birding-aus

Mason Park/Bicentennial Park Sydney

To: Russell <>
Subject: Mason Park/Bicentennial Park Sydney
From: Penny Drake-Brockman <>
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2001 14:43:54 +1100

Dear birding-aussers

A short birdie walk on a grey day at Homebush, home of the2000  Olympics,
s-w of Sydney, had some unexpected pleasures -

2.30-3.30 pm at Mason Park, a small brackish wetland on the edge of the
Olympics  area, had the following wetland birds:

Blackwing Stilt                  many plus juveniles
Japanese Snipe          2
Chestnut Teal           lots
Masked Lapwing          5
Black Duck              3
Black-fronted Dotterel  7
Great Egret             1
Royal Spoonbill         2
Dusky Moorhen           1 but more in the mangroves
Pacific Golden Plovers  5
Curley Sandpipers               15+
White-faced Heron               1
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper  22
Brown Quail             2 (both flew out of samphire on the tree-lined side
of the pond)
Silvergulls                     forgot to count

We continued out to Bicentennial Park and walked to the end of the track to
the bird hide. The pond was full of water and clear of weed (I haven't been
there for over a year) and covered with Chestnut Teal busily feeding or
resting around the sides; very many black-winged Stilts plus juveniles, 2
Black Swans, some Black Duck, and hundreds of Welcome Swallows skimming the
water taking insects from above and on the surface. Must have been a great
hatch out of something - mosquitoes I guess as every time we stopped we
were beseiged by mosquitoes - a small blackish fast flying one and a huge
light brown monster with furry legs that although flying slowly, usually
managed to escape the slap. Note: no mozzies in the bird hide!

Two adult BWStilts, a Ch.Teal and 2 Silver Gulls, in front of the bird
hide, spent much time pecking insects off the water surface - we couldn't
detect what (no doubt mozzies) but they kept at it, peck peck peck after
regular peck so the pickings must have been good!   No mud therefore no
migratory waders.

The path leading to the bird hide, as all who regularly go there will know,
is lined with mangroves, casuarinas, acacias, etc.. These are joined above
headheight by Golden Orb spider webs - thousands of these spiders suspended
in the sky like black stars.  Unfortunately they can't keep up with the
production of mozzies.
Good place to go even at weekends as very few people make the long mozzie
walk to the bird hide.




Penny Drake-Brockman, Examination Recitals Co-ordinator, Sydney
Conservatorium of Music.
Tel: 02 9351 1254.
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
to 


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
  • Mason Park/Bicentennial Park Sydney, Penny Drake-Brockman <=
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU