Surprise sightng in Turramurra

[Andy Burton <>]

Hi Tom and others,

Brush-turkeys are now regularly sighted in Sydney's northern suburbs and my prediction is that they will become a common garden bird in the area  (dogs willing). This is from a virtually zero base only a few years ago.

It may surprise many that we  have had several independent sightings  of this species in Northbridge, only about 5  km from the  Sydney Harbour Bridge as the Brush-turkey crash-lands.

There is plenty of evidence in northern Sydney that 'rainforest' / wet gully species are  being seen more often. The Gerygones are a probably an example of this.

In my local catchment, a short, narrow, steep-sided, sandstone valley, White-throated Gerygones were a common breeding migrant 50  years ago. I believe that Brown Gerygones were at best uncommon and  probably unknown in the valley. The White-throated Gerygones disappeared when the tops of the dry  schlerophyll ridges were built-on  (residential). They are now only a rare passage migrant in the area.

The Brown Gerygone is now the most common breeding resident in this and other similar, nearby valleys.  They thrive below the ever increasing wet-schlerophyll forest canopy, beneath which is  maturing wet gully forest alongside the sheltered creek.

Andy

> Hi
> all
> taking my
> early morning walk (for exercise, not birding) this morning,
> I did take a slight detour to check out what a huge flock of
> Noisy Miners was upset about - I had heard a Raven calling a little
> while before so expected to see that, or a possum or maybe a Tawny
> Frogmouth - I imagine my surprise when the source of the commotion
> turned out to be a Brush Turkey!
>  
> The sighting
> was made on the small part of Rushall St in Turramurra between Bobbin
> Head Road and Bannockburn Rd - Turramurra is in the northern suburbs
> of Sydney.  This is a reasonable way (about 3kms) from the
> boundary of Ku-ring-Gai National Park, but there are no obvious
> bushland corridors that would get the turkey to the point where I saw
> it without crossing a few roads and presumably quite a few gardens. 
> Not sure how long it will last as there's not much cover in that part
> of Turramurra.
>  
> Regards
> Tom
> Wilson

-- 

Andy Burton's Bush Tours
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ROSEVILLE
NSW  2069

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