Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 3 Jul 2011.

Sun 3 Jul	Rose-crowned Fruit Dove Juvenile Richmond Hill, 10 K's E Lismore Early breeding record (?). This very young bird killed itself crashing into sliding glass door. According to HANZAB and also Frith, this would appear to be a very early breeding record for Northern NSW. Perhaps the very wet year has been a catalyst for this event. June Harris
	Grey Goshawk (white morph) Bobbin Head Road Turramurra Seen over my house approx 8am. My normal Grey Goshawks are grey morph birds...could this be the same one seen at Warriewood on 2 July? Tom Wilson
Sat 2 Jul	Rufous (Nankeen) Nigh Heron Edwards River - Tocumwal/Millewa Road Just upstream from the bridge crossing the Edwards River on the Millewa/Tocumwal Road, in excess of 100 Rufous Night Herons. Photo shows small section of group. Sorry about the quality, but there was a river between us! Marlene Lyell
	Pale-headed Rosellas Parramatta - near cnr Sorrell & Fennell Streets A flock of three rosellas flew over and landed in a tree behind me. I didn't pay much attention until one flew into a tree in front of me, and then I saw what it was. Turned to look at the other two but they'd gone, so can't say if there were three, or only one Pale- headed. (Suspect that this is a case of aviary escapee) John Cresswell
	Regent Honeyeaters, Square-tailed Kite, Southern Emu-wrens Sub-Station Site, Morisset I managed to track down at least 3 Regent Honeyeaters at the Morisset substation on the western side of Pourmalong Creek. There were lots of honeyeaters feeding with them and a number of Little Lorikeets feeding on the flowering swamp Mahogany. One of the male Regent Honeyeaters was constantly calling and displaying to its mate and sometimes on a dead branch but mostly while hidden away in the foliage. I was watching these birds for about 2 hours I would say and they were quite vocal during that time. Flying overhead was a Square-tailed Kite and I briefly saw 2 large raptors also flying overhead which may have been a pair of Square-tailed Kites. Below the Regent's I was surprised to see a pair of Southern Emu-wrens beside the creek (which I also photographed). Being open forest, it is not typical habitat for them but perhaps they were on the move to more suitable habitat!. Edwin Vella
	grey goshawk warriewood wetlands Grey (white morph) Goshawk with prey at Warriewood wetlands bill mackay
	White-plumed Honeyeater, Yellow Thornbill Lewis Ponds, Orange (33 15S 149 15E 10'cell) Highlights if a mornings birding at Lewis ponds includedWhite-plumed Honeyeater Yellow Thornbill Neville Schrader
Fri 1 Jul	Swift Parrot Britannia Ave Watanobbie Between 80-100 Swift Parrots feeding on lerps in the Spotted Gum park today. Numbers fluctuated alot and the birds were constantly harassed by Noisy Miners and sometimes Currawongs. At one point we counted 75 in one tree and there was another flock in another tree that we couldn't count so 80+ would be conservative at the peak. Weather was ordinary so only a couple of images in sunlight. David Stowe and Grant Brosie
	Painted Button-quail, Scarlet Robin Longneck Road, Mullion Creek East, Orange Painted Button-quail (4) Scarlet Robin (4) Neville Schrader
	Swift Parrot Kuringai Chase NP Twelve birds seen feeding on flowering gum at the Salvation picnic area along with numerous Scarlet Honeyeaters. Carol Abbott and Marie Lister
Wed 29 Jun	Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush & Spotted Bowerbird Quarry site, 15 km NW of Cobar on Louth Road. A single male Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush and 6 Spotted Bowerbirds was reported by Trevor and Annie Quested on the Louth Rd, a location that he previously saw this Quail-thrush many years ago! This note had been posted on Birding-Aus by Trevor from his Iphone. Trevor and Annie Quested, per Alan Morris
	Swift Parrot Watanobbi and Chain Valley Bay South Checked out the Swift Parrots at Watanobbi, north of Wyong today, and found a minimum of 75+ feeding in flowering Spotted Gum, and taking lerps in Spotted Gums and Ironbarks in Spotted Gum Park, Britannia Drive, also in Spotted Gum street trees in nearby Cassia Place and Farnol Grove; We then went onto Chain Valley Bay South, and found 40+ feeding in flowering Blue Gums and Swamp Mahogany near the picnic tables and toilet block at Joshau Porter Reserve. A total of 115+ Swifties for the morning, but no Regent Honeyeaters seen in a one hour survey at the Sub Station Morisset though!, Alan Rogers and Alan Morris
Tue 28 Jun	Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos Audley, Royal National Park A flock of over 300 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos passed over while I was picnicking with friends at Wattle Flat today. Not an unusual bird for this area, but I have never encountered a flock of this size. They appeared from over the ridge to the north, calling and milling about as they passed slowly to the SW. I counted a litle over 300 in the accompanying photograph. Roger Giller
Mon 27 Jun	Australian King-Parrot, Brown-headed Honeyeater, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Grey Fantail Orange Botanical Gardens Australian King-Parrot (1) Brown-headed Honeyeater (5) White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike (1) dark phase Grey Fantail (1) Neville Schrader
Sun 26 Jun	Green Pygmy-Goose Smiths Road Lake, Moonee Beach Still there this arvo Dick Cooper
	Pacific Baza Acacia Gardens (near Blacktown), NSW at least one bird present over the past 2 weeks. Edwin Vella
	Powerful Owl Western Sydney Parklands- Glendenning (nr Blacktown), NSW Adult Powerful Owl still present yesterday afternoon. Edwin Vella
Sat 25 Jun	Noisy Pitta, Chestnut-rumped Heathwren, Rockwarbler, Tawny-crowned Honeyeater Wattle Forest A single call and a brief glimpse helped me locate the Noisy Pitta before the start of the CBOC outing, but no further observations were recorded. Wattamolla proved more fruitful with good views of Chestnut-rumped Heathwren, Rockwarbler, Tawny-crowned Honeyeater and the spectacle of a pod of Humpback Whales swimming close to shore. Mark Fuller and 20+ CBOC members
	White-fronted Terns (1 banded), Red Knot (1), Osprey (1), Double-banded Plover (5) Long Reef - Collaroy, NSW (Sydney's Northern Beaches) Last Saturday morning I spent a couple of hours at Long Reef to get some shorebird pics. Like my previous visit back in March, I saw an Osprey take off from the reef which did a few circles and then headed westwards. On the reef I had 5 Double-banded Plovers (a few assuming breeding plumage), a Red Knot, 1 Ruddy Turnstone, 2 Grey-tailed Tattlers and 3 White-fronted Tern (including one pale individual). When I looked at my photos I was also surprised that I photographed a White-fronted Tern with a metal band (see photo) which I was not aware of when I took the shot. I wonder who banded it? Edwin Vella
	Little Lorikeet Mount Annan Botanic Gardens, Campbelltown Four birds observed in Forest Red Gums along the Stolen Generation memorial track. Martin Potter
	Little Lorikeet Kooreal Street Kincumber Observed foraging in Swamp Mahogany Eucalyptus robusta with large flock of Rainbow Lorikeets. Warren Brown
	Sooty Owl Southern end of Lady Carrington Drive, Royal National Park An unsuccessful spotlighting, but successful listening, attempt for Sooty Owl. Prior to heading out to a dinner with family, we headed out to the southern end to see if we could find any owls, and we managed to locate (by ear) a whistling Sooty that went on to make the, as described by the Morcombe iPhone app, "insect like trill" - we both believe there were more than 1 bird - most likely 2 making the trill, although only 1 answering my attempts at the whistle. I'll be back in the very near future to try for photos, when I don't have a dinner to attend! Troy Mutton
Thu 23 Jun	Australasian Bittern North Creek Ballina In the wetlands adjacent to Ballina aerodrome an Australasian Bittern was inadvertently flushed from a drainage channel. The bird flew 50m before crashing into thick swampy vegetation not far from our location. Brendan Cook
Tue 21 Jun	Pacific Baza Yallah Powerstation, Wollongong/Shellharbour Three Pacific Baza's spotted perched amongst Woolybutts and Forest Red Gums in the Illawarra Lowland Grassy Woodland. Apparently summer migrants to the Illawarra, makes this a strange sighting given it''s the middle of winter. Lucas McKinnon
Mon 20 Jun	Australasian Grebe Lord Howe Island Single bird seen in pond near Airport, subsequently seen by others 21 & 22/6. Last recorded in 1975. Paul Bruty
Tue 12 Apr	Pheasant Coucal Grafton Seen on the Gwydir Highway between Glen Innes and Grafton but closer to Grafton Curtis Hayne, Ryan, Chris
Sat 29 Jan	Pacific Baza 20km E of Moree (Pecan Nut Farm) An immature Baza was sitting in a tree in the same spot for about 20mins. Later, we walked further and saw another immature and an adult. Then, another adult flew over the creek to us. So there was 4 Bazas in total. Curtis Hayne, Ainslee Lines, Lewis Macey, Davin Jackson

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.

===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================