Hi all
I visited Warriewood Wetlands on Sydney's northern beaches on the morning of
29 December from 5:45-8:30am, walking up to the waterfall in Irrawong
Reserve. Over all, I saw 65 species. Of particular interest were:
- a flock of 100+ White Throated Needletails - quite low and moving in a
lazy spiral formation (sky mostly clear at that point in the day - not much
breeze)
- 1 Lathams Snipe flushed from long swampy grass behind the stand of
casuarinas on the way in from Katoa Close
- 2 Black Faced Monarchs & 2 Rufous Fantail in the rainforest part of
Irrawong Reserve (my first ones for 2006 including the end of last summer -
talk about cutting it fine for the year list!)
- several very busy pairs of Sacred Kingfisher ferrying back and forth to
the nest with food (cicadas, lizards)
- 1 Leaden Flycatcher
- 3 Brown Cuckoo Dove (plenty of calling birds too)
- 2 White Throated Treecreeper (near the board walk section of Irrawong
Reserve - not sure I've ever seen them at Warriewood before)
- 1 Female Common Blackbird, seen in the Irrawong Reserve not far from the
big stand of cabbage tree palms. It was initially seen high (about 20
metres or more) up in the trees and was causing me some confusion, but it
eventually came down to its more normal ground level, where I got a good
look (and even a photo - I am aware that this is an unusual sighting for the
northern beaches)
>From about 7:30 onwards, the noise from the cicadas was loud enough to drown
out any bird call, so I called it quits and walked back to the car at that
point. They were definitely "working" in pulses, which was starting to make
my ears ring. On the way out I chatted to Neville Lazarus, who was
photographing one of the pairs of kingfisher.
I briefly checked out the water ponds in the new development where the
Little Bittern had been seen - there were 2 Royal Spoonbill with very good
plumes, 2 Hardhead, and a Tawny Grassbird showing well, but no sign of the
Bittern - has it been seen more recently than early December?
Cheers & a Happy Birding New Year to all
Tom Wilson
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www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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