Spring has sprung here in
Sydney (or should I say summer!)
with a fairly warm day (in the mid to high twenties) enjoyed by many. I decided
to bird today in some places that I have not yet explored within the Sydney
region (I thought I would have covered all the good places in Sydney already
during my 15 years of birding) and I was surprised with what these sites
produced in terms of a good mix of birds. I thank Bruce Cox for letting us now
the existence and the good birds seen in these places all amazingly within about
30 km of the Sydney CBD.
The first area I visited was the
small reserve along Irrawong
Road where I was lucky to get some great views of a
beautiful adult NOISY PITTA. It was feeding as were Bruce Cox and few others had
seen it recently below a group of Cabbage Palms near a small waterfall in a
small area of rainforest. Despite these Pittas turning up in
Sydney almost annually, this was my
first one within the Sydney region,
hence a Sydney tick! Also in this
small patch of rainforest and in the nearby Swamp Mahogany forest were a group
of 5 Topknot Pigeons showing very well and several Scarlet Honeyeaters. I also
heard here some White-headed Pigeons, a few Olive-backed Orioles, a Lewin?s Rail
and an Owlet Nightjar call a few times.
From here, I walked along the
trail to the Warriewood wetlands (crossing Garden
Street) and onto the boardwalk through some excellent
wetland habitat. In this forest, some nicely plumaged male Variegated Wrens,
many more Scarlet Honeyeaters were heard/seen, White-cheeked Honeyeaters were
numerous and heard a few of both Lewin?s and Buff-banded Rails calling. Got a
great view of a Latham?s Snipe out in the open in very good light in the more
open part of the wetland, a Swamp Harrier and a pair of Black-shouldered Kites
overhead, and in the tall reeds there were several Reed Warblers and a Tawny
Grassbird (have not come across many of these Sydney though they are common
further north in the Newcastle area).
At the end of the stretch of board walk
close to the Warriewood shopping centre got very good views of a pair of both
Grey and Brown Goshawks (saw a female Brown harass a female Grey then later this
female Brown was harassed by the smaller male Grey Goshawk. I also enticed the
female Grey Goshawk to approach me closer by trying to imitate its call).
As I was walking back, I bumped
into both Dion Hobcroft and Murray Lord who had just seen a Spotless Crake close
to the boardwalk and we sooner headed back to the reserve along Irrawong Rd to
find the Noisy Pitta again, and we did this time under the vines to the left
hand side of the track further along the walk and past the small waterfall.
All 3 of us then headed to nearby
Deep Creek Reserve in the hope of finding a Black Bittern that usually resides
here though unfortunately we were all unlucky not to see this one. Too many dog
trainers in the park area may have something to do with it however Dion and
Murray did find a Mangrove Heron along the creek.
Before lunch, we headed a little
further along the northern beaches to briefly look around
Careel
Bay at Avalon where the highlight
here was a Bush Stone-curlew.
After Dion and Murray had called
it day birding wise, I then proceeded to another spot that Bruce often visits
and that is the Red
Hill
Park at
Oxford
Falls. Just before I got out of my
car there I had a good look of a smart plumaged male Brush Bronzewing feeding
beside the car park. After seeing this, I went for a short stroll through the
heath and encountered another (this time a good view of a female) Brush
Bronzewing beside the trail and also heard a couple of Bar-shouldered Doves,
Brown-headed Honeyeaters and saw atleast one Double-barred Finch amongst a group
of Red-browed Firetails in the casuarinas.
I made a brief stop at
Jamieson
Park beside
Narrabeen
Lakes where I did not see that much
apart form another 7 Topknot Pigeons flying over.
I decided to spend the last few
hours of daylight back at the Warriewood wetlands were I was rewarded with good
views of a Spotless Crake and 2 Baillons Crakes. I heard the Lewin?s Rails again
and may have just glimpsed one running through the reeds. Some Little Lorikeets
were also heard overhead.
Edwin
Vella
