Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 9 Dec 2012.

Sun 9 Dec	Australian Shelduck, Little Egret, Glossy Ibis Penrith Lakes A delightful end to my weekend bird observations came from a tip-off from Bob Sinclair, who lives in my area. I passed the very lake this morning, without taking a look, in which an adult pair of male/female Australian Shelducks have turned up possibly overnight as I check this spot almost daily. Also present was a Little Egret, several Hoary-headed Grebes, Great Crested Grebes and a pair of Black Swan with seven well-grown cygnets. A male Swamp Harrier flew through with small prey (could have been a juvenile waterbird) and a Glossy Ibis arrived along the shores as well. After this observation I briefly checked a wetland across the road only to find an adult and juvenile Glossy Ibis, taking my count to three Glossy Ibis in a matter of ten or so minutes at this location. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Important note regarding spelling and stars NSW Dear Eremaea/Birdline NSW posters, I apologise for the paucity of blue stars - I may have missed some special sightings that would have 'deserved' a star. On the other hand I am spending way too much time correcting the spelling of bird names in your posts. Correct spelling is very important for a useful search function. So please use the bird names listed under 'Species Archive' (i.e. Australasian Pipit and not Richard's Pipit, which would be a first for Australia!) and make sure the names are correctly spelled. Thanks! Nikolas Nikolas Haass (moderator)
	Australian Spotted Crake, Baillon's Crake, Spotless Crake pitt town lagoon. Highlights from Pitt town today were 5 Baillon's Crake 2 Australian Spotted Crake & 2 Spotless Crake michael ronan
Sat 8 Dec	Lewin's Rail and Spotless Crakes Second Ponds Creek (off Mallard Drive) at The Ponds (next to Quakers Hill) I visited the new housing suburb called the Ponds which is adjacent to Quakers Hill (NW of Blacktown) and heard a Lewin's Rail call a number of times from the reeds on Second Ponds Creek and saw and heard at least 3 Spotless Crakes at 3 different sections along the same creek. There were also quite a number of Weebills and Double-barred Finches as well as a Brown Quail also heard. Edwin Vella
	Square-tailed Kite, Collared Sparrowhawk Maraylya, Private Property At the horse property, an adult Square-tailed Kite was passing through hunting at around 15:30. About half an hour later, I observed an adult Collared Sparrowhawk, just as I was heading over to Mitchell Park for the spotlighting sessions. Both species are new for me at the ranch. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Latham's Snipe, Glossy Ibis, Great Crested Grebe Penrith Lakes Near Cranebrook Rd, at the T-junction. Observed one Latham's Snipe, which performed some amazing tail-up and wave displays, a Glossy Ibis (at least one) still feeding in same pond as for the last couple of weeks. Also happy to observe brief courtship displays of Great Crested Grebes. This morning (Dec 9) I did see five (5) Latham's Snipe, all along one stretch of the mud bank! Ákos Lumnitzer
	White-throated Nightjar, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Australian Brush-turkey, Black Bittern Mitchell Park, Cattai Our late afternoon and night session highlights were an adult Wedge-tailed Eagle circling low over the creek line, passing through. For me the most unusual find was the extremely wary adult Australian Brush-turkey near the Field Study Center, along the small track that goes towards the rainforest. At dusk, from 20:20-20:35 Black Bitterns were calling along the creek. We observed at least three (3) White-throated Nightjars and perhaps heard more, or the same ones between 20:40-23:20. Heard the resident Powerful Owl adult once, no young ones heard tonight. Lots of Sugar Gliders and some Yellow-bellied Gliders as well. Ákos Lumnitzer and Derek Willcox
	Marsh Sandpiper, Red-kneed Dotterel, Musk Duck & Grey Goshawk Central Coast Wetlands, Tuggerah A 2 hour visit to the Central Coast Wetlands, including the Dairy Swamp, at Tuggerah, found a lone Marsh Sandpiper feeding with a pair of Black-winged Stilt in the Dairy Swamp, this is the only record for this species on the Central Coast this year! Also present on the Swamp was a female Musk Duck with a duckling, 4 Red-kneed Dotterel & 2 Black-fronted Dotterel, and plenty of Australian Wood Duck, Grey Teal and Hardhead. Along Pioneer Ck a minimum of 5 Latham's Snipe were seen, and along Tuggerah Ck both Whistling Kite and a Grey Goshawk were seen, and on the previous day at Pioneer Ck was a pair of Black-shouldered Kite with 3 newly flying young and a Nankeen Kestrel feeding a dependant young. Alan Morris & 41 members of CCGBNSW
	White-chinned Petrel, late Providence Petrel, Sooty Tern Sydney Pelagic Highlights of the December Sydney pelagic were White-chinned Petrel, late Providence Petrel, Sooty Tern and a pod of 30+ Pygmy Killer Whales. I posted to full report on Birding-Aus. For pictures see here: Nikolas Haass for all on the Halicat
	Australian Pratincole Banar Lake 25km Sth of Condobolin 3 birds seen on dry mudflats 150m from road. Looked like two adults and a younger bird. First time seen by me in Lachlan Shire. Also seen on adjacent property 4 Australian Painted Snipe (only ones left from previous sighting of 15), adult and juvenile White-bellied Sea-eagles, 60+ Whiskered Terns,50+ Black-tailed Native-hens, lots of Red-kneed Dotterels, Black-winged Stilts and Glossy Ibis. 15 Whistling Kites feeding on dead carp and a Painted Honeyeater in grey mistletoe. Warren Chad
	Bar-tailed Godwits Long Reef Aquatic Reserve Both birds were in the same location this afternoon as they were on Wednesday. Mark Young
	Brown Falcon, Brown Goshawk, Nankeen Kestrel, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Henley Park 4 hours of cricket resulted not only in a draw but also three raptors (4 birds). Brown Falcon hovered over pitch briefly before passing over heading west. Nankeen Kestrel seen briefly until Brown Goshawk pair had enough of it and chased it away. Also 15+ Scaly-breasted Lorikeet. Simon Gorta
	Marsh Sandpipers, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Red-necked Avocet Farm Properties, 10-15km North West of Moree A very windy and hot day! The number of species has decreased. Highlights included: A single Australian Hobby (first species for the whole birdwatch in fact, first one seen in about 4 months!), large flocks of Masked and White-browed Woodswallows (just everywhere we go this year), Whiskered Terns and Gull-billed Terns in large numbers still, only 1 Caspian Tern was seen, no Silver Gulls were seen, 2 Emus (first ones seen at this location in ages when previously (2009-2011) seen every single visit.), Olive-backed Orioles still present, Black-tailed Native-hens still in large numbers, an Intermediate Egret, no Diamond Doves were seen while they made a permanent home from June-November this year at several locations on these farms, 18 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, 3 Marsh Sandpipers, Still lots of Black-winged Stilts and Pink-eared Ducks, Only 1 Red-necked Avocet which we actually saw swimming like a duck with some ducks and only 1 Australasian Pipit was seen. Curtis Hayne
	Freckled Duck Mulwala Road Wetland, Barooga Freckled Duck (79) terrific numbers. The most I have ever seen of this species at one site. All birds were at the north end of the wetland in four groups, two groups were in the water, one group was resting on the bank and the other on some logs. Michael Ramsey
	Plumed Whistling-Duck, Wandering Whistling-Duck, Purple-crowned Lorikeet Finley Sewage Ponds Following up a Birdline report from a fortnight ago I found a large flock of Plumed Whistling-Ducks by a dam along Dales Rd adjacent to the ponds. I also managed to find one Wandering Whistling-Duck among the flock and there could have been a few more. Quite an exciting find, I had not seen this species in NSW before. Hundreds of other ducks as here as well and great views of an Australian Spotted Crake family. Also an interesting find of two Purple-crowned Lorikeets in some flowering Eucalyptus youngiana on the edge of the golf course adjacent. This is my third record this year of this species in southern NSW of a bird rarely recorded in the state. Michael Ramsey
Fri 7 Dec	Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Spring Creek Reserve 2 birds on emerging mudflat.. Neville Schrader (1702)
Fri 7 Dec	Glossy Ibis, Pink-eared Ducks, Latham's Snipe, Australian Spotted Crakes Riverstone (approx. 10km NW of Blacktown CBD) Late Friday afternoon on a private property at Rverstone, there were c70 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, a Latham's Snipe, 23 Black-winged Stilts, 30 Pink-eared Ducks, 2 Australasian Shovelers, at least 300 Grey Teal, 2 Australian Spotted Crakes, a Buff-banded Rail, 2 Yellow-billed Spoonbills, a White-necked Heron and another new bird for my local area, a Glossy Ibis (there were also White and Straw-necked Ibis about. In the surrounding fields I also heard both Stubble Quail and Brown Songlarks). Raptors seen here included an Australian Hobby and Black-shouldered Kite. The Glossy Ibis now makes 227 species for the Blacktown LGA. Edwin Vella
	Plumed Whistling-Duck, Painted Honeyeater Coleambally STP, Kidman Way Approximately 1500 Plumed Whistling-Ducks observed on the Coleambally STP ponds beside the Kidman Way. This number was present on the 23 November. Painted Honeyeaters also about in the Boree woodland immediately to the north of the site. David Parker
	Australian Owlet Nightjar, White-throated Nightjar Kalkari, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Went spotlighting Friday and had good views of an Australian Owlet Nightjar and heard 6 or 7 White-throated Nightjars. michael ronan.
	Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Glossy Black-Cockatoo Warriewood Wetlands Brown Cuckoo-Dove (pair); 3 Glossy Black-Cockatoos Paddy de Klerk
	Plumed Whistling-duck, Little Eagle Kidman way, near Coleambally Approx 1000 (perhaps more) Plumed Whistling-ducks at a water storage on roadside. A Little Eagle circling. Ducks arrayed along the edges of at least 3 large squarish dams Sandra Henderson
Thu 6 Dec	Pilotbird, Beautiful Firetail Blue Gum Swamp, Winmalee, Blue Mtns Highlights of an afternoon visit to the above location were a pair of Pilotbirds (poor photo attached). a Beautiful Firetail, a Rufous Fantail, and a party of Large-billed Scrubwrens. Paul Johnstone
	Brolga Lake Coolah, near Narrandera A lone Brolga visible near the road. Also hundreds of Black-winged Stilt, quite a few Red-kneed Dotterel and Yellow -billed Spoonbill. Sandra Henderson
	Square-tailed Kite Wollongong Botanic Garden Highlight of today’s Illawarra Birders’ monthly lunchtime walk at Wollongong Botanic Garden was a Square-tailed Kite which gave great views as it tried to avoid the many other birds harassing it. Martin Potter & members of Illawarra Birders inc
Wed 5 Dec	Little, Common and Whiskered Tern Eastlakes Golf Course 3 Common Terns, 1 Whiskered Tern and 1 Little Tern watched fishing this evening on the 'main' lake. Red-kneed Dotterel (1), White-necked Heron (1), Nankeen Night-Heron (1), Latham's Snipe (12) and a pair of Black-fronted Dotterels showing off their 2 recent offspring were also seen. Four species of tern have been seen here in recent weeks. David Mitford
	Spangled Drongo Kingsgrove, Sydney A single Spangled Drongo was observed in a eucalypt by the rail line, just west of Kingsgrove at about 6am. Drongos in Sydney weren't, as I understand it, unusual in the past, but in recent years, they have not been reported much. Ashwin Rudder
	Wedge-tailed Eagles Maraylya, Private Property The eagles passed through property at 18:50 in the evening, circling low over the paddocks. The male (which I also photographed and was visibly the smaller of the pair) had very tattered primaries. Interesting, as this is about one kilometer from the area from which Barry Lancaster reported two adults and a juvenile on January 4, 2010. However, his picture shows two juvenile eagles and not one. If he reads this, can he please contact me? thanks. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Baillon's Crake, Australian Spotted Crake, Latham's Snipe Long Reef Golf Course Mark Young
	Leaden Flycatcher Greenwich - Gore Creek Reserve A female Leaden Flycatcher in my local bit of bush was my 1st sighting of the species here on the Lower North Shore. Also a Rufous Fantail. A bit late to be migrants?? (Moderator: No!!) Ted Nixon
	Wonga Pigeon Bundanoon I was very fortunate to see a male Wonga Pigeon do his full courtship routine late today in a neighbour's backyard. The routine involved tail and wing spreading/fanning and backward head tossing over each shoulder. This ended in mating with an interested female, then a display of mutual neck rubbing and the female jumping on the male's back (which surprised me). All this went for about 4 minutes. A first for me. Lorne Johnson
Tue 4 Dec	Black Bittern Stockton Creek, Morisset (western Lake Macquarie) 2 (possibly 3) Black Bitterns seen from Freeman's Drive Bridge over Stockton Creek (S 33° 6' 1.52", E 151° 28' 28.71") at Morisset in the evening. One Bittern flew upstream at 7.57pm, another flew upstream at 8.04pm after flying out of trees on Nth side of bridge, one flew downstream at 8.20pm. Michael Kearns
	Whistling Kite Mosman Not what I was expecting to see soaring over the office at about 12.45pm today. Andy Firth
Mon 3 Dec	Little Lorikeets, Musk Lorikeets Meroo Lake. Sth Coast near Bawley Point A mixed flock of Musk and Little Lorikeets feeding along the track down to the lake from the car park. The Muskies are seen not that often around here while the Littles are very seldom seen. While they were difficult to count there was obviously 20 or more of each species. Another species seen here more often now other than the odd one or two per year is the Pied Cormorant. With 2-3 sightings per week this spring around the Ulladulla area. Bob Rusk
Sun 2 Dec	Grey Plover South Ballina A single Grey Plover found amongst 200+ Pacific Golden Plover on the beach at South Ballina at high tide. Other species present included - Eastern Curlew, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Great Knot, Red Knot, Ruddy Turnstone, Curlew Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Greater Sand-plover, Sanderling, Red-necked Stint, Pied Oystercatcher & Gull-billed Tern, etc. Steve McBride
	Fork-tailed Swift, White-browed Woodswallow "The Governor", Mt. Kaputar National Park, Narrabri 2390 C. Hayne reported to us recently seeing Fork-tailed Swifts mixed into a flock of White-browed Woodswallows and Masked Woodswallows near Moree. The association of (tens of) Fork-tailed Swifts with about 200 White-browed Woodswallows was observed by us again on a 40+ degree day, when the combined flock was hunting in the updraught of hot inland air pushing against the western slopes of the Nandewar Range. When observed the birds were at an altitude of about 1600 m above sealevel. At the time (around midday) birds out in the plains were not active due to the heat. Michael Dahlem
Sat 1 Dec	Australian Pratincole, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Australasian Shoveler, Red-necked Stint, Red-n Avocet Goran Lake, 30km South of Gunnedah, NSW 2380 At Goran Lake today, we noticed that the eastern side of the lake is now dry and has aleady been re-planted. We found at least 13 Australian Pratincoles! The Pratincoles were seen wading along the shore of Goran Lake as well as the eastern side of the lake where it is now dry. Other Highlights include: Large mixed flocks of Red-capped Plovers and Red-necked Stints with a single Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, About 60 Black winged Stilts and about 100 Red-necked Avocets (less than normal), A few hundred Australian Pelicans, Silver Gulls and Masked Lapwings everywhere, More than 200 Whiskered Terns, 3 Gull-billed Terns, More than 3 Caspian Terns, More than 200 Pink-eared Ducks (also a few hundred Grey Teal), Large flocks of Great and Little Black Cormorant, A few White necked Herons and Great Egrets, a Whistling Kite and a pair of Australasian Pipit and a pair of Australasian Shovelers were observed just before departure from Goran Lake. Unusually, Dotterels were not seen anywhere around the lake. Michael Dahlem, Ros Druce & Curtis Hayne
Thu 29 Nov	Hooded Robin Mowbray Park (private property near the intersection Barkers Lodge Rd/Montpellier Drive) Nice views of single male Hooded Robin during inspection of large grazing property. Owner-grazier has not formerly observed this species on property. Peter Ridgeway
Wed 28 Nov	Freckled Duck Gum Swamp, Forbes 14 birds,mostly perched on stumps close in to the hide at 1000hours. Potta Barker
Sat 24 Nov	late Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, Black Petrel; low numbers of Flesh-footed Shearwater SOSSA pelagic off Wollongong Highlights: a late Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross (2nd year bird); 2 Black Petrels. Lowlight: only a maximum of 6 Flesh-footed Shearwaters (we never saw more than 2 at a time) A full trip report will be posted on the SOSSA website soon. For pictures see here: Nikolas Haass for all on the Sandra K

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.

===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================