Birdline New South Wales Weekly Update

Birdline New South Wales

Published sightings for the week ending 5 May 2013.

Thu 2 May	Red-necked Avocet Goran Lake, 30 km south of Gunnedah 2380 Since my last report on 20 April (#175887) there has been a major change at Goran Lake. The remaining shallow water has attracted more than 1000 Red-necked Avocets. The attached photo shows only the densest cluster. Bird-watching from the public road is becoming difficult due to increasing distance and intervening mudflats. Evaporation rates are high and the lake will probably soon be dry. Michael Dahlem
Wed 1 May	Royal Spoonbill, Brolga Boyters Lane, Jerseyville Royal Spoonbill (80) Brolga (2) Roger Giller
Wed 1 May	Spotted Harrier Cudgera Creek South East 1' Cell A Spotted Harrier by the Pacific Highway just north of Sleepy Hollow. Hans Wohlmuth
	Radjah Shelduck (pending NSW ORAC decision) Coldstream Rd Ulmarra This morning we saw 2 Radjah Shelducks perched on the roof of a pump shed at a waterhole on Coldstream Rd Ulmarra. There were 32 Brolgas next to Post Office Lane Ulmarra. (Moderator's Note (NH): Radjah Shelduck [aka Raja Shelduck] is on the Review List of NSW ORAC and wil be subject to their confirmation) Eric and Margaret Wheeler, June and Norm Harris
Tue 30 Apr	Freckled Duck, Whistling Kite Pitt Town Lagoon Party of three (3) Whistling Kites flew over Pitt Town Lagoon and settled on one of the island dead trees. Spooked the ducks and flock of ten (10) Freckled Ducks settled on the water 100m from the mound. Excellent. No sign of Bitterns though. Chris and Jane Gregory
	Black Falcon Wallabadah Road, 2-3kms east of Quirindi NSW Michael Perkins
Mon 29 Apr	Common Bronzewing Lower Pappinbarra Never seen Common Bronzewing in the area before. A Bar-shouldered Dove was following it around as it searched the ground. The BS Dove seemed very interested in it, following it for more than 100m, but the Bronzewing behaved as if it was not happy about the close attention. Then I saw it again several hours later about 300 m away foraging on the ground again. (Moderator's note (NH): Indeed, Common Bronzewing has not yet been recorded in this block). Ian Kerr
	Freckled Duck, Great Crested Grebe, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, woodswallows Wonga Wetlands, West Albury A short stop in the afternoon produced some interesting species including the following, At least 7 Freckled Ducks, 1 juv. Great Crested Grebe, a few White-breasted and at least 1 Black-faced Woodswallow, 1 White-bellied Sea-eagle (all on or near Lagoon 1). 1 White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike and a lone Brown Treecreeper near the Visitor Centre. Falk Wicker
	Little Eagle Nurragingy Reserve, Doonside Little Egle was perching on the gum tree near the Centre oblivious to harassment of Noisy Miners, Australian Raven and Pied Currawongs. Ted Wnorowski
	Powerful Owl Bellawongarah - Berry Mountain One Powerful Owl heard calling in the forest at 9:50pm for a short while. A relatively warm still night. Carla Jackett
	Spotted Harrier Long Term Car Park, Sydney Airport Single Spotted Harrier observed hunting near the long term car park, occasionally being harassed by Australian Ravens. Nigel Coghlan
	Yellow- tailed Black Cockatoo McGregor Reserve, Rankin Park, newcastle A flock of 10 or more Yellow- tailed Black Cockatoos in McGregor Reserve, Rankin Park, Newcastle behind John Hunter Hospital. Just a short walk along the track and you will see them feeding on the pine cones and having a merry, vocal chat. Kathryn Diehm
	Magpie Goose, Chestnut-breasted Mannikin, Budgerigar Narrabri Lake, Narrabri West 2390 30 Magpie Geese are still present at Narrabri Lake (the photo shows about 26); looks like they are set to stay. A pair of Chestnut-breasted Mannikins is still nesting, but all breeding activity of the aquatic birds is over for the season. Apart from the "usual suspects", there were also 2 Red-kneed Dotterels today. And, as everywhere else in the region right now, a flock of Budgerigars (about 50 of them roosting in eucalypts; took a few photos). Michael Dahlem
	Black Kite Council Waste Site Lismore Minimum 55 Black Kites at the council waste facility in Wyrallah Rd. Normally rare in the Northern Rivers, although that clearly has not been the case in the past couple of months. Hans Wohlmuth
	Little Corella Grafton 2460 8.15am. Approx. 300 Little Corella in two flocks and loose birds over Grafton between Dobie Street and the Clarence River. Warren Thompson
Sun 28 Apr	Black Kite, Weebill Coutts Crossing One kite observed by Bill hunting on wing N of Orara River at Coutts Crossing in morning. 23+ observed by Greg in very high flock moving SW over southern end of village @ 1550 hrs. It wasn't clear if the birds seen constituted the whole flock or were the tail end of a larger flock. Two Weebills present all day in forested farmland at edge of village. Greg Clancy, Bill O'Donnell
Sun 28 Apr	Powerful Owl Lane Cove, Sydney A Powerful Owl hit our window. It was a bit winded but fine. When we turned the light on to investigate the noise we saw it on the ground accompanied by its mate. We gazed at each other for a short time, quickly turned the light out and off they flew. John Francis Ryan
	Rose Robin Mulgoa, private property two males and 1 female, first sighting of season peter harvey
	Campbell Albatross, Providence Petrel, Wilson's Storm-Petrel Terrigal pelagic, Central Coast Tim Faulkner organised the first Terrigal pelagic for today with 10 observers, unfortunately the sea was flat and there was little wind out off the continental shelf. Highlights included 1 Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, 11+ Black-browed Albatross, 1 Campbell Albatross, 10+ Wilson's Storm-Petrels, 2+ Providence Petrel, 2 Short-tailed Shearwaters, 20+ Wedge-tailed & 20+ Flesh-footed Shearwaters. Tim Faulkner, Alan Morris, John Weigel (photo) and 7 others.
	Whistling Kite Pennant Hills near pennnat Hills Park Whistling Kite gliding low over the eastern Pennat Hills area near park, unusual for the area. Ian francis
	Rose Robin Greenwich Gore Creek One male. Only my 2nd local record. Also an adult White-bellied Sea-Eagle, and an immature Satin Bowerbird. Ted Nixon
	Black Kite N of Clarence Regional Waste Depot, South Grafton 9 kites flying S at c. 50 m above ground @1720 hrs. Bill O'Donnell
Sat 27 Apr	Little Eagle Berowra One Little Eagle observed above Windybanks Interchage (F3/Pacific Highway) at 1pm. Paul Burcher
	Pink-eared Duck Centennial Parklands Sydney Pink-eared Duck main pond in the centre of park. Also Hoary-headed Grebe Marie Lister
	Pink-eared Duck, Hoary-headed Grebe Centennial Park Sydney A pair of Pink-eared duck on the central main pond at CP this morning. Came near to the edge to my amazement and then spent time in the centre of the pond circling each other - a mating display? Also Hoary-headed Grebe. Marie Lister
Fri 26 Apr	Masked Owl Majors Creek on Grafton-Armidale Road Very white bird (? male) flew across road @ 1850 hrs. Distinguished from Barn Owl by large size and strong direct laboured flight. Greg Clancy
	Spotted Harrier New England Highway, Glencoe. Adult Spotted Harrier over paddock. (Moderator's note: In view of the fact that there are many Spotted Harriers in NSW west of the Great Diving Range, it has been decided that we will not publish any more sightings from there unless there are exceptional circumstances about the sighting. At the rate they are now being seen in coastal regions we may have to restrict postings of them there too but not at this stage as yet. They, like Black Kites and Budgerigars are certainly moving into coastal regions.AKM) Warren Martin
Wed 24 Apr	Musk Duck Centennial Parklands Sydney Musk Duck close to the edge of main pond in the centre of Centennial Park. Diving for food near where the children were feeding ducks. Marie Lister
Tue 23 Apr	Black Kite, Black-Necked Stork Hexham Swamp West, Leneghan Drive Approx 50 Black Kites wheeling over the rise near properties above the swamp, some low over paddocks and perching in trees there. Some mobbed by ravens, or flying with Whistling Kite, or landing in paddocks with cattle and dogs nearby. Some pairs in skirmish. Also a pair of Black-Necked Storks roosting in distant paddock. Bruce Roubin and Ken Gilmour
Mon 22 Apr	White-fronted Chat Newington Nature Reserve Sunny autumn while working on site. Mainly near Birdlife centre. White-fronted Chat (2) Unmistakable black and white markings on the face and chin, small size also. Unfortunately I couldn't get a very focused photo with the camera phone as was too far away. Looked great in the binoculars though. This is posted as an unusual or rare observation as this area only has 4 white-fronted chats recorded and are all male. It is good to see at least a couple of individuals are still alive. Mark Cachia
Fri 19 Apr	Ground Cuckoo-shrike Sturt Hwy, 36k from Narrandera towards Carrathool 2 Ground Cuckoo-shrikes sitting on gate at roadside gave great views then moved further into paddock Sandra Henderson, Lia Battisson, Jean Casburn, Jane Green, Julie McGuinness

Birdline New South Wales is sponsored by Birding NSW, Birds Australia - Southern NSW & ACT and Cumberland Bird Observers Club and hosted by Eremaea Birds.

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