stubble Quail again. 2 Diamond Doves were seen in the town itself. Curtis Hayne
	Pink-eared Duck Fernleigh's Lagoon Richmond NSW Pink-eared Duck in flight at Fernleigh's Lagoon Tony Dawe & Edwin Vella
	Swift Parrot Kurrajong Rd beside the Richmond Bridge, Richmond My first Swift Parrot for the season as heard calling twice beside Kurrajong Rd and before the Richmond Bridge. Plenty of people here checking out the rising river but unfortunately not aware of something "even better and more exciting" to look out for! Edwin Vella and Tony Dawe
	Plumed Whistling-ducks (50) Ferneligh's Lagoon, Richmond Lowlands (off Powells Lane) There was about 50 Plumed Whistling-ducks at their usual spot in Fernleigh's Lagoon as well as 2 pairs of Pink-eared Ducks. It is not that unusual to see around 100 Plumed Whistling-ducks at this lagoon as I have encountered in the past but I have not seen these ducks for a few years in the Hawkesbury until now. Edwin Vella and Tony Dawe
Fri 2 Mar	Plumed Whistling-Duck Urunga Island, Urunga, NSW 160 birds on the sandspit at the southern end of Urunga Island Richard Jordan
	Beach Stone Curlew Southern end of pelican Island Port Mcquarie Also seen 3rd march. The BSC was on the sandy beach,both at high and low tide. Allen Hamilton
	Pacific Baza Coutts Crossing 2460 Pair of adults, 2 juveniles, feeding in tops of Eucalyptus Trees. Juveniles very noisy Peter Martin

Birdline NSW is sponsored by Birding NSW, Birds Australia - Southern NSW & ACT and Cumberland Bird Observers Club and co-ordinated and hosted by Eremaea Birds.

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