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Hi Birders,
An early morning visit to the Ash Island ponds in
the Lower Hunter Estuary this morning at low tide proved to be very worthwhile
in that there was pair of Black-necked Storks frequenting the
Duck Pond & the Swan Pond, feeding on the shoal of fish that were being
hunted by many waterbirds including 105 Great Egrets,
Royal Spoonbills, White-faced Herons,
cormorants, pelicans and 13 Intermediate Egrets. While
Black-necked Storks are irregularly seen by others on Ash Island, it was the
first time that I had seen one there during our regular surveys, so that two was
a very added bonus.
Amongst the 177 Black-winged
Stilts was yet another Banded Stilt. 497
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers were seen along with 29
Red-necked Stints, 4 Red Knot, 7
Greenshank, 43 Marsh Sandpiper, 24
Curlew Sandpiper and 29 Red-necked Stint.
Marsh Harriers, Brown Falcon, Nankeen
Kestrel, Whistling Kites and two
Sea-eagles were the raptores on view while Tawny
Grassbirds, reedwarblers, Cisticolas
and White-fronted Chat were easily heard and seen.
This great morning was somewhat tarnished on the
return journey by the finding of a recently roadkill Powerful
Owl at Palmers Creek, Toronoto, near a bit of a wet gully. What a great
bird, and what a way to die at 32 58 32S, 151 31 51 E.
Alan Morris
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