Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 3 Apr 2011.

Sun 3 Apr	Zebra Finches The Ponds near Blacktown It was great today to see a flock of about 40 Zebra Finches on the edge of the new housing estate at the Ponds (off Schofields Rd and next to Quakers Hill) feeding with 20 plus Double-barred Finches and some Nutmeg Mannikins (Red-browed Finches also in the area). It has been a while I've seen the Zebra's in the Blacktown LGA and this is certainly the largest flock I've seen for the LGA. Edwin Vella
	Australian Koel Gordon Street, Port Macquarie A late male Koel Cuckoo still present. Tim Morris
	Osprey Ulladulla A single osprey was seen today perched on the newly installed nesting "bowl" on the Telecom tower . The bowl, along with a TV camera, is only 2/3 weeks old but the Osprey is obviously interested . I will post the web viewing site when I know what it is. The co-ords for the tower are 35* 20' 55.41" S x150* 27' 11.74" E on Google. Bob Rusk
	Spectacled Monarch, Bassian Thrush & European Blackbird Ourimbah Ck RTA Reserve, Ourimbah Excellent views were had of an adult Spectacled Monarch at about 9 am on Saturday morning. Also seen was a single Bassian Thrush and two adult male European Blackbirds. Plenty of Yellow-throated and Lagre-billed Scrubwrens were seen. The Monarch is well outside its normal breeding range, which extends southwards down the ranges to Gloucster Tops and to Harrington rainforest along the coast.. Mike Barth and Alan Morris
Sat 2 Apr	Wandering Tattler Soldiers Point, Norah Head The lone Wandering Tattler was roosting with two Grey-tailed Tattlers on Friday afternoon, The Grey-tailed Tattlers were acquiring breeding plumage and looked very smart with their fine barring on the breast and belly, however there was no breeding plumage yet for the Wandering Tattler. Other than a pair of Sooty Oystercatchers, no other waders were present! A Sea-Eagle flew over the reef and a White-faced Heron was also present. No seabirds could be seen offshore. Alan Morris & Mike Barth
	Yellow-nosed Albatross, Great-winged Petrel and Black-browed Albatross Mistral Point, Maroubra Today we saw 1 Yellow-nosed Albatross, half a dozen Black-browed Albatross, a couple of Great-winged Petrels, 1 Caspian Tern and 2 Arctic Jaeger. The resident pair of Kestrels were taking on a Peregrine above our heads, it did not take long for them to give up, Kestrels 0 Peregrine 1 David Mitford and Ray Gobbe
	Bar-shouldered Dove, Restless Flycatcher, Crested Shrike-tit, Long-billed Corella Pitt Town 10' Cell Bar-shouldered Dove: Up to 5 birds near the Friendship Bridge (5). Restless Flycatcher: Single bird at Pitt Town Lagoon (1). Crested Shrike-tit: Pitt Town Lagoon (4). Long-billed Corella: Single bird flying over Pitt Town Lagoon (1). Stephen Mannix
Fri 1 Apr	Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) Long Reef Marine Reserve A single bird flew in from the south and then rested on the reef for about 5 mins before flying off in a northerly direction. Mark Young
	White-necked Petrel, Kermadec Petrel Off Port Stephens Intermediate phase Kermadec Petrel and a White-necked Petrel seen today during a survey off Port Stephens. Otherwise fairly quiet apart from good numbers (>50) of Wilson's Storm-petrels and 2 Black-browed Albatross amongst the usual suspects. Mick Roderick and Alan Stuart
	Gull-billed Tern Pioneer Dairy Wetlands, Tuggerah Highlights of an hour spent at the Dairy this morning included a Gull-billed Tern in non-breeding plumage feeding over the Dairy Swamp, and later roosting on the spit in the swamp; an Azure kingfisher was seen near the underpass; 5 Brown Quail, a Whistling Kite, and the first Straw-necked Ibis reported on the Central Coast in 12 months. There are np previous records for Gull-bill Terns at Pioneer Dairy Wetlands and there have been no Central Coast records for at least 2 years. Alan Morris, Robyn Aitken & Diana Hogan
Thu 31 Mar	Emerald Dove [Musk Lorikeets] Greenwich [ suburban Sydney] An Immature Emerald Dove flew into a window in our building and perished. In response to an earlier communication, on the Lower North Shore we seem to get influxes of Musk Lorikeets in March and April, at least when suitable eucalypts are in blossom. Ted Nixon
	Australian Brush-turkey Help St., Chatswood CBD One seen rummaging in the landscaping mulch outside the office blocks. Also seen a week ago doing the same thing on Railway St. directly opposite the entrance to the train station. It has to cross some pretty major roads to get here, no matter which direction it comes from. (The photo is more illustrative of the environment than the bird...) Kevin Barker
Wed 30 Mar	Australian Brush-turkey Avenue Road, Mosman Large male seen at the units at the bottom of Avenue Road. Two Tawny Frogmouths also seen roosting nearby. Charles Hunter
	Brown Booby Saltwater NP Brown Booby close to shore , circled around at the breakers for at least a half an hour Tomaree Bird Observers Club
	Noisy Pitta Forest Lodge, Sydney Found dead under eucalypt this morning; donated to Australian Museum Adrian Davis (via Walter Boles)
Tue 29 Mar	Pacific Baza Lamond Drive Turramurra just off Pacific Highway At !2.00PM a pair of crested hawks flew into a grey gum and sat relatively peacefully for 10 minutes until eventually evicted by noisy miners. This site also has a brown goshawk regularly in the area, and with a grey goshawk on the 25th, not a bad raptor return for an urban site near a busy road. Nick Billington
	Grey Goshawk East Killara A single male Grey Goshawk perched in a Lemon-scented Gum in my backyard (overlooking Garigal National Park) this morning. Was being heavily mobbed by Grey Butcherbirds, Magpies, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and Noisy Miners. Kurtis Lindsay
Mon 28 Mar	Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Wellbank St. Concord (2) seen well in flight: my second sighting in inner west in 11 years. Dion Hobcroft
	South Island Pied Oystercatcher Airport swamp Mid-Morning, Lord Howe island South Island Pied Oystercatcher. Ian Hutton had seen the bird earlier in the day. When I arrived at the swamp in the late afternoon the bird wasn't there. Within the next 5 mins the following happened. Unbelievable! I found it on the airstrip a couple of hundred metres away from the swamp. No sooner had I spotted it a plane took off and the bird took flight and landed on the road 20m from me. Almost instantly a car came past and it flew back to the swamp, then some cows scared it and it flew over Blinky Beach and wasn't seen again. The poor bird was probably looking for a rest and wasn't having much luck. I managed to get a few pics but very nearly missed it altogether. Tim Faulkner
	Musk Lorikeet Randwick While having a few days in Sydney there were numerous small flocks of Musk Lorikeets in the Coogee / Randwick area, at a ratio of about 1:1 with Rainbow Lorikeets. Growing up in the Eastern Suburbs ~20 years ago I don't recall any Musk Lorikeets, but they seem pretty well established now. Tim Morris
Sun 27 Mar	White-winged Black Tern Bushells Lagoon Hawkesbury Marshes, Richmond 1 only juv or immature White-winged Black Tern feeding 27 and 28th & 30 March over the Lagoon. The bird shows a conspicuous white rump. keith brandwood
	Square-tailed Kite, Wedge-tailed Eagles, Red-winged Parrots Baradine & Warrumbungles NP A single Square-tailed Kite was seen flying between the trees in the village of Baradine, where a pair nest annually (but not at present). Elsewhere Wedge-tailed Eagles were seen at Trapyard Dam, Warrumbungles NP and near Goorianawaa Gap, SW of Baradine. West of Goorianawaa Gap, Australian Ringnecks, Red-winged Parrots and Blue Bonnets were feeding along the road. Alan Morris & 15 members of Central Coast group, Birding NSW
Sat 26 Mar	White-necked Petrel (1) Buller's Albatross (1) Wollongong Pelagic The highlights of a lumpy day at sea-both gave good views the Buller's following for most of the day-a subadult. Plenty of albatross around including 1 Wandering, 10 Yellow-nosed, 10 Shy, 10 Black-browed and 2 Campbell Is. Black-browed. 30 or so Pomarine Jaegers looking good in breeding plumage, 1 Arctic, 2 Wilson's SP, 5-10 Great-winged Petrel (grey-face), 4 sp. shearwater etc. Dion Hobcroft
	Plum-headed & Double-barred Finch, Diamond Firetail & Diamond Dove Baradine, southern side A mixed flock of 30+ Double-barred Finches, 12 Plum-headed Finches, 6 Diamond Firetails, 1 Diamond Dove, Jacky Winters & Yellow-rumped Thonbills were feeding near a grain silo at the edge of Baradine Village. Alan Morris & 15 members of Central Coast Group, Birding NSW
	Sooty Tern, Shy Albatross Mistral Point, Maroubra Highlights of a morning seawatch at Maroubra were an immature Sooty Tern, a couple of Pomarine Jaegars and an Arctic Jaegar, several Black-browed Albatross (adults and immatures) and two early Shy Albatross Robert Griffin and Ray Gobbe
Fri 25 Mar	South Island Pied Oystercatcher Lord Howe Island South Island Oystercatcher at The Airport Swamp on Lord Howe Island. The bird was only seen for 1 day then disappeared. Other notable species included White-necked Petrel, Kermadec Petrel, White-bellied Storm-petrel, Little Shearwater and Woodhens in good numbers. Tim Faulkner
	Plumed Whistling Duck,Turquoise Parrot, Rainbow Lorikeet Carmel Lagoon & Merriwindi State Conservation Area, Baradine A group of 71 Plumed Whistling Ducks were present on Carmel Lagoon, NW of Baradine, this is the largest group reported from that site. Nearby were Blue Bonnets and Grey-crowned Babblers in Carmel Lane. A pair of Turquoise Parrots were seen near Trapyard Dam while 4 Rainbow Lorikeets, rare birds in the Pilliga Forests were feeding in flowering Pilliga Box nearby. Alan Morris & 15 members of Central Coast Group, Birding NSW
Wed 23 Mar	Red-tailed Tropic-bird Stratford near Gloucester An immature Red-tailed Tropic-bird was found blown ashore during a storm, at Stratford south of Gloucester. Penny Brockman was contacted and the bird was taken to Port Macquarie for care and subsequent release. It is not unusual for Tropic-birds to be blown inland during autumn winter storms coming as tropical lows from the north-east. Penny Brockman per Alan Morris
Tue 22 Mar	Yellow-billed Spoonbill Vineyard 2 perched in dead tree beside farm dam Boundary Rd; 1 probably of these 2 flew to edge of large farm dam complex on opposite side of road. win filewood
Fri 18 Mar	Hooded Plovers, Sanderling, Lake Conjola (Note to moderators: This is a bit late as I've been away but may be of interest for your records) On a morning visit to Lake Conjola and nearby beach (the lake closed at present) sightings included a Hooded Plover with one immature, a Sanderling, a Red-necked Stint in breeding plumage, many Red-capped Plover and 8 Pied Oystercatchers. As the Lake is closed the regular Eastern Curlew or 2 were no where to be seen but more than made up for by a flock of 18 Caspian Terns, including several immatures. Robert Griffin

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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