Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 9 Sep 2012.

Sun 9 Sep	Spotless Crake Cuppits Lane, Richmond We heard Spotless Crake in a reedy channel beside Cuppits Lane. [Moderator's note (NH): These are the same Spotless Crakes reported by Greg McLachlan, Raja Stephenson, Adrian Binns and myself. We heard at least 2 if not 3 Spotless Crakes at that location; thanks a lot Edwin et al. ] Edwin Vella, Tony and Stephanie Dawe & Greg McLachlan
	Banded Lapwings, Rainbow Bee-eater, Spotted Harrier, White-winged Triller Cornwallis (near Windsor) At Cornwallis, saw probably the same Hobby again (also allowing me to approach up close), a loose flock of 14 Banded Lapwings, a pair of Brown Falcons, Black-shouldered Kite and Kestrels, Mistletoebirds as well as hearing my first Rainbow Bee-eater for the season . I missed the Spotted Harrier that Tony saw here also this morning. Greg McLachlan also had a male White-winged Triller. [Moderator's note (NH): Greg McLachlan, Raja Stephenson, Adrian Binns and myself had 21 Banded Lapwings (see Greg's post), another male White-winged Triller (see Greg's post), Rufous Songlark, White-necked Heron and 12 Brown Quail] Edwin Vella, Tony and Stephanie Dawe & Greg McLachlan
	Rufous Songlarks, Banded Lapwings, Pink-eared ducks (12), Tawny Grassbird Richmond Lowlands At Richmond Lowlands saw 12 Pink-eared Ducks (one on its own allowed me to get fairly close while it swam and fed in a very shallow stream), 2 Banded Lapwings, Tawny Grassbird, Brown Goshawk, a pair of Whistling Kites, my first Rufous Songlarks for the season, Skylarks, a colony of nesting Fairy Martins which were nesting underneath the road and then disturbed by a Hobby (maybe also the same individual I saw early on and my 3rd sighting in the morning. Maybe it was following me around?). Edwin Vella, Tony and Stephanie Dawe
	Banded Lapwings (3), Australian Hobby Pitt Town Bottoms Rd Along Pitt town Bottoms Rd, an Australian Hobby allowed me to walk right up to it to take some nice pics up close. I also had 3 Banded Lapwings, Black-fronted Dotterels, Bar-shouldered Doves, Nankeen Kestrel and Black-shouldered Kites beside Pitt Town Bottoms Rd. Edwin Vella
	Pink-eared Duck, Spotless Crake, Banded Lapwing, Rainbow Bee-eater, White-winged Triller Richmond 10' Cell White-winged Triller (2) First for the season. One adult male, the other an immature male still with brown plumage on head (attached). Possible female spotted also but didn't get bins on it quick enough. Pink-eared Duck (5) Spotless Crake (2) Heard. Thanks to Edwin Vella and Tony & Stephanie Dawe. Returned later with Nikolas Haass, Raja Stephenson and Adrian Binns - heard at least two birds maybe a third. Banded Lapwing (21) Group of fourteen in one location. The other seven spotted later a few kilometres away. Photographed a pair mating (attached). Rainbow Bee-eater All heard. First for the season. Returned to the same spot later and heard birds calling again. Greg McLachlan
	Pacific Baza, Spotted Harrier, White-throated Gerygone, Scarlet Honeyeater, Yellow-tufted Honeyeater Bents Basin Great activity Lorand Szucs
	Red Knot, Gull-billed Tern Taren Point Highlights of a morning visit to Taren Point shoreline were a Red Knot (remnant breeding plumage), my first for the season, and a Gull-billed Tern (breeding plumage). Also a Caspian Tern, 8 Grey-tailed Tattlers (several with remnant breeding plumage), a pair of Whimbrels, a pair of Eastern Curlews, the usual Bar-tailed Godwits and Pied Oystercatchers and a flock of about 40 White-faced Herons Robert Griffin
	Rock Warbler, Whistling Kite, Striated Thornbill & Spotted Pardalote West Head Lookout Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park Rock Warblers calling and observed on the sandstone to the right of the lookout along with Striated Thornbill and Spotted Pardalote. Whistling Kite was flying around over Pittwater and Broken Bay during the day. Rae Lister
	Spotted Harrier southern outskirts of Booroowa One seen patrolling paddock close to the main Yass-booroowa road Wayne Gregson
	Eastern Barn Owl, Musk Duck, Whistling Kite and a white Laughing Kookaburra Killalea State Park, Shellharbour Highlight of the joint Illawarra Birders/COG trip to Killalea this morning was a Barn Owl which gave great views to all present. It was located in casuarinas on the south side of the lagoon. Other birds of note were Musk Duck, Whistling Kite and a white Laughing Kookaburra - full list to follow. Martin Potter Illawarra Birders/COG
	Noisy Pitta, Australian Brush-turkeys, 6.Buff-banded Rail Irrawong Reserve At last !!!!the very furtive Pitta, poor photo apologies !! 07.10 this morning in the clearing on the left immediately after the path to the small fountain (yes we were in the right place after all Nikolas/Raja), also good numbers of Australian Brush-turkeys at least 6.Buff-banded Rail also at Warriwood Chris Pollard
	Chestnut-rumped Heathwren Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park Basin Track and Mackerel Track: 4 single birds at four different places. Towler's Bay Track: A splendidly performing pair on the right-hand side at the very beginning of the track. Jürgen Lehnert
Sat 8 Sep	Pink-eared Duck Rose Bay, Sydney Single bird seen by many boarding the Sydney pelagic at 7am. Was hanging around the creek outfall at the head of the bay that runs under New South Head Rd. This is apparently the first record of this species at that location (salt water!). Tom Wilson & Nikolas Haass for everyone on the Halicat
	Masked, White-browed, Black-faced Woodswallows (flock of 100's), Tawny Grassbird, Diamond Firetail Farms, 10-15km North West of Moree A very interesting day! Tree Martins and Fairy Martins were present in mixed flocks. Heard a Sacred Kingfisher & an Australian Reed-Warbler. Gull-billed Terns are back. A mixed flock of hundreds of 4 species of Woodswallow (Masked Woodswallow, White-browed Woodswallow, Black-faced Woodswallow Woodswallow and Dusky Woodswallow! White-breasted Woodswallow were also seen but not with the flock. A Tawny Grassbird was flushed out of grass on the road by the car and landed in a briarbush. Large flocks of Eastern Rosellas and Diamond Doves are still present which were also with a small flock of Diamond Firetails. A male Red-capped Robin gave us close views. Australasian Pipits were in abundance. Grey-crowned Babblers were busy at work making nests and feeding their young. Several Silver Gulls were found. Red-kneed Dotterels were found in unusual habitat. 2 birds which looked to either be a Sandpiper or Crake were flushed from reeds on an ephemeral pond - 2 possible immature Australian Spotted Crakes? They had their legs tucked in like a water hen. Curtis Hayne
	Red-capped Plover Long Reef Marine Reserve Single bird seen on the beach in front of the main rock platform Mark Young
	Common Tern, White-fronted Tern Flat Rock, Ballina My first Common Tern(1) since early May. Also White-fronted Tern(6), Little Tern(8), Wandering Tattler(3), Red Knot(3), Whimbrel, Ruddy Turnstones, Red-necked Stints, Lessor? Sand-plover, Crested Terns, Gull-billed Tern, Silver Gulls, Gannets, Pied & Sooty Oystercatchers. Steve McBride
	Sharp-tailed Sandpipers (4), Latham's Snipe, Baillon's and Spotless Crakes Riverstone (private property) - 10km NW of Blacktown CBD We had a productive morning in Riverstone with c15 Hoary-headed Grebes, c20 Hardheads, c4 Australasian Shoveler, c150 Grey and c20 Chestnut Teals, 3 Pink-eared Ducks, c130 Coot, 2 Baillon's and heard 2 Spotless Crakes, 2-3 Black-fronted Dotterel, 29 Black-winged Stilts, a Latham's Snipe, our first Sharp-tailed Sandpipers for the season (another new bird for the Blacktown shire no. 220 on the Blacktown list!). In other areas around Riverstone we also had Black-shouldered Kite, Crested Shrike-tit, Dusky Woodswallows, Olive-backed Orioles, Golden and Rufous Whistler, Varied Sitellas, a flock of 18 Double-barred Finches, Weebills, Restless Flycatchers, Eastern Whipbirds, Noisy Friarbirds and several White-throated Gerygones. A total of 88 species seen at Riverstone! Edwin Vella and Mark Fuller
	Major Mitchell's Cockatoo Rouse Hill Two Major Mitchell's Cockatoos flying over Rouse Hill Regional park around noon. Salmon pink underwings very obvious, also calling. [Moderator's note (NH): These birds are likely escapees] Remko Duursma
	Blue-faced Honeyeater Castlereagh 10' Cell Blue-faced Honeyeater (1) Observed bird flying over my street near my house as I arrived home this morning from walking my dogs. Its call alerted me to its presence. Great start to my weekend. Ákos Lumnitzer
Fri 7 Sep	Bassian Thrush Calna creek track from Mt Ku -ring- gai Seen on the track and then flew into creekside veg.This track links Mt Ku -ring- gai with Crosslands camping area in the Berowra Regional Park.. Ian Francis
	Latham's Snipe Fagan Park, Galston Two Latham's Snipe flushed from rank grassland east of the main dam. Paul Burcher & 17 participants in Hornsby Shire Council guided walk
	Whimbrel Newcastle Baths Rock Platform 1 Whimbrel observed foraging on the rock platfrom this morning. Tom Schmidt
Thu 6 Sep	Banded Lapwing Boat Harbour, Kurnell Peninsula Single adult standing on the rock platform at Boat Harbour this afternoon, crying and taking flight if approached. This poor quality photo taken with iPhone, just to give at least some idea of how the bird was typically situated. Bruce Roubin
	Channel-billed Cuckoo, Spotted Harrier, Swamp Harrier Penrith Quarries (Private property) A pleasant late afternoon walk with my dogs this afternoon at my friend's large property yielded a Channel-billed Cuckoo (first for me in the west this spring), a Spotted Harrier and a male Swamp Harrier. Also had both resident Nankeen Kestrels busy hunting insects from excavations that disturbed the ground insects today. The White-bellied Sea-Eagle pair were at their nest site. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Musk Duck Aqua Golf range, Penrith Panthers, Mulgoa Rd, Penrith 2 or 3 birds busy diving on the water and avoiding the flying golf balls. Also a White Faced Heron, some Little Pied Cormorants here and a flock of 30 Wood Duck on the far side (out of range). Tom Wilson
	Rainbow Bee-eater Penrith Quarries (Private property) My friend sent me a message this morning that she had seen the first Rainbow Bee-eater of the spring at her place. Ákos Lumnitzer on behalf of Jackie Flower
Wed 5 Sep	Common Bronzewing Glebe: 501 Glebe Point Road - Apartments, Swimming Pool Saw one bronzewing at about 16:00 drinking, before flying off towards leichhardt. Haven't seen them in the Inner West before. Simon Gorta
	Lewin's Rail, Superb Lyrebird and Noisy Pitta Irrawong Reserve, Warriewood Lewin's Rail running across a small open patch in a wetland at dawn. Called later quite a lot. Also seen in the reserve: Superb Lyrebird and Noisy Pitta. Jürgen Lehnert
	Lewin's Rail Newrybar, about 5 km south of Bangalow One bird wandering along the edge of the clearing, being very aware of danger, while pecking around the ground. Appeared in the open for a couple of minutes. My first sighting of this species and I never thought it would appear up here. Jackson and Richard Hagley
	Channel-billed Cuckoo Bilgola Plateau One calling and flying around all afternoon! Alan McBride
	Rufous Whistler Kooloombung Nature Reserve, Port Macquarie My first Rufous Whistler seen this season. Olive-backed Orioles and Scarlet Honeyeaters calling continuously. Ian Kerr
Tue 4 Sep	Hall's Babbler, Black Honeyeater Wapweelah Station SW Engonnia NSW 145o 27' 22" E, 29o 16' 4" S David Hair
	Hardhead Beach Road , Berry Over 2,500 Hardheads have landed on a small Dam over a period of a few days, outside of Berry. A number of other Dams in the area and not one species on them. A small number of Pacific Black Ducks, Wood Ducks and one Swan in the same Dam with the extraordinary amount of Hardheads. Picture of a just a portion of the hardheads in the Dam Charles & Janina Dove - Barbara abd Btian Hales -members of IBOC
	Buff-banded Rail Killara Train Station Two BBR foraging in the Railway station the gardens. Elliot Lindsay via Kurtis Lindsay
Mon 3 Sep	Red-necked Avocet, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, 100+ Pink-eared Ducks Farm Dams, 25km North of Moree A Pair of Red-necked Avocets were seen on an ephemeral wetland off a farm dam. A huge raft of 100+ Pink-eared Ducks were seen. Several Black-fronted Dotterels, Red-kneed Dotterels and Black-winged Stilts as well. A pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagles were seen flying overhead. Curtis Hayne
	White-throated Gerygone Riverstone near Blacktown We saw and heard several this morning, our first for the season. Edwin Vella and Mark Fuller
	Yellow-tufted Honeyeater Cox's River south of Katoomba (Blue Mountains NP) Despite regular visits to this site, this is the first time that I have seen this species here on the Cox's River. Anne Carey
	Channel-billed Cuckoo Murray Street, Bateau Bay I first heard a Channel-billed Cuckoo calling this afternoon at about 5 pm, and then the following morning (4/9/12) it was calling loudly and strongly at 5.30 am, yet to see the bird! First Central Coast return bird? alan morris
	first winter White-fronted Tern Long Reef Seen at Long Reef at low tide - amongst Crested Terns, about 5 birds in total. Tom Rambaut
Sun 2 Sep	Channel-billed Cuckoo Willandra Rd, Beacon Hill A single Channel-billed Cuckoo flying over Willandra Rd mid-afternoon today, heading south. My first Sydney sighting of the season. (Moderator's Note: This is the 5th report of the earliest Channel-billed Cuckoos, so I think that we will take one more and then we do not have to publish any more. AKM) Robert Griffin
	Powerful Owl Dex's Creek Kanangra Boyd NP Calling before dawn... Anne Carey
	Grey Goshawk Central Coast Highway, Norahville One seen close to Norahville within Wyrrabalong National Park Kris Olson
	Great Crested Grebe (80), Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo, Swamp Harrier Prospect Reservoir (near Blacktown ) A conservative (but not unusual) number of 80 Great Crested Grebes were seen with a few seen close to the picnic area as well as a Swamp Harrier, 2 Whistling Kites, White-bellied Sea-eagle, a Brown Goshawk, 30 or so Pelicans, 15 Black Swan, Bar-shouldered Dove, Eastern Whipbird, Olive-backed Oriole, Fan-tailed and Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoos and lots of Fairy Martins nesting under the roofs of the Sydney Water buildings. Edwin Vella and CBOC
	Black-necked Stork 3 kms W of Comboyne Single bird by small dam. Philip Brook
	Sooty Owl Blue Mountains National Park (Dantes Glen) Sooty Owl Called (screaming call) three times pre-dawn, audio recording made of one call: http://soundcloud.com/mountainspeak/20120902-sooty-owl-north; also heard Pilotbird, Superb Lyrebird, Rose Robin, etc. Arwen Blackwood Ximenes
	Varied Triller Wayne Richards Park, Port Macquarie Calling on a warm spring day in a small patch of vegetation next to the bike track, not seen previously at this site. Tim Morris
	White-throated Gerygone Mitchell Park, Cattai Return of migrant Fred van Gessell per Colin Scouler
Sat 1 Sep	Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Tree Martins, Regent Honeyeater Heaton Rd Wetlands, Quorrobolong During the CCGBNSW outing to Quorrobolong, a stop was made at the Heaton Gap Rd wetlands where 10+ Tree Martins and a lone Yellow-billed Spoonbill were seen, other birds present were Striated Pardalote and an Eastern Rosella at nest holes, Nankeen Kestrel and Red-rumped Parrots.. On private property at nearby Swans Lane, a lone Regent Honeyeater was seen, as well as a Wedge-tailed Eagle, 20+ Dusky Woodswallows, a calling Horsfield Bronze-cuckoos and many Yellow-tufted, Yellow-faced and White-naped Honeyeaters. Alan Morris, photo Christina Port & 21 members CCGBNSW
	Pacific Baza, Gang Gang, Little Lorikeet, Grey-crowned Babbler Roadside reserve, nr the property "Bigpond" Sandy Ck Rd Quorrobolong One of our regular stopping places during the annual visit to Sandy Creek Rd , Quorrobolong by members of the Central Coast group of BNSW. During the period 910-1010 hrs we saw 26 species including a single Baza, a pair of Gang gangs, 4 Little Lorikeets, at least 2 Grey-crowned Babblers, nesting Noisy Friarbirdsand many Yellow-faced Honeyeaters. Alan Morris, photo Christina Port, and 21 members CCGBNSW
	Musk Duck, Hoary-headed Grebe, Great Crested Grebe Lake Wallace Musk Duck (2) A pair. Male preening and displaying his spiky tail. Hoary-headed Grebe, Great Crested Grebe (9) a group of 8 and a single. Jenny Stiles
	Australasian Shoveler, Pink-eared Duck Lithgow Sewage Treatment Plant Australasian Shoveler (6) 3 pairs Pink-eared Duck (15) Fairly nervous, flew from the front pond to the middle pond as soon as we approached. Luckily we had a scope. Jenny Stiles
Fri 31 Aug	Long-billed Corella North Bank Road, Bellingen, NSW Two Long-billed Corellas on our lawn early this morning. First sighting in 20+ years of living in Bellingen. Harold Rafton per Belinda Rafton
Wed 29 Aug	Lewin's Rail, Chestnut-breasted Mannikin Sovereign Hills (Regional College) 2 Lewin's Rail calling within 3 metres away but unable to see. Also 8 Chestnut-breasted Mannikins feeding including a few immatures, Southern Emu-Wrens and Red-backed Fairy-wrens. Matt Hinze
Tue 28 Aug	Varied Sittella, White-breasted Woodswallow Kings Creek Warchope Varied Sittellas, a Threatened Species, are not often seen at Kings Creek and the White-breasted Woodswallows are recent returned migrants, the White-throated Treecreeper was also present. Note that In the last week I have also seen these birds at Lake Cathie on the coast which is not that far away as the crow flies. Darin Rounsevell.
Sun 26 Aug	Whiskered Tern Coopers Swamp, Wanganella A couple of early spring arrivals observed. Michael Ramsey
Wed 15 Aug	Tawny Frogmouth 110 Pacific Pde Dee Why Kris Olson

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