Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 3 Oct 2010.

Sun 3 Oct	White-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes, Rufous Fantail Knudsen Reserve at Riverstone, NSW (approx. 10 km NW of Blacktown CBD) Today at Knudsen Reserve, David and I found the pair of White-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes (the light and dark morph pair) with at least one young bird seen in their nest. Actually we could not see the young while we were there but I noticed it when looking at my photos back at home (see pic). Also here was an Azure and a pair of Sacred Kingfishers, Weebills, a Rufous Fantail, Scarlet Honeyeaters, Eastern Whipbird, White-throated Gerygone, Olive-backed Orioles etc. Edwin Vella and David Koffel
	Latham's Snipe King Creek swamp, Wauchope 3 Latham's Snipe seen at western end of the swamp. The water level has risen somewhat with all the rain and the area was almost bereft of birds. The only other birds we saw were 2 Jacanas, a male Chestnut Teal, 2 Pacific Black Ducks and 2 Masked Lapwings. Clive Meadows & Louise Earnshaw
	Spotted Bowerbird, Turquoise Parrot Woolshed, Warrumbungles NP Around the river flats a few decent birds were observed. Two separate sightings of Spotted Bowerbird, both calling in cypress pines. Unusual to see as I didn't realise they were seen any further SE of Baradine. A pair of Turquoise Parrots flew over, calling. Both Spiny-cheeked and Striped Honeyeaters were particularly conspicuous, calling from dead casurinas and in display flights. Three species of cuckoo were heard and 3-4 Speckled Warblers were present in a feeding flock of Inland Thornbills. Max Breckenridge
Sat 2 Oct	Grey Goshawk Pennant Hills Park/ uppper Lane Cove National Park. Large (?Female?) Grey Goshawk in ridge top trees then heading towards main Lane Cove River gully, near confluence of Devlins Creek and Lane Cove River. Quite unusual around here, Browns are much more common and lately they (Brown Goshawks) have been sighted more frequently than usual around Pennant Hills Park area. Ian Francis
	Latham's Snipe Marsden Park One bird seen in reeds surrounding a small dam along Hollinsworth Road. Henry Coleman
	Pacific Baza, Spotless Crake, White-throated Gerygone, White-winged Chough Shanes Park A good stop-off on the way home from Castlereagh NR today. Single Baza seen being mobbed by Magpie Larks, and one of many Spotless Crakes was seen as it flew out of the reeds for a couple of seconds before dropping back to dense cover. Many W-T Gerygones around, and a group of 7 Choughs were very conspicuous. Henry Coleman
Fri 1 Oct	Sacred Kingfisher Jamieson Park, Narrabeen Lagoon Sacred Kingfisher are back but no sign of Dollarbirds yet Jacqui Marlow
Wed 29 Sep	Masked Owl Pacific Hwy, S of Sawtell turnoff 1 km N of Bonville Creek, single bird, unfortunately "expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! ... 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-"OWL!! The bird had not been killed the night before (i.e. 28-29 Sep) judging by maggot-riddedness, possibly the night prior. Peter Higgins
	King Quail Monash Rd, Gladesville, Sydney Whilst mowing through a patch of long grass between the footpath and the street outside our house, a single male King Quail burst out! It went right, around our fence and under a lily pilly bush in our garden. It ran back and forward behind the bush, then flew into the neighbor's garden and it was gone! I have no doubt this is an escpaed bird from someone's avairy as it is a most unusal sighting and the bird did seem relatively tame. Nontheless, a welcome surprise! Max Breckenridge
	Brown and Grey Goshawks, Black-faced Monarch Warriewood Wetlands + Irrawong Reserve Both species of Goshawks seen around the Katoa Close boardwalk. Grey came very close. In Irrawong Reserve, two Black-faced Monarchs have arrived from the North. Both calling, one seen. Henry Coleman
Tue 28 Sep	Plumed Whistling-Duck Dam on McLennons Bore Road, north of Jerilderie 9 birds observed on dam along McLennons Bore Road, west off the Kidman Way. David Parker
	Musk Duck Lane Cove River - Around Epping Road bridge Quite sure that it is a Musk Duck which is one of the last birds that I'd expect to see around. Also couple of Scarlet Honeyeaters on top of flowering ironbarks, Sacred Kingfishers, and also Striated Thornbill couple with at chicks in the nest. Fatih Sam
	Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Ironbark Lane, 3km NE of Cessnock Single bird calling along Ironbark Lane, just to the south of Werakata NP. Whilst Spiny-cheeks seem to have settled into the Hunter around Bulga, Sandy Hollow etc, this is the furthest east I recall them being reported in the Hunter for some time. Mick Roderick
Mon 27 Sep	Spectacled and Black-faced Monarchs Ourimbah Creek RTA Reserve. Ourimbah On 27/9 a few hundred mtrs down the track from the entrance and near the little storage hut, a single Spectacled Monarch was seen, it stayed around for over 5 mins. On 26/9 it was seen in the same area alone and about 300 mtrs down at the picnic table was another single bird (2nd bird was a lighter colour) was sighted. Also seen was a pair of Black- faced Monarchs. a Dollarbird and a pair of Bassian Thrushes. (Moderators Note: A Spectacled Momarch was seen at the same location 29/1/09, and another seen at Matcham in March 2009. Looks like they are extending their range southwards. AKM) Brad Gabriel
	Wood Sandpiper Pitt Town Lagoon The Wood Sandpiper which was reported earlier this month is still present, and was the only wader seen at this location. It was foraging along the fence line, and appears to be a bit wary. Lots of water in the lagoon at the moment. Frank Valckenborgh
	Wilsons Storm-petrel 2-3nm off Stockton Beach, Hunter Valley One Wilsons Storm-petrel came up a berley slick at 6pm. Location was only 2-3nm off Stockton Beach. An unusually close record. Steve Roderick
Sun 26 Sep	Sanderling Long Reef, Sydney My first Sanderling, observed on Sunday afternoon on the rock platform amongst some Red-necked Stints. I became a bit suspicious when I noticed that this bird was considerably larger and gave a more white and plain grey appearance compared with the stints. Thanks to Mick, Alan and Ricki for confirming the ID. Frank Valckenborgh
	Australian Shelduck Willie's Station, Macquarie Marshes Today at the Marshes there was a lone Australian shelduck nearthe back of Mobkeygar Creek, not sure if Sacred Kingfishers are migratory out west, but they were also back in numbers! Nathan Ruser
	Sacred Kingfisher, White-throated Gerygone, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Rufous Songlark Kurrajong Hills Most migrants now back in the Blue Mountains foothills and very vocal. All the above seen and heard around Douglas Farm and Mill Roads, including at least 6 Bassian Thrush (not migratory here but a good number for the area). Also good numbers of Rufous Whistlers. Very vocal Grey Goshawks. Good numbers of southward moving Yellow-faced and White-naped Honeyeaters (about 60:40 split), flocks of up to c 40 birds constant most of morning, higher than reverse movement in April. Koala also seen a week back off Hermitage Road. Rufous Songlarks heard lower down at North Richmond and near Berkshire Park. Eric Finley
	Pacific Bazas Box Hill, NSW (approx. 50km NW of Sydney CBD) While driving back home from Cattai, I had a pair of Pacific Bazas flying low and calling and they circled together. There has been quite a numbver of Baza sightings lately around western Sydney! Edwin Vella
	Grey Goshawk (white morph), Leaden Flycatcher Cattai NP, NSW (approx. 55km NW of Sydney CBD) This morning I had a few good hours at Cattai NP with an obliging white morph Grey Goshawk allowing me to take several photos, my first Leaden Flycatcher for the season, several Rainbow Beeaters, a few Scarlet Honeyeaters, 2 Wonga Pigeons, Sacred Kingfishers, Bar-shouldered Doves, Little Lorikeet, several White-throated Gerygones and Mistletoebirds and a number of Shining Bronze-cuckoos (one snatching moths found from the cracks of a power pole, as one was doing yesterday from the same pole on the FTB outing). Edwin Vella
	Weebill nesting Nimmitta, near Penrith This is the second year in a row that I have now found them nesting. Looks like the incubating may just have begun. One of the adults (presumably the female) was bringing small feathers to the nest to line it. It is also rather low, just around 2 meters above ground. On a different note I was following the fledged White-winged Choughs around for a while and I also noted adults repairing the nest they recently used, perhaps to breed again. The second nest about 500 meters NW from this one has hatchlings as of last Tuesday. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Leaden Flycatcher, Dollarbird, Peregrine Falcon Bilgola Plateau (Angophora Reserve) and Palm Beach Leaden Flycatcher: Conspicuous in Angophora Reserve this morning. Dollarbird: Seen a few times flying over the reserve. Peregrine Falcon: Flew over Palm Beach this morning alarming all the gulls, terns, miners, magpies etc. Henry Coleman
	White-naped and Brown Honeyeater Yaralla, Concord Singles of both species-my first records of both in local government area-Canada Bay Dion Hobcroft
Sat 25 Sep	Dollarbird Mitchell Park, Cattai We saw our first Dollarbird for the season at Mitchell Park, Cattai yesterday afternoon. Edwin Vella and Follow That Bird
	White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Windsor, NSW A dark morph bird was seen near the first bridge where the Bell Miner colony is and beside Cornwallis Rd. Also seen here was an Australian Hobby and Rainbow Bee-eaters heard. Edwin Vella and Follow That Bird
	White-throated Needletail Whitebridge (south of Newcastle) Single bird seen flying over Fernleigh Track at Whitebridge. Appeared to fly west and was pursued by Swallows. (Moderators Note: This is a very early record AKM) Dan Williams per Mick Roderick
	Curlew Sandpiper and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Mason Park, Homebush (2) Curlew Sands have been present for a week with a single Sharpie turning up on 25th. Single Rufous Whistler also present for a week. Dion Hobcroft
Mon 20 Sep	Wandering Whistling-Duck and Green Pygmy-Goose Narrabri Lake, Narrabri West 3 Wandering Whistling-Ducks were observed at Narrabri Lake on 16 Sep 2010, after above-average (drought-breaking) rainfall in inland NSW over recent months.Seen near the inlet to Narrabri Lake, on its southern side. Identification is certain, based on a photo. A second possible sighting followed on 30 Sep (unconfirmed). On 24 Sep 2010, again at Narrabri Lake, a male Green Pygmy-Goose was spotted. The bird was on its own, feeding on or in algae on the western side of the lake. Identification is certain, based on photos. Despite repeated checks no further sighting since (1 Oct 2010). (Moderator's Note: If accepted by NSWORAC, this would be the 6th confirmed record for NSW- AKM) Michael Dahlem
Mon 13 Sep	Regent Bowerbird Ukerebagh NR, Tweed Heads A male beside the bund separating the saltmarsh from the forest. Rob Morrow
	Collared Kingfisher Ukerebagh NR, Tweed Heads Observed from the boardwalk Rob Morrow

Birdline NSW is sponsored by Birding NSW, Birds Australia - Southern NSW & ACT and Cumberland Bird Observers Club and co-ordinated and hosted by Eremaea Birds.

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