As it was Fathers' Day, I was allowed the privilege of selecting a venue for
a walk this morning with my family - we went to Warriewood Wetlands in
Sydney's northern beaches suburbs. We walked all the way from the wetlands
up to the small waterfall in Irrawong Reserve. The wetlands themselves have
a reasonable amount of water and mud on them, so on a quieter day in the
next few weeks may well be attractive to returning Japanese Snipe. I
scanned the grassy margins carefully but no luck - no other summer migrants
in the Swamp Mahogany woodland either that I could hear or see. However,
there was a late winter migrant (or two?) in the form of an immature
Spangled Drongo - it had the racket tail but the head and eye were dullish
rather than glossy with the red eye as one would expect. I reckon there
were two, but couldn't seem to pin both birds down at the same time, so I
can't be sure on that.
I also saw a small group of Varied Sitellas, plenty of Eastern Whipbirds
showing well, a Fan Tailed Cuckoo and one of the local Brown Goshawks and
heard what I think was a Lewins Rail calling. However, best sighting was a
good specimen of a Red Bellied Black Snake sunning itself below the
boardwalk section of Irrawong Reserve, which meant that my family could have
a good look at a live snake (and the snake was certainly having a good look
at us without feeling threatened).
Cheers
Tom Wilson
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