CENTRAL COAST HOTSPOTS!
Follow That Bird Tours organised a "Hot Spots Bird Tour" to the Central
Coast on Saturday 18th October on a very pleasant mild summers day and first
stop was the Ourimbah Creek RTA Reserve at Ourimbah where the hoped for
Regent Bowerbirds failed to show for us but Black-faced Monarch, Golden
Whistler, Brown Gerygone, Rufous Fantail and Red-browed Finch were found. We
soon moved onto the Tuggerah Reserve to check out the Dairy Swamp & Tuggerah
Lagoon, seeing a Great Egret in one of the drains at Tuggerah en route!
At the Dairy Swamp, Channel-billed & Koel Cuckoos were busy annoying their
hosts, Pelicans came and went from the Swamp, Black-winged Stilt and
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper were busy in the muddy margins, and Black Duck,
Hardhead, Grey and Chestnut Teal were loafing amongst the reeds. A flock of
9 Royal Spoonbills were feeding in the shallow water, many Fairy Martins &
Swallows were hawking over the Swamp, and a Swamp Harrier kept buzzing a
flock of 29 Masked Lapwings. Four Cormorants species and at least 6 Darter
were roosting in the paperbarks and Sacred Kingfisher and Cisticola were
present. We moved off to Tuggerah Lagoon which has a large areas of reeds
and there plenty of Reedwarblers present here! Superb Fairy-wrens and
Emu-wrens were found in the sedges at the edge of the lagoon, while
White-breasted Woodswallow, Olive-backed Oriole, Dollarbird & Striped
Honeyeaters were present in the fringing Swamp Oaks. Overhead a small flock
of 20+ White-throated Needletails were counted.
We lunched at Sunshine Reserve, Chittaway along Ourimbah Creek, and here
nesting Willy Wagtail & Crested Pigeon were seen, 30+ Needletails overhead,
plenty of Red & Little Wattlebirds and Dollarbird but the expected Tawny
Frogmouths could not be located. A brief stop at Lions Park, Chittaway on
the shores of Tuggerah Lake had us checking out the waders, and we managed
to find a lone Greenshank and some Red-necked Stints amongst the more common
Sharpies, as well as Great & Little Egrets and plenty of Swans.
At Picnic Point, The Entrance there was a good roost of Terns, including 29
Caspian Terns and a small number of Little Terns. Fortunately, after some
searching of the Bar-tailed Godwit flocks, we were able to find 3 Red Knots
and a Great Knot roosting with tem. Other waders present included a Curlew
Sandpiper and Red-capped Plover, 3 Whimbrel, 3 Greenshank, 1 Eastern Curlew,
many Sharpies, and lesser numbers of Red-necked Stint. In the Swamp Oaks &
Bottle Brush there were nesting White-breasted Woodswallows, Magpielarks and
Willy Wagtails, and plenty of European Starling, House Sparrow and
Yellow-rumped Thornbill werte feeding on the grass. Across at North Entrance
opposite Terilbah Island, we found more waders including two Ruddy
Turnstones, about 800 Swans and a Red Wattlebird feeding young.. There is a
good ice-cream shop here so we finished the day in style with a bird list of
84 species for the day!
Alan Morris
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