Yesterday (Sunday 7th
December 2003), myself and David Mitford enjoyed a good day?s birding
in the northern part of the Hunter Region (approx. 300 - 350km north of the
Sydney CBD). It was a mainly overcast and cool day but with very little rain to
bother our good birding.
In Coopernook
State
Forest we saw 4 Square-tailed Kites
(2 adults with 2 young), a Pacific Baza; several Little and Scaley-breasted
Lorikeets and Satin Bowerbirds. The 2 young Square-tailed Kites appeared just
about ready to fledge having obtained beautiful reddish brown juvenile plumage
and seeing them exercising their wings every now and then. The adults were still
seen dropping food for the young on the nest a couple of times and were seen
perched for some time in trees close to the nest giving great views in our
scopes and for David to video tape all 4 of them. It was a magic moment for
us.
Another Square-tailed Kite was seen closer to the town of
Coopernook and was a few km further
down the road after we saw the previous 4. I have been told that there are 3
pairs of Square-tailed Kites at the moment in Coopernook SF.
Around noon, we spent a brief
hour or two around Harrington seeing an Osprey; an adult male Black-necked Stork
(on the edge of the lagoon behind the caravan park), a Varied Triller,
Spectacled Monarch, Large-billed Scrub-wrens, White-cheeked Honeyeaters, Regent
Bowerbirds (3 adult males and a female feeding in with many Figbirds), a male
Leaden Flycatcher and Forest Ravens. There were still lots of figs with fruit in
the patches of Littoral rainforest between Harrington and Crowdy
Head.
Our next and final destination was Old Bar (south-east of Taree) where we
saw a Brahminy Kite; 2 Beach Stone-curlews in their nesting area; 10 Pied
Oystercatchers; 70 plus Pacific Golden Plovers; a few Red-capped Plovers (one
gave a broken wing display as we approached it); 12 Sanderling; 100 plus
Bar-tailed Godwits; 10 plus Eastern Curlews as well as 6 White-winged Black, 150
plus Little and 20 plus Common Terns. Many of the terns were probably out to see
feeding as we saw less than usual on the sand spits and as the tide was
moving.
A good day.
Edwin Vella
