LENAGHAN (approx 155Km north of
Sydney CBD)
As I was driving north on the
Sydney-Newcastle Freeway, I looked at Hexham Swamp (which appeared all dried up)
to my right and was amazed to see a flock of 100-150 Glossy Ibis flying in a
single flock and heading north. They were most likely have departed from
Pourmalong Nature Reserve just across the road, which still has water.
ASH
ISLAND, Hunter Estuary (approx 160km
north of Sydney CBD or 10-15km west of
Newcastle)
The place was loaded with waders
including 1500 plus Sharp-tailed and 200 plus Marsh Sandpipers, 30 plus
Red-necked Stints, 3 Curlew Sandpipers, c 10 Eastern Curlews, atleast 5
Greenshanks (most likely more), 30 plus Red-capped Plovers, 300 plus Pied Stilts
and 50-60 Red-necked Avocets. Other birds seen included an adult male
Black-necked Stork, 1000 plus Grey and 100 plus Chestnut Teal, 1-2 Swamp
Harriers, 2 Whistling Kites, a pair of adult White-bellied Sea-eagles, a
Peregrine Falcon, 2 Australian Crakes, 3 Gull-billed Terns, atleast 4 (possibly
more) Yellow Wagtails and atleast 10 White-fronted Chats. The Yellow Wagtails
are quickly acquiring breeding plumage with 2 in almost full breeding plumage
(one race simillima with grey crown and whitish supercilum and the other race
taivana with olive crown and yellowish supercilium with both having almost
complete yellow under parts) and all 4 were observed at the same time at close
range and were all clearly distinguishable. Little Lorikeets were heard calling
high overhead.
HARRINGTON/CROWDY BAY NP (approx.
320 km north of Sydney CBD)
The recent rains and good
flowering have made the birds recently more active but along the walk through
the littoral rainforest adjacent to the lagoon, things were still a bit quieter
than usual. Not much of the larger figs were in fruit hence the absence of
canopy fruit eating birds in this part of the rainforest, but did see a few
lower storey birds such as an Emerald Dove (feeding in the forest floor), a few
Rufous Fantails and 4 Spectacled Monarchs. Both a Rough-scaled Snake
(Tropidechis carinatus) and Black Wallaby were also seen here.
Beside the main road to Crowdy
Head (half way between Crowdy Head and Harrington itself), I stopped beside the
road on the false alarm that one of the ever abundant Figbirds may have been
something else. Here I saw instead atleast 5 Varied Trillers (3 males and 2
females), Cicadabird, another Spectacled Monarch, an Australian Hobby, many
Bar-shouldered Doves, 30 plus Spine-tailed Swifts (traveling south and not
circling to feed), 6 Regent Bowerbirds (2 adult males and 4 females) and a nice
sized Echidna walking outside the scrub. Also further up the road towards Crowdy
Head was a Spangled Drongo and a Pheasant Coucal disappearing under the
bushes.
A brief sea watch from Crowdy
Head saw hundreds of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, a Pomarine Jaeger as well as a
Common Dolphin.
Crowdy
Bay National
Park had lots of trees and atleast one species of
Banskia in flower, attracting an abundance of White-cheeked Honeyeaters and
Little Wattlebirds, several Striped Honeyeaters as well as many of both Little
and Scaly-breasted Lorikeets. In the evening, I searched unsuccessfully for
Eastern Grass Owls (before and on dusk) beside some swampy heath/sedge land,
between Crowdy Head and Moorland (was not too sure if I was at Black fellows Bog
where the Owls are meant to be).
What was unusual though at night
at Harrington was seeing 4 Kookaburra roosting on power lines (3 over the road)
which got me by surprise. Has anybody seen them roost like this before?
The waders seen in the estuary at
Harrington included 10 Pacific Golden Plovers, a few Red-capped Plovers, 2
Red-necked Stints, 100 plus Bar-tailed Godwits, 10 Eastern Curlews, a Whimbrel,
8 Pied Oystercatchers. There were also 2 Little Egrets, a juv. /Immature
Brahminy Kite, 110 plus Little Terns and interestingly a Straw-necked Ibis on
the mudflats
At the sewerage works in
Harrington, saw a Buff-banded Rail with Swamphens on the trail heading through
Crowdy Bay NP.
OLD BAR (near Taree) (approx. 280
km north of Sydney CBD)
Many terns were seen on the sand
spits in the Inlet just north of Old Bar including 1200 plus Common, 200 plus
Little, 7 Gull-billed, one Caspian and hundreds of Crested Terns. Also with
these Terns was a Little Egret, 50 plus Pacific Golden Plovers, atleast 8
Red-capped Plovers, 12 Red-necked Stints, 9 Sanderling, 100 plus Bar-tailed
Godwits, 7 Whimbrel, 100 plus Eastern Curlew, 5 Pied Oystercatchers but none of
the Sand-Plovers (Greater or Lesser).
A good one and a half days
birding on the NSW mid-north coast.
Edwin Vella
