Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 1 Jan 2012.

Sun 1 Jan	Speckled warbler Long Neck Lagoon Lovely views of 3 speckled warblers along the path going towards the water. Lorna Bloom
	Buff-banded Rail with young Castlereagh, NSW This morning I heard an unusual call from a tall grassy meadow as I walked my dogs near the town of Castlereagh. Upon waiting a while, an adult Buff-banded Rail has poked her head through the grass blades, followed by at least three (that I could see) juveniles. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Silver Gull - First bird for 2012 @ 12.04 am Greenwich First sighting for the new year, terrified silver gulls flying over the house during the fireworks - not seen from this property before. (And a Happy New Yearand good birding in 2012 from all the Moderators!) Judy Clark
Sat 31 Dec	Mangrove Honeyeater Hickey Island, Yamba One Mangrove Honeyeater seen. Also a Varied Triller in the mangroves. Murray Lord
	Pacific Baza Girrakool Walking Track, Brisbane Water NP Gosford Single bird seen at the waterfall and large rock pool on the Girrakool Loop Walk, Brisbane Water NP Robert Payne, per Alan Morris
	Little Bronze Cuckoo Temagog, Kempsey 2 Little Bronze Cuckoos seen during an afternoon walk. This is my first record here since January 2010 but it is a known site for LBC. Matt Hinze
	Varied Sitella, Horsfields Bronze Cuckoo, Nankeen Night Heron Warriewood Wetlands/Irrawong Reserve Small party of Sitellas (7 or 8 birds) at Warriewood boardwalk where it goes into the swamp mahoganies; Night Heron just as boardwalk starts; Cuckoo calling from trees as path runs beside the stream. White Headed Pigeons were calling in Irrawong Reserve and a small flock of Topknot Pigeons flew over and there were several very active and vocal Black faced Monarchsbut I couldn't find the Powerful Owls reported yesterday in Irrawong Reserve. Also 40 Needletails seen over the reserves. Tom Wilson
Fri 30 Dec	Freckled Duck Gum Swamp Forbes Still at least 10 birds present, very quiet and giving good views just West of the hide. Warren Chad
	Greater Sand Plover Shoalhaven Heads Rivermouth One GSP seen while checking on Pied Oystercatchers (photo attached but not the sharpest, I have more if interested but all the same quality). If you would like the full list for the day please email Carla below. 7 adult POC's seen and 3 chicks/juveniles. A little west of the parking area, a Brown Falcon was seen flying overhead. Carla Jackett, Nigel Jackett
	Freckled Duck Corowa Sewage Ponds At least 10 birds, maybe up to 15 seen on the ponds. All were non-breeding or young birds with no red on the bill. Good to see numbers here have increased from 2 a couple of weeks ago. A Pied Cormorant and a young Red-capped Robin were also a couple of interesting sightings, not reported from this site before. Michael Ramsey and Max Breckenridge
	Barred cuckoo-shrike Willi Willi west of Kempsey From a ledge over hanging a deep rain forest. Distance of approx 1 kilometre, saw 2 birds flying among the tree tops, we were guided to this area by Matt Hinz a fellow bird watcher from Wauchope. Also saw approx 20 Topknot pigeons, heard RoseCrowned Fruit Dove and the Wompoo pigeon, also heard Russet tailed thrush, Paradise Rifle Bird and Noisy Pitta. Tony & Stephanie Dawe & Edwin Vella
	Wedge-tailed Eagle Over F3, nr Cowan 2 birds circling over freeway approx 10:15am Tom Wilson
	Square-tailed Kite West Pymble 1 Square-tailed Kite flying north over the Warrowa Avenue part of Avondale Golf Course Max de Beer
	Eastern Bristlebird, /Bassian Thrush Barren Grounds Nature Reserve, Jamberoo Went looking for the Ground Parrot,but no luck this time, but we did see a Bassian Thrush and a pair or of Eastern Bristlebirds on the trail leading to the Stone Bridge. Roger Williams
	Eastern Yellow Wagtail Dead Mangrove Ck, off Wagtail Way, Ash Island A single Yellow Wagtail was seen at 1140 hrs at the edge of a saltmarsh, close to the track that extends from the end of Wagtail Way, across Bell Frog Rd and then across to Dead Mangrove Ck on Ash Island. Just 20m past the metal gate that blocks the track. The bird flew up, then turned and did the usual undulating flight into a mangrove mangrove tree and we did not see it again. The bird was basically dull green on top including back, rump, tail and wings, with the outer tail feathers being more yellow than white. Flanks and vent appeared to be dull yellow. Head and upper parts were dull (brown?), no distinguishing marks noted as it flew away from us! (There was no wing bar or yellow rump - ie not a Grey Wagtail!) Alan Morris & Allan Benson
	Powerful Owl Irrawong Track, Warriewood There were 2 Powerful Owls at the waterfall end of the Irrawong track this morning. They were perched in a coral tree. One was a mature bird and they other appeared to be a young bird moulting into adult plumage.Unfortunately all of the roost trees they used to use have, have been poisoned. Adrian Dick
Thu 29 Dec	Rufous Fantail etc Lady Carrington Dve RNP Audley to Calala produced good numbers of migrants - with 2 Sacred Kingfisher,11 Rufous Fantail, 8 Black -faced Monarch, 2 Rufous Whistlers and a Leaden Flycatcher. Residents seen were - 6 Yellow-throated Scrubwren, 8 Large-billed Scrubwrens, 2 Green Catbirds, and many Satin Bowerbird, mostly brown birds. No partridges in pear trees, though! Greetings to all at Birdline! Harry Roberts
	White-throated Needletail, White-bellied Sea-Eagle Lane Cove Approx 50 WTNT's feeding low down at 4:15pm for about 15 minutes. Not long afterwards my attention was drawn skyward by a strong, goose-like honking sound, which turned out to be a pair of Sea-Eagles cruising rapidly south-west over the house, a surprising addition to the house list. Stephen Mannix
	Azure Kingfisher Narrabeen Lagoon A young Azure Kingfisher seen diving for fish at 2pm. Lucky I had my camera! Location was 300m NW of Jamieson Park sailing club. Paul Tonkin
	Spectacled Monarch Ourimbah Creek RTA Reserve, off Ourimbah Ck Rd, Ourimbah One adult sighted clearly for a couple of minutes about 9:00am - not a bird that I have seen here before. Also one red whiskered Bulbul. Highlights of a pleasant morning there. (Moderator's Note: This is the 3rd season in a row that they have been recorded at this site -AKM) Rex Schmidt
	Eastern Yellow Wagtail Ash Island, Hexham Eastern Yellow Wagtail (2) Seen along Wagtail Way. Very flighty and hard to get close too Grant Brosie
Wed 28 Dec	Buller's Shearwater, Shy(type) Albatross and Long-tailed Jaegers Mistral Point, Maroubra These southerlies are producing excellent seabirding : 1 Buller's Shearwater, 3 Black-browed Albatross, 1 Shy (type) Albatross, 10 Lond-tailed Jaeger (1 with an elongated tail streamer), 9 Pomarine Jaeger, 1 Flesh-footed Shearwater, 1 Hutton's Shearwater, 4 Fluttering Shearwaters and at least 5 pods of inshore Bottle-nosed Dolphins- top day ! David Mitford
	Spotted Crake, Glossy Ibis Pitt Town Lagoon 1 Spotted Crake seen in reeds at the north end of lagoon (ie beyond the mound); 2 Glossy Ibis in the wet paddock near the gate along eastern edge of lagoon; 2 White-bellied Cuckoo Shrikes in trees just behind the mound. A possible Aust Shoveler (larger duck with very orange legs roosting on the far (SW) side but too far away for a positive ID (Could have been a Mallard, they have yellow legs -Moderator). Also an immature Peregrine, Swamp Harrier, WB Sea Eagle and a Red-bellied Black Snake. NB - Lagoon area very wet and soggy underfoot - wellies highly recommended Tom Wilson
Tue 27 Dec	White-throated Honeyeaters Woombah Saw at least 4 White-throated Honeyeaters at the same location as I saw them last year on the main road to Illuka. Also seen at the same location were 6 of the pale-headed race of Varied Sitellas. Edwin Vella, Tony and Stephanie Dawe
	White-eared Monarch Illuka NR A pair of White-eared Monarchs where feeding one fledgling at their usual spot. Also present was a Little Shrike-thrush and Rose-crowned Fruit-doves also heard. Edwin Vella, Tony and Stephanie Dawe
	Rose-crowned Fruit-dove Sea Acres NR - Port Macquarie There were at least 6 Rose-crowned Fruit-doves at this regular location as well as a couple of Pale-yellow Robins. Edwin Vella, Tony and Stephanie Dawe
	Australasian Bittern Little Llangothlyn Res, off New Eng Hwy, Guyra Classic booming calls heard at dusk from the mown area just down from the car park. The swamp is pretty full at the moment. Dave Langley and Anita Mudge
	Powerful Owl Palm Beach One bird peching in a Coral Tree at the start of the Barrenjoey lighthouse walk. Had a Common Ringtail Possum and quite impervious to viewers. Local ecologist Mark Couston reports there are two breeding pairs on the Peninsula. Paul Burcher, Isabel Burcher & Jacqueline Reifenstein
	Barred Cuckoo-shrike, Superb Fruit-Dove & Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove Rocky Creek Dam, Dunoon At least 1, possibly up to 3 Barred Cuckoo-shrike seen in tall fruiting fig tree below Rocky Creek Dam spillway. Also a Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove seen in same tree & Superb Fruit-dove nearby. Steve McBride
	Black-browed Albatross and Long-tailed Jaegers Mistral Point, Maroubra 4 Black-browed and 1 Shy (type) Albatross today, plus all three Jaeger species seen and a couple of Flesh-footed Shearwaters amongst the hundreds of commoner Wedge-tailed and Short-tailed Shearwaters. David Mitford
	Gang-gang Cockatoo Bundanoon A flock of 9 birds flew over home early this morning. This is the biggest flock I've seen locally. GGCs are most numerous in summer in Bundanoon. Lorne Johnson
Mon 26 Dec	Australasian Bittern (3), Black-necked Stork (3) Belmore Swamp near Crescent Head Three Australasian Bitterns heard calling during the day at this location. Also seen were a pair of adult Balck-necked Storks with a juvenile bird. Edwin Vella, Tony and Stephanie Dawe
	Forest Kingfishers Seale Rd near Crescent Head 4 Forest Kingfishers were seen together amongst the paper barks on the edge of Belmore Swamp. This is a regualr locality for this species. Edwin Vella, Tony and Stephanie Dawe
	Little Eagle, pale morph farmland, Cox's River Road, Kanimbla Valley, Soaring, gliding and calling over farmland alongside the road, then stooping sharply into the valley. Cloudy day, no wind, about 13:00 hours. Liz Wilson
	Australian Hobby Bay Street Botany One bird seen over the Engine Pond Peter Mackey
	White-throated Needletail Bellawongarah (Berry Mountain) Approximately 70 WTNT flew above the house and yard about 6pm. This was about 20 minutes or so prior to a strong southerly change. Flying in a northwest to west direction. Flew quite low to start with then picked up height as winds came. Carla and Nigel Jackett
	White-throated Needletail; White-bellied Sea-Eagle Bobbin Head Rd, Turramurra First big groups of swifts seen for year from house - approx 75-100 birds feeding near house approx 5pm in a tight feeding flock. Was very still as the N/Ely wind really died off. Also an immature WB Sea Eagle flew northwards over house approx 5:15pm. Presumably heading towards Bobbin Head/Broken Bay, but coming from where? Tom Wilson
	Osprey Lake Burragorang at Warragamba Dam Wall 0830AM, 500m upstream of dam wall on western bank. 5 years working on the lake, have not seen an Osprey here before. (Moderators Note; A quick browse through the the records of the Birding NSW Annual Bird Reports failed to find a previous record for Lake Burragorang - AKM) Jon Spicer-Bell
	Mangrove Gerygone Mason Park, North Strathfield Following hot on the heels of the Brown Gerygone on 22 Nov today there was a Mangrove Gerygone in the same location very vocal and giving good views today. Also present 12 Sharp-tails, 1 Pacific Golden Plover plus quite a few bushbirds including two Eastern Spinebills, Grey Fantail and Spotted Pardalotes. Dion Hobcroft
	Square-tailed Kite Havenview Drv Terrigal NSW Square-tailed Kite observed flying very low over garden trees hunting. No prey taken, hunted away by Pied Currawong. Second sighting in three days. Paul Shelley
	Little Terns Karagi Point, The Entrance 14 nests and 16 pairs of Little Terns seen today at Karagi Point, The Entrance. This is the most breeding birds seen this season. Regretfully Australian Ravens and Silver Gulls(?) destroyed the nests that were present in November but now that sunny days have arrived and there are plenty of tourists and fishermen around the Ravens have other food souces - the recent rains made finding food difficult for the Ravens. 79 non-breeding birds were seen, 105 non-breeders were counted on 23/12/11. Tim & Alan Morris
Sun 25 Dec	Glossy Black Cockatoo Point Clare A pair of Glossy Black Cockatoos feeding in a tree in my back garden, backing on to Brisbane Water National Park. One female, one male. A Whitaker
	White-throated Needletail, Tawny Frogmouth, Little Lorikeet Kurrajong Hills 4-5 WTNTs at dusk on 24th, with 8 birds seen on Xmas evening. Pair + 2 juv Tawny Frogmouths first local sighting in a few years. Also 4+ Little Lorikeet. Other nice Xmas birds inc Wedge-tailed Eagle, Grey Goshawk, Mistletoebird, plenty of Dollarbirds and pair of Sacred Kingfishers. 3 active Bell Miner nests. Eric Finley
	Emerald Dove off Shoreline Drive near North Wall Rd, Port Macquarie My first Emerald Dove. Also saw 2 Nankeen Night-Herons. Female Leaden Flycatcher on nest feeding three young. Same vicinity Olive -backed Oriole. Buff-banded Rail with 1 metre of us out in open. Heard Lewins Rail. Tony & Stephanie Dawe
	Little Lorikeet Thirroul One bird seen in a eucalypt in my neighbours yard at Soudan St, first time that I have seena Little Lorikeet at Thirroul Michael Crosland
Mon 19 Dec	Australian Pelican Meadow Flat 10' Cell Australian Pelican (14) flying north over Mt Lambie Service Stn. Neville Schrader
Thu 1 Dec	Superb Parrot, Australian Koel, White-winged Triller Orange 10' Cell Superb Parrot Large flock of Superb Parrots 2km W of Clergate. Breeding at Gosling Crk, young. Australian Koel White-winged Triller (4) nesting Gosling Crk Res. Neville Schrader
Fri 21 Oct	Rufous Fantail, Spectacled Monarch Iluka NR South Amongst a group of bush birds at the southern end of Iluka Nature Reserve were Spectacled Monarchs and 2 Rufous Fantails Alan Morris

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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