Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 1 Jul 2012.

Sun 1 Jul	Australasian Figbird Bicentennial Park, Sydney Olympic Park Group of 5~10 Figbirds always roost between 4-5pm on a leafless tree before heading back to nearby thick foliaged trees for rest of evening. This has been observed in more than 5 trips in past 2 weeks. Located next to Persian 'Obelisk' monument between fountain and overhead bridge for pedestrian/cyclist. Tun Pin Ong
	Regent Honeyeater Werakata NP, Kearsley Trail 3-5 Regents observed after 0800 on the first side track just after the gate. Single Regent seen in same area after 1600. Feeding high in foliage, chasing off yellow-faced and yellow-tufted HEs. No bands observed. Jon Spicer-Bell
	Black necked Stork Missaboti via Nambucca Heads One bird sighted in wet pasture adjacent to a creek. Peter Mackey
	Australasian Figbirds (12) Nurragingy Resereve - Doonside, NSW I spent an hour and a half this morning at Nurragingy Reserve in Doonside were I saw at least 12 Figbirds feeding on the privet (this is my largest count for the Blacktown shire so far and there could have been more then the 12 I saw), Azure Kingfisher, King Parrot, Eastern Whipbird, Crested Shrike-tit, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Dusky Woodswallows, Rose Robin, Brown Goshawk etc. Unlike my previous visit, no sign of the Black Bittern. Edwin Vella
Sat 30 Jun	Banded Lapwings Cornwallis - Hawkesbury NSW (approx. 55km NW of Sydney CBD) I spent a couple of hours late yesterday afternoon around the turf farms and saw the regular raptors - several Black-shouldered Kites and Australian Kestrels, White-bellied Sea-eagle, Brown Goshawk and the usual approachable Brown Falcon. Other birds seen included a pair of Banded Lapwings (at the usual place at the Windsor end of Cronwallis Rd), an Azure Kingfisher (on Fernleigh's Lagoon), Intermediate Egret, Chestnut-breasted Mannikins, Double-barred Finches, Restless Flycatcher and large numbers of Crested Pigeons feeding with 8 Bar-shouldered Doves and a group of Red-rumped Parrots, all beautiful in the late afternoon sun. Edwin Vella
	White-bellied Sea Eagles (mating) Castlereagh I was late out with my dogs this morning and that is exactly why I was privileged to observe my local pair copulating near their nest along the banks of the Nepean River at 08:29. The affair lasted approximately 12 seconds and prior to the copulation the pair engaged in a quite loud and continuous honking duet for approximately one minute. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Azure Kingfisher, Brown Treecreeper Whittaker's Lagoon, Moree We spotted an Azure Kingfisher fly out of a low bush and fly into a tree which allowed us to take photos but not clear. Unusual seeing it at this time of year. It was seen on floodwater off the Mehi River. It was spotted at about 1:30pm. Also spotted were over 6 Brown Treecreepers! They are uncommon at this location and usually to find a single bird you will have to wander off into the scrub for a while. Silvereyes were present as well. Stacks of Striated Pardalotes are still nesting at various locations in the site. Curtis Hayne, Michael Dahlem, R. Druce
	Yellow-nosed Albatross, Sooty Oystercatcher Tacking Point Lighthouse, Port Macquarie There was a lone Yellow-nosed Albatross close in shore and a Sooty Oystercatcher flying below the cliff at the Lighthouse this afternoon. Two Sooty Oystercatchers were also seen earlier, flying down the Hastings River estuary. Clive Meadows & Louise Earnshaw
Fri 29 Jun	Grey-headed Albatross Maroubra Cliff tops, Marine Parade in addition to Roy and Fiona's sighting yesterday, wasnt sure until I looked back on all the pics I took !!!! chris pollard
	Grey-headed albatross Mistral Point, Maroubra We were delighted to observe a juvenile grey-headed albatross feeding on the water approximately 350 m from the shore in the late afternoon. Several pods of surface-active humpback whales on their northerly migration were an added bonus. Ray Gobbe and Fiona Brook
	Giant Petrel - Southern imm.? Maroubra Cliff tops, Marine Parade Bird flying north toward Bondi only about 50 metres out from the headland, huge Whale movements too. chris pollard
	White-bellied Sea-Eagle Sydney Airport (East) 1' Cell White-bellied Sea-Eagle (1) Circling high over Engine Pond at 15:00, briefly on the north side of General Holmes Drive. Also unusual, for this time of year: one Fairy Martin over the west Engine Pond. Rob Child
	Powerful Owl Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Third go lucky as I finally found a roosting Powerful Owl right up high in a White Fig (name plate is on the tree) near Government House at the top of the gardens. Not sure how much longer Powerful Owls may be there though, as the gardens' staff have been extremely successful at scaring off the flying foxes: I didn't see a single one today despite looking for them. As I understand it, the flying foxes are the owls' main dietary component. (Flying fox seems to be the occasional prey for this bird Ashwin. In general flying fox predation by Powerful Owls is insignificant compared to Ringtail Possum of which there is no shortage in Sydney. Moderator) Ashwin Rudder
Wed 27 Jun	Australian Hobby Federal Park, Glebe Not often seen close to the CBD. Andrew Taylor
	Spotless Crake, Grey Goshawk Warriewood Wetlands this morning, Spotless Crake elusive in the reeds to the right of the boardwalk as you enter from Katoa Close. Never seen any Crake here before. White morph Grey Goshawk flying low around the same area. Throughout the wetlands and Irrawong, lots of bold and inquisitive Scarlet Honeyeaters in the lower branches, lots of Lorikeets, Whipbirds, Brown Gerygones and Fantails. Henry Coleman
Tue 26 Jun	Black-necked Stork Bulahdelah One adult seen 700m south of town on a dam west of the hwy. One Osprey fishing close to the bridge on the hwy at Karuah. Ian Kerr
Mon 25 Jun	White-fronted Tern Soldiers Point, Central Coast Single White-fronted Tern on the rock platform. Two Eastern Reef Egrets also. Tim Faulkner
	Shining Bronze-cuckoo Pitt Town Bottoms Windsor Observed two Shining Bronze-cuckoos feeding on caterpillars in Bottoms Rd Pitt town Bottoms Tony & Stephanie Dawe
Sun 24 Jun	Australian Bustard 20 km west of Tibooburra Single bird seen crossing road at 7am, temp 1 C, sunny but cold. Other birds present included 7 Emus and Pipits. Steven Edwards photo and Alan Morris
	Red necked Avocet, Red capped Plover, Double banded Plover Goran Lake, NSW We spotted about 150 Avocets wading, feeding and resting around the lake. About 50 Double banded Plovers were still present from last month. And about 25 Red capped Plovers. There were stacks of Black fronted Dotterels. A pair of Red kneed Dotterels were present. Silver Gulls were still found in large numbers. Still about a thousand Pelicans were present as well as 3-4 Swans. Heaps of Welcome Swallows and Tree Martins were present and also hanging around were several groups of Cisticolas. Curtis Hayne, Michael Dahlem.
	Red-capped Robin Castlereagh Nature Reserve I followed the female around the main dam for about 20 minutes, after which she was joined by the male. Within only a few minutes they'd both flown off. John Cresswell
	Nankeen Night Heron Bobbin Head Saw one Nakeen Night Heron perched in tree over mangroves Tony & Stephanie Dawe
	whistling kite Cornwallis rd Cornwallis Saw one whistling kite,brown falcon,two nankeen kestrel,6 black shouldered kites Tony & Stephanie Dawe
	Spotted Harrier Shoalhaven Heads Spotted Harrier (1) Sub-adult bird. Very surprised to see this instead of the usual Swamp Harrier. Also present were 21 Double-banded Plovers and a mysterious lone Golden Plover - photos posted to Birding-Aus. Martin & Penny Potter
	Peregrine Falcon George Kendall Riverside Park, Ermington Peregrine Falcon (1) Flying through, seen well. Brown Goshawk and Nankeen Kestrel (both singles) also seen at this large area of open ground previously. Max Breckenridge
Sat 23 Jun	Wedge-tailed Eagle Moss Vale One bird seen flying over shops, pursued by ravens, late morning. The first time I've seen a Wedgie at MV. Another 2 Wedgies seen on western side of Hume Highway, Mittagong, an hour or so later. Lorne Johnson
	Sacred Kingfisher, Tawny Grassbird, White throated Gerygone Whittaker's Lagoon, 20km West of Moree. Spotted a Sacred in winter! (on a bank of a creek). Saw a Tawny Grassbird in a briarbush on farmland about 500m from water. And a White throated Gerygone in woodlands (we also heard its lovely call). Blue Bonnets were also present in large numbers. Curtis Hayne
Fri 22 Jun	Cinnamon Quail-thrush, Orange Chat & Chestnut-crowned Babbler Morden HSD 160 Km SSE Tibooburra Pair CQT seen at the side of the road, 2 prs of Orange Chats, and a group of 9 Chestnut-crowned Babblers in the vicinty, another 4 Quail-thrushes seen nearby, also Pipit and Zebra Finch and Wedge-tailed Eagle Steven Edwards and Alan Morris
Sun 10 Jun	Powerful Owl Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens Located near Government house end of the Royal gardens in a white fig tree. Ranger in the park pointed me in the right direction Roosting alone up high Kirri Hardy

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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