Some of my birding highlights for 1999 included:
Sooty Albatross off Wollongong in July
Chatham Island Albatross off Wollongong in August
Blue Petrels seen twice off Wollongong in July and August
Southern Fulmar off Magic Pt, Maroubra in August
Northern Royal Albatross off Magic Pt, Maroubra in August
57 White-headed Petrels off Sydney in August
various Prions seen on the pelagics
3 Pacific Bazas displaying over Seaham in October
Painted Honeyeaters displaying in the Capertee Valley in December
Painted button-quails seen about 10 times this year
Oriental Cuckoo at Cattai N.P. in February 1999 (thanks to Keith
Brandwood)
Seeing the first Wandering Whistling-ducks for Sydney
a number of Lewins Rail sightings at Magic Pt, Maroubra
The list can go on and on with great trips made in the Barrington Tops,
Hawkesbury, Capertee Valley and Maroubra area and offcourse the fantastic
pelagic trips were the main highlight for me this year.
For this "century", some of my best highlights included:
- a Bairds Sandpiper at Bushells Lagoon, NSW
- a Long-toed Stint in breeding plumage at McGraths Hill STW, NSW
- an Arctic Tern in full breeding plumage on the rocks at
Soldiers Beach, NSW Central Coast) in July 1997
- observing Victoria’s Riflebirds in full courtship and mating
display at Lake Barrine near Atherton QLD
- observing male Golden Bowerbirds, Great Bowerbirds and Tooth-billed
Bowerbirds display around Cairns, QLD
- seeing a Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo (with Del Richards) in
Julaten, Noth QLD
- beeing the first of a very large group to pick out a Asian
Dowitcher amongst many Bar-tailed Godwits on the Cairns Esplanade,
QLD
- 3 Painted Snipe at Bushells Lagoon, NSW (thanks to Keith
Brandwood)
- Red-backed, Little and Red-chested Button-quails and good numbers of
King Quail in the Hawkesbury turf farms (NSW)
- 4 or 5 sightings of Square-tailed Kites in the Sydney area
- Garganey male at Newcastle
- 7 or 8 Freckled Ducks in Newcastle
- 10 Pectoral Sandpipers together at Kooragang
Island,Newcastle
- a few Yellow Wagtails in Newcastle
- seeing 30-40 White-winged Black Terns in breeding plumage at
Newcastle
- an Australian Pratincole at McGraths Hill STW (near Sydney), NSW
during a drought year
- observing Sooty Owls for half an hour and observing their feeding
behaviour in the Royal NP
- sightings of Masked Owls in NSW
- seeing Little and Black Bitterns in one day in Sydney
- White-throated Nightjars with chicks at Harrington
- seeing both Beach Stone and Bush Stone-curlews in one month in
Sydney, NSW
- seeing nesting Pacific Bazas with chicks on a number of occasions in
the Hawkesbury
- seeing 5000 plus White-browed and 50 plus Masked Woodswallows
over my backyard.
- seeing 250 plus Swift Parrots in the Capertee Valley, NSW
- seeing 100 plus Regent Honeyeaters at Howes Valley, NSW
- finding Red-capped Robins, Brown Treecreepers, Diamond Firetails,
Turquoise Parrot still in the 90's in the Sydney region
- finding both Regent Honeyeaters and Swift Parrots on a survey at the
same time and location in 1998
- a trip to Cairns in 1997 seeing about 80 lifers
- a trip to western NSW, VIC & SA seeing about 40 lifers
- ALL pelagic trips and Sea watches off Sydney and Wollongong
- trips to Capertee Valley, Barrington Tops, Harrington, Newcastle Wetlands
etc etc in NSW
- the list is very endless and many left out….
- breaking a NSW twitchathon record of 201 species in 1994 with Keith
Brandwood and Saccha Adin
Merry Christmas and a New Year to you all!
Edwin
