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Decided to make a visit to one of my
local spots, being Prospect Reservoir (about 40 km west of Sydney) for a
couple of hours this morning. The Reservoir itself had hundreds of
Coots, 10 Hardheads, a few
Australasian Grebes, and no less than 30 graceful
Great-crested Grebes. Prospect is probably the only
place in Sydney at the moment where you can expect to see these superb birds,
and this was probably the largest number that I have ever encountered
together (though there has been reports of over 100 birds here at times in
the past). All where in beaut breeding plumage, many pairing and showing
off their elegant crests. A few Reed Warblers where singing
melodiously in the reed beds surrounding the eastern section of the
reservoir.
I drove up the top picnic area overlooking the
eastern shore of the reservoir and discovered a good blossum of Mugga Ironbarks
and Spotted Gums. There were lots of
Honeyeaters about, namely Red and Little Wattlebirds, White-plumed,
Yellow-faced, New Holland (which is unusual to see at Prospect) and
several Scarlet Honeyeaters. I enjoyed watching 2 brilliant
male Scarlet Honeyeaters chasing each other at tree top level. I said to myself,
there ought to be Regent Honeyeaters or Swift Parrots around with this blossum,
and as I was walking towards one corner of the picinic area, probably no fewer
than a half a dozen (pobably more) Swift Parrots where
about. They where hard to see as they indulged themselves in the necter of the
Spotted Gums, leaving the richer flowering Mugga Ironbarks to the both
species of Wattlebirds and White-plumed Honeyeaters. However I could not see any
aggression between the Swift Parrots and other birds. Also here were
Crested Shriketits and Eastern Yellow
Robins.
Back at the bottom of the hill, lots of
Welcome Swallows and Fairy Martins were
hawking about over the paddocks and Woodland, with both Fan-tailed and
Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoos, Rufous Whistlers,
White-throated Gerygones, Weebills, Mistletoebirds, aswell as
Spotted and Striated Paradalotes calling about.
All in a beautiful Spring morning in
Sydney.
Edwin
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