Hi all
I thought I'd make the most of the cool of the morning to get some birding
in before it got too hot and blowy, so I had some time at Mason park and
around the Olympics site in Sydney's west this morning. Best sights were:
- pair of Peregrines displaying over Triangle Pond (no sign of the Lewins
Rail or Spotless Crakes, but I didn't stay long as I was running out of time
before I had to be home)
- a Nankeen Night Heron flying over at the same place
- 3 Lathams Snipe at Mason Park
- 5 or 6 Red Necked Stints at Mason Park (see comment below)
- a possible Knot at Mason Park - a large dumpy looking wader tucked into a
shrubby island on the playing fields side - looked quite grey and white and
had a noticeable eye stripe. It moved behind the island and it wouldn't
shift out again.
- 10+ Bar Tailed Godwit at the Waterbird Refuge in Bicentennial Park
- 30+ Red Necked Avocets at the Waterbird Refuge in Bicentennial Park
- an immature Horsfields Bronze Cuckoo next to Lake Belvedere in
Bicentennial Park
- loads of Fairy Martins in the same place, hawking over the grass and
sitting in the paperbarks
One of the stints at Mason Park was showing distinct browny tones in its
wing feathers, and at the time it was the first/only one I'd seen, so I was
entertaining thoughts of it being something else (a Little?), but it then
joined up with the other stints, which looked much more like regular Red
Neckeds. Subsequent looking at pictures on the 'net of Little Stints in
winter plumage confirmed that the bird probably wasn't tawny enough to be a
Little, although it was very small when standing in front of a Sharp Tailed
Sandpiper. I reckon it was an immature Red necked Stint. (I appreciate
that
Red Neckeds and Littles in non-breeding plumage are very hard to tell apart,
so it may be worth checking out.)
Cheers and best wishes to all for the holiday season and for a great birding
new year.
Tom Wilson
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www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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