Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 12 Aug 2012.

Sun 12 Aug	Southern Giant-Petrel, white morph Mistral Point, Maroubra The highlight of an all day seawatch was a white morph Southern Giant-Petrel. The bird was observed close to shore at about 10 am and appeared to be totally white. Also seen were large numbers of Black-browed Albatross and Shy Albatross, two Wandering Albatross, several Great-winged Petrels and many juvenile Giant-Petrels. As an interesting side note, we saw a lone Wedge-tailed Shearwater on Sat. 11th Aug at the same location. Fiona Brook and Ray Gobbe
	Double-banded Plover, Purple-crowned Lorikeet Boomanoomana 10' Cell Double-banded Plover (9) two small flocks seen in shallows wetlands along Clearview Rd, five birds were coloured up nicely in breeding plumage, my first record ever in this area. Many other good birds around the area this morning as well. Thousands of Grey Teal as wells over 200 Pink-eared Ducks on the flooded Kilnyana Plain. A Red-necked Avocet seen with hundreds of Black-winged Stilts. Also on Clearview Rd were almost 20 Red-kneed Dotterel and a Banded Lapwing. At Mt Boomanoomana there were two Purple-crowned Lorikeet (rare for NSW) and three Painted Button-quail were flushed. Some early spring activity noted as well with Brown and Rufous Songlarks singing and Fairy Martins were noticed back as well. [Moderator's (NH's) note: Purple-crowned Lorikeet require a submission to NSW ORAC] Michael Ramsey
	White morph Southern Giant-Petrel, Buller's Albatross, poss Short-tailed Shearwaters North Head, Sydney Seen during a 2 1/2 hour watch 7-9;30 am. Most birds were working their way southwards against the wind and were quite close in including an almost pure white Southern Giant-Petrel and several brown individual Giant-Petrels; a single Buller's Albatross; several Wandering Albatross; 2 Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross (both heading north); plenty of Shy Albatross; 2 all brown shearwaters - very short at the back end, no pale bill or feet, no white in the wing linings - very early returning Short-tailed Shearwaters? A White-bellied Sea-Eagle and two fur-seals passed through. There were plenty more birds further out too, but couldn't pick anything out other than the species noted above Tom Wilson
	Australian Brush-Turkey Warriewood Wetlands First time Ive seen this species here, extremely pleasing few hours today.Hundreds of Silvereye, Spotted Pardalote,Brown Gerygone,Yellow Thornbill,Varied Sittella and extremely confiding Scarlet Honeyeaters were everywhere !! Also flyover by Australian Pelican and Swamp Harrier. [Moderator's (NH's) note: There was an Australian Brush-Turkey at the same site in July: see #136045] Chris Pollard
	Swamp Harrier Penrith quarries I was pleased to see an adult Swamp Harrier at the quarries, close to Castlereagh Road this morning. Sightings have been a bit sparse in recent times. Ákos Lumnitzer
Sat 11 Aug	Chestnut-breasted Mannikin, Eastern Rosella, Diamond Dove 2 Farms, 10-15km North West of Moree 5 Chestnut-breasted Mannikins were seen along grassland along a fenceline on open farmland. They were close to some Australasian Pipit and Zebra Finches. 6 Eastern Rosellas were seen as well as another 30+ on the next farm. Fairy Martins have arrived back to the area in their hundreds. In one flock, 5 Tree Martins were with them. Several Nankeen Night-Herons, Pink-eared Ducks and Australian Pelicans were seen. A pair of Whistling Kites nesting with one of them sitting on the nest. Large Flocks of Australian White Ibis and Straw-necked Ibis. Laughing Kookaburras, Blue Bonnets, Diamond Doves and Hoary-headed Grebes were in abundance. White-breasted Woodswallows have returned. Emus were seen. Amazingly along with Australian Ravens, a flock of 90+ Black Kites lined up along a dam wall. (Normally, they appear after fires or something dead but there wasn't). Large Flocks of Black-fronted Dotterel and Red-kneed Dotterel are still present. 103 Species around the district with 10 or so been seen the day before. Curtis Hayne
	Diamond Firetail Honeyeater Flat Field Study Area Gate on Wollar Road, Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve A single Diamond Firetail seen along with Crested Shrike-tit, Speckled Warbler, Brown-headed & White-naped Honeyeaters amongst others Steven Edwards
	Grey Goshawks and Scarlet Honeyeaters. Mulgoa Two Grey Goshawks circling low over a horse property at 1435 Mulgoa Rd. Seen cor a few minutes. Scarlet Honeyeaters (approx. 30 birds) seen at the rear of another property, which backs onto the nursery on Mulgoa Road across from the golf course. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Eastern Barn Owl Castlereagh near Penrith end Found a dead specimen along Castlereagh Rd this afternoon with a shattered left shoulder area. Must have been killed overnight as it was not in the spot on Friday morning. This area appears to be good for Barn Owls, I have reported them twice already in the past few months. Once in March and once in May. Another interesting observation was seeing an adult Black-shouldered Kite eating a mouse on a fence post near the quarry. Sadly I could only photograph some remains with my phone as I had left my real camera at home. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Square-tailed Kite Laurieton Seen circling above Tunis st in Laurieton. Stayed visable for some 5 minutes before moving back to North Brother Mountain. Stephen Gallivan
Fri 10 Aug	Grey and Brown Goshawk Coral Avenue, Kentlyn A pair of goshawks seen flying together, one grey and one brown. Later both were seen in perched in close proximity, unfortunately the grey took off to quick for a photo. Mark Fuller, Jim Dixon and Michael Paul
Thu 9 Aug	Wedge-tailed Eagle Bobbin Head 2 birds - one very high above the hill tops soaring in the distance but the second was only 25 metres above the water line near the marina. Seemed to be moving back and forth towards the trees as if looking for somewhere to perch. (about 3pm) Judy Clark
	Black Falcon Quambone Road Single bird seen about 2.5 km out of Coonamble on the Quambone road. Very close to where there are still 2 Brolga. -30.961234,148.360941 Steve Edwards
	Topknot Pigeon Killara A flock of about 20 Topknots flying over the Pacific Highway at Killara on Sydney's North Shore. David James
	Powerful Owl Lane Cove National Park Powerful Owl on a tree overhanging the bridge on a walking track opposite Scribbly Gum Picnic Area, site 17, lane Cove NP. Norton Gill
	Glossy Ibis, Mangrove Gerygone, Red-necked Avocet & Weebill Sydney Olympic Park Also plenty of Fairy Martins, a Buff-banded Rail, Brown Honeyeaters. The Weebill is still at Kronos Hill, the Mangrove Gerygone between Wentworth Common and Kronos Hill, calling frequently, 3 Glossy Ibis at the Water Feature Wetland next to Olympic Stadium and an Avocet on the Waterbird Refuge. Dion Hobcroft
Wed 8 Aug	Grey Goshawk, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Crested Shrike-tit, Azure Kingfisher Strickland State Forest, Narara A morning spent mainly in the lower section along the Creek in Strickland SF by 15 members of the Central Coast Group, Birding NSW, found 44 species including a Grey Goshawk, a Wedge-tailed Eagle overhead, an Azure Kingfisher along the Creek, Superb Lyrebird and a Crested Shrike-tit. A White-necked Heron flew over the site as did a Black-shouldered Kite, neither species expected to be there. Other birds of interest included Rose Robin & Green Catbirds. Andrew Melville per Alan Morris
	White-plumed Honeyeater Corrimal Single bird in trees in the car park of the East Corrimal Shopping centre. A small population is located in the area Illawarra in the area Thirroul south throught to Corrimal, North Wollongong, Conniston to the Macquarie Riverlet. Michael Crosland
	nesting Black-necked Storks Raleigh The nest mentioned yesterday is in a tall paperbark with little growth in its lower half. One bird was sitting on the nest for most of this morning. Dick Cooper
	Glossy Ibis, White-winged Triller, Fairy Martins, Chestnut-br Mannikins North Bank Road, north side of Bellinger River 1 Glossy Ibis, 1 male White-winged Triller and 8+ Fairy Martins and 100+ Mannikins between 1 and 4kms along North Bank Rd from Raleigh end. Dick Cooper
	Baillon's Crake and Fairy Martin Leeton and Griffith Fairy Martins (12+) have arrived in the Riverina - seen in Leeton at old nest site on the main canal. Baillon's Crake (2) at Campbell Swamp Griffith - lots of Spotless Crake calling/whirring but none showed. Max O'Sullivan
Tue 7 Aug	Grey Goshawk (white morph) Bulli Tops White morph Grey Goshawk seen perched on power pole beside Princes Hwy on east side of road at 4:10pm. Carla Jackett
	Black-necked Storks Raleigh NSW The Black-necked Stork pair are back on the nest at Raleigh. Because of foliage growth around it, unless you know where it is, the nest is hard to see, unless the birds are on it. Heading south on the old Pacific Highway after you cross the Raleigh bridge continue straight ahead and take the first track on the left and follow it to an open area where there is a pile of gravel/dirt. Go about 10 metres beyond the pile and look SE across the railway line between two taller trees in the foreground Ian McInnes
Mon 6 Aug	White-necked Heron King Street (industrial western end), Mascot Whilst driving along O'Riordan Street from the airport, I noticed the local Currawongs chasing a much larger bird, I quickly turned left onto King Street where it looked like the mob had gone towards. I noticed a small wetland/development site and there was the Heron feeding undisturbed thanks to the fence which surrounded the block - totally incongruous!!! David Mitford
	Blue-faced Honeyeater Cambridge Gardens As I was driving to Penrith station at 07:50 I watched a Noisy Miner chase an adult Blue-faced Honeyeater near the corner of Trinity Drive and Hilton Road. The Blue-faced Honeyeater is a species, which appears to be becoming a semi-regular sighting in my area. Ákos Lumnitzer
Sun 5 Aug	Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush Gundabooka National Park, About 40km South West of Bourke Also seen were: Spotted Nightjar, Major Mitchell's Cockatoo, Mulga Parrot, White-browed Treecreeper, Varied Sittella, Crested Bellbird and many others. Steve Edwards
Sat 4 Aug	Australasian Shoveler Monkeygar Creek, Gibson Way, Macquarie Marshes Also seen were: Australian Shelduck, Pink-eared Duck, several hundred Plumed Whistling-Duck, & Plum-headed Finch Steve Edwards

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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