Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 4 Sep 2011.

Sun 4 Sep	Banded Lapwings (at least 13) Windsor-Richmond Turf Farms I managed to do a short run in the turf farms this monring an saw at least 13 Banded Lapwings (3 birds seen at the Windsor end beside Cornwallis Rd and another 10 birds together just of Cornwells Lane and opposite the playing fields close to Richmond). This is my highest count for quite a while at the turf farms but still shy of the 81 birds I saw there back in 1994. I also observed male Kestrel drop down into the grass a few metres in front of me then perch on a nearby post to feed on its prey (being a small skink). Edwin Vella
	Red-capped Robin Castlereagh Nature Reserve One male observed John Cresswell
	Rockwarbler Bundanoon (Morton National Park) A pair of Rockwarblers were seen by the side of the road between Beachamp Cliffs and Bonnie View, mid-morning. I've found this species to be surprisingly elusive in the Bundanoon area, though local birders have seen them on occasions (I've been hoping to bump into a Rockwarbler for nearly a year). One of the two was calling continuously over the five minutes they were near me - I was surprised at how widely the bird opened its fine bill. Bird no. 126 for the Bundanoon area; my first Origma for the Southern Highlands. Lorne Johnson
	Brush Cuckoo, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Shinning Bronze-cuckoo Megalong Valley (Cox's Creek Campground) Highlights of a weekend camping trip to Megalong Valley were 3 returned cuckoo species: Brush, Fan-tailed, and Shining Bronze-Cuckoo. I also managed to spotlight a number of Owlet nightjars and saw a Wedge-tailed Eagle fly over. Joshua Bergmark
	White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike, Varied Sitella, Crested Shrike-Tit, Striated Thornbill Mitchell Park, Cattai Good mornings birding with many Scarlet and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters. Highlight was a single White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike (only the 2nd time I have seen this species here) and also less usual was a small party of Striated Thornbill. Simon Blanchflower
Sat 3 Sep	Swift Parrots Ku-ring-gai Chase NP (Resolute picnic area) At least 2 Swift Parrots heard on the other side of the road of the Resolute picnic area.They were calling in the trees above our heads but despite us looking hard, they remained unseen (which is quite typical of this species). We also had a very tame Brush Turkey in this picnic area and a small flock of Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos. Edwin Vella and Follow That Bird
	Wandering Tattler Norfolk Island 2899 Observed x5 Wandering Tattlers on the Reef feeding at low tide down Kingston Pier. White Terns are arriving back checking out nesting trees. Black Noddies starting to arrive and a couple of hundred Grey Ternlets back on off shore rocks, Cooks Pt. side. John & Sue O'Malley
	Fairy Martin King Creek, Wauchope 6 Fairy Martins overhead. My first sighting of the season for up here. Clive Meadows
	Diamond Firetail, Great Crested Grebe Wonga Wetlands, near Albury SE NSW At least 3 Diamond Firetails feeding with Red-browed Finches on lawn area. One pair Great Crested Grebe seen on the water. Emma Razeng
	California Quail Towradgi scrub, Illawarra NSW one male individual by himself beside the footpath, and later a group of 6, 3 females and 3 males. Not shy. Caitlin Woods
Fri 2 Sep	Powerful Owl Devlins Creek Lane Cove Nat Pk 2 fledged Powerful Owls in large Sydney Peppermint along Devlins Creek this afternoon , downstream from the junction with Byles creek. They looked very large and very contented ! No adults in sight. Ian Francis
	Rainbow Bee-eater Temagog, Kempsey Two Rainbow Bee-eaters seen at the bridge over the Mcleay at Temagog during the Hastings Birdwatchers outing today. Clive Meadows, Frank Loughland & Hastings Birders
Thu 1 Sep	Pacific Baza Cherrybrook Lakes A pair in the Blue Gums. Sighted at the lakes the last week in August for the last 4 years Gabrielle Rees
	Wompoo Fruit-Dove Walka Water Works, Maitland The large Spotted Dove sunning itself this morning turned out to be a Wompoo Fruit-dove. Very unusual for this location with no rainforest or fruiting figs nearby. Grant Brosie
Wed 31 Aug	Rainbow Bee-eater Wauchope First seen this season on the Hastings river looking at the silty bank for nest sites. Ian Kerr
	Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo Bennelong Point, Sydney Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo (only saw one but by calls two or possibly even three) flying high over the Opera House and heading south down the line of Macquarie Street. Any overseas birder would have loved it! Robert Griffin
	Koel Levenstrath via Grafton 2460 At 10.00am female Koel was being mobbed by Noisy Friarbirds, Blue faced Honeyeaters and Noisy Miners in house yard. Greg Clancy said that Russel Jago thought he heard female Koel calling at Ulmarra on 30th. About a month early for this location. Warren Thompson
	White-throated Gerygone Kempsey White-throated Gerygones heard at 2 different locations west of Kempsey, this morning as well as Rufous Whistlers seen and heard. Lots of Grey Fantails moving in too. Clive Meadows, Dave Whitfield & Frank Loughland
Tue 30 Aug	Brush Cuckoo Lyndale Avenue, Port Macquarie First Brush Cuckoo for the season Tim Morris
Mon 29 Aug	Black-winged Stilts Maianbar sand flats 6 Black-winged Stilts seen at Maianbar on the sand flats at 4.00pm on low tide. In the 14 years I've lived here this is my first sighting of them in the area. Photos in separate email. Anne Carrick
	Powerful Owls Smoothey Park Wollstonecraft 4 powerful owls - 2 adult and 2 juvenile were in the eucalypts near the scout hut at the end of Greendale Street Greenwich. One bird is always there but this afternoon there were 4 within 3 metres of each other. Judy Clark
	Grey Goshawk Illawarra Escarpment, Bellawongarah - Private Property Just stepped outside for a short while and heard a call I wasn't sure of then saw a white morph Grey Goshawk fly and land on a Eucalypt limb in wet sclerophyll forest next to our house yard. This is very close to the escarpment above Bundewallah. It was only there for a minute or two as a family of Kookaburras quickly sent it on its way. Carla Jackett
Sun 28 Aug	Ducks, Crakes Lake Cargelligo Sewage Works 4 Aussie Shelducks, 6 Pink-eared Ducks, 6 Aus. Shoveller, 1 Spotless Crake, 12 Baillons Crakes, 12 Black-tailed Native Hens Steve Roderick, Peter Roderick
	Mallee Species Round Hill/Nombinnie NR All the usual suspects, inlcuding 2 pairs Gilberts Whistlers, many Scrub Robins, 6 Shy Heathwrens, 12 Chestnut Quail-thrush, endless White-fronted H/E, 4 Pied H/E and 1 Yellow-plumed H/E. Mallee Eucs. starting to flower, as was all Acacia and Olearia, plus ground herbs. No Mallefowl or Red-lored (a bit early) Steve Roderick, Peter Roderick
	White-throated Gerygone 15 km east of Narrabri (on a private property) Seeing other reports of migrating birds returning, I thought it might be worth to let others know about inland migration: 1 White-throated Gerygone was seen on 28 August, 15 km east of Narrabri. 20 km east of Narrabri I spotted a single Black-eared Cuckoo and a single Pallid Cuckoo already the week before last (third week of August). All these are migrants from the north of Australia. They arrived with a frontal system and inland trough (bringing warm, northerly wind with them) in mid-August. The photo is a bit ordinary, but good enough for ID. The absence of a black throat-band makes it clear that this is not a Golden Whistler. For photos of the Pallid Cuckoo seen recently (the bird seen sitting on a wooden fencepost), click on to "Further information". Michael Dahlem
	Bush Stone-curlew Yarram Road Bensville Two birds heard calling to one another in a small Council park at Yarram Road Bensville in the early evening. Previously only heard on the western side of Empire Bay Drive in Swamp Forest and associated vegetation on the edge of Brisbane Water. Elizabeth Ashby
	Banded Lapwing Cornwallis Turf farms Cornwallis Rd opposite Deerubbin Park. Noticed 4 Banded Lapwings. Tony & Stephanie Dawe
	Powerful Owl Lyndale Avenue, Port Macquarie Powerful Owl calling nearby during the night. Although they are present in the hinterland behind Port Macquarie, bit unusual for one to actually be in town. Tim Morris
	Brush Turkey Cremorne Brush Turkey seen crossing busy road 100 metres from Military Road (one of the busiest roads in Sydney). No nearby bushland so unusual sighting. Charles Hunter
	Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Sydney CBD Buiding facades in Pitt St Sydney, a solitary Sulphur-crested Cockatoo making a great noise. Sheila Walkerden
Sat 27 Aug	Black-eared Cuckoos Nudges Dam Bird Hide, Rankins Springs A pair of Black-eared Cuckoos seen near the birdhide. Steve Roderick, Peter Roderick
Wed 24 Aug	Eastern Curlew, Whimbrel, Scarlet Honeyeater Curalo Lake, Eden 7 Eastern Curlews and 4 Whimbrels were seen feeding on sandflats near the entrance at low tide and two pairs of Scarlet Honeyeaters were observed feeding in dense vegetation adjacent to the boardwalk. Another grey morph Eastern Reef Egret and a Little Egret ( with some breeding plumage ) were also actively feeding along the muddy edges of the lake. Len and Jacquie Axen
Tue 23 Aug	Eastern Curlew, Eastern Reef Egret, Scarlet Honeyeater Wallaga Lakes A pair of Eastern Curlews were observed feeding on shallow sand flats near the mouth of the Wallaga lakes while 4 Scarlet Honeyeaters were seen feeding amongst flowering Sweet Pittosporum after crossing the boardwalk on the way to the entrance of this lake system. At nearby Camel Rock, an Eastern Reef Egret ( grey morph) was observed sunnig itself on a rock stack in the late afternoon sunshine. Len and Jacquie Axen
	Whimbrel, Sooty Oystercatcher, Little Corella Bermagui ocean beach and conservation area A pair of Sooty Oystercatchers were observed along the rocky ocean shoreline immediately north of the harbour while a Whimbrel was seen foraging on an oyster clad sand spit upstream in the Bermagui River. Little Corellas were then heard and seen flying over the mangrove lined conservation area on the outskirts of Bermagui. Len and Jacquie Axen
Mon 22 Aug	Southern Emu-wren, Black-fronted Dotterel Panboola Wetlands, Pambula 53 species were observed during a 3 hour walk around the perimeter of these wetlands. Interesting observations included 6 Southern Emu-wrens, 4 Black-fronted Dotterels, 3 Golden-headed Cisticolas and a Little Grassbird. Len and Jacquie Axen
Sun 21 Aug	Little Egret Merimbula Boardwalk An adult Little Egret was observed feeding amongst some disused oyster racks adjacent to the Merimbula Boardwalk this afternoon. Len and Jacquie Axen
Mon 1 Aug	Powerful Owl Greenwich [Sydney] 29/8 - 11 a.m. Being attacked by 2 Aust. Ravens and a Pied Currawong in a rainforest gully [Gore Creek] Ted Nixon

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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