A truely enjoyable holiday far away from the tragedy of Canberra's
bushfires over the previous week. I spent most mornings birding and some
afternoons, but the trip was mostly a vacation. One of the highlights of
the trip was a tally of 11 raptors. I have listed them below:
2 Square-tailed Kite - 1 bird seen on several days directly over my house,
and adjacent forest and dunes, along Mitchell Parade, Mollymook. 1 bird
seen over heath at Little Forest Plateau, Morton National Park.
1 Wedge-tailed Eagle - near The Gib Recreational Reserve, Bungendore.
1 Grey Goshawk - seen at South Pacific Heathland Reserve, Ulladulla.
2 imm. Collared Sparrowhawk - seen on several occasions up close in
Ulladulla Wildflower Reserve.
1 Brown Goshawk - seen over treetops near oval on Warden Head, Ulladulla.
1 (possible?) Peregrine Falcon - flushed from dunes between sea and Meroo
Lake, Meroo National Park.
1 Whistling Kite - Meroo Lake, Meroo National Park.
1 Black-shouldered Kite - resident Mollymook Beach. Also seen at Durras and
Murramarang Aboriginal Area.
1 Brown Falcon - on powerlines between Milton and Mollymook.
2 Kestrel - near Milton.
1 White-bellied Sea-Eagle - Mollymook and Narrawallee Beaches.
I visited many interesting areas, including Little Forest Plateau (Morton
National Park), Narrawallee Creek Nature Reserve, the many reserves in and
around Ulladulla, Burrill and Tabourie Lakes, and Meroo National Park.
The main highlights from these areas were:
60 Little and Long-billed Corellas! - around Ulladulla harbour, foraging
along sandy shore by Princes Hwy! Very noisy. They were present and vocal
around central Ulladulla all week.
Buff-banded Rail - A pair visible on western shore of Lake Burrill with at
least 1 chick. Good views in open.
White-cheeked Honeyeater - several pairs seen at 3 locations (Meroo Head in
Meroo NP, Narrawallee Creek NR, Ulladulla Wildflower R).
Scarlet Honeyeater - at least 5 males in canopy of flowering eucalypts
above littoral rainforest near Meroo Head, Meroo NP.
White-headed Pigeon - 1 bird in main street, Milton.
Large-billed Scrubwren - possibly 1 bird in dryish banksia forest close to
beach at Meroo NP. Can anyone tell me whether this species is likely to be
encountered outside of rainforest????
Brown Gerygone - 1 bird in Ulladulla Wildflower R.
Little Lorikeet - several in Meroo NP, flock of 9 at Lake Tabourie in
flowering eucalypts.
Musk Lorikeet - many at Lake Tabourie in flowering eucalypts.
Sooty Oystercatcher - 13 birds together on rock shelf below Warden Head,
Ulladulla. 1 at Lake Burrill.
Pied Oystercatcher - 2 birds at Lake Burrill.
Reef Egret - 1 dark morph bird over north end of Mollymook Beach.
Southern Emu-wren - resident family in South Pacific Heathland R. Many on
Little Forest Plateau, Morton NP.
Beautiful Firetail - up to 6 birds seen at several sites on Little Forest
Plateau and track to Mt Bushwalker, Morton NP.
Black-faced Monarch - worth mentioning 1 bird in 'open heath' along Little
Forest walk, Morton NP.
Spotted Quail-thrush - 1 bird flushed near escarpment, Morton NP.
Bar-tailed Godwit - 5 birds Lake Burrill.
Whimbrel - 1 bird Lake Burrill.
Fork-tailed Swift - many over hill just north of Lake Burrill, 100s over
Mollymook/Ulladulla on several days in company with Needletails.
At Meroo Lake in Meroo NP I found the following: 1 pair Musk Duck, 3 Royal
Spoonbill, 1 Great Egret, White-faced Heron, Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead,
all 4 cormorant spp, Darters, Aust. Grebes, Coots.
Also I was amazed at the numbers of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos
everywhere. A lot more birds around than in previous years.
Cheers
Marnix
NGUNNAWAL ACT
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