CROWDY HEAD, HARRINGTON & COMBOYNE 22-26 JULY 2006
Following on from a successful autumn trip to Crowdy Head, Harrington and
Comboyne in March 2004, Follow That Bird organised a second trip, this time
in Winter and although all the summer migrants would be elsewhere it was
felt that winter trip would enable us to see those birds that move into
coastal areas at this time of the year. We were fortunate that there has
been good coastal rains of late and while it rained sometimes during this
trip, most of it was at night and did not inconvenient the participants in
any way. This trip started in Canberra ACT, with a pick-up in Sydney so the
first birding stop was at Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury River. Here a Striated
Heron and a wintering Sacred Kingfisher were found in the mangroves, a good
start for the trip. At the Hunter Botanic Gardens at Raymond Terrace,
Lewin's, White-cheeked & Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, were the common bushland
birds and this situation remained for the rest of the trip! We arrived at
Crowdy Head at dusk, so that our first view was on the Sunday morning when
we picked up 42 species in the period 7-800hrs! Highlights were a pair of
Peregrine Falcons, nesting Black-shouldered Kites & Masked Lapwings, a
Buff-banded Rail in a ditch, Fan-tailed Cuckoos, many Scaly-breasted &
Rainbow Lorikeets, Striped & Brown Honeyeaters, Whistling Kites & Sea-Eagle,
Spangled Drongos and an Olive-backed Oriole.
A walk through the Harrington Rainforest found more Drongos, Regent & Satin
Bowerbirds, Brown Cuckoo-Doves, a pair of White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike and
Scarlet Honeyeaters, with Red-capped Plovers feeding in the Harrington
Lagoon and Variegated & Superb Fairy-wrens in the heath. A walk along the
breakwater found a lone Beach Stone-curlew on Manning Point together with
some Pied Oystercatchers and Double-banded Plovers, while inside the estuary
was a pair of Black-necked Storks, Royal Spoonbills, Darter, White-fronted &
Gull-billed Terns, Ospreys and Sea-Eagles, all four species of Cormorants,
Littlle & Great Egrets and an immature Brahminy Kite. After lunch we
explored some of the firetrails in the Wallum Heathlands of Crowdy Bay
National Park, finding more Yellow-faced & White-cheeked Honeyeaters,
Eastern Spinebills, Bar-shouldered Doves, Horsfield Bronze-cuckoos &
Grey-shrike Thrush, and visits were made to Kylie Beach & Diamond Head
within the Park. Plenty of Australasian Gannets at sea, Little & Red
Wattlebirds in the flowering banksias, nesting Masked Lapwings in the picnic
areas and Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos on the heaths.
The following morning, on our pre-breakfast walk at Crowdy Head, we found a
flock of Red-browed & Double-barred Finches and a Tawny Grassbird was
flushed from the long grass. As we passed the Harrington Caravan Park a lone
Bush Stone-curlew was seen just inside the fence near the road, so we
smartly stopped the coached, backed up and everyone had good views of this
uncommon bird! Then onto the Comboyne Plateau. Near Comboyne Retreat, King
Parrots, White-headed Pigeons and some Regent Bowerbirds were found, along
with Yellow-throated & Large-billed Scrub-wrens. While having morning tea in
the park at Comboyne village there were White-headed Pigeons, Bar-shouldered
Doves, Satin Bowerbirds & Figbirds to watch while a visit to Boorganna
Narture Reserve, gave people varying views of Spine-tailed Long-runners,
Bassian Thrush, Southern Yellow Robin, Catbird, Satin & Regent Bowerbirds,
Scrub-wrens and Brown Gerygones. Later in the afternoon we visited
Ellenborough Falls (plenty of water this time!) and checked out local
wetlands & pastoral areas around Wingham. Here we had great views of a
Wedge-tailed Eagle with prey (a rabbit?), and Grey Teal and Hardheads on the
dams.
On the Tuesday, our pre-breakfast walk took in the Wingham Golf Course where
White-headed Pigeon, Golden Whistler, Little Corellas and Royal Spoonbills
were the top birds. The rest of the day we spent in the Dingo Tops area,
particularly in Tapin Tops National Park and made a visit to Bluetop
Lookout! On route up the mountain we had great views of a group of 7 Brown
Quail that fed unconcernedly along the edge of the road, Bellminers were
checked out & Wonga Pigeons were heard calling. At the Dingo Tops picnic
area King Parrots and Satin Bowerbirds were the common birds, scrub-wrens
and Fairy-wrens were in the undergrowth along with Golden Whistlers and
Lewin's Honeyeater. Enroute to Blue Top, 4 seperate Superb Lyrebirds crossed
the road in front of the coach, while Crimson Rosellas and Grey
Shrike-thrush were regulared sighted. On our return, we explored around Mt
George, finding more Regent Bowerbirds and Bar-shouldered Doves, Pied
Butcherbird and Grey Fantail, while on a large farm dam nearby we added
Black-fronted Plover, Red-rumped Parrots and nesting Torresian Crows.
Our final day included the Golfcourse Walk and seeing the usual birds
(plenty of Wood Ducks this time) and then off to Wingham Brush, to take in
the delights of the Flying Fox colony. Here we had good views of a
Russet-tailed Thrush, many Brush Turkeys, a pair of Emerald Doves, Rose
Robin, Brown Gerygones, Southern Yellow Robins & Brown Cuckoo-Doves. Along
the Manning River were Whistling Kite and an immature Sea-Eagle. Our morning
tea spot was at Bootawa Dam, where up to 9 Crested Grebes were located as
well as 2 Hoary-headed and many Australasian Little Grebes. A Wedge-tailed
Eagle was sighted along with more Red-rumped Parrots. Our final birding spot
was at Bulladelah Forest Park, where the Blackbutts were flowering and the
trees were full of White-naped, Yellow-faced, White-cheeked and Lewin's
Honeyeaters, all feeding on the nectar flow! Altogether we saw 146 species
and had a great five days of birding on the sunny Mid North Coast!
Alan Morris
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www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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