Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 28 Aug 2011.

Sun 28 Aug	Glossy Black-Cockatoos Patonga A flock of 9 Glossy Black Cockatoos seen over the southern end of Patonga Beach this morning, heading out towards the forests on Pacific Head across the inlet. Robert Griffin
	Swift Parrot Tuggerawong (Central Coast) 100 or more Swift parrots feeding in 8 or so flowering Forest Red Gum (Euc. tereticornis) at the Tuggerawong Shopping Village, mid afternoon. The trees were dripping with them, but hardly any other birds. Impossible to count accurately, but there were 15-20 ++ in each of 4-5 red gums at the entrance to the trailor park, and more in gums further inside the park. We'd earlier seen about 20 Swifties at Chain Valley Bay South boat ramp in the late morning, feeding in Lemon Scented Gum (Corymbia citrifolia). We found no Swifties (and no Regent Honeyeaters either) at Morriset Substation during the mid morning, where a few Swamp Mahogany (Euc. robusta) continue to flower and bud. David James & Ian McAllan
	Speckled Warbler Cobbitty, NSW Two Speckled Warblers seen on the Kirkham Rise Estate near the corner of Cobbitty Road and Macquarie Grove Road at Cobbitty. Other birds seen included Varied Sittella, Peaceful Dove, Weebill, Buff-rumped Thornbill, Weebill, Jacky Winter, Tree Martin and Striated Pardalote. Michael Paul
Sat 27 Aug	Zebra Finch Rhodes waterfront (near Ikea) 12 Zebra Finches feeding in the grass near a waterfront playground. A cyclist decided to ride through the middle of them, at which point they decamped over the water to Olympic Park. Tony and Johanna Keene
	Litte Lorikeet, Varied Sittella & Shining Bronze-Cuckoo Sub-Station Site, Morisset Despite spending over an hour at the site (1200-1300 hrs) and with 15 observers, there was no sightings made of Regent Honeyeaters in the vicinity of the Sub-station. There is still plenty of flowering in the Swamp Mahoganys, which are dominated by Noisy Friarbirds! 8+ Little Lorikeets were seen, together with 5 Varied Sitellas, and a Shining Bronze-Cuckoo was heard and seen. The usual combination of smaller honeyeaters, viz White-cheeked, Brown-headed, White-naped & Yellow-faced, along with Eastern Spinebills was present. Alan Morris & members of a Follow That Bird trip
	Black-necked Stork Casino North, Barling St wetland Black-necked Stork (1) dark eye, adult Kathy Wilk
	Red-necked Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits et al Stockton sandspit, Newcastle The highlight of a day-trip to the lower Hunter estuary was a late afternoon visit to Stockton sandspit - at least 300 Red-necked Avocets, approx 100 Eastern Curlews, approx 100 Bar-tailed Godwits (many with traces of breeding plumage), 5 Black-tailed Godwits (first spotted by Graham Buchan amongst the incoming Bar-tails), 14 Curlew Sandpipers (several with remnant breeding plumage), 2 Red Knots (1 with remnant breeding plumage), 3 Whimbrels, at least 6 Red-capped Plovers, a pair of Pied Oystercatchers, 9 Gull-billed Terns (2 adults + juv/imm.), a Caspian Tern and a Swamp Harrier. Robert Griffin and Graham Buchan
	Swift Parrot, Fantailed Cuckoo, Varied Sittella Joshua Porter Reserve, Chain Valley Bay south 30+ Swift Parrots feeding in the same flowering trees, Blue Gums, Forest Red Gums & Swamp Mahoganys as when they were first sighted on 24/4/2011. They have now been at the same site for 4 months. 3+ Fantailed Cuckoos calling strongly and a group of 10 Varied Sittellas in the adjacent bushland. A lan Morris and 15 participants of a Follow That Bird Trip
	Swift Parrot Cadonia Rd Tuggerawong 100+ Swift Parrots feeding in flowering Forest Red Gum and some Swamp Mahogany, in an area of about 1 square kilometre, in the suburbs of Tuggerawong/Wyongah, on the western shore of Tuggerah Lake. Many Noisy Friarbirds but these were mainly confined to the Coral Trees and Swamp Mahoganys Alan Morris & 15 participants of a Follow That Bird Trip
	Red-necked Stint, Ruddy Turnstone, Grey-tailed Tattler, Sooty Oystercatchers Long Reef Marine Reserve Red-necked Stints are back again after an absence of about a month. 7 birds were seen. All were in varying degrees of moult into non-breeding plumage, some more than others. 4 Grey-tailed Tattlers with one still with plenty of barring on the breast. 7 Ruddy Turnstones and 6 Sooty Oystercatchers were also seen. One Sooty with very brownish plumage. Also 1 White-fronted Tern amongst the Crested Terns and Silver Gulls. Mark Young
	White morph Southern Giant-Petrel offshore Sydney An adult white morph Southern Giant-Petrel was seen close to a whale carcass about 6 kms off Bondi. Out at the shelf break, there were no prions at all in contrast to a couple of weeks ago. Only four albatross species, Providence Petrels, a few Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and two Brown Skuas indicated taht it was a quiet day offshore. Roger McGovern
	Glossy Black Cockatoo Kingspoint / Ulladulla 3 Glossies seen feeding in the Black She Oak in the backyard. One being very young with the parents in attendance. Although moderately common due to the many Allocasuarinas in the area they are the first for more than 3-4 weeks. Bob Rusk
Fri 26 Aug	Red-necked Avocet Sydney Olympic Park The Red-necked Avocet previously observed on the sand bar outside the front of the bird hide at the water bird refuge was still there today. Thanks to Jenny for this record, a lifer for me to. Deryk Engel
	Banded Lapwing Queens Park, Centennial Park I was walking home the first time in ages today through Queens Park, near Centennial Park in Sydney's eastern suburbs when I looked up to see a Banded Lapwing staring at me about 5m away. The park was a hive of activity with kid's soccer games and walking dogs but the lapwing seemed fairly unfazed and not overly cautious. Frank Hemmings per C Charles
	Brolga Hastings River Drive Port Macquarie 3 seen just off the road 400m WSW of Fernbank Creek bridge Hastings River Drive, Port Macquarie at 4.25pm. Not seen here since the flood rains last summer. Ian Kerr
	Barn Owl Dickinson Avenue, Croydon, Sydney An injured Barn Owl was being attacked by two crows outside my house. I attempted to follow it so I could trap it for WIRES but I lost it. I hope it managed to recover and get away. Merrie Caruana
	Square-Tailed Kite Ulladulla First sighting by me of a S.T Kite this season although a mate reckons he seen one 3 wks ago. There's a nest site in Mollymook I'm hoping was a kite's nest from last season which I'll keep an eye on. With the warmer weather arriving all the Prions and Brown Skuas seem to have disappeared off shore. Bob Rusk
	Swift Parrot Dora Creek Still Swifties at northern bank at end of Narenta St. Baz Tranter per C Charles
Thu 25 Aug	Topknot Pigeon firetrail end of Wearden Rd Frenchs Forest Oxford Falls Trig 6 flew overhead, then North, late afternoon. Pink feet, pink on head ,Larger than common Rock Dove Dorothy Price
	Square-tailed Kite Murrumbung HSD Mardi near Tuggerah While enjoying morning tea on the verandah with John & Carole Carpenter, at their house at Mardi, for a period of an hour we were entertained by a Square-tailed Kite that circled over the Bell Miner colony at their house. Other birds present included Brown Cuckoo-doves and Yellow-faced Honeyaters who were not disturbed by the Kite. Carole & John Carpenter, Alan Morris
Wed 24 Aug	Brolga Hastings River Dr. Port Macquarie They are back, Two last year, three this year. Baby? Seen in the paddocks of Hastings River Drive, Port Macquarie Phill Shelley
	Barred Cuckoo-shrike, Spotless Crake and Sacred Kingfisher The Rocks Village, Gordon Yound Dve South West Rocks A Barred Cuckoo-shrke was seen in the village in a fig tree on 18/8/11, where my first Sacred Kingfisher was seen and heard on 24/8/11, an early date. On 22/8/11 at nearby Jerseyville, there was a Spotless Crake in Boyters Lane Lagoon. Ken Shingleton per Alan Morris
	Apostlebird Alroy Park, Plumpton Six Apostlebirds seen after being absent for the winter months. This small group regularly breed here and have successfully raised young in past years. Two pairs were busy collecting mud from the puddles and had started to build nests. It's good to see these residents from country NSW thriving in Sydney's western suburbs. Mark Fuller
	Red-necked Avocet Sydney Olympic Park Red-necked Avocet (1) At the Waterbird refuge, opposite the hide, on a little spit with stilts and ducks. Flew to the far side of the refuge. Kindly pointed out to me by another bird-watcher. First sighting of this bird for me, so many thanks! Have photos. Jenny Stiles
Tue 23 Aug	Glossy Black-Cockatoo and Satin BowerbIrd Mount Seaview Estimated 25-30 Gloosy Black Cockatoos in casurinas on the property I live at in Mt Seaview NSW. Also average of 20 Satin Bower Birds in our front lawn, male and females and two bowers also. The bower birds are always around in large groups all day everyday, and the Glossy Black-cockatoos have been hanging around for about the last two weeks, but yesterday was the largest sighting I have seen so far. I hope that this information can be helpful to your organisation. Thank-you. Jessica Campbell
	Glossy Ibis Barlings St Casino 3 Glossy ibis on the eastern swamp. No sign of the Painted Snipe, probably due to the high water level. Barlings St was under 30 cm of water.There were excellent views of Lathams Snipe and Buff-banded Rails feeding. Rob Morrow
	Swift Parrots Dora Creek, Hunter Valley 98 Swift Parrots were seen this morning feeding on Forest Red Gum (Euc. tereticornis) blossom at Dora Ck. Originally found by Colin Goodenough on 17th August were 60 odd birds were seen. Steve Roderick
Mon 22 Aug	White-fronted Tern Town Beach, Port Macquarie A flock of 33 White-fronted Terns were sheltering from the stormy conditions on Town Beach. There were still several present today (25/8/11) however the Australian Surf Titles are taking place on the beach and it is a bit hectic. Tim Morris
	Grey Currawong Pierce's Lookout, Bells Line of Road Sited one on the road down to the start of the walk to Pierce's Lookout. Chris and Jane Gregory
	Southern Boobook Orange Botanical Gardens Southern Boobook (1) harassed by Noisy Miners, Blue-faced Honeyeaters and Red Wattlebirds Neville Schrader
	Blue-billed Duck, Great Crested Grebe Fairy Hill lagoon, north of Casino NSW 9 Blue-billed Ducks were observed on the eastern end of the lagoon. Both male and females were observed. 2 Grebe were also observed in the same part of the lagoon. David Charley
	Lathams Snipe Barling Street, Casino five Latham's Snipe were observed in the wetland to the east of Barling Street near the Painted Snipe site. The Painted Snipe first sighted by Steve McBride were still present despite the water level rising over the weekend. David Charley
Sun 21 Aug	Black-necked Stork Coral ville road, aout 10 kms east of moorland, nr Crowdy bay Nat park Single adult male Jabiru in good condition. 1.4 mtrs. feeding in boggy swale on dairy property about 20 metres off the road. Accompanied by Straw-necked Ibis. Watched feeding for about 10 minutes. Flew off Ntheast towards Johns river state forrest. Georgie Jackson
Mon 15 Aug	Tawny Frogmouth Track at end of Ralston Ave Belrose At 9 am when walking the dog I heard the call oom oom oom etc etc and located it perched about 3 metres up in a small red bloodwood. dorothy price

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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