Trevor Quested wrote:
>
> Today at 4.30 pm I saw 6 Yellow Wagtails at Ash Island in Kooragang Nature
> Reserve. (About 200 km north of Sydney) They were all of race Simillima
> with a white eyebrow. All birds
> but one seemed to have a yellow breast and throat.
> It wasn't easy and in fact we (Dion Hobcroft and I) were heading home when
> Tony Palliser (new status: the legend) rang us to say he had popped into
> Ash Island to have a quick look at the waders and the wagtails were on the
> road in front of him.
> Dion and I were at Ourimbah and did a quick U turn and 40 tense minutes
> later we were looking at the birds.
> To get to the site you have to cross the river nearly opposite McDonalds at
> Hexham, drive for a long way on the main track. After a while the road will
> run parrallel to
> some high power lines and beside the river, and head towards a railway
> line. There will be a
> small sub-station on your left: turn left here and go along 200-400 metres
> and stop at a pole with No. 21 on it. We found the wagtails feeding with
> chats in the middle of the road here. Sometimes they were in the samphire
> at the edge.
>
> Warnings: There is a deep rut at the start of this track which may be full
> of water.
> The area has clouds of mosquitos. Be prepared!
>
> There are lots of waders here. Because we were mainly interested in the
> wagtails, we did not check every bird but we did see one Reeve (found by
> Dion), and
> Pectoral Sandpiper. We saw approx. 1,000 waders here. Other good birds of
> the day were a Gull-billed tern at Kooragang Island, a Buff-banded Rail at
> Stockton Sewer farm , a Peregrine Falcon at Shortlands Golf Course, and 2
> Spotless Crakes at Shortlands Wetlands Centre.
>
> Coming home I was phoning as many as I could to tell them about the
> wagtails. One person said they knew about the birds at Ash Island as they
> had been seen by someone who told them about the birds the day before.
> This was very hurting to hear. Once again good birds have been suppressed
> in this area. Many birders have made the journey from Sydney over the
> last 4 weeks to see these birds and if we had known by leaving a message in
> the Shortlands Wetland Centre this morning it would have been a great help.
> When one sees birds this rare in an area they should be reported as
> quickly as possible.
> Trevor Quested
> Sydney, Australia
>
> Phone +61 2 9955 6266
> Fax + 61 2 9959 4005
Alan Morris, Robin and Alan Benson were at pole No.21 at 1900 hrs on
Monday 9/2/98 but alas no Yellow Wagtails, although plenty of
White-fronted Chats, Marsh and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and an odd pipit.
We stayed until 2000hrs and returned home wagtail less! Thankyou Dion
for the excellent advice as to where to find the birds.
Alan Morris
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