Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 13 Jan 2013.

Sun 13 Jan	Plumed Whistling-Duck Bushell's Lagoon, Wilberforce At Bushell's Lagoon, viewed from the causeway were 60+ Plumed Whistling-Ducks. A Spotted Harrier and a White-bellied Sea-Eagle were also present. Simon Blanchflower
	Australian Spotted Crake Warriewood Wetlands This morning between 6.30.and 7am, an Australian Spotted Crake feeding in the mud from the Katoa end Boardwalk. David Simpson
	Superb Parrot Parkes 6 Superb Parrots 10km West of Parkes along the Condobolin road. Steven Edwards
Sat 12 Jan	Fork-tailed Swift Long Reef Aquatic Reserve Fork-tailed Swift (50) Soaring directly above Long Reef Point. At least 50, likely a few more. We managed a few photos. Jenny Stiles
Sat 12 Jan	Great Crested Grebe Edgell's Wetland, Bathurst Really worth a visit at the moment - packed to the gills with interesting stuff! The female Musk Duck was there again, plus four Latham's Snipe and at least 10 Red-kneed Dotterels (but didn't detect the Australian Painted Snipe this time). Other interesting species included 2 male Australasian Darters, 5 Yellow-billed Spoonbills and several Black-winged Stilts with juveniles. The Great Crested Grebe was suprisingly inconspicuous amongst the throngs of Pink-eared Ducks & Pacific Black Ducks, Hardheads, Australasian Shovelers, Grey Teal & Chestnut Teal, and, once spotted, promptly dived from view. Tiffany Mason
	Glossy Black-Cockatoo (2), Gang-gang Cockatoo (3) Glow Worm Tunnel track, Wollemi NP Glossy Blacks calling in flight Mark Hocking
	Latham's Snipe, Red-kneed Dotterel Proposed marina site, Boollwarroo Parade, Shellharbour Latham's Snipe 5, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper 1, Red-kneed Dotterel 2, Black-fronted Dotterel 2, Black-winged Stilt 2, Australian Spotted Crake 3, Eurasian Coot 20+, Hardhead 10+, Great Cormorant 8, Little Black Cormorant 6, Little Pied Cormorant 5, European Goldfinch 6 and a number of Grey Teal. Located at the proposed marina site: Mudflats in wetlands south of the football ovals. Boollwarroo Parade, Shellharbour. Charles Dove - Terry Edwell
	Common Tern Long Reef Aquatic Reserve 2 birds seen late this afternoon around 6:30pm. Mark Young
	Pacific Baza St Ives, NSW the same Baza I reported a few weeks ago is still here, and it has been joined by a second bird. they were both seen today flying over Dalrymple Hay Nature reserve. I also frequently hear them over in the forest between Lynbara Ave and Dorset Drive but i don't think this area is accessible Arnie Hollyman
	Wandering Whistling Duck (3), Freckled and Pink-eared Ducks Fivebough Swamp, Leeton Three Wandering Whistling Duck were seen in the settling ponds at Fivebough Swamp. Birds have not been recorded here for about 10 years. More than 50 Freckled Ducks and hundreds of Pink-eared Ducks present at the moment along with Shovellers, Hardheads and teals. No sign of the female Painted Snipe from Thursday though. Max O'Sullivan
	10 Freckled Ducks, 23 Australasian Shovelers, 1 Glossy Ibis, 2 Latham's Snipe 2 Dams on Pretty Plains Rd, Millthorpe James Galea
Fri 11 Jan	Spotted Harrier and Swamp Harrier Castlereagh At 18:50 I observed and adult Spotted Harrier inside the Penrith Quarries from Castlereagh Rd. The bird was hunting about 100m from the barbed wire fence (excuse the substandard image, for ID only). About three minutes before a male Swamp Harrier was circling low over the lake across from Cranebrook Rd and it landed on a narrow strip of land dividing two lakes, much to the annoyance of the resident waterbirds. Several Royal and Yellow-billed Spoonbills were put into the air by the harrier. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Peregrine Falcon RPAH, Camperdown 1 female bird circling over the hospital. Most likely one of the two birds previously reported in the same place. Simon Gorta
	Wood Sandpiper, Banded Stilt, Black-tailed Godwit Deep Pond (Kooragang Island, Newcastle) Single Wood Sandpiper feeding in the south-western corner of Deep Pond on Kooragang Island. The water is now receding and conditions for shorebirds are improving. Also present were 2 Australian Spotted Crakes and about 150 each of Black-winged Stilt and Red-necked Avocet; the latter joined by the (now long-staying) Banded Stilt. 6 Black-tailed Godwit also present at the southern end, whilst about 1500 other waterfowl were at the northern end (mostly teal spp. and coots, but a good tally of 83 Royal Spoonbills). This site is unfortunately not accessible to the public as it is underneath the proposed location of Newcastle's 4th coal terminal (unless you peer over the railway tracks at the end of Bell Frog Track on Ash Island). Mick Roderick
	Australasian Shoveler Sydney Olympic Park Single female shoveler at Triangle Pond-my first here this century although I have one previous record about 1998! Also of note Musk Duck and Tawny Grassbird still at Haslams Creek, three species of crake at Water Feature Pond (1 Spotless Crake, 2 Australian Spotted Crake, 1 Baillon's Crake), Red-kneed Dotterel (3) Waterbird Refuge, Pacific Golden Plover (1) Mason Park, Dollarbirds have fledged chick at Woolara. No further sign of Yellow Wagtail on two follow up visits. Dion Hobcroft
	Freckled Duck (20+), Australian Painted Snipe (1 female) Fivebough Swamp, Leeton On an early morning visit yesterday to Fivebough before the heat, I was surprised to find a female Australian Painted Snipe not 5 m from me in the open dry mud.(On a return visit this morning, the bird couldn't be located.) I was also able to get to the newer hide that had been isolated by the high water since March last year and counted over 20 Freckled Ducks feeding. Also a flock of 50+ Little Corellas flew low over the swamp and more that a dozen Red-necked Avocet. Max O'Sullivan
Thu 10 Jan	Pectoral Sandpiper Byron Wetlands 2 Pecs at the former West Byron STP in the 'plastic' pond. 1 apparent male in early stages of breeding plumage developing black spotting on gorget, the other more buff on the breast. Also 12 Red-kneed Dotterels (10 in 'plastic' pond), 30+ Latham's snipe, 2 Buff-banded Rails. Jo Wieneke & David James
Wed 9 Jan	Glossy Black-Cockatoo Merimbula (Magic Mountain) 4 Glossy Black-Cockatoos feeding in casuarina next to the water slides. Matt Weeks
	Latham's Snipe Tumut STW and Town Common Latham's Snipe (1) In STW hiding in exposed tree roots on small island. Flew across to bank area latter on. John French
	Pacific Baza Bike track along Nepean River at Camden The large grey/brown bird flew into a tree by a wet area near Kings Bush Reserve on Camden bike track. It landed quite close to us and we observed it for a number of minutes. It appeared quite unphased by our presence. It did upset other birds and there was quite a commotion. The bird had a barred chest, a fairly small curved bird of prey beak and a small neat crest. We did not have our camera with us today but when we got home we were quite certain of our identification (the slater field guide to Australian birds, page 74). We felt that this bird flew in with others but this was the one which landed near us. We walk the bike track almost daily and have never seen this bird before. Janet and Harry Stait-Gardner
	White-throated Needletail Port Macquarie 200 or so Needletails flying over the junction of the Pacific and Oxley Highways outside Port at 11:30 as I was driving north. I didn't stop for a precise count. David James
	Bar-tailed Godwit, Striated Heron Iron Cove, Sydney 10+ Barwits sen around the bay, 2 of which were carrying orange leg bands on their right leg. Also one Striated Heron. Simon Gorta, Julian Teh
	Latham's Snipe Shellharbour, near the site of the planned marina 2 Latham's Snipes were flushed near the fence adjacent to Ron Costello oval. Boollwarroo Rd, Shellharbour. The road leading to Bass Point Reserve. Michael Crosland
	Plumed Whistling-Duck, Whistling Kite, Red-necked Avocet, Masked Lapwing Parkes Sewage Ponds Plumed Whistling-Duck 150 plus, largest flock seen at site for many years. Whistling Kite - 0ne bird in Fuzzy Box escaping the heat. Red-necked Avocet- one bird present since November 2012 Masked Lapwing, one bird race miles, others race novaehollandiae.. Neville Schrader (1702)
Tue 8 Jan	White-winged Triller, Restless Flycatchers, Latham's Snipes Mullumbimby Golf Course, Myocum Rd, Far North Coast A surprisingly busy patch, White-winged Triller singing a plenty-triller not around here much typically, also Tree Martins, White-breasted Woodswallows, Black-fronted Dotterels, Eastern Rosella, Royal Spoonbill Duncan Fowler
	Little Lorikeet Wards Rd Bensville adjacent to Bouddi NP Flocks of 50 plus in this area for the last 2 months, early in the morning and late afternoon. Moving through an area occupied by Bell Miners but seemingly not too harassed by them. 20 + drinking yesterday and this morning. Apologies for the poor quality of the photo. Robyn Urquhart
	Tawny Frogmouth Marana Rd Springfield Two Tawny Frogmouths were sitting on my front lawn at 630pm, wings down, bills open trying to cope with the heat. On close approach, they flew into the low branches of an Acacia where I noticed another two Tawny Frogmouths. Nick Carson
	White-throated Needletail Seaforth At least 40 birds overhead between 09.00 and 10.00. Also Azure Kingfisher in mangroves in Powder Hulk Bay Neil Friswell
	Red-capped Robin Castlereagh Returned to the site where I noted the male Red-capped Robin yesterday morning. He was in exactly the same area and also appeared to have at least one fledged young that he was feeding. There were two identical looking birds, but I was unable to confirm ages from about 30m away without binoculars. Also noted a Weebill building a nest at head height in a tree. Saw lots of Brown-headed and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters as well. Several Spotted Pardalotes fed so close to me I could almost touch them and that's also with my three dogs by my side. In fact to take a photo, I had to take a couple of steps back to get my minimum focus distance effective (= 4.5 meters). See further info for lots of pics. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Black-faced Monarch Irrawong Reserve Female Leaden Flycatcher present at Warriewood, Male at Irrawong Reserve. Swamp Wallaby was present. Council has closed the walk from Epworth Place to the waterfall, due to fire warnings. Carol Abbott
Mon 7 Jan	Wandering Tattler Hastings Point Wandering Tattlers are summer residents on the rocky headland. I have been camping there over the New Year for 9 years and have had the pleasure of watching them on a daily basis. Up until this summer there have been 6 to 8 individuals but this year there were only 2. Both my son Matt and I made exhaustive searches and we are certain that this number is correct. Has anyone observed a similar drop in numbers elsewhere? (Moderators's note: There are only three sites in NSW where more than 2 birds are seen on a regular basis viz Flat Rock Ballina, Cape Byron and Hastings Point, so it is not possible to say if there has been a drop! AKM) Barry Davies
	Pallid Cuckoo, Waders, Crakes and Rails Eastlakes Golf Course One of the Pallid Cuckoos from last year is still hanging around, Buff-banded Rail with chick (I believe at least two pairs have nested this season), Spotted, Baillon's and Spotless Crakes are everywhere with more and more exposed mud, making them venture out into the open. I have not seen any Crake chicks, but I would strongly suspect they are hidden away somewhere. 50+ Masked Lapwings, 15 Latham's Snipe, 10 Black-winged Stilts, 2 Red-kneed Dotterels, 8 Black-fronted Dotterels and up to 9 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers are also present. David Mitford
	Peregrine Falcon Bobbin Head Rd Turramurra Pair display flying over my house this evening approx 7:40pm. Cockatoos and Noisy Miners not happy! Tom Wilson
	Brown Goshawk Bungoona Ave, Elanora Heights NSW A wonderful afternoon/evening spent with Greg & Frederica Merriman on their balcony together with Fiona Harsanyi and myself having a drink while watching these two adult Goshawks, together with their adolescent, hunting for dinner. The nest is in a big gum overhanging Bungoona Ave, with plenty of droppings on the road to flag the spot. Murray Dwyer
	Grey Goshawk Bundanoon I had the pleasure of watching an adult white morph Grey Goshawk flying above open country and the edge of Morton Nation Park, near home, this morning at 10:15. The bird made deliberate dives at Little Ravens and Pied Currawongs perched in the canopy bordering paddocks. This seemed to be more of a threat display than a hunting technique, as the goshawk didn't pursue these birds to kill (I also think these two would be too big for the goshawk). The goshawk was harassed by the Little Ravens as it flew away, then soared and spiraled until it was very high and became almost luminescent, with sunlight highlighting the primaries. The white morph GG could be our most gorgeous Australian raptor. Lorne Johnson
	Red-capped Robin Castlereagh I had splendid views of a male bird along Devlin Road on of the fire trails. In fact, even though I had three dogs laying at my feet, the robin flew down to within five meters of us to pick something up from the trail right before us! Then he perched very low and close offering magnificent views. I managed a brief recording of his call with my phone. At that time an Owlet-nightjar made its laughter-like calls nearby four times. A young Brown Falcon is still hanging around this patch of bushland. Ákos Lumnitzer
Sun 6 Jan	Red-capped Plover Spring Creek Reserve, near Orange 2 birds, adult in breeding plumage, other non-breeding plumage. Neville Schrader (1702)
Sun 6 Jan	Glossy Black-Cockatoo Old Argyle Rd, approx. 0.5km south of junction with Ferndale Rd nr Bundanoon 2 adults and a young one feeding in some allocasuarinas next to the track at 8:30am in hot sunny conditions (25C). Dr. John Shepherd
	Little Bittern, Baillon's Crake, Spotless Crake, Nankeen Night-Heron Teven Road swamp, West Ballina A single Little Bittern was seen well on two occasions. Plenty of crakes and rails also seen or heard. very good close views of a Baillon's. Two Nankeen Night-Herons seen flying just on sunset. Very extensive reed beds so good habitat for bitterns and rails. David Charley and Steve McBride
	Barking Owl, Azure Kingfisher, White-throated Needletail Warriewood Wetlands, Irrawong Reserve Arrived at 6:30pm and couldn't locate the owl, despite a thorough search of the casuarinas. Spent a while generally birding before deciding at 8:15pm to leave. As I was walking along the boardwalk towards Katoa Close, it flew out across the reeds and landed in a casuarina. Over the next ten to fifteen minutes, it made another four passes over the reeds, appearing to feint to take a swamphen a couple of times (completely impossible given their similar size). Great views!! It trilled a couple of times while perched (sounded slightly like one of the Satin Bowerbird's calls). Thanks to Ted Blackman, Sharon Gotleib and Lorna Bloom for finding the bird this morning, and the subsequent prompt Birdline report. Saw/heard everything else in their report too (except the wallaby), with other nice birds being an Azure Kingfisher on the creek just downstream of the wetland proper; and two WTNTs overhead at the waterfall in Irrawong Reserve. Ashwin Rudder
Sat 5 Jan	Powerful Owl Rumbalara Reserve Springfield Juvenile Powerful Owl trilling for over an hour from 1130pm. I managed to find it perched near the top of a large Blackbutt. I have heard and/or seen the juvenile regularly since first reported in November. Nick Carson
	Red-chested Button-quail, Spotted Harrier Cullen Bullen A single female Red-chested Button-quail crossed the road (5 km north of Cullen Bullen) and later was feeding for the next 10 minutes on the slope sparsely covered by grass. One Spotted Harrier was flying over farmland near Cullen Bullen. Ted Wnorowski
Tue 1 Jan	Painted Honeyeater Moira Lake section, Murray Valley Regional Park, Mathoura Painted Honeyeater (2) in flowering mistletoe. Initiall stopped to re-locate possible Robin, but found Painted Honeyeater instead. Chris Armstrong and Anne Stokes
Sun 30 Dec	Australian Painted Snipe Warrumbungle NP, Woolshed After a reasonably successful night drive in the Warrumbungles with observations on five different species of gecko, I stopped at the Woolshed at midnight to see if there were any snakes around. No snakes, but this beauty was foraging in the local creek and was very cooperative, allowing me to sit next to it for an hour or so, until I decided to leave (gently). Frank Valckenborgh

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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