Hi Birders,
The NSW Central Coast is really humming with
birds at the present time, most of the migrants have arrived and have settled
in and are busy looking for mates and nest sites.
The first Rufous Fantail was seen at Catherine
Hill Bay on 7/10 and the first Cicadabird at Mardi on 8/10. No Brush Cuckoos
as yet although my son Tim, has reported them from Bellingen on 3/10 and
Crescent Head on 7/10 so they are on the way.
All the usual migratory waders have returned
except for the Red Knots. They are only passage migrants but we should have
seen some by now. However the 100mm of rain that fell on 1/10 across the
Region, made the water levels on Tuggerah Lakes rise so that the mud and sand
flats usually frequented by the Knots was under water for a while so they may
have pushed on further south rather than stay around. An added bonus has been
a pair of Sanderlings that have ben present at Soldiers Pt Norah Head from
2/10.
Remarkably we still have White-fronted Terns
around the coastal rock platforms with one being seen at Copacobana on 2/10
and 10+ at Soldiers Point on 6/10. Common Terns and small numbers of Little
Terns have been present since 27/9. A Giant petrel was seen off Copacobana on
2/10.
We have had good and bad news with our local Bush
Stone-curlew population. The St Huberts Island pair lost one egg to high tides
but the other was rescued and a new nest site made for the birds and while the
remaining egg hatched in due course, the chick died a few days later; The
Saratoga pair still have their chick and the Woy Woy pair have two chicks, the
Kincumber birds are still incubating their 2nd clutch, the first
clutch was destroyed by a horse!. The nest sites of the remaining 3 pairs
remain a mystery.
Pacific Bazas & Grey Goshawks are being seen
at a number of sites and the pair of Bazas at Mardi have been observed to be
checking out their old nest sites.
Alan Morris
