Birdline New South Wales Weekly Update

Birdline New South Wales

Published sightings for the week ending 17 Mar 2013.

Sun 17 Mar	Spotted Harrier(s), Glossy Ibis, Little Egrets Castlereagh Had an absolutely fabulous photography session out at Castlereagh with one Spotted Harrier adult seen at first light near Smith Rd and another photographed quartering/hunting at incredibly close quarters. A flock of nine (9) Glossy Ibis landed in the large swampy paddock at Princes Farm in Smith Road and two Little Egrets and many other Ardeids were observed in area as well as at least one Whistling Kite. A fantastic morning. In the evening, I also found the female Australian Hobby in the area I saw her and her juvenile three times during the week. See more information for lots of photos. :-) Ákos Lumnitzer, Mickey Mackwan, Peter Phelan
	Fork-tailed Swift Port Macquarie At Short Street Port Macquarie approx 20 Fork-tailed Swifts arrived and left within two minutes.This is a new bird for me Tony & Stephanie dawe
	Freckled Duck West Byron Sewage Treatment Plant Freckled Duck (1) Excellent views from bird hide. With Hardheads and Coots. Female or non-breeding male. Byron Bird Buddies 2020 shorebird survey. Hans Wohlmuth
Sat 16 Mar	Pacific Golden-Plover Hen and Chicken Bay, Paramatta River Seen along shore near Glen Ormond Ave Wareemba Pacific Golden-Plover Bernard Linklater
	Hoary-headed Grebe Hen and Chicken Bay, Paramatta River Seen along shore line parallel with Wymston Parade, Wareemba Hoary-headed Grebe Bernard Linklater
	Apostlebirds Ebenezer Wharf Road, Ebenezer 4 + Apostlebirds feeding roadside, Judith & Neil RUSSILL
	Gang-gang Cockatoo, Speckled Warbler and Scarlet Robin Wambool Nature Reserve, east of Bathurst Stopped off for a short walk on the way home from the Blue Mountains and heard Gang-gangs munching on Bundy Box fruit on the Northern Boundary Track. Spotted an adult female and male plus two immature males. Further on, just off the Yetholme Trig Track, a pair of Speckled Warblers and a young male Scarlet Robin hanging out with Buff-rumped, Brown and Striated Thornbills, Grey Fantails, White-throated Treecreeper, Yellow-faced Honeyeater and Grey Shrike-thrush. Tiffany Mason
	Spangled Drongo, Crested Shrike-tit, Royal Spoonbill Western Sydney Parklands, Quakers Hill A camera shy Spangled Drongo feeding on cicadas was the highlight of a short walk over the parklands this morning. Pretty quiet this time of year, a few residents with late Australian Koels still calling. Mark Fuller
	Great Crested Grebe Bundanoon township A single Great Crested Grebe in non-breeding plumage was a most unexpected sighting on a farm dam by Blue Gum Rd late this afternoon. GCGs are few and far between in the Southern Highlands. I was surprised it was on such a small body area of water - I've only seen them on the expansive waters of Fitzroy Falls and Wingecarribee Reservoirs in the Highlands. Another new species for my town list, which now stands at 151. Lorne Johnson
	Black-shouldered Kite Dee Why Single bird seen sitting atop the dead pine tree in the car park behind the surf club. Black-shouldered Kite Mark.Young
	Budgerigar, Turquoise Parrot 10 km south-east of Maules Creek 2382 While watching a single male Turquoise Parrot (photo) almost exactly 10 km south-east of Maules Creek, on the old road to Barraba, a small group of 7 Budgerigars passed overhead. No photo, but the Budgies identified by two people independent of each other (we also heard them calling in flight). This is the farthest east I have ever seen Budgerigars (this location is about 10 km farther east than the recent sighting in Leard State Forest, well into the foothills of the Great Dividing Range). The location is in cattle and horse farming country, with lots of grasses seeding at the moment. Note to those who are tempted to check this out: The old Maules Creek to Barraba road is not charted on maps and should be used only with a local guide and a 4WD vehicle. Michael Dahlem
	Eastern Yellow Robin Near Whittaker's Lagoon, Moree Quite a quiet day today when it comes to birdwatching. An Eastern Yellow Robin was seen along the Mehi River. The first Brown Treecreeper seen in the area for a long time was also present. Tawny Grassbirds and Golden-headed Cisticolas which have been calling everywhere in the past half year are ever more present. Curtis Hayne
	Channel-billed Cuckoo 147 Levenstrath red Levenstrath nr Grafton One Channel-billed Cuckoo flying north-east, 1 pm. Warren Thompson
	Spangled Drongo and Dollarbird Turella Weir on Wolli Creek at Turella Reserve, Turella/Earlwood Spotted together in a tree above the fish ladder on Wolli Creek. A fabulous climax to the morning's bird survey which also included a Brown Goshawk and a Rufous Fantail. Melissa Mason, Fiona Vaughan
	Glossy Black-Cockatoo (6) Mcmahons Rd North Nowra, Judith Drive North Nowra 12 months ago there were 7-9 in the group that regularly fed in a couple of trees in our suburb. One tree (Allocasuarina spec.) is at the back gate of North Nowra primary school. Then one day we saw in the distance, from our veranda, a flock of white cockatoos attack them. We have seen only 3 come back, over the last 12 months. Today there were again 6. jeannie horne
Fri 15 Mar	Turquoise Parrot (20+) Wattle Dam, Binya SF, Griffith A much cooler early morning (10 degrees) visit to Wattle Dam resulted in a larger than normal over the summer flock of Turquoise Parrots. 20 birds landed in a tree near the dam but only 10 came down to drink. Other birds present at 8am, were Mulga Parrot, Mallee Ringneck and a mixture of Common Bronzewing, Bar-shouldered and Peaceful Doves as well as the usual Striped, Spiny-cheeked and White-plumed H/e with just one Yellow-plumed. A pair of Double-barred Finch also came down to drink but no Diamond Firetails. Max O'Sullivan
	Square-tailed Kite Nowra Township near Hwy Sue and I observed a single Square-tailed Kite circling around Maccas at Nowra near the round-about. Very strange from normal behaviour - have seen this bird on a number of occasions in three States, but never around a township? (Moderator's Note (AKM): They certainly seem to hang around the outer suburbs of Sydney, Newcastle and the Central Coast. Ann Millard reports a Square-tailed Kite regularly seen around North Nowra & Bomaderry for 4-5 years.) John & Sue O'Malley
	Yellow-tufted Honeyeater Road to Lower Portland from Kurrajong At least 20 Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters moving through scrub and canopy feeding on gum or grevillea flowers. Chasing off other honeyeaters species as they were feeding. James Fong
	Chestnut-breasted Mannikin, Magpie Goose Narrabri Lake, Narrabri 2390 The Chestnut-breasted Mannikins reported last Friday (report #169115) are building a nest. Attached a photo showing a bird collecting nesting material (these reeds are flowering, not seeding yet). The local Magpie Geese are also still around. They stayed in hiding today, but were heard calling continuously. Michael Dahlem
	Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus) Red Point Port Kembla 17 birds in total feeding in Trees in Marne street Port Kembla Graeme Cox
	Eastern Osprey Lane Cove National Park (Fairyland) I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw 3 ospreys flying over Lane Cove River. Has to be the same family that I reported recently. Hopefully they will stay around. Fatih Sam
Thu 14 Mar	Spangled Drongo Five Islands Road Exit, off the F6 Spangled Drongo (1) Solo Drongo was seen hawking from power lines and trees on the 5 Islands road exit. Tom Madigan & Charlie Lawson
Thu 14 Mar	Black-necked Stork, Plumed Whistling-Duck Dairy Swamp, Central Coast Wetlands, Tuggerah (restricted Access) A surprise for all the people working at the Central Coast Wetlands today was an immature Black-necked Stork in addition to all the other good waterbirds present on this wetland. Also additional to the previous day was 4+ Plumed Whistling-Duck. The stork was still present on Friday. (It is hoped that the Central Coast Wetlands will be open to the public from mid April). Adrian Gale (photo), Vicki Barnes and Alan Morris
	Black-tailed Godwits Stockton Sandpit, Newcastle Photo shows 62 Black-tailed Godwits in flight, approx. 100 birds Black-tailed Godwits present,. Various stage of breeding plumage. Michael Rutkowski and Bob Sinclair
	Terek Sandpiper Stockton Sandpit, Newcastle Single bird darting around shorefront on receding tide. Michael Rutkowski, Bob Sinclair
Wed 13 Mar	Spotted Harrier, Glossy Ibis Dairy Swamp, Central Coast Wetlands, Tuggerah (limited access) A spectacular day on Wednesday between 1-2 pm, when many waterbirds congregated on the spit on the swamp to roost, inlcuding 198 Straw-necked ibis, 32 White Ibis, 22 Cattle Egrets, a group of 7 White-necked Herons, many White-faced Herons and 2 Great Egrets, 32 Masked Lapwings, at least one Glossy Ibis, Wood Ducks, Grey Teal and a Musk Duck and Little Grebes, 14 pelicans, 12 Great Cormornats and 22 Little Black Cormorants and a few Darter.. Two Whistling Kites harassed the Black-winged Stilts and Masked Lapwings, An adult Sea-Eagle made several swoops over the spit putting up all the Ibis and Herons, and then a Spotted Harrier, slowly coursed its way over the paddocks and then over the wetland, putting up many birds. Alan Morris
	Beautiful Firetail Kings Tableland Air tower Several birds seen batheing and drinking on the side of the road. Michael Rutkowski
	Osprey Burns Bay Reserve, Riverview I have seen individuals, even one with a big fish caught from Burns Bay last year but 3 of them together was a big highlight for my humble backyard list this morning. They flew high, towards Lane Cove and disappeared. Fatih Sam
	Turquoise Parrot Knapsack Reserve Glenbrook I got indifferent views of a single bird in dry sclerophyll woodland, initially perched, then fluttering back and forth to two other perches, before alighting briefly on the ground, flushing and flying out of sight. Definitely a female, either adult or juvenile, as no sign of a red shoulder bar. Maybe an escapee, but it did not appear to be tame. A rare bird in the Blue Mountains. Colin Scouler
	Common Noddy Newcastle Ocean Baths One bird seen roosting on the rock platform behind the baths. Grant Brosie
	Little Raven Hume Highway (between Medway and Berrima) 37 Little Ravens by the Hume Highway this morning at 7am. A staggering number. I've never seen this many of LRs together before (they usually fly in 3s or 4s). Not sure of why they were massing; they were on a hill struck with the day's first light: this may have something to do with it. Lorne Johnson
Tue 12 Mar	Budgerigar Mosquito Creek Road, Warialda Small group of Budgerigars at a roadside puddle. Spiny-cheeked, White-plumed, Brown-headed Honeyeaters at same location. Marj Kibby
	Pink-eared Duck, Australian Hobby, Black-shouldered Kites Penrith Lakes / Castlereagh Adult Pink-eared Duck on rowing lake this evening inside the regatta center. I travelled along Castlereagh Road and noted at least five Black-shouldered Kites. Two were engaged in hyper activity, talon grappling and mutual display flights. One of them flew towards me and began to hover about 15 meters above the ground, around 25 meters away. It then caught a mouse right before my eyes! Incredible. A few minutes later I found an adult Australian Hobby sitting in a lookout tree used by the grappling Black-shouldered Kites. I also found her juvenile offspring nearby. See further information for lots of photos of action. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Southern Boobook Oakhurst On Sunday Pied Currawongs and Grey Butcherbirds drew my attention to a large raptor, today it was Noisy Miners and Magpie-larks carrying on. As I walked towards the casuarinas, I found a Southern Boobook roosting in a nearby jacaranda. It pays to check out interesting kerfuffles. Mark Fuller
Mon 11 Mar	Hooded Plover Racecourse Beach, Ulladulla Eight Hooded Plovers, including two juvs were seen feeding on the rock shelf part of Racecourse beach this afternoon. This section, with its ease of parking and access to the flat rock shelf, is north of the car park and where you can regularly spot Hooded Plovers during the winter months along with both species of Oystercatchers and Double-banded Plovers. Bob Rusk
Sun 10 Mar	Barred Cuckoo-shrike. Lewin's Rail Theresa Creek 24 k's w of Casino 2 Barred Cuckoo-shrikes feeding in Small-leaved Fig. One beautifully marked adult and one juvenile Lewin's Rail (one or two) heard calling a number of times during 20 minutes in a cow paddock with thickly vegetated gully and very long grass. Call heard was the diagnostic "metallic striking of two coins" Weather overcast and light showers. Private Property June Harris
	Channel-billed Cuckoo Bronte (Chesterfield Parade) Bird seen (and was also calling) at 8am in the fig trees in Chesterfield Parade. Charles Hunter
Sat 9 Mar	Black Noddy Newcastle baths near Nobby's Head During a 2 hour sea watch from the Newcastle baths near Nobby's Head the highlight for me was a brief sighting and fairly close in Black Noddy (see attached ID shot). On the rocks were also 30-40 Little and 30 Common Terns along with 4 Sooty Oystercatchers and a Ruddy Turnstone. A light morph Arctic Jaeger also took me by surprise with its sudden appearance as it hovered low over me and also having a go at the roosting terns which then took flight with the Arctic Jaeger going after one of the Crested Terns with its recent catch. I also saw from here a dark morph Arctic Jaeger very close to shore. Edwin Vella
	Powerful Owl Cappers Gully, East Gosford ind. heard calling approximately 730pm. Warren Brown
Thu 7 Mar	Black Honeyeater 'Kooragindi', Koorawatha (Follow-up from report of 15th Feb) Still a pair of Black Honeyeaters feeding in the decreasing supply of flowering box mistletoe. John French & Fiona Lumsden

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

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