Birdline New South Wales Weekly Update

Birdline New South Wales

Published sightings for the week ending 20 Oct 2013.

Sun 20 Oct	Rufous Songlark Oakhurst, western Sydney A medium-sized brown bird on my back fence looked initially like a female White-winged Triller, a species previously recorded on my property. Luckily it stayed long enough for me to photograph, recording a new backyard tick, a Rufous Songlark. More rural birds may well turn up in suburbia as nearby habitat has been lost to development. Mark Fuller
	White-winged Chough Warners Park, Northbridge, Sydney A single White-winged Chough feeding around the park. First one I have seen around here. Murray Lord
	Hardhead Victoria Park, Broadway (edge of Sydney CBD) Not an unusual record in and of itself - Hardheads are often on the small pond here - but the numbers have been steadily growing over the last few months, and I counted 73 Hardheads on the water today!! Where they've come from, I have no idea. [Moderator's note (NH): Between 2007 and early 2013 I had frequently up to 70 Hardheads at that site] Ashwin Rudder
Sat 19 Oct	Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo, Australian King Parrot, Black-faced Woodswallow, Budgerigar, Spotted Dove Whittakers Lagoon, Moree (Ruth Leitch Bridge) A nice, clear sunny morning, 27 degrees. A younger female Australian King-Parrot was both observed and heard calling (in dry scrub including coolibahs and river red gums surrounded by fallow fields) near the Mehi River. This is the farthest west I have ever seen this species as they are rare on the plains (this location is 28km West of Moree). The furthest west they come is Gravesend or Biniguy, more in the hilly country. First observation for this site. Large flocks of hundreds of Masked and White-browed Woodswallows were also observed (which were chased by a Hobby), the White-browed were also feeding juveniles. A small number of Black-faced Woodswallows (another very unusual species) were with the Masked and White-browed Woodswallows and White-winged Trillers. 6 Budgerigars were also observed amongst the Woodswallows. A Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo was heard calling; its descending call was unmistakeable, although I still haven't observed one yet. First for site. 20+ Diamond Doves (a high number for this site) were all seen together in a flock foraging on a dirt road. A Spotted Turtle Dove was heard calling which are very unusual out in the bush (25km out of town). A Brown Goshawk was observed in flight. Brown Treecreepers are increasing, 10+ were observed and heard calling. 70+ Plum-headed Finches were also present. Curtis Hayne and Ainslee Lines
Sat 19 Oct	Regent Honeyeater Capertee Valley (Genowlan Bridge) Jill Harrison
	Swamp Harrier North Head, Sydney Harbour Walking around Blue Fish Point section of North head and saw a Swamp Harrier hunting over heathland. First time I have seen one in Manly. Harry O'Donovan
	Bar-tailed Godwit Long Reef Aquatic Reserve Bar-tailed Godwit (1) Mark.Young
	Short-tailed Shearwater Long Reef Aquatic Reserve 1.000 plus Short-tailed Shearwaters off Long Reef late this morning, including 100 plus in several loose rafts close in. Sadly I also counted 147 beachwashed birds, some quite decayed but many fresh and one even floating in as I did the count, all on the north side of the peninsular and near high tide. A low tide count across the entire peninsular will certainly reveal many more. A single Humpback Whale was also close in near many dozens of fishing boats. Dipped on the Oriental Plover-too many golfers!! Cameron Ward
	Whiskered Tern Jamieson Park, Narrabeen Lakes Whiskered Tern (1) Pretty poor photos for ID use. Jenny Stiles
	Gang-gang Cockatoo darvall park west ryde. My first ever record of 3 Gang-gang Cockatoos in west Ryde this morning. May be they were birds escaping the fires in the blue mountains? michael ronan.
	Black Bittern Field of Mars Reserve, East Ryde Single Black Bittern flushed from reedy area near where the boardwalk dissects around 7:45am. Flew towards the more vegetated area of the creek. My first record at this site although I know of one previous report. Also of note was a male Leaden Flycatcher and a Rufous Fantail, both calling. Max Breckenridge
Fri 18 Oct	Short-tailed Shearwater South West Rocks and Back Beach 4,700 beach-cast Short-tailed Shearwaters Ken Shingleton and Ruth Knibbs
	Fork-tailed Swift, White-throated Needletail Brooms Head 10 Fork-tailed Swifts among 100+ White-throated Needletail Greg Roberts
	Wandering Tattler Brooms Head Moderator's note: While this picture may appear a bit confusing as some field marks may point towards Grey-tailed Tattler, the second photo of the same bird on Greg's website shows the bird literally in a different light. Greg Roberts
	Streaked Shearwater Bundjalung National Park (Woody Head) 1 Streaked Shearwater offshore amid huge numbers of Short-tailed Shearwaters, reported elsewhere along the NSW coast. Hundreds were dead and dying, turning up on roads and in gardens, all over the place in what is clearly a massive wreck. (Photograph: Short-tailed Shearwater) [Moderator's note (NH): This is an extremely early sighting of a Streaked Shearwater] Greg Roberts
	White-browed & Masked Woodswallows. 11 Mile Road (North of Moama) Many hundreds of White-browed Woodswallows with lesser numbers of Masked Woodswallows along a track off 11 Mile Road. Directions: Travel down 11 Mile road until you come to a RH bend. About another 300 metres there is a track off to the left...the woodswallows were along here about 300 metres. Not good image, but shows just one group and there were about 4 groups of this size. Marlene Lyell
	Spotted Harrier, Cattle Egret Albion Park One adult Spotted Harrier was seen flying low over paddocks beside the Illawarra Highway, not far from Croome Lane. There were 12 Cattle Egrets here too. Lorne Johnson
	Cattle Egret Burrawang 18 Cattle Egrets were in a farm paddock by the Illawarra Highway late this arvo. That's the most CEs I've seen in the Southern Highlands. Lorne Johnson
Thu 17 Oct	Sharp-tailed Sandpiper South Maroubra Beach 6 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers feeding at low tide at the most southern end of Maroubra Beach. Kerry Allen
	Southern Emu-wren Yuraygir National Park (Lake Arragan) Good numbers (20+) in small parties near Brooms Head, also good numbers of Tawny-crowned Honeyeater Greg Roberts
	Short-tailed Shearwaters Racecourse Beach Nth, Ulladulla We seen more Short-tailed Shearwaters, yesterday the 16th, than we've ever seen before. These birds were visible in huge numbers from far out to sea to within 50 m of the beach feeding. This morning, I walked Racecourse Beach and counted 100+/- in a 2 km stretch of open beach. This year there seemed to be more baitfish shoals being spotted than is normal so perhaps this is the reason for both the numbers seen along with the normal attrition of these birds. Bob Rusk
Wed 16 Oct	Freckled Duck, Pink-eared Duck Lawrence, Clarence River 10 Freckled Ducks with 300+ Pink-eared Ducks Greg Roberts
	Rufous Scrubbird, Eastern Bristlebird Border Ranges National Park 1 Rufous Scrubbird seen well; Eastern Bristlebird heard calling Greg Roberts
	Major Mitchell's Cockatoo Southern end of Lambeth Street, Picnic Point Single bird, presumably an aviary escapee. [Moderator's note (NH): Yes, this is certainly an aviary escapee.] Joy Pegler
	Short-tailed Shearwater Jerseyville near South West Rocks Beached Short-tailed Shearwaters strewn along South West Rocks beaches in strong NE wind, with very approximately one every metre in Trial Bay. Phil Murray
	White-throated Nightjar, Powerful Owl Wollemi National Park (Dunn's Swamp) White-throated Nightjar, Powerful Owl and Southern Boobook heard calling from the campsite at Dunn's Swamp, Wollemi National Park. [Moderator's note (NH): This record of 1-2 Powerful Owls in a quite unusual habitat and site has been documented by Marc as an audio recording] Marc Anderson
	Regent Honeyeater, Painted Honeyeater, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Diamond Firetail Capertee Valley (Genowlan Bridge) A single Regent Honeyeater seen from the Genowlan Road bridge in the Capertee Valley. Black-chinned Honeyeaters present in small flocks (a total of approx. 12) throughout the morning as well as a few Diamond Firetails. Approx. 3 Painted Honeyeaters calling frequently. Marc Anderson
	Short-tailed Shearwater Trial Bay, South West Rocks Hundreds of Short-tailed Shearwaters shearing above water close to shore Maree Blewitt
	Sacred Kingfisher Nielsen Park Vaucluse A pair of Sacred Kingfishers (likely checking out a nest site) in the forested area near Strickland House Marie Lister
	Oriental Plover (Subject to submission to NSW ORAC) Sydney Airport 4 Oriental Plovers at the southern end of the third runway this afternoon. 1 bird was observed late yesterday afternoon (see picture attached). There are no previous records of this species at this site. Photos and video footage of the 4 birds together was taken this afternoon. They are located in an area not accessible by the public. [Moderator's note (NH): Yet another puzzle piece for this year's influx of this species! Sightings of Oriental Plovers in NSW should be submitted to NSW ORAC] Nigel Coghlan
Tue 15 Oct	Black-necked Stork Ewingsdale Rd, Byron Bay, North Coast Close to roadside on a busy traffic morning in a small stream barely 10 m away. Other sightings in the area lately. Duncan Fowler
	Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Panania Shopping Centre (Western Sydney) In my 43 years living in the district, I have never seen this species locally. The bird was feeding low down in a flowering bottlebrush. Joy Pegler
	Short-tailed Shearwater Nambucca Heads Over 1000 beach cast birds counted between the Heads and Valla Point. A very sad sight to see, another birder confirmed that much the same applied to South West Rocks on Sunday. Local Vet has had to put many birds down that children from the beach area have sent in. The actual count was 1023 birds. I had to give up, it's too sad. Peter Mackey
	Scarlet Honeyeater, White-winged Triller and Tawny Grassbird Eastlakes Golf Course A quick visit today produced a Scarlet Honeyeater, 1 Tawny Grassbird, 1 White-winged Triller, 3 Whiskered Terns, 1 Dollarbird, a good count of 22 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers (not as many as Ashwin Rudder's 31 today), 1 Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo and an Australian Spotted Crake. David Mitford
	Common. Marsh and Pectoral Sandpipers Barnetts lagoon, Gladstone Barnetts Lagoon , c. 2 km west of Gladstone, and located along the Kempsey to South-west Rocks Road, is one of the few lagoons holding water in the Lower Macleay River area, and it has plenty of exposed mud. In a flock of waders, I counted 170 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, 2 Marsh Sandpipers, 1 Pectoral Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Latham's Snipe. Two Yellow-billed Spoonblls were also present. Ken Shingleton
	Brolga Boyters Lane, Jerseyville A pair of Brolgas were foraging in a paddock along Boyters Lane at Jerseyville this afternoon, seen around 2pm. Lynn & Bruce Roubin
	White-winged Triller Nepean River, Penrith We saw a pair of White-winged Trillers in breeding plumage, feeding high up in the tall, profusely flowering Grevillea robusta trees, situated on the eastern river bank (about 1 km downstream from Nepean Weir). Bob and Pauline Sinclair
	Black Bittern Lane Cove National Park (Fairyland) Flushed an adult Black Bittern near the river. Fatih Sam
	Brush Bronzewing Muogamarra Nature Reserve Unmistakable chestnut nape, seen on the western side of the train tracks between Hawkesbury River and Cowan Train Stations. Andrew Walker
Mon 14 Oct	White-browed Woodswallows Nat Park HQ off Scheyville Road Scheyville flock of 50+ White-browed Woodswallows flying around the grounds. Keith Brandwood
	White-browed and Masked Woodswallows, Pacific Baza Shoplands Rd, Annangrove A mixed flock of about 30 White-browed and Masked Woodswallows flying basically south over my property at noon, and an adult Pacific Baza mobbed by Noisy Miners, as usual, around the house in the afternoon. Only the second Baza in 15 years residence. Darryl Smedley
	Rufous Songlark Sydney Airport, just north of control tower Rufous Songlark (1) Observed singing on wire fence just near the control tower, just as I was parking my car. Have never seen this species in the area, and Eremaea shows only a handful of record at Eastlakes in recent years. Distinctive 'squeaky wheel' song and light eyebrow observed. Habitat: open grassy fields adjacent to airfield. Rob Child
	Leaden Flycatcher Mason Park, Homebush Leaden Flycatcher (1) Male, calling from the Casuarinas at the transmission tower end of the oval. First record for this site on Eremaea. Site: Almost completely empty of water. Tiny amount at the transmission tower end. The Powells Creek Canal was full. Jenny Stiles
	Australian Hobby, Eastern Rosella Fort Street Highschool, Petersham 1 Australian Hobby flew over from the direction of the train station. Observed for a reasonably long period of time as it flew across the oval. The local Noisy Miners picked up on it quickly and chased it towards Leichhardt. 1 Eastern Rosella on the oval as well. Simon Gorta
Sun 13 Oct	Short-tailed Shearwater Trial Bay and Back Beach, South West Rocks 1200 Beach-cast Short-tailed Shearwaters Ken Shingleton
	Brush Cuckoo Rockdale Bicentennial Park, in the trees between the lake and football fields Oliver Williams
	Brown Falcon Bicentennial Park, Glebe 1 bird flew over my house from Balmain/Birchgrove area, passing over Rozelle Bay, and carried on over the park towards Leichhardt over Bicentennial Park at around 7pm. Features included fast flapping flight (against wind) with gliding on upswept wings, dark brown on top with light underneath. Barring on tail and wings when light was behind the bird. Quite light underneath with no subterminal band. Tear drops were visible. Observed briefly through binoculars. I think this is quite an interesting sighting so close to the CBD? Simon Gorta
	Whiskered Tern Maroubra Beach, Sydney Flock of approx 26 Whiskered Terns flew in from the northeast quite high over the beach at about 10am Eric Finley
Sat 12 Oct	Tawny Frogmounth Mangerton Park Two Tawny Frogmouths in large maple tree in backyard on boundary of Mangerton Park. Both birds spent the day in tree. Nerida Deane
	Short-tailed Shearwater Trial Bay, South West Rocks Hundreds of Short-tailed Shearwaters close to shore with many sitting on water and dozens dead and dying on the beach. Maree Blewitt
	Satin Flycatcher Sun Valley NSW Male and female Satin Flycatcher observed on the southern side of the large park in Sun Valley. Gerry Flanagan
	Shining Bronze-Cuckoo Cocoparra National Park Shining Bronze-Cuckoo (2) Two birds seen and photographed at Falcon Falls. One bird observed feeding the other in courtship/breeding ritual With birding bus group from Rankin Springs Birds of the Bush festival. Mark Ley, Warren Chad
	White-fronted Honeyeater, Black Honeyeater, Painted Honeyeater Eight Mile Tank road Rankin Springs Two visits to location during Rankin Springs 'Birds of the Bush' festival, approximately 17 km south-west of township along stock route road. 30 min visit first morning with birding bus tour and a two hour visit second morning. White-fronted Honeyeater (1) photographed, chased Black Honeyeater from flowering erymophila. Black Honeyeater (2) one chased by White-fronted HE. Painted Honeyeater (2) photographed, two seen, at lest one more heard. Mark Ley
Fri 11 Oct	White-winged Trillers (pair) Junction of Toogon Road/Cudal Very visual along the fences together with both Brown and Rufous Songlarks and also seen the preceeding day. David Simpson
Tue 8 Oct	Superb Parrot Cowra A couple of males beside the HWY about 10km east of Cowra and about 16 seen there on the 4th October Edwin Vella
	Eurasian Tree Sparrow Lee Street, Cowra Quite a number of Eurasian Tree Sparrows present along this street Edwin Vella
	Black Falcon Blayney A pair of Black Falcons seen circling over a hill off the Great Western HWY. Edwin Vella
	Black-eared Cuckoo, Turquoise Parrot, Black-chinned Honeyeater Back Yamma State Forest The above 3 species present as well as a Diamond Firetail. a few Speckled Warblers, flocks of both White-browed and Masked Woodswallows, Western and White-throated Gerygones, Chestnut-rumped and Inland Thornbills and numerous Brown Tree-creepers. Edwin Vella
Fri 4 Oct	Superb Parrot Cowra 16 Superb Parrots besides the HWY about 10km east of Cowra. Edwin Vella
	Superb Parrot West Wyalong 4 seen flying over on the road to Lake Cargelligo Edwin Vella

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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