Hi everyone
I spent Anzac weekend at Bombah Point in Myall Lakes National Park (3 hours
drive north of Sydney).
On the Thursday night, I sat on the beach and watched Pacific Black Ducks
swimming around in the full moon light. Large groups of Dusky Moorhen roosted
at the water's edge on branches sticking out of the water, or sometimes just
standing with their feet in the water. Also watched a fantastic lightning
display over Hawks Nest area across the lake. It was a harbinger of things to
come: by 5am Friday it was pouring and continued to bucket down the entire
day (and I mean bucket down). Neverthless the camp Kookaburra continued to
forage, sitting on top of poles with the rain running down his back and a
small waterfall dripping from his tail.
On the good weather days, I got out and about, including doing the walk from
Mungo Brush road to Johnsons Beach and Johnsons Hill. I can very much
recommend this lovely walk through fantastic stands of angophora, banksia and
tall gums.
Various birding highlights for the weekend were:
Azure Kingfisher, seen often near Bombah Point. What a little jewel.
Whistling Kites: at least three in the area and moving around a lot, giving
good views including an extended chasing session after 2 Australian Ravens
which would persistently come and sit near the Kites.
Variegated Fairy-wrens and Superb Fairy-wrens - very very very confiding and
consequently allowing plenty of opportunity to study the real differences
between the females and eclipse males of these two species.
Blue-faced Honeyeaters - 3 adults attending a nest (making sure one was always
there, taking food to it), though I couldn't see any young from the low angle
I was at.
Scarlet Honeyater - 1 male.
Rose Robin - both male and female.
Brown Thornbill - perched and preening, revealing black down underneath the
grey breast and throat feathers.
Spangled Drongo - in the canopy of Mungo Brush Rainforest.
Regent Bowerbird - great black and gold male at Mungo Brush Rainforest.
White-breasted Woodswallows - 7 perched and doing their cute cuddling as only
woodswallows can do (in 25 degrees C heat, Hawks Nest at Ocean Beach.
Masked Lapwings - in the pouring rain, 4 facing each other, chests thrown out
and screeching and croaking at each other.
Little Pied Cormorants - perching in casuarinas at night, their webbed feet
wrapped around the branches.
Olive-backed Oriole gave a lovely extended serenade at Johnsons Beach.
PS my employer is retrenching people like mad, and it's starting to get close
to my section. Whilst I don't think I'll be retrenched, you never know. This
turns me to thinking about birding-aus which I access through my PC at work -
I just love being able to share birding with others through the net and love
reading and contributing to birding-aus. Just in case I do "disappear", I
just wanted to express my appreciation of the camaraderie of the
birding-aussers and their helpfulness when people ask questions of a technical
nature or travel/site info nature, the great facility of the net, thanks to
Russell Woodford for the great job he does in keeping it up and running.
Cheers and Happy Birding
Irene Denton
Sydney NSW Australia
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