Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 15 Apr 2012.

Sun 15 Apr	Hooded Robin, Southern Whiteface, Dusky Woodswallow Nowlans Rd Bimbi State Forest near Weddin Mountains We checked out the site where Blue-winged Parrots were recently sighted but no luck there, but we did see 2 Hooded Robins, Speckled Warblers feeding young in nest, Spotted Harrier, Restless Flycatcher, 3 Red-capped Robins, Dusky Woodswallows, Jacky Winter, Brown Goshawk and Southern Whiteface Alan Morris & Steve Edwards
	Beach Stone Curlew South Beach Nambucca Heads nsw Three Beach Stone Curlews standing amongst the drift wood 100 meters oppox, south from entrance of the Nambucca river mouth . A Hamilton
	Plumed Whistling-Duck Sewage Ponds, Canowindra 20 birds resting on bank. Neville Schrader
	Buff Banded Rail, Black Faced Monarch, Rufous Fantail Warriewood Wetlands, Irrawong Reserve Single Rail seen in Irrawong at the first little bridge with railings; immature Rufous Fantail seen up by the waterfall. No sign of the previously reported Powerful Owls (assuming I'm looking in the right trees at the waterfall end). Immature Black Faced Monarch seen by playground just outside Warriewood wetlands track. Also an Intermediate Egret at the wetlands, a crake (or rail) calling from deep cover off the boardwalk and a Shining Bronze Cuckoo called. Swamp Mahoganies have some blossom, attracting Scarlet Honeyeaters and Musk as well as Rainbow Lorikeets and looks like there's going to be a fair bit more - lots of buds on the trees. Tom Wilson
Sat 14 Apr	Gilberts Whistler, Turquoise Parrot, Diamond Firetail Balyrennie Rd Creek crossing, near Conimbla N.P.tCowra At a creek crossing on Ballyrennie Rd we found a great bunch of birds. 2 Gilberts Whistlers, 11 Diamond Firetails, 5 Turquoise Parrots, 6 Double-barred Finch, 2 Speckled Warblers, 4 Peacful Dove, 4 Yellow- tufted Honeyeaters, 5 White-browed Babblers & 1 Wedged-tailed Eagle that flew over head. The list goes on... All of these birds can be seen from the road as it is private property on both sides of the road. Steve Edwards & Alan Morris
	Pale-headed Rosella Bourke NSW (Floodwaters area ) Standing near the Darling river just out of Bourke, inland NSW and two pale headed rosella's flew past...i was VERY surprised to see them, i'm used to seeing them up in the QLD direction eg Somerset near Brisbane.. Kirri Hardy
	Pacific Baza Kurrajong Hills (Hawkesbury-Nepean area) A family group of five Bazas seen this morning on Bells Line of Road, just south/east of Kurrajong Hills. They moved through as a group, progressively picking off the frogs and insects in the surrounding trees. The Grey Butcherbirds weren't quite as happy to see them as I was! Ashwin Rudder
	Red-necked Stint Long Reef Aquatic Reserve The same flagged Red-necked Stint seen on the 31/3 was again today. Mark Young
	Ruddy Turnstone Bellambi Lagoon 1' Cell Ruddy Turnstone (1) Immature, on Bellambi beach, with a Double-banded Plover and three Willie Wagtails. I have photographs. Jenny Stiles
	South Polar Skua, Kermadec Petrel Sydney Pelagic Trip A beautiful day on the waters off Sydney was highlighted by a close fly-by South Polar Skua (we had one in April 2011 also) and more distant views of an intermediate morph Kermadec Petrel. A White-faced Storm-Petrel was the first seen from the Halicat for more than two years. Roger McGovern and all on the Halicat
	Spotted Harrier Acacia Gardens (approx. 6km north of Blacktown CBD) I had a pleasant surprise this afternoon seeing a brilliant adult Spotted Harrier flying very low over my backyard and only metres above my clothes line! This is the second time I have seen one from my backyard within the last 2 years or so (the other bird was a juvenile). I thought I would never see a Spotted Harrier from my backyard again considering it is a very tidy suburban environment but you just never know. So far i have recorded 29 species form my backyard list today and the day is not over yet. Red-browed Finches have been daily for the last month since I seen them for the first time. Lots of Spotted Pardalotes and some Yellow Thornbills about too. Edwin Vella
Fri 13 Apr	Pacific Baza Crescent Head Sighted perched and moving amongst vegetation in the township. Later in flight being shadowed by a "squadron" of Noisy Miners. Peter McGinley
	Brown Goshawk Oatley Park and Lime Kiln Bay One flew over LKB and then 30 minutes later 2 flew over the park and LKB. This is the 6th raptor in the park/LKB area in a month. Dave Koffel
Thu 12 Apr	Scarlet Robin, Cranebrook, private property Male and female among a flock of thornbills and other small bushbirds at the back of a friend's property this morning, which backs onto Crown Land. Ákos Lumnitzer
Wed 11 Apr	Australian Spotted Crake Floodwaters (and Sewage) and Private Property near Ashley, NSW. I spotted a Spotted Crake with my binoculars at the edge of the water behind the sewage ponds. Also spotted a Spotted Harrier, Spotted Bowerbird, Black-fronted Dotterel, Olive backed Oriole, Rufous Whistlers, Spotted and Striated Pardalotes and Red-winged Parrots. (A farmer near Garah, NSW (Approx. 30km north of Ashley) reported to me sightings of Magpie Geese with juveniles on his farm dams from about a fortnight ago). (He said that they've left but they've been there all summer). Curtis Hayne
	Australasian Gannet Balmoral Beach Two adults and a juvenile in the bay for at least an hour, all diving and being a fantastic spectacle. Nathan Ruser
	Barking Owl Rainbow Reach, Macleay River near Jerseyville A single Barking Owl was flushed from a vine covered patch of Eucalypts in the house yard of a rural property at Rainbow Reach near Jerseyville Virginia Spring per Ken Shingleton
	Albatrosses Mistral Point, Maroubra 3 Yellow-nosed, 4 Shy (type) and 20+ Black-browed Albatrosses seen today in very winter-like conditions. Also a Flesh-foooted Shearwater, 30 wedge-tailed Shearwaters, 9 Short-tailed Shearwaters, 4 Fluttering Shearwaters and 1 Arctic Jaeger. David Mitford, Ray Gobbe and Fiona Brooke
	White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Moss Vale At the end of a late afternoon visit to Cecil Hoskins Nature Reserve, pleasantly surprized to see a small flock of 6-8 White-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes (dark morph, adults + imms.) about the trees near the carpark. Otherwise the usuals and, unfortunately, the something disturbing the Masked Lapwings and Swamphens turned out to be Mr Fox. Robert Griffin
	Scarlet Robin Warden Head Ulladulla A male Scarlet Robin was reported this morning on the bush track that goes around there by Mike Jeffris. This would be the first that I've heard of a Scarlet Robinin the beach bushland although they've been sighted on the higher escarpment a bit further inland. Mike Jeffris via Bob Rusk
	Eastern Osprey Burrill Lake Entrance/Ulladulla A female Osprey sighted on the sand flats at the entrance to Burrill Lake. It seemed to be in a bizarre Walt Disney type companionship with a Whistling Kite where they would each return after flying around to app 20 mtr of the other until they both flew off after 20 mins or so. I presume that these were the same two that I'd seen flying over Warden Head app 5 klms away about 1/2 hr earlier. Hooded,Double Bar and Redcaps still at the entrance also. bob rusk
	Eastern Osprey, White-bellied Sea-eagle, Whimbrel Coon Island, Swansea Inlet In between showers today at Swansea, an Eastern Osprey was seen over the channel that links the main section of Lake Macquarrie with the Swansea Estuary near Coon Island. A pair of White-bellied Sea-eagles were present at the same time in courtship display and another immature Sea-eagle passed close by. A Whimbrel was also present, as were Great Egrets, White-faced Herons and White Ibis. At nearby Galgabba point, South Swansea a Brown Honeyeater and 4 Little Lorikeets were seen. Alan Morris & 10 members of the CCG BNSW
Tue 10 Apr	Glossy Black-Cockatoo Boardwalk, Urunga lagoon 2 pairs of GBCs flew north to south over the boardwalk about 5.30 pm Judy Christie
	White-bellied Sea-Eagle Over Southern Cross Drive near Mill Pond beside Mascot Airport Very spectacular and slow flight. Dave Koffel
	Noisy Pitta, Topknot Pigeon, Bassian Thrush Ourimbah Creek RTA Reserve, Ourimbah A visit to this Reserve today found two flocks of Topknot Pigeons ( 10 & 20 birds), a Bassian Thrush, 2+ Varied Sitellas, 4 Yellow-throated Scrub-wrens, 3 Large-billed Scrub-wrens, and great views of the Noisy Pitta on the track, during our walk out of the reserve. Kaye and Margaret Pointer
	Wandering Tattler, Lesser Sand Plover Pelican Point, Norah Head The walk from Soldiers Point to Pelican Point late this morning paid off with us finding the Lesser Sand Plover, in breeding plumage, there. Also seen was the Wandering Tattler, 2 Grey-tailed Tattlers, 2+ Double-banded Plovers, 3 Little Terns and , 1 Sooty Oystercatcher Kaye and Margaret Pointer
	Eastern Bristlebird Barren Grounds Nature Reserve & Budderoo Plateau Some great afternoon heath birding today... 12 Eastern Bristlebirds were recorded at Budderoo Plateau (only one of the twelve seen though) and 3 at Barren Grounds. Also seen at both sites: Beautiful Firetails (7 at BP and 4 at BGNR; Steve was ten feet away from a pair feeding at BGNR). 6 Southern Emu-wrens and 2 White-eared Honeyeaters were found at BP. Lorne Johnson & Steve Edwards
Mon 9 Apr	Peregrine Falcon, Scarlet Honeyeater, Mistletoebird, Eastern Osprey Oatley Park and Lime Kiln Bay These are very unusual birds for Oatley Park. Indebted to Edwin Vella for sightings of them! ( I had never seen a Scarlet HE in the park). Also, a beautiful male Rose Robin, White-naped Honeyeaters, Striated Pardalote, Grey & Rufous Fantail, male Golden Whistler, Eastern Osprey and 5 flocks of Musk Lorikeets heading west at dusk. The Peregrine Falcon is the 5th raptor in Oatley Park since 9.3.2012. 43 species for the day. Dave Koffel and Edwin Vella
	Little Curlew Kingsford Smith Park, Ballina 1 seen feeding amongst Magpie Larks at 11am. Grant Brosie and Robert Kilkelly
	Shy Albatross, Long-tailed Jaegar Mistral Point, Maroubra A late afternoon seawatch at Maroubra turned up few birds but some nice sightings - Black-browed (1 adult + an imm.), 2 Yellow-nosed and a Shy Albatross; a Long-tailed Jaegar; and a Brown Goshawk in amongst the gulls following a fishing boat off Magic Point. No shearwaters except 2, lonely Wedgetails. Robert Griffin
	Swift Parrot Wamberal Park, adjacent to Wamberal Lagoon 3 Swifties heard then seen in flowering gum in a park on the western side of Wamberal Lagoon. Osprey also seen earlier in the day at Wamberal Beach Tim Faulkner
	Spotless Crake Warriewood Wetlands 2x adults, 1x juvenile feeding in the mud, at the first corner of the western end of the Angus Gordon boardwalk. 1700, fine weather. One adult was calling loudly, the "advertising call" from Morcombe. Jon Spicer-Bell
Sun 8 Apr	Glossy Black Cockatoo west of Wollar Birds coming into dam. Neville Schrader
	Brolga Newrybar Swamp Road Lennox Head Two adults and one immature in paddock. paul chisholm
	Regent Honeyeater, Speckled Warbler, Little Lorikeet, Diamond Firetail Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve An Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme group as well as a Hunter Bird Observers Club group camped at Honeyeater Flat 4-5 days. Numerous Speckeld Warblers were seen, three banded and three or four Diamond Firetail were seen in the three day I was there. The highlight however, were seven Regent Honeyeaters in a White-box about 200 metres down Mollarben Road. The light was poor so photography was hard, and they were hard to see as there were six other species including Little Lorikeets feeding in the same tree. None appeared to have been banded, however it was hard to tell in the dusk light. Simon Gorta
	Black-browed Albatross, Yellow-nosed Albatross, Little Terns Mistral Point Maroubra Highlights of a brief morning seawatch at Maroubra were 2 Black-browed Albatross; my first Yellow-nosed Albatross of the season; 4 Long-tailed Jaegars; 2 Arctic Jaegars; and 3 Little Terns heading north but doing it hard, straight into the strong wind. Robert Griffin
	Tawny Frogmouth Cooks River path Earlwood 2 Tawnies in Casurinas and Mangroves on South bank of river approx 50m East of Foord Ave footbridge. (Photograph taken by my friend Dave Gray) Bernard Linklater
	Little Woodswallows, White-backed Swallows, Black Falcon Yetman NSW BIrds observed during easter weekend hunting trip on property 20km south of Yetmen. 5 Little Woodswallows observed hawking over the vegetation lining one of the gorges on the property. White-back swallows, 3, circling over our campsite on a ridge top in the early morning. Black Falcon observed transiting through the open plain country. Brown Quail in abundance. Blue Bonnets feeding along the road side mixed with large numbers of Red-rumped Parrots. Boobooks calling throughout the night. Restless Flycatchers located at every dam and creek we pasted. All other usual suspects, i.e. Wedge-tailed eagles, Double-barred & Zebra Finches, King Parrots, Mistletoebirds in good numbers. Brendan Cook
	Rufous Fantail, Rose Robin Royal NP Further to last week's report, 2-3 female Rose Robins were seen foraging about 2km from the north end of Lady Carrington Drive. A pair of Green Catbirds were also seen at that site, along with a couple of very vocal Fan-tailed Cuckoos. In Palm Jungle (near Burning Palms), a single Rufous Fantail was seen (a late migrant?), along with the resident Large-billed and Yellow-throated Scrubwrens, and Eastern Whipbirds. Another pair of Green Catbirds was seen a little further along the track. Ashwin Rudder
	Speckled Warbler Longneck Lagoon field studies centre Four Speckled Warbler in company with Red-browed Finches working through leaf litter half way between the site entry and Field Study huts - on the "School Groups this way" track from the road. O'cast. 4:15pm. Party of 8 Choughs near the huts. Harry Roberts
	Noisy Pitta Tweed Heads Noisy Pittas seen and heard at two different places in Tweed Heads. One sighting in the mangroves below Hillcrest Avenue on 7 April and then one heard along the walk near Seagulls Club on the 8th April. John Goldie and Kathy Walter
Sat 7 Apr	Gang Gang Cockatoo Gulgong 2 birds feeding on red berries in hedge. Neville Schrader
	Square-tailed Kite near Collingwood, west of Mudgee one bird flying low across road from watercourse. Neville Schrader
	Azure Kingfisher A Creek east of Gravesend An Azure Kingfisher was seen flying over the creek. Curtis Hayne
	Spotted Harrier, Buff-banded Rail & Leaden Flycatcher Private property about 20kms east of Moree Spotted a Leaden Flycatcher by accident when I was photographing some Yellow-rumped Thornbills. Other highlights were Red-browed Finches, heaps of Grey Fantails, an immature White-bellied Sea Eagle, over 50 Plumed Whistling Ducks and a Red-capped Robin. The following day an immature Buff-banded Rail and a Spotted Harrier were seen. (Also, near Moree on a flooded paddock on someone's property there were 8x Gull-billed Terns and 200+ Pelicans). Curtis Hayne
	Red-capped Parrot Bush Street Reserve, Norah Head I sighted this parrot at Norah Head (NSW) on Sunday and identified it as a Red-capped Parrot although that species is local only to SW Western Australia. (Moderators Note; Obviously a pair of escapees, not previously reported from this well watched locality AKM). Lisa Wines
Fri 6 Apr	Yellow Wagtail Ash Island,Kooragang, Newcastle.NSW Single Bird in company with several Willy Wagtails along track on Wagtail Way .Viewed over a period of ~ 15 mins as it moved northwards along track Darryl Goldrick ( Illawarra Bird Observers Club)
	Eastern Reef Egret Surfside, North Batemans Bay One single Eastern Reef Egret (Grey Morph), I managed to get very close.Also saw seven Pied Oystercatchers,also one Sooty Oystercatcher, also saw three White-bellied Sea-eagles Tony Dawe
Tue 3 Apr	Black Falcon Aerodrome lane, Harefield near Junee One bird flew over several times. Steve Edwards, Barry Edwards, Denis Lambert

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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