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Lake Macquarie Birding Routes

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Subject: Lake Macquarie Birding Routes
From: "Lynn Jenkin" <>
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 19:26:08 +1100
Hi All
 
Chris Herbert , a member of Hunter Bird Observers Club has produced two excellent colour brochures, sponsored by Lake Macquarie City Council. No. 1 covers the West side and No.2 the East side of Lake Macquarie just south of Newcastle, NSW.
 
Last Monday I set out to bird a few of the locations on the Eastern side of the lake that I had never been to before. I started at Greenpoint near Belmont, home to a family of Powerful Owls. ( They were not to be seen when I was there unfortunately ). An excellent track follows the fore shore of Lake Macquarie for about 3.5 kms , passing through Eucalypt Forests and a Rainforest Gully.
 
Birds sighted included :
 
Little Pied Cormorant
Pied Cormorant
Australian Pelican
White-faced Heron
White-bellied Seaeagle
Silver Gull
Spotted Turtle Dove
Crested Pigeon
Galah
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Rainbow Lorikeet
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet
Eastern Rosella
Cockatiel  
Laughing Kookaburra
Dollarbird
Superb Fairywren
Variegated Fairywren
Spotted Pardalote
White-browed Scrubwren
Brown Thornbill
Red Wattlebird
Noisy Miner
Lewins Honeyeater
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Eastern Yellow Robin
Eastern Whipbird
Golden Whistler
Rufous Whistler
Magpielark
Grey Fantail
Willie Wagtail
Black-faced Cuckooshrike
Grey Butcherbird
Australian Magpie
Pied Currawong
Australian Raven
Red-browed Finch
Welcome Swallow
Silvereye
Common Myna
 
The Cockatiel, a female , was feeding on grass seeds in the picnic area whilst I had morning tea. Whilst obviously an escapee it was nice to see.
 
 
I then went on to Awabakal Nature Reserve and Redhead Lagoon a bit further North and on the coast. Much of the reserve had been recently burnt out so bird numbers were low.  Managed to add
Pacific Black Duck
Grey Teal
Chestnut Teal
Hardhead
Australasian Grebe
Great Egret
Australian White Ibis
Dusky Moorhen
Eurasian Coot
White throated Needletail
Yellow Thornbill
Little Wattlebird
New Holland Honeyeater
 
A speciality of the area is Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters but none were seen this day. Perhaps as a lot of the Coastal Banksia's had been burnt out.
 
Next stop Glenrock State Recreation Area which is between Redhead in the south and Merewether in the North and runs along the coast. It was the middle of the day when I arrived here and combined with the fact that there are large Bell Miner colonies here as well as Noisy Miners, other birds were scarce.
 
Added
 
Little Black Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Darter
King Parrot
Satin Bowerbird
 
and the days highlight came in last as sometimes happens
 
 LEWIN'S RAIL    
 
I stopped on a bridge crossing a small gully which ran down to the main lagoon, as movement caught my eye.  Looking  through & under the Lantana I saw a White-browed Scrubwren and two Silvereyes bathing in a small pool of water and then into the view wandered a Lewin's Rail. Was able to watch it for about 10 minutes and managed some video footage as well . Just as well nobody came past whilst I was there as they may have wondered why I was lying under the bridge in a mosquito infested muddy creek bed !! Unless of course they were another birder.
 
Cheers
 
Dick Jenkin
 
DUNGOG NSW
   
 
 
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