Hi,
I have just returned from a week in Northern New South Wales. The birding
included re-visiting the main sites around Tweed Heads, as well as a weekend at
Federal in the Byron Bay hinterland. The bird list for the trip was 115.
I visited Terranora Broadwater a few times. The highlights there
included Varied Triller, Little Shrike-Thrush, Striated Heron, Brown
Cuckoo-dove, Emerald Dove and Scarlet Honeyeater. Of these I had only
previously seen Emerald Dove on this walk. I'm guessing the difference could
have been the time of year (I'm usually in the area in December not August). I
also found nesting Noisy Friarbirds, a Sacred Kingfisher swallowing a fish and
a rather over-confident Whistling Kite swooping at a Pelican. I managed to get
videos of some of the species. These can be seen by clicking on the links below
Scarlet Honeyeater http://tinyurl.com/mttxxn
Brown Cuckoo-Dove http://tinyurl.com/nlxum7
Scared Kingfisher http://tinyurl.com/kjptoz
Pied Oystercatcher http://tinyurl.com/n9f5yz
Bar-shouldered Dove http://tinyurl.com/lquafy
Striated Heron http://tinyurl.com/mprfdy
The birding around Banora Point (the suburb I was staying in) was good as well,
particularly at the local park, Banora Green.
The highlights included nesting Striped Honeyeater and mating Purple Swamphen
as well as Little, Intermediate and Great Egrets, Little Friarbird, Brown
Honeyeater, Buff-banded Rail and a small group of Pale-headed/Eastern Rosellas.
Pale-headed/Eastern Rosella http://tinyurl.com/kldlgc
I also got some videos of other species
Purple Swamphen http://tinyurl.com/lrz9hb
Striped Honeyeater http://tinyurl.com/myxlj8
Intermediate Egret http://tinyurl.com/kqmzrm
Great Egret http://tinyurl.com/l3bnb2
Pied Butcherbird http://tinyurl.com/lk8odh
Brown Honeyeater http://tinyurl.com/nq3fco
I
managed one visit to the Minjungbal reserve area, where the
highlight was a much better view than I normally get of Collared Kingfisher.
Collared Kingfisher http://tinyurl.com/nlyrp6
I managed two visits to Vintage Lakes where the highlights
included Restless Flycatcher doing the 'scissors grinding' call, Spangled
Drongo as well as nesting Dusky Moorhen and nesting Darter. It was also the
only place around Tweed Heads that I saw Hardhead.
Restless Flycatcher http://tinyurl.com/neu5vx
Dusky Moorhen http://tinyurl.com/mng4cq
I managed a visit to the Letitia Sandspit but the variety of
species was reduced by the absence of most waders. I did find Eastern Curlew
and Whimbrel which may have over-wintered. The highlight was finding the local
pair of Beach Stone-curlews that I managed to video last year.
I also went out to Cram's Farm near Murwillumbah where the
birding highlight was finding around a dozen Comb-crested Jacana.
Comb-crested Jacana http://tinyurl.com/lxo2pv
The non-birding highlight (other than the rapturous response from my youngest
daughter to the Kookaburras landing on our picnic table and expecting to be
fed) was, somewhat improbably, running into two photographers from Singapore.
They had really impressive cameras and had managed to get a photo of a Wompoo
Fruit-dove on a nest at Mt Warning. They told me the spot and I
went to find it on the way back. I found one of the birds but was unlucky
enough to share my precious few minutes at this location with a hoard (more
accurately known as a 'class') of teenage school children trying to 'end
civilisation as we know it' (more accurately known as
conducting tests for a biology class). As the bird was scared off and I
couldn't find the nest without it I was left to wonder how long the odds must
be against this occuring. I deduced that they were about as long as the odds
against running into the Singaporean photographers who had found it in the
first place.
The other trip was to a Bed and Breakfast called the 'Tin Dog' at Federal
near Byron bay. The owners were bird friendly and provided binoculars and guide
books for their guests as well as keeping a bird list for their property which
included King Quail and Rose-crowned Fruit-dove. The birding highlights there
were a dawn chorus to die for, starring White-throated Gerygone and Scarlet
Honeyeater, I also found Green Catbird on the property plus Barn Owl, Wonga
Pigeon, White-headed Pigeon and Red-backed Fairy-wren on various trips along
the roads in and out of Federal. I think all of those species appeared on the
'Tin Dog' bird list but I didn't see them there.
I also did the walk to Minyon falls in the Nightcap National Park
which was so good I couldn't understand why no-one else was doing it (OK, it
was a weekday outside of school holidays).
The birding highlights of the walk were Pale-Yellow Robin and Rufous Fantail.
Last time I was there I saw quite a few Logrunners but didn't see any this
time.
All the best,
Nick
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