CBOC Annual Raptor Count, 2008

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The CBOC annual raptor count for 2008 started on a chilly July morning at the Scheyville NP headquarters. We all had high expectations and we knew Keith Brandwood would find us all the birds we needed. Before everyone had arrived we had our first raptor of the day; a NANKEEN KESTREL being hassled by some Noisy Miners. The count was on, 10 more to beat the club record of 11...

When everyone had arrived we headed off through the sparsley wooded paddocks surrounding the HQ. Sadly there weren't many birds about, so not much for our raptors to chase at, but on the return some of us got a look at raptor number 2. AUSTRALIAN HOBBY.

Onto Maraylya Park for morning tea. While having morning tea we watched Musk Lorikeets and Red-rumped Parrots and before we left we ventured over to a roadside lagoon. Birds in the lagoon included: Hardhead, Pacific Black Duck, Aust. Grebe, Aust. Wood Duck, White-faced Heron and Little Pied Cormorant.

We all hoped that Pitt Town Lagoon would provide us wih some good raptors, but we were a little dissapointed. After 2 hours at Pitt Town, we got on to: Great Egret, White-necked Heron, Black Swan, Purple Swamphen, an overwintering Rufous Whistler, Hoary-headed Grebe, Golden Whistler, Grey Shrike-Thrush, Golden-headed Cisticola, Little Grassbird and Aust. Shoveler. After Pitt Town Lagoon our raptor count was at 5. We had added: SWAMP HARRIER, BROWN GOSHAWK and a distant BLACK-SHOULDERED KITE.

We stopped at Wiberforce Park for a toilet-break and we were happily entertained by a group of small birds consisting of: Striated Thornbill, Yellow Thornbill, Striated and Spotted Pardalote, Weebill, Varied Sittela, and another pair of overwintering Rufous Whistlers.

Next stop - Bushells Lagoon. The raptors really started coming now, with 3 WHISTLING KITES, (3rd year) WHITE-BELLIED SEA EAGLE with a fish and BROWN FALCON all easily found. Other birds around and on the lagoon included: Darter, Intermediate Egret, Pelican, Black-fronted Dotterel, Tree Martin, Zebra Finch, Goldfinch and Aust. Pipit. On the way back we found: Yellow-rumped Thornbills, Little Wattlebird and White-plumed HE.

We stopped for lunch at Freemans Reach where we had great views over Richmond. Lunch was pretty uneventful until we spotted a LITTLE EAGLE in a nearby paddock and then an adult WHITE-BELLED SEA EAGLE, but the call of 'Grey Goshawk' really got everyone running! Eventually after scanning the casurinas on the riverbank for about 10min it showed itself, but infact it was actually confirmed to be a COLLARED SPARROWHAWK. Oh well, maybe not a Grey Goshawk, but it still bumped the raptor count up to 10. After everyone had a good luck at an obliging Fan-tailed Cuckoo, we were just about ready to head off, but we still needed one more raptor to equal the record and the highlight of the day awnsered the call! While everyone was still searching for the Collared Sparrowhawk a beautiful, adult SPOTTED HARRIER lazily cruised up along the bank and began to circle right below us! Everyone got great views and many of us added it to our life or year lists.

We arrived at the corner of Triangle Lane and Powells Lane and as soon as we had stepped out of the car an (imm) WHITE-BELLIED SEA EAGLE flew over, putting all the Aust. Wood Ducks and Masked Lapwings into the air. Whilst there we saw 3 BLACK-SHOULDERED KITES and some Straw-necked Ibis.

On the way to our last stop - Bakers Lagoon. We saw a Yellow-billed Spoonbill in a roadside dam and some more NANKEEN KESTRELS. At Bakers Lagoon we saw a couple of SWAMP HARRIER, BROWN FALCON and a flock of Double-bar Finches.

At the end of the CBOC Annual Raptor Count 2008 we had amassed a list of over 90 birds and seen 11 species of raptor, a new club record! We also had a great day out in the Hawkesbury in the company of some great birders and Keith Brandwood, our leader for the day.

Thank you Keith.

Max.
Sydney...


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