Thank you Nick, saved them all for my gallery.
Tony.
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Nicholas Talbot
Sent: Monday, September 07, 2009 8:21 PM
To: birding aus
Subject: Northern New South Wales trip report (long)
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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