Birdline New South Wales Weekly Update

Birdline New South Wales

Published sightings for the week ending 25 Aug 2013.

Sun 25 Aug	Nankeen Night-Heron Major's Bay, Concord Tidal flats near mangroves Southern end of bay David Potter
	Northern Royal Albatross, Common Diving-Petrel Wollongong Pelagic A Northern Royal Albatross was the highlight on consecutive days on the Wollongong double-header of pelagics (same bird as yesterday??). Also seen were 2 separate observations of single Common Diving-Petrels (both times on the edge of loafing flocks of Fluttering SW) and good numbers of albatross generally. Diversity much lower than yesterday (e.g. no Buller's Alb, no stormies, no pterodromas) but we did have a Brown Skua. Mick Roderick for SOSSA
	Black Falcon, Little Eagle, Black-chinned Honeyeater, White-throated Gerygone Riverstone (approx. 10 km NW of Blacktown CBD) At Riverstone there was a good mix of raptors in a short space of time including a Whistling Kite, a Wedge-tailed and a Little Eagle, a Black-shouldered Kite and a Black Falcon (see attached pic). It appears that there may be a small irruption of Black Falcons to the western Sydney area. Also at Riverstone heard my first White-throated Gerygone for the season, saw 2 Shining Bronze-cuckoos chasing each other and also heard a Black-chinned Honeyeater amongst lots of White-naped and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters passing through the forest. (Moderator's note (NH): There seems to be a small irruption of Black Falcon not only to Sydney but to the East coast in general. There were several sightings near Brisbane, including my own sighting at Kedron Brook Wetlands near Brisbane Airport; see Birdline Central & Southern Queensland) Edwin Vella
	Spotted Harrier, Baillon's Crake, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Pitt Town Lagoon Spent an hour in the early morning at Pitt Town Lagoon where there was an immature Spotted Harrier being chased by Australian Ravens, a Baillon's Crake (which I got within a couple of metres of it), 3 Australasian Shovelers and a White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike in stand of the eucalypts. Edwin Vella
	Kelp Gull Long Reef Aquatic Reserve Kelp Gull (1) Mark.Young
	Nankeen Night-heron Warriewood Wetlands At the start of the boardwalk from Katoa Close, along the edge of the eastern ponds. Good views until the sunset gloom overwhelmed him. Peter Diegutis
	Mistletoebird Scheyville National Park Mistletoebird (3) At least 3 in flowering mistletoe on pines near Parks building Peter Hosking
	Probable Superb Fruit-Dove Angophora Reserve, Bilgola Plateau, Sydney Seen around 10am, a small fruit-dove flying through the trees into the valley. I only managed a quick glimpse of it, but I was amazed! It was either a Superb or a Rose-crowned, either of which would be an incredible sighting for this location. I only wish I had a better look! (Moderator's note (NH): Since this is an exciting sighting - regardless which of the two species it is - I have put it up on Birdline NSW, but I will not index it for the atlas, for which we need a definite ID) Henry Coleman
	Noisy Pitta Blackbutt Forest Reserve, Blackbutt First observed by an Illawarra birders member on Friday. The bird is currently living under a flying fox colony. Michael Crosland
	Red-necked Avocet (13), Eastern Osprey Dee Why Lagoon Lorand Szucs
	White-throated Nightjar Gibraltar Reserve, near Grafton White-throated Nightjar heard c0330 this morning, first arrival. Earliest date for this location. Simon Clayton
Sat 24 Aug	Wedge-tailed Eagle, Gray Goshawk, Peregrine Falcon, Superb Lyrebird, Yellow-throated Scrubwren, Larg Kurrajong Hills Wedge-tailed Eagle (1) over house at same time as Grey Goshawk and Peregrine Falcon. Superb Lyrebird male seen at Kurrajong Hts tennis courts. Yellow-throated Scrubwren at least 4 pairs seen along D Farm Rd. Large-billed Scrubwren 1-2 with Yellow-throateds first seen in about a year. Olive-tailed Thrush has been present all week Eric Finley (2906)
	Northern Royal Albatross, Common Diving-Petrel Wollongong Pelagic Highlights today were a Northern Royal Albatross, a Common Diving-Petrel, a White-faced Storm-Petrel, 2 Southern Giant-Petrels, 2 Buller's Albatross, and 12+ Wanderer type Albatross (but no skuas and no Cape Petrels). Brook Whylie for SOSSA
	Pilotbird Glow Worm Tunnel track, Wollemi National Park Walked to Glow worm tunnel and back. Pilotbird (1) Following behind the 3 Superb Lyrebirds. Jenny Stiles
Fri 23 Aug	Australian King-Parrot Ashley, NSW area A rather quieter day at these sites. Highlights included a single male Australian King Parrot in the village, rare in this area not seen in the village while its been monitored since late 2000. The village has lots of trees but surrounding is ALL cleared farmland/fallow fields. All the other species were normal, A fewer number of Pink-eared Ducks today (just 200) some were mating. 4 Wedge-tailed Eagles were observed as well as a White-bellied Sea-Eagle which was moulting into adult plumage. A Spotted Turtle Dove still remains in the village as well as about 10 Diamond Doves. The Singing Honeyeater is also still around. A single Tawny Grassbird was found in grassland at the western side of the village. Curtis Hayne
Fri 23 Aug	Long-billed Corella Entrance to McKell Park ,Brooklyn A pair of Long-billed Corellas feeding on the grass. Probably escapees or offspring. I have seen them there before. Today I was close and able to confirm the sighting. David Hamilton Gates
	Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Latham's Snipe, Rufous Night-Heron Eastlakes Golf Course Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (1), Latham's Snipe (1), Rufous Night-Heron (4) Mark.Young
	Paradise Riflebird Kooloonbung Creek Nature Park, Port Macquarie Two Riflebirds, male & female spotted sitting high in eucalypt tree behind the girl guides hall at 12MD. Their very distinctive call heard. Not reported in Kooloonbung previously. Jan & Bryce Taylor submitted by Maureen McGrath, Hastings Birdwatchers Club
	Latham's Snipe, Magpie Goose, Budgerigar Narrabri Lake Spotted (i.e. to say, flushed) the first Latham's Snipe of the season (no photo...). About 40 Magpie Geese are still around, as well as 10 Budgerigars. White-breasted Woodswallows (about 50; they hardly spent any time away this winter), Little Grassbirds and Australian Reed-Warblers are very active. Michael Dahlem
Thu 22 Aug	Powerful Owl Royal National Park (Wattle Flat) Weather: 50% cloud cover, 14 degrees and still. Powerful Owl (2 adult) and apologies for crap Iphone photo Deryk Engel
	Brown Treecreeper, Swift Parrot Black Hill (Newcastle City LGA) Two Brown Treecreepers found in some fairly disturbed and isolated bushland on the edge of a large-lot subdivision at Black Hill (and literally a few hundred metres from Hexham Swamp). A single Swift Parrot was seen over more intact bushland a bit further north (still within Newcastle LGA). One of the largest remaining remnants of lowland open forest / woodland in Newcastle (west, across the freeway) was recently rezoned for industrial land. Mick Roderick
	Painted Button-quail Lilyfield, inner Sydney male Painted Button-quail dead (no obvious injury) beside footpath on Lilyfield Rd. No indication that it is an escapee (no leg bands) so perhaps wild bird passing through although there is a little degraded but possible habitat along the light rail corridor. Andrew Taylor
Wed 21 Aug	Rufous Songlark Willbriggie, south of Griffith A single Rufous Songlark was heard, then seen in Black Box woodland beside the Kidman Way, Willbriggie, just south of the railway crossing (a disused line). David Parker
	Black Kite Stotts Creek 15+ Black Kites on a ploughed paddock beside Tweed Valley Way. This is an extraordinary number of this species for the Tweed Valley. One at a time is normal and sightings are unusual at any time. Rob Morrow
	Square-tailed Kite Shortland (Newcastle) A Square-tailed Kite just flew low over my yard in Shortland, on the SE corner of Hexham Swamp. I was most surprised to see it as it was one raptor I had not expected to see here (it is the 17th raptor species to be seen from my yard this year). I was also surprised that it got through without detection by the Noisy Miners and I was lucky to have seen it in the first place as a result. Mick Roderick
	Long-billed Corella intersection Burragan Rd & Levenstrath Rd. Levenstrath nr Grafton 0815 h two Long-billed Corellas seen perched at intersection. Have previously been recorded breeding within 1 km of site. Warren Thompson
Tue 20 Aug	White-throated Gerygone Lower Pappinbarra Heard the first White-throated Gerygone singing early this morning. Ian Kerr
	Australasian Shoveler, Pink-eared Duck, Red-necked Avocet Wilfords Lane wetlands, Lake Burrill. 4-5 Australasian Shovelers still there. 2 Pink-eared Ducks and 5 Red-necked Avocets, the last 2 of these species we haven't personally seen in this area before so things must be dry or drying out inland. There were also 1 Marsh Sandpiper, 8 Black-fronted Dotterels, 30+ Pied Stilts and many Masked Lapwings. These wetlands are easiest found by turning west at the traffic lights in south Milton. Travel app 200 m then left into Wilford Lane and from there 7 km where they can be seen. Bob Rusk , Mike Jefferis
Mon 19 Aug	Black Falcon Alroy Park, Plumpton Today over my local park, a raptor flew past very quick and low before climbing and circling high. It looked like a Black Falcon, I've only seen one before and wouldn't expect it in a suburban park, hopefully my poor ID shots can confirm this. Mark Fuller
	Striated Thornbill Mount Kaputar National Park (Scutt's Trail) A small number of Striated Thornbills were found, mixed in with a mob of White-browed Scrubwrens, at about 1200 m altitude, about 300 m from the start of Scutt's trail. Found in underbrush under high, open eucalypt forest, in an area where Buff-rumped Thornbills are more common. Michael Dahlem
Sun 18 Aug	White-necked Heron Curracurrong Creek, Royal National Park Another White-necked Heron in an unusual location - the tiny sandstone pools of Curracurrong Creek in the coastal heath of Curra Moors in Royal National Park Andrew Taylor
	Painted Honeyeater Medhurst Bridge, Martindale Creek One male Painted Honeyeater. Michael Kearns
	Latham's Snipe, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Long Reef Golf Course Latham's Snipe (1) Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (5) Same birds as seen at Dee Why Lagoon earlier Mark.Young
	Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Dee Why Lagoon Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (5) Sitting in Casuarina trees. Later seen at Long Reef Golf Course Mark.Young
Sat 17 Aug	White-fronted Honeyeater Gilgais, Pilliga National Park The White-throated Honeyeater was first seen on the 9th June 2013 and has been seen regularly since. A maximun of two birds have been seen and this sighting represents the first record for the Pilliga Scrub for this species.. Any birdwatchers visiting, please park at Old Boo and walk the remaining 700m, this is a fragile area and needs to be preserved. Michael Murphy and 9 Pilliga Forest Birdwatchers
Fri 16 Aug	Spotted Harrier Edderton Rd Jerrys Plains 4 Spotted Harriers were seen in close proximity in and around the junction of Edderton Rd with the Golden Highway west of Jerrys Plain, near the Arrowfield Winery. First a single Spotted Harrier was seen at the side of the road, then a pair of Spotted Harriers working together flushed 3 Australian Pipits one of which flew into our vehicle and was killed so desperate was it to get away from the harriers. Within 300m, another Spotted Harrier was seen in the roadside paddock. Also present were 2 Nankeen Kestrels. Alan Morris & Steven Edwards

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

===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================