Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 8 Apr 2012.

Sun 8 Apr	Brolga Hastings River Drive and Willow Crescent Port Macquarie The 4 Brolga reportes by Adrian Dick were still there this morning Brian Curtis
Sat 7 Apr	Leaden Flycatcher Chittaway Point At Chittaway Point saw a Striated Heron, 2 Buff-banded Rails, quite a number of Little (at least 7) and Great (at least 10) Egrets, 12 Royal Spoonbills feeding together with the Egrets, an Immature White-bellied Sea-eagle, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Leaden Flycatcher, Striped Honeyeaters and about 8 White-breasted Woodswallows. Edwin Vella
	Wandering Tattler Soldiers Pt and Pelican Pt, Norah Head At Soldiers Pt there was still one Wandering Tattler coming into breeding plumage which was also with a Grey-tailed Tattler, 12 Double-banded Plovers, 3 Red-capped Plovers, 20 Red-necked Stints (with 2 showing a lot of breeding plumage). Most of these birds including the Tattlers flew south to Pelican Pt (just south of Soldiers Pt and a km or so walk from there along the beach) where there was also an Eastern Reef Egret, a Pacific Golden Plover, 6 Red-capped Plovers and at least 3 Little Terns (2 of the later were in breeding plumage which could be of the Asian migratory race and there was one there in non-breeding plumage). Edwin Vella
	Spectacled Monarch, Bassian Thrush, Grey Goshawk, Top-knot pigeon Ourimbah Creek RTA Reserve, Ourimbah Spectacled Monarch found at 10.15am, 50 metres past the first bend in the track near the gate. The bird was relocated at 11.00 and 11.30 am at same site. Other highlights from RTA reserve were 8 sightings of Bassian Thrush (maybe 4 individual birds), Great views of Grey Goshawk perched and in flight and a flock of 28 Top-knot Pigeons, 2 Brown Cuckoo-Doves seen, and Wonga Pigeon and Bar-shouldered Dove calling. Allan Benson, Peter Settle, Anne and Alan Morris
	Australasian Shoveler Lithgow Sewerage Ponds, Up Rd. Male and female seen in middle pond. Ben Ong
	Little Curlew sports fields at Kingsford Smith Park, Shaws Bay, Ballina Bird could not be found Friday mid afternoon - at low tide, however present at 6:30am Saturday 7th, only flying 40-50m when disturbed by dog walkers. Bob Moffatt
Fri 6 Apr	Swift Parrot Burrewarra Point, Tomakin Four Swift Parrots flying fast and calling and flying north at 1100 hrs today. Jill Whitier
	Black-necked Stork Innes Lake, Port Macquarie 2 seen on the western side of the lake at 9.20 am Ian Kerr
	White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Galaringi Reserve, Carlingford White-Bellied Cuckoo-Shrike still present near where I last saw it on Monday. It is in the Eucalypts up on the hill [opposite Evan's Rd] near the high Voltage electricity tower. It was calling loudly. Jenny Stiles
	Little Curlew Kingsford Smith Park, Ballina A single Little Curlew seen feeding on the sports fields at Kingsford Smith Park. Steve McBride
	Black-faced Monarch Lovers Jump Creek, North Turramurra 2 late immature Black-faced Monarchs seen on the track that runs up the west side of the creekline. Also a pair of Superb Lyrebirds (male displaying in a 1/2 hearted fashion), a single Collared Sparrowhawk, Wonga Pigeon and White-headed Pigeon and lots of very vocal Golden Whistlers. Not many honeyeaters, although some bloodwood is blossoming, but 2 Scarlets and a small group of Brown-headed Honeyeaters seen. Tom Wilson
Thu 5 Apr	Koel Cuckoo Braemar Drive, Port Macquarie A late juvenile Koel still present in the gully opposite Hastings School. Tim Morris
	Painted Button-Quail Parramatta Park NSW When parking my car at the edge of Parramatta Park in Parramatta, in Park Avenue between Queens Road and Caroline Street., I found this Painted Button-quail hiding in the leaf litter. David Stevens
	Azure Kingfisher, Pacific Baza Plumpton Park I was pleased to see an Azure Kingfisher over my local park this morning, the second time in over four years. The Noisy Miners then directed me to a Pacific Baza hunting in the canopy. This made 206 & 207 for my 2012 list and so close to home. Mark Fuller
Wed 4 Apr	Arctic Tern Mistral Point, Maroubra There had been a feeding event prior to my arrival, with several 'slicks' still clearly visible. An Arctic Tern was feeding and remained visible for 40 minutes as it flew backwards and forwards several times. Also noted were a Flesh-footed Shearwater, 1 Short-tailed Shearwater, 30 wedge-tailed Shearwaters, 20 Crested Terns and 2 Pomarine Jaegers. David Mitford
	Intermediate Egret Centennial Park Sydney At about 2pm a flock of 20 egrets settled into a tree on an island on Willow Pond. While individual birds are regularly seen on the ponds, this is an unusually large number for the park. Graeme Robinson
Tue 3 Apr	Little Lorikeet Pyramul Creek, 12km north of Hill End Three birds initially seen flying overhead, tracked to a small (about 5m) White Box in flower further up the hill. No other flowering White Box (or any other species, for that matter!) seen in the area. The Lorikeets shared the tree with a couple of Noisy Miners, but there were no aggressive interactions between them. Lat longs from Google Maps: -32.9266, 149.484. Tiffany Mason
	Superb Parrot Evan Smyles road, Brobenah near Leeton A pair flew over the road Steve Edwards
	White-winged Black Tern, Common Noddy Flat Rock, Ballina Late this afternoon, my first White-winged Black Tern in Ballina for a couple of years. Also 8 Common Noddy (9 on 4/4), estimated 1000 Little Terns & 400 common Terns, 25 Ruddy Turnstones, Red-necked Stints, Grey-tailed Tattlers & Sooty Oystercatchers. Steve McBride
	Powerful Owl Galaringi Reserve Evans rd Dundas Went for walk 4pm today My first visit and a Powerful Owl greeted us at the entrance Tony & Stephanie Dawe
Mon 2 Apr	Brolga Hastings River Drive & Willow Crescent, Fernbank Creek, Port Macquarie There were 2 adult and two juvenile brolgas in a paddock on the west side of Willow Crescent which intersects with Hastings River Dr. at Fernbank Creek, Port Macquarie. The birds were there again on 3.4.12. Adrian Dick
	Grey Goshawk Bellawongarah (Berry Mountain) Grey Goshawk heard calling off and on for several hours on our property. Heard loud and clear from the house. The call was from the same fixed location at the highest point of our property. Tall forest above rainforest gullies, above Bundewallah Creek, 400 metres. Not sure if this bird could be the same one I saw last week near Berry just down the hill? The call matched Morcombe's App recording of a bird calling near a nest. Carla Jackett
	Chestnut-breasted Mannikin, Topknot Pigeon, Wedge-tailed Eagle Pioneer Dairy Wetlands, Tuggerah (Restricted Access) During a 3 hour session at the Dairy this morning, a Wedge-tailed Eagle circled over the wetlands, putting all the egrets and herons to flight; a group of 5+ Chestnut-breasted Mannikins were feeding in Cumbungi & Eleocharis Reeds with Red-browed Finches; 70+ Topknot Pigeosn were feeding on Camphor Laurel fruit; the female Australian Shelduck was still showing well; and a Tawny Grassbird was still flying around and calling, Alan Morris
	Australian Painted Snipe Banar Lake-25 km S of Condobolin Late this afternoon observed a pair of Australian Painted Snipe and another male about 100 m away.Also present were 3 Latham Snipe, an immature Sea Eagle,200+ Plumed Whistling Ducks, 50+ Pink-eared Ducks and numerous Egrets, Spoonbills and Ibis Warren Chad
	White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Galaringi Reserve, Carlingford White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Jenny Stiles
	Diamond Firetails Tarago Bridge we stopped just outside Tarago on the Tarago Braidwood road for my husband to inspect the bridge he had overseen the construction of in 1982. it is just a short way out of Tarago and just after a vineyard on the ridht hand side. sitting on the fencing of the vineyard and the electricity wires were 8 diamond firetails giving good views before flying into the vines Trudy Robinson
	Plumed Whistling-Duck Native Dog Swamp, Berrigan Good numbers of Plumed Whistling-Ducks seen this morning at the swamp. Over 150 present at the northern section and approximately another 30 at the southern end. Michael Ramsey
Sun 1 Apr	Wandering Whistling Ducks Dam on private property Eric Dr. Kings Creek, via Wauchope. There were 3 Wandering Whistling Ducks on a dam on private property in Eric Drive which runs off King Creek Rd. There are 3 dams and the ducks were on the bottom dam and visible from the roadway. Adrian Dick
	Spotted Harrier Black Swan Drive Coutts Crossing One kilometre east of Armidale Rd. One adult bird flew across in front of car and continued to work along long grass near a drainage line. About 3km from previous sightings at Levenstrath Warren Thompson
	Dusky Woodswallows, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Grey Goshawk Kurrajong Hills, Merroo Christian Centre (school Camp) Woodswallows were in abundance all over the site, also many other species - Wedge-tailed Eagles, Grey Goshawks, a Common Bronzewing, Bar-shouldered Dove (heard), Superb Lyrebird and others. simon gorta
	Blue-winged Parrot Bimbi State Forest, near Weddin Mountains Blue-winged Parrot (5) Seen 2.45 - 3.30 pm at the 'corner' of Nowlans Road in Bimbi State Forest Callitris/eucalypt woodland where the SF adjoins pasture. Three of the birds were first seen roosting in the top branches of a dead tree and at least two more were in the high foliage of the adjacent eucalypt. Periodically 2 or 3 or the whole group would wheel out of the trees fly about and then return. Blue wing clearly seen on perching birds. Quite a lot of calling so there may have been more than 5 here. This area currrently has a thick grassy understory with seeding grasses and yellow thistles. Many Double-barred Finches and quite a few few Firetails here also. Kim and Geoff Larmour
Sat 31 Mar	Bar-shouldered Dove Kurrajong Hills Pair with 2 juveniles seen. Have not been seeing this species as frequently in the local area over the past couple of years - possibly the increase in understorey which has come over this period does not favour it and Peaceful Dove. Eric Finley
	Square-tailed Kite (x5) Cambridge Gardens On Saturday afternoon I saw a lone, ragged, adult hunting low behind my house. About one hour later, I observed three more less than one kilometer away at the intersection of Dunheved and Northern Roads. Then yesterday morning I saw another adult bird hunting low over my house and around it bringing the total to five birds seen in less than 24 hours. This is very unusual, despite the fact I regularly see them around my area. Ákos Lumnitzer
Thu 29 Mar	Plumed Whistling Duck Airport run-way Lord Howe Island I was staying on Lord Howe Island at the time, and heard that there was a single Plumed Whistling Duck seen at the run-way on 25 March. I found it myself on 27 March and returned again on 29 March and saw it again. The weather was windy and wet the following day and then I returned home. Plumed Whistling Ducks are not reported for Lord Howe island in the publication "The Birds of Lord Howe Island Group: A Review of Records" McAllan et al 2004. Allan Gill per Alan Morris
	Australian Hobby Steam Roller Park in Oatley Park I saw at least 2 of these flying over the Steam Roller Park near the Osprey which was enjoying the air currents before an imminent storm. One of the Hobbys had food in its claws and the other tried to relieve him of it! The Bushcare worker of Oatley park thought there were 3 Hobbys. I thought that I had seen this species in Oatley Park twice before but on this occasion I was able to positively identify them with binoculars. They did not stay in sight very long and flew west. Recently, we have had Pacific Bazas, a Square -tailed Kite (9.3.12, sighted by Debbie Andrews ), Brown Goshawks and 2 Ospreys. Dave Koffel
Sun 25 Mar	Australasian Bittern Kew 2439 Brown Bittern, aka Australasian Bittern. We've only ever seen photographs of this bird previously, which is how we were able to recognise it. The lone bird landed on our verandah and stayed there for a few minutes, even looked at itself in the window. As we were inside the house, we didn't risk making any movement in case we would have frightened it away, so we were unable to take a photograph. We have a copy of Birdwatching Spots from Port Macquarie Hastings Birdwatchers, and it notes that there have been uncommon sightings of the Bittern at Limeburners Creek, some 50-60 kms north from our home. It was rare pleasure to see this unusual bird. Patricia and George Walters

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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