Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 25 Sep 2011.

Sun 25 Sep	Arctic Jaeger and Brown Skua Mistral Point, Maroubra When the weather finally dried up, great conditions for seabirds produced : 10,200 Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, 15 Short-tailed Shearwaters, 2 Sooty Shearwaters, 5 Huttons Shearwaters, over a hundred Fluttering Shearwaters, 3 Giant Petrels (sp), 4 Black-browed Albatross, 2 Shy (type) Albatross, 1 Brown Skua, 1 Arctic Jaeger and Humpback Whales (2) still going North ! David Mitford
Sat 24 Sep	Osprey Botany Bay National Park, near Cape Banks Adult osprey observed at very close range on the cliff tops near Cape Banks, before it was seen off by the local kestrel. Fiona Brook
	Zebra Finch Rhodes waterfront (near Ikea) Flock of 12 Zebra Finches present again in the same park on the waterfront. Heaps of New Holland and White-plumed Honeyeaters and some very tame White-faced Herons Tony and Johanna Keene
	Channel-billed Cuckoo Bundeena, southern Sydney, Royal National Park Two heard then observed around 6.00 this morning, our first for the season. Deryk and Leslie Engel
	Great Crested Grebe Eastlakes Golfcourse A single adult Great Crested Grebe among the other usual suspects this morning. Troy Mutton and Therese Alting
Fri 23 Sep	Banded Lapwing Jerseyville Turf farms, South west Rocks Two pairs of Banded Lapwings are nesting at the Jerseyville turf Farms, The nests are about 50m apart. This is a rare event for the North Coast and particularly for the Macleay Valley. On 30/8/11 Laurie McEnally saw 5 Banded Lapwings at Barnetts Lagoon, Gladstone, a few Kms east of Kempsey. The Banded Lapwings have been at Jerseyville since mid August. Ken Shingleton per Alan Morris
	Pallid Cuckoo Wilberforce Pallid cuckoo calling most of morning. keith brandwood
Thu 22 Sep	Gull-billed Tern Pipeclay Point, Gorokan, NSW A group of approx. 20 feeding amongst Caspian and Crested Terns, Silver Gulls, Australian Pelicans, Little Pied and Little Black Cormorants feeding around commercial fishermen on Tuggerah Lakes. Carl Clifford
	Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Latham's Snipe Lake Bathurst (the Morass) Great morning birding yesterday!! One Sharpy, at least 20 Snipe , Whiskered Tern, Banded Lapwing, 100 + Black-winged Stilts.. more than 400 ducks, mostly Teal but no Freckled Ducks that I could see. Scott Ryan
	Freckled Duck, Blue-billed Duck Gum Swamp, Forbes Freckled Ducks are back, 3 seen on logs at eastern end of swamp as well as 2 very blue Blue-billed Ducks. Sea Eagle fledged chick still in nest with adult sitting some distance away. Rosemary Stapleton
	White-necked Herons Wilford Lane Wetlands Ulladulla/Milton Good number of birds are to be seen on the exposed mud at the wetlands including, 2 - White-necked Herons, which are seldom seen here. Plus 1 Pacific Golden Plover, 6- Sharpies,4- Red-kneed Dotterels, 38 - Black- fronted Dotterels and 60 - Black-winged Stilts Almost all of these wetlands at the top end of Burrill Lake, are on private property but all 3 owners are very obliging if permission is sought before entering as there's young livestock involved. . bob rusk
	Peregrine Falcon War Memorial Park, Leichhardt, Sydney The falcon had caught a pigeon and flew past with it's prey heading towards Fort Street High School. I have seen it a few times around the school and particularly on top of the large orange Kennard's Hire building. Simon Gorta
	Brahminy Kite Laurieton NSW Single bird observed circling high above Laurieton in strong NE winds Stephen John Gallivan
Wed 21 Sep	Black-faced Monarch Sawtell First return Sawtell, present at base of Boambee Headland along with singing Leaden Flycatchers, which first reported here yesterday (Michael Cheers 20/9 #95700). Olive-backed Oriole also singing persistently. Michael Cheers & Peter Higgins
	Grey Goshawk-White Morph Brunswick Heads-Pacific Highway Northern NSW Pulled up nicely onto one of those long bar street lights not far off the highway-daytime. Beautiful sheet white. Duncan Fowler
	Tasman Parakeet Norfolk Island 2 week birding trip to Norfolk Island. Only 3 Tasman Parakeets (Green Parrots) were sighted. Each on a separate day at the Botanic Gardens, Palm Glen walk, and Captain Cook walk. All other endemics were sighted in reasonable numbers. White-breasted White-eye not seen. Crimson Rosellas abundant in every habitat. Jon Spicer-Bell
	Brown Songlark Billeroy Road, Just North Of Coonamble 3 birds seen, up until recently there have ben few Brown Songlarks in this Region Steve Edwards
	Brolga Billeroy Road, Just north of Coonamble 5 birds seen on the left heading North Steve Edwards
	Latham's Snipe North Curl Curl Seen today around Manly Selective Campus were a Latham's Snipe, flushed from the reed-beds, a Koel heard calling, Channel-billed Cuckoo flying over, Australian Reed-Warblers calling, and a single female Mistletoe Bird. Nathan Ruser
	Banded Lapwing Bungendore Sewage Ponds One Banded Lapwing in the paddock to the north of the ponds. Alastair Smith
	Australian Shelduck, Red-capped Plover Lake George (SW corner inc Lake Road) 3 Australian Shelduck and 21 Red-capped Plover observed on Lake George. Alastair Smith
	Topknot Pigeon Yaralla, Concord Five Topknot Pigeons in a fruiting Moreton Bay Fig. Channel-billed Cuckoo (1), Sacred Kingfisher (1), Brown Honeyeater (1) and Brown Goshawk were other highlights of the walk this morning. Dion Hobcroft
Tue 20 Sep	Dollarbird & Bee-Eaters Hawks Nest area Dollarbird on power line beside Mungo Brush Rd (seen twice, 11.15 and around 14.00) 3 or more Rainbow Bee-Eaters in dunes area between Bennetts Beach and Jimmy's Beach. Jill Rossiter & Sue Casson
	Little Shearwater, Grey Ternlet Phillip Island (Norfolk Island) Highlights of a daytrip to Phillip Island was Little Shearwater on both the trip out and trip back to Norfolk. Also many Grey Ternlets at the summit and on the eastern rocks, some with eggs. Could not locate any of the breeding Petrel species, presumably too early in year. Jon Spicer-Bell
	Rufous Songlark Mason Park, Homebush Bay Another different Rufous Songlark (not blind in one eye) present in the blustery conditions today along the main path next to the canal. 23 Sharpies and 1 Curlew Sandpiper. Could not relocate Rose Robin. Dion Hobcroft
	Leaden Flycatcher, White-breasted Woodswallows, Dollarbird Sawtell First Leaden Flycatcher today on Boambee Headland. Bee eaters and White-breasted Woodswallows flying over earlier in week. My brother spotted first Dollarbird for season today, he beat me again. Michael Cheers
	Eastern Koel, Channel-billed Cuckoo Gladesville, Sydney Individuals of both species calling over the past two days. Max Breckenridge
	Bush stone-curlew Avalon My Brother informed me of a curlew at a bus stop looking at his reflection in the window at 8.am today I arrived at 12 midday it was still there. Facing north on Barrenjoey Rd opp Whale Beach Rd. (Moderator's Note: This bird was banded at as a chick at Umina High School Band No. 101-23876, and has been in the Avalon area for most of the year) Tony Dawe
Mon 19 Sep	Painted Honeyeater, Red-backed Kingfisher,Mulga Parrot, Diamond Dove Binya State Forest, Yenda in the section of the State Forest that is east of the Barellan Road, there were 4 Painted Honeyeaters calling and showing well, near the dam and a known site for this species. At the same location was a Red-backed Kingfisher. On the other side of the road at Wattle Dam, there were 4 Mulga Parrots, 6+ Diamond Doves, 2 Painted Button-quail, and a number of Diamond Firetails, Sittellas & Southern Whitefaces. Robyn Price and 9 other members of CCGBNSW
	Superb Parrot, Grey-crowned Babbler Morongla Cemetery 12 Superb Parrots and 2 Grey-crowned Babblers observed at the cemetary. Alastair Smith
	Rose Robin/Rufous Songlark Mason Park, Homebush Bay Single immature male (sexed by song) Rose Robin in Acacia grove in south east corner. Single Rufous Songlark (blind in right eye) by canal on North Strathfield side in lomandra thicket. Follows on from a significant number fallout of wandering-migrating bush birds seen yesterday that included at least 4 Rufous Whistlers, a Golden Whistler, an Eastern Spinebill and an Olive-backed Oriole. High count of 18 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and 2 Curlew Sands also yesterday (18 Sep) Dion Hobcroft
	White-browed and Masked Woodswallows Kurri Kurri, Hunter Valley A flock of about 60 birds (mixed) flew over Weston near Kurri Kurri, also on 18th, 3 flocks over Broke near Cessnock, one numbering 300+. Steve Roderick
	Caspian Tern, Black-winged Stilt, Red-capped Plover Lake George (on Private Property) I spent about an hour out on the edge of the wet area this using a scope to try to penetrate the heat haze. No luck with Aus Pratincoles but at least 12 red-capped Plovers on the mud; 11 Black-winged Stilts out in the water and a Caspian Tern sitting on a nearly submerged bit of ex-fence post. Martin Butterfield
Sun 18 Sep	Ground Cuckoo-shrike, Brown Falcon Koonadan rd Koonadan, nr Leeton About 3 kms from Leeton on the Koonadan Rd a group of 5 Ground Cuckoo-shrikes were seen perched on the road side fence about 1200 hrs. On our return at 1400hrs the birds were still there. Other birds present included a Brown Falcon, Nankeen Kestel and 2 Cockatiel Joy Kane & 9 other mengers of the CCGBNSW
	Red-necked Avocet, Magpie Goose, Baillon's Crake, Glossy Ibis Fivebough Swamp, Leeton About 2 hours spent at Fivebough Swamp, highlights were 60+ Red-necked Avocets, 4 Magpie Geese, 30 Glossy Ibis, 5 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, 3 Blue-billed Duck, 200+ Australian Shoveller, 3 Baillon's Crake, Spotted & Spotless Crake both heard calling, 1 Buff-banded Rail, small numbers of Pinkears many Stilts and Grey Teal.. Deryk Engel & 9 other members of CCGBNSW
	Australian Pratincole & Australian Spotted Crake Monkeygar Creek, Gibsons Way, Macquarie Marshes 1 pair of each of these seen from the Gibson Way. Steven Edwards
	White-browed Woodswallow Mcpherson Rd Swamp, Tuggerah 100-150 Woodswallows up very high at 10am. First noticed by call. No Masked Woodswallows amoungst them that i could see. Tim Faulkner
	Freckle Duck and White-fronted Chat Lake Bathurst A pair of fleckle Duck's and a large group of White-fronted Chat's seen western side of the lake. Brendan Sheean
	White-browed Woodswallow Armidale, NSW A swirling flock of 70-100 White-browed Woodswallows flew over a property just off Rockvale Road, just to the north of Armidale, at 12:45. Interestingly, coincides with reports in Bellinger Valley on same day and Capertee Valley 'over the weekend' reported on Birding-Aus. Viewing conditions were far from ideal and most of the birds were very high, behaving rather like swifts. In those viewing conditions and with that many birds it is possible that other woodswallows were present, but all I heard were White-browed. Peter Higgins
	Wood Sandpiper, Australian Pratincole Dubbo STW First record for Wood Sandpiper at Dubbo, first Pratincole for many years (known to local birdos, anyway!). Both single birds. Tim Hosking, David Geering
	Rufous Songlarks (8 plus), Stubble Quail Richmond-Windsor Turf Farms This morning a pair of Restless Flycatchers were nesting, a number of Rufous Songlarks foraging on the ground beside Triangle Lane, a family of Black-shouldered Kites, flocks of Zebra Finches as well as hearing Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo, Banded Lapwing and 2 Stubble Quail. Edwin Vella and Mark Fuller
	Rufous Songlarks (2) South Street, Marsden Park (10km west of Blacktown CBD) A pair of Rufous Songlarks were seen foraging on the gorund next to the quarantine station and beside South Street in Marsden Park. Edwin Vella and Mark Fuller
	Masked Woodswallow, White-browed Woodswallow King Creek, Wauchope A small flock of 15-20 Masked and White-browed Woodswallows over my place around 1640 hours. The preponderence were White-browed Woodswallows. Uncommon visitors here and very unexpected. With the inland drying out and the past good breeding seasons, maybe species are staring to move eastward early. Clive Meadows & Louise Earnshaw
	Dollarbird Lyndale Avenue, Port Macquarie The first Dollarbird for the season arrived with the north westerly wind. Also this morning a Noisy Pitta calling from the adjacent wet gully, my first record for this site. Tim Morris
Sat 17 Sep	Square-tailed kite, Superb Parrot, Rufous Songlark Five Mile Reserve, east of Narrandera A single Square-tailed kite was seen at 1700 hrs at Five Mile Reserve on the backed up waters of the Murrumbidgee River. Several Superb Parrots were also seen as well as Rufous Songlark and Brown Treecreepers. No sign of the Barking Owl known to frequent the site. Carole Carpenter & 9 members of the CCGBNSW
	Square-tailed Kite, Superb Parrots & White-bellied Sea-eagle Lake Talbot Caravan Park, Narrandera A Square-tailed Kite flew over the Caravan Park, which is located high up over the back-up waters of the Murrumbidgee River, Up to 18 Superb Parrots were seen daily flying over in small groups. On 16/9 2 White-bellied Sea-eagles and a Whistling kite were seen inter-acting at the same place. Alan Morris & 9 members of CCGBNSW
	White-browed & Masked Woodswallows Back Yamma S.F. An amazing sight of over a hundred Woodswallows! Also Black Falcon, Black-eared Cuckoo, Superb Parrot (6). Lorand Szucs
	Little Tern Beach at Old Bar 3 Little Terns were seen flying parallel to the coastline at Old Bar, just outside the breeding enclosure, south of the Manning River estuary. The birds seen there were in non-breeding plumage. Michael Dahlem
	Banded Lapwing Beach at Old Bar 1 Banded Lapwing seen on the beach just metres to the south of the Manning River estuary at Old Bar. It was foraging on top of the sand dune, near the Little Tern breeding enclosure. Michael Dahlem
	masked owls 1 km stretch outside of holbrook towards sydney On Saturday 17th September I was driving from Melbourne to Sydney, I drove out of Holbrook with the thought that I would make Sydney before dark to get my daughter Bodhi who had arrived with her mother earlier that day… as I entered around the first bend and came upon the new frontier of road I came across a dead masked owl on the side of the road… how did I know it was an owl, as a dyslexic, as an artist, or just as an inquisitive child, I often see, not the l gav barbey
	Singing Honeyeater Katang Nature Reserve At the Perpendicular Point whale watching platform there was a single Singing Honeyeater apparently being harrassed by a Brown Honeyeater. Interestingly this is the second time I have seen a Singing Honeyeater this far east, the last time at Long Reef in March 1993 Peter West
	Turquoise Parrot Warrumbungle Nat Pk pair seen next to Burbie canyon car park, many birds around in general through park including White Bellied Cuckoo Shrike, Speckled warblers (many), Spotted Qail Thrush at White Gum Lookout. Ian Francis
	Blue-billed and Pink-eared Ducks, Australasian Shoveler Lithgow STW At the Lithgow STW yesterday morning saw a pair of Blue-billed Duck, about 10 Australasian Shovelers, 10 Pink-eared Ducks, 20 or so Hardhead and about 10 Hoary-headed Grebes. Also at Lithgow, I saw a Wedge-tailed Eagle and a Brown Falcon was also heard calling. Edwin Vella
	Australasian Figbird Campbelltown, NSW Single bird observed from from 12th to 17th September at Campbelltown - the location being an urban park in the Park Central Estate (not far from the Macarthur Square Shopping Centre). This is my first record of this species in the Campbelltown/Camden region after many years of bird surveys in the district. Michael Paul
	Eastern Koel Cappers Gully, East Gosford first for season in Cappers Gully. Warren Brown
	Black-necked Stork Pioneer Dairy Wetlands A single bird making a return visit. Andrew Melville
Fri 16 Sep	Black Kite Port Macquarie settling ponds Four circling raptors at the settling ponds on Lake Rd produced the usual Whistling Kite, two Swamp Harriers and surprisingly a Black Kite Peter West
Sat 10 Sep	Cattle Egrets and Glossy Ibis Belmore & Kinchela Creeks, Macleay Valley A concerted effort by several observers counted 4800 Cattle Egrets on the flood plains and wetlands of the Belmore River and Kinchela Creek, SW of South West Rocks. Duing this time large numbers of Cattle Egrets are roosting at the Boyters Lane Birdhide, Jerseyville, max 1250 on 2/9/2011. Also 250 Glossy Ibis and 300 Black-winged Stilts were at Seales rd Swamp, Belmore River on 10/9/11. The large numbers of Cattle Egrets are reminescent of the times prior to the drought, in the early 2000s. Ken Shingleton per Alan Morris
	Apostlebird Pinegrove cemetary, Minchinbury (western Sydney) found about 10 birds with 2 nesting pairs in casuarinas here. Don't think they've been reported breeding in this area before Chris Chafer
	Orange Chat 'Chat Alley', near Lake Cargelligo Orange Chat. A flock of 6 including one male that landed on the fence. Had very good views. Anthony & Vicki Katon
Thu 1 Sep	Brown Songlark Wattamolla, Royal NP Wed. 21st, near cliff edge at clearing with tall pole just south of Wattamolla. 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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