Birdline NSW Weekly Update

Birdline NSW

Published sightings for the week ending 17 Feb 2013.

Sun 17 Feb	White-throated Needletail Cambridge Gardens, near Penrith As I arrived home this morning after bumping into Edwin, I was greeted by about three dozen of these fast flying swifts in my street. They were flying very low and I managed a few shots in my front yard. Then I saw even more and got more photos from my backyard. It was amazing to see them around 20m above the ground hawking. I also observed several of the swifts preening on the wing. The neck was stretched back over to the back and they were just dropping (like a stooping peregrine) as they picked at their backs. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Spotted Harrier, Gang-gang Cockatoo, White-throated Needletails Richmond and Richmond Lowlands (Hawkesbury area) In Richmond and the Richmond Lowlands there were lots of White-throated Needletails. The Needletails were seen first seen along Yarramundi Lane, then beside Old Kurrajong Rd and then later on Cornwells Lane in the Richmond Lowlands. At the later place, It almost appeared there was a larger swift amongst the Needletails which turned out to be a Peregrine Falcon trying to prey on the Needletails and Swallows. The Needeltails then formed one tight flock and I actually then heard them calling somewhat similar to Fork-tailed Swifts but noticeably different (I think this was the first time I have heard Needeltails being vocal). There were also other birds of prey about with a Spotted Harrier, 2-3 Whistling Kites, several Black-shouldered Kites, Brown Falcon, Nankeen Kestrels and an Australian Hobby. I watched for some time a pair of Kestrels disputing with the Hobby in the air. I was also surprised at Cuppits Lane to hear a Gang-gang Cockatoo. Edwin Vella
	Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos Penrith Lakes near Castlereagh I bumped into Edwin this morning and we had fun trying to find the amazing bunch of waterbirds seen out there recently by an astute observer, but to no avail. There was way too much water on the ponds and birds must have moved somewhere to a new secret location. :-) However, I noted a small flock of 18 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos (12 only fit into the frame), which is an unusual number for this area. I generally see small flocks of two-to perhaps six or so. Ákos Lumnitzer and Edwin Vella
	Spotted Harrier, Australian Hobby Richmond Lowlands A few raptors seen late this afternoon around Richmond Lowlands. Observed a Spotted Harrier (1), Australian Hobby (1), Nankeen Kestrel, White-bellied Sea Eagle (1) and two Black-shouldered Kites (2) all along Cupitts Lane. Photos attached of Spotted Harrier being harried by a Magpie-lark and an Australian Hobby and Nankeen Kestrel on the same power pole. Greg McLachlan
	Great Egret Eastlakes Golf Course Great Egret, Latham's Snipe and usual suspects, also stunning views and photos taken of Black-shouldered Kite. Chris Pollard
Sat 16 Feb	White-throated Needletail Flockhart Park, Croydon (Sydney) 200+ White-throated Needletails over the cricket field today, some low flying birds coming in over the pitch at 10m or less above the ground!!! I thought such a number should be reported and the fact that I have seen them here for two weeks now might be of interest to people researching them as I don't think they seem to hang around generally. There are flying ants and some other orange rumped bug that are flying around in great numbers which may be an attraction for the swifts as they are easy to catch as they don't seem very agile. Possibly it is the food availability that is attracting the birds to the park and it is not the same flock building up in numbers etc. The birds were over the park for the whole three and a half hours I was there. I attempted photos of the whole group but my point and shoot would not focus on them. Simon Gorta
	Beautiful Firetail Irvines Road, Bellawongarah NSW - Private Property On our Bird Club walk today we were very surprised to find one Beautiful Firetail after some members recognised the call. Good views by most. I do not know of another record for Bellawongarah? A few other highlights for the walk included Crested Shrike-tit, Australian Logrunner (2), Red-browed Treecreeper, Large-billed Scrubwren, Wonga Pigeon (heard), Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Gang-gang Cockatoo, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo and a Square-tailed Kite! Carla Jackett with Illawarra Birders Club Carla Jackett with Illawarra Birders Club
	White-throated Needletails Turella Reserve and Nanny Goat Hill, Earlwood A small group of 4 White-throated Needletails seen above Nanny Goat HIll and a larger group of about 11 seen over Turella Reserve this morning ahead of a weather front moving in from the coast. According to our survey records, they were last recorded here in 1995! Melissa Mason, Therese Alting
	Nankeen Night-Heron Eastlakes Golf Course Flushed a Nankeen Night-Heron at the overflow, adjacent Hole 3, brief views and grainy photo Chris Pollard
Fri 15 Feb	White-throated Needletail Leichhardt, Inner West, Sydney Approx 6 White-throated Needletails literally directly over our house. They came in front of a low-pressure system. Was very nice to see them that low down flying around my head. Nikolas Haass
	Black-necked Storks Ellis Swamp, Wooli Rd, 1km S of Tucabia N.S.W. 13 Black-necked Storks were seen close to the road by Kevin at 3pm but, when Eric and Margaret were there at 4.30pm, 7 were near the road and the others were further away. There were none there the next afternoon. Eric, Margaret , Kevin Wheeler
	Plumed Whistling-Duck (20) Nowra Sewage Pond Plumed Whistling-Ducks still there! Not as many, but still a large group Andrew Walker
	White-fronted Chat (4) & Double-banded Plover (3-4) Shoalhaven Heads At least 4 White-fronted Chats seen near the edge of the second bay from the carpark, along with 3 or 4 Double-banded Plovers! 2 male White-fronted Chats and 1 female were identified, along with a fourth which was heard and seen in flight but too far away to confirm gender. Andrew Walker
	Pilotbird (1) & Southern Emuwren (4-5) Woodlands track near Sublime Point (Bulli) Multiple Southern Emuwrens including 2 adult males, and a Pilotbird were seen on the northern end of the woodlands track. Andrew Walker
	Black Honeyeater Ingalba Nature Reserve, 10.4 km west of Temora A group of 10+ Black Honeyeaters, seemingly more adult males than females, feeding in flowering Narrow-leafed Box with other honeyeaters including White-plumed Honeyeaters and Fuscous Honeyeaters. Also present were Dusky Woodswallows and White-browed Woodswallows, Brown Treecreepers and Painted Button-quail. Alan Morris
	Spotted Quail-thrush, Diamond Firetail, Superb Lyrebird Newnes State Forest The pair of Spotted Quail-thrushes and Superb Lyrebirds were spotted on Blackfellows Hand track and after moving onto Wolgan Road roughly a dozen Diamond Firetails were noticed sitting along a barbed wire fence. Good day out. Other birds seen were Rainbow Bee-eaters, Dusky Woodswallows, Tree Martins, Sacred Kingfishers and a pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles. Gang-gang Cockatoos were also heard. Lace Monitor and Short-beaked Echidna were also spotted while on Wolgan Road. James Fong
Thu 14 Feb	Freckled Duck, White-winged Fairy-wren, White-fronted Chat, Whiskered Tern Lake Coolah, Narrandera A visit was made to Lake Coolah, a private property for which authorisation was obtained, located about 12 km NNE of Narrandera. This lake filled for the first time in 40 years, late last year! There mere about 80 Yellow-billed Spoonbils, 1 Royal Spoonbill, 100s Red-kneed Dotterel and Black-winged Stilts, at least 5 Freckled Duck, 4 White-fronted Chat, 10+ Australian Pipits, many Grey Teal, Whiskered Tern, and Black-tailed Native-hen, some Pink-eared Duck and Black Duck, Red-capped Robin & Yellow-rumped Thornbill and Whistling Kite. Alan Morris & Max o'Sullivan
	Spotted Crake, Freckled Duck, Marsh Sandpiper, White-winged Triller Campbells Swamp, Griffith One hour spent at Campbells Swamp 1100-1200 hrs, saw a flock of 18 Marsh Sandpipers, 4 Freckled Duck, 10+ Shovelers, 22 Spotted Crake but i am sure that there were many more, 4 Spotless Crakes were heard calling but not sighted, many Black-tailed Native-hen, Red-kneed Dotterel, and Grey Teal, a few Pinkear, a Night-heron and Hoary-headed Grebe. Double-barred Finch, a single White-wingted Triller, Variegated Fairy-wren, Little Grassbirds, Singing Honeyeater and Cisticola were some of the bush birds present Alan Morris and Max O'Sullivan
	Little Eagle, Splendid Fairy-wren, Diamond Firetail, Yellow-plumed Honeyeater Moss Dam, Binya SF near Yenda A hour (900-1000 hrs) was spent a Moss Dam, Binya SF. Birds coming into drink or that were present included 2 Red-capped Robin, a Little Eagle overhead, 4+ Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, many Striped Honeyeaters and White-eared Honeyeaters, 4+ Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters and 8+ Brown-headed Honeyeaters, Peaceful Doves, Common Bronzewings and Bar-shouldered Doves, Mulga Parrots, 2 Southern Whiteface, Spendid Fairy-wren and Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, as well a single Diamond Firetail and Double-barred Finch. Alan Morris & Max O'Sullivan
	Pacific Baza Little Hartley near Lithgow Pair in tree on private property. Seemed to be shaking foliage after insects perhaps. Richard Lawrence
Wed 13 Feb	Budgerigars, White-browed Woodswallows Brobenah Rd Barellan (between Binya and Leeton) two flocks of 60 Budgerigars were seen in a clump of Boree (Acacia pendula) along the road, in company with 20 White-browed Woodswallows, Magpielark, 2 Eastern Rosellas, 1 Willie Wagtail and a Brown Falcon Alan Morris
	Freckled Duck, Marsh & Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Avocet Hooeys Lookout, Fivebough Swamp, Leeton 20 minutes was spent at Hooeys Lookout (1600-1620 hrs), Fivebough Swamp, accessed from Fivebough Rd. Highlights were 42 Freckled Duck (note that on 14/2/13 Keith Hutton counted 278 Freckled Duck on Fivebough Swamp in total). Many hundreds of Pink-eared Duck and Grey Teal, many Australasian Shoveler, single Sharp-tailed and Marsh Sandpipers, 100s Red-kneed Dotterel, 600+ Australian Pelican, 2 Red-necked Avocets, Whiskered Terns and 3 European Goldfinch. alan morris
	Sacred Kingfisher Maroubra Junction Moving about swiftly through rear lanes and occasionaly perching on roof gutters. Managed to get close enough to identify bird before it moved on again through the urban environment. Chad Noble
	Black Noddy Cape Byron, Northern NSW One Noddy stood out fairly easily against a confetti of Crested Terns at the Cape where the feeding flock operating non stop where edge of the southerly currents were mixing. It was sure rough out there getting a decent view but I will say but the head was bright clean white, it was a very "straight" flight nature, kinda stiff and sharp, it was quite small I would say definitely smaller than a Crested Tern, the whiteish pale coverts under the wing weren't apparent and it was a dark chocolate brown. Duncan Fowler
	White-throated Needletail Concord Sydney Whilst driving through Concord yesterday around 9am I sighted numerous White-throated Needletail. Numbers were in the hundreds. A few were also present in Rhodes half an hour later. John Avery
	Glossy Ibis, Baillon's Crake McGrath's Hill Wetlands, Hawkesburry After visiting Bushells Lagoon I stopped at McGrath's Hill site. There was a flock of Glossy Ibis (14 birds) feeding on pasture near main pond. There was also plenty of Baillon's Crakes. At least 5 were feeding in open on the edges of main pond. Ted Wnorowski
	Glossy Ibis, Plumed Whistling-Duck Bushells Lagoon Hawkeburry Two flocks (total count 22 birds) of Glossy Ibis were feeding on the pasture at the edge of western part of lagoon. Three Plumed Whistling-Ducks and two Pink-eared Duck were roosting on the banks of small lagoon on the east side. Other interesting birds: Black-tailed Native-hen (2), Buff-banded Rail (1), Azure Kingfisher (1), White-bellied Sea-Eagle (3 adults), Yellow-billed Spoonbill (2), Latham's Snipe (3), Intermediate Egret (7). Ted Wnorowski
Tue 12 Feb	Plumed Whistling-Duck, Orange Chat, Australian Spotted Crake Lake Cargelligo STW A visit to the Lake Cargelligo STW 1100-1140 hrs netted 41 species including a flock of 14 Plumed Whistling-Ducks, a bird that I had not previously seen there, 3+ Australian Spotted Crakes, a group of 4 Orange Chats, only 1 Australian Shelduck and only a few Pink-eared Ducks and Australasian Shovelers. Great views of breeding plumaged male White-winged Fairy-wrens and Variegated Fairy-wrens. Other birds of interest were a Nankeen Night-Heron, Zebra Finches, Red-kneed Dotterels and Yellow-billed Spoonbills. (Note that about 7 km south of Lake Cargelligo on the Rankin Springs road, there is a large shallow wetland that has 1000s of ducks and other waterbirds but there was not time to make an assessment!) alan morris
	Glossy Black-Cockatoo Crosslands Reserve a pair drinking from a puddle in Casuarina forest at 7:20 pm with others calling Gabrielle Rees
	Powerful Owl Nandi Ave, Frenchs Forest As previously reported (sometime last year) a powerful owl has been calling for the past week or so in the bushland around Nandi Ave. Tonight I finally recorded it, and attached is the filtered spectrogram (noise reduction and deletion of bumps). Analysis of the call shows it to be a female bird calling, with the call peaking at aroung 550hz, compared to the male (according to BOCA CDs) which peaks at 250hz Nathan Ruser
	Brolga Private property near Harparary, 40 km south of Narrabri 2390 A pair of Brolgas was observed foraging in wheat stubble on an irrigation farm near the Namoi River. They were not greatly disturbed by farm traffic or approaching photographer. They also went into a swampy area (partly submerged fallow field). Their appearance follows about 200 mm of rainfall in the area a few weeks ago, plus moderate follow-up rainfall since, with lots of ephemeral wetlands that had been dry for about a year. Ros Druce (via Michael Dahlem)
	Peregrine Falcon Fort Street High School, Petersham 1 bird flying high over the school at around 8:30am, diving in and out of a flock of 20 pigeons. It began with two high speed dives from above and missed with both as the pigeons seemed to split up at the last second into two separate groups. It then proceeded to fly flat through the group, back and forth, until eventually, after about 3 minutes of this it came out with a pigeon, which was quite off-putting as, without binos, it seemed originally to come out with an incredibly long tail! I thought I should report this bird as it is one of a pair that I regularly see at the school and I think they should be documented. Simon Gorta
	Red-whiskered Bulbul and Striated Thornbill Bateau Bay beach bush 3 Red-whiskered Bulbuls spotted fighting and 2 Striated Thornbills seen in trees overhanging sand Shayne Weston
Mon 11 Feb	Australian Painted Snipe, Pectoral Sandpiper Shellhabour Wetland Australian Painted Snipe was on the eastern side of the wetland. With major construction going at both ends of the wetland today. The bird flushed twice trying to returning to previous feeding areas. All birds appeared to be skittish today with noise and habitat being destroyed. Nerida Hudspith
	Glossy Ibis, Pink-eared Duck, Zebra Finch. Pitt Town Lagoon , McGrath's Hill Wetlands. 14 Glossy Ibis at McGrath's Hill Wetlands; 2 Zebra Finch and at least 10 Pink-eared Duck at Pitt Town Lagoon. Philip Brook
	Barking Owl Little Beach Carpark, Bouddi National Park, Central Coast Barking Owl seen just on dark. Heard calling first. Call was only a trill and no bark. Tim and Liz Faulkner
	Double-banded Plover Shoalhaven Heads River Inlet As reported by Graeme, 2 birds were found foraging in grass edge and mudflats at 1 pm. Overcast. Also heard a Bar-shouldered Dove. Carla and Ian Jackett
	Major Mitchell's Cockatoo River Avenue, Chatswood West. Just saw a Major Mitchell's Cockatoo flying north from River Ave ,Chatswood west towards Lane Cove National Park Entrance (Dehli Road) . Could not believe my eyes !!!! Might be a get away for Taronga ??? (Moderator: Obviously an escapee!) Harry O'Donovan
Sun 10 Feb	Peregrine Falcon Goulburn Great views of a speeding Peregrine Falcon from the top of War Memorial tower on Rocky Hill, early afternoon. Interestingly, a sign near the base of the tower, mentioning indigenous heritage in the region, said Goulburn once had many bustards and brolgas. Lorne Johnson
	Hooded Plover Ulladulla Six Hooded Plovers seen within a 300 m stretch of beach and rock at Ulladulla on Sunday. An adult pair were seen at the southern end of Rennies Beach (near the roped off breeding area), and then a bit further south on the rock platform between Rennies and Racecourse Beaches were a family of 4, including two juveniles. (I went back to make sure it wasn't the same two 'Rennies' adults but they were still there). It's great to think that perhaps they have successfully bred in the area, and justification to all the people roping off the breeding areas and putting up the signage. On Rennies Beach there were also a pair of Australian Pied Oystercatchers, one of which had a metal band above the left knee and a yellow flag above the right with either 30 or 3D marked on it. Mark Ley
	Spangled Drongo; Marsh Sandpipers; various Waders Hexham Swamp Sue & I observed a variety of waders here, even though tide was low. x4 Marsh Sandpiper, x3 Common Greenshanks, Spangled Drongo flew over the car going west, Black-fronted Dotterel, Red-kneed Dotterels, Eastern Curlew, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Curlew Sandpipers etc. John & Sue O'Malley; Wes Tolhurst; John & Judy Wells
Sat 9 Feb	Freckled Duck, Wood Sandpiper Fivebough Swamp A birders paradise here at present with ideal conditions to see thousands of birds. Highlights were 118 Freckled Duck. A few seen very close to the bird hide with other ducks, many others further to the north of the swamp in a flock with thousands of other waterfowl. Also a Wood Sandpiper. I was very excited to find this bird, flushed then seen clearly in shallow water with dead reeds a hundred metres or so south of the bird hide, great views for an extended time. Also many Red-kneed Dotterel and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, 8 Marsh Sandpiper, 2 Red-capped Plover, a Banded Lapwing, hundreds ducks, egrets, pelicans and other waterbirds. Michael Ramsey
	Budgerigar, Superb Parrot Square Nob (between Barellan and Narrandera) Budgerigar (6). A small flock flew over the Barellan Road heading south. Also a Superb Parrot in box trees along the Barellan Road and a pair of Peregrines circling over Square Nob. Michael Ramsey
	Banded Lapwing Lake Coolah (north of Narrandera) Banded Lapwing (12). A flock seen roosting on the eastern side of the lake by the Barellan Road. Great to see so much water in the lake. Also hundreds of Black-tailed Native-hens and Whiskered Terns as well as Pink-eared Ducks, White-fronted Chat, Bluebonnets and a single White-backed Swallow. Michael Ramsey
	Rainbow Lorikeet Narrandera Wetlands Rainbow Lorikeet (3). A pair were seen inspecting nest hollows in a dead gum on the west side of the wetlands, another was heard. Quite surprised to see here, well out of range and I am not aware of any other records from the Riverina.(Moderator's Note: There are recent records for Leeton and Griffith. AKM) Michael Ramsey
	Fork-tailed Swift Little Logans Travelling Stock Reseve (Morundah) Fork-tailed Swift (45). A few birds were first seen high up heading in from the east, then rapidly the flock grew and began circling lower overhead with a large flock of White-browed Woodswallows. Great close views for an extended period. Michael Ramsey
	BARAU'S Petrel (BARC submission required), Gould's Petrel, Sooty Tern, release of Grey-faced Petrel Sydney Pelagic Trip This Sydney pelagic produced the first BARAU'S Petrel off the Australian East Coast! See attached photo and Raja's website below. The water temperature was 26degC. We will submit a detailed report to BARC. The other great highlight was the release of the Grey-faced Petrel recently found by Joan Dawes at Circular Quay (23rd Jan; #163338). When the bird was found it was covered in a fine oil and required several washes and waterproofing prior to release. This was done by Libby Hall and her team at Taronga Wildlife Hospital. I (NH) released the bird at Brown's Mountain at 10:15am while other Grey-faced Petrels were circling the boat. It was fantastic to see the bird fly away in his classic Pterodroma-manner! Other highlights were 2+ Gould's Petrel along with two Sooty Terns. More photos here: Nikolas Haass, Raja Stephenson, Roger McGovern and all on the Halicat
Fri 8 Feb	Glossy Black-Cockatoo Mitchell Circuit,Port Macquarie,N.S.W. Unusually large size flock approx.12 Frank Loughhland
Sun 3 Feb	Australian Little Bittern Gorman Park, Mulwala Australian Little Bittern (1). Heard calling in a thick patch of phragmites reeds by the wetlands in the park. I was quite close to the reed bed, no less than 10 metres but could not see the bird even with some persistent searching. My first record in this area and amazingly my second bittern record in the same day with an Australasian Bittern recorded earlier at Berrigan. Michael Ramsey
	Freckled Duck Native Dog Swamp, Berrigan Freckled Duck (202). Amazing numbers, most in one large flock on the northern side of the swamp. Many appeared to be young birds, I couldn't find any with red on their bills. Michael Ramsey
	Australasian Bittern Nangunia Swamp, Berrigan Australasian Bittern (1). Heard booming for around 30 seconds from the deeper northern part of the swamp covered by thick lingum and nitre bushes. An exciting find, I have not recorded one in southern NSW for over 2 years. Also over 100 Great Egret, 5 Little Egret, over 200 Whiskered Tern and around 60 Glossy Ibis. Michael Ramsey
Thu 31 Jan	Pale blue Rose-ringed Parakeet with Rainbow Lorikeets Glenrock, West Kempsey, NSW, 2440 I was wondering if you could possibly identify the attached photo of a Lorikeet type bird that was seen mixing with the local lorikeets at my place in Glenrock, Kempsey. I have never seen a bird of this pale blue colouring around here. It seemed to be accepted by the local lorikeets and seemed to fit in we'll, with no aggression shown towards it. Any info would be greatly appreciated... Moderator's note (NH): Unfortunately, David's e-mail was incorrectly entered and therefore bounced back. Ideally I'd like to see more/higher resolution pictures of this bird. Although superficially this bird may look like an aberrant Rainbow Lorikeet, I believe it is a pale blue mutation (breed) of a Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri). Bill shape and loral stripe seem to fit. Also 'mixing with the local lorikeets' Was it actually part of the flock or was it just tolerated (as you said with no signs of aggression)? Obviously this bird is an escapee. Rose-ringed Parakeet is an invasive species. Information on populations of this species is appreciated. David Kemp

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