Birdline New South Wales Weekly Update

Birdline New South Wales

Published sightings for the week ending 15 Dec 2013.

Sun 15 Dec	Australian Owlet-nightjar Shanes Park We were surprised to see 2 Owlet-nightjar in their regular hollow and a Buff-rumped Thornbill was then seen coming to inspect them and one of the Owlet-nightjars then flew out of the hollow. Other birds seen included White-winged Triller, Dusky Woodswallows with young, good numbers of Varied Sitellas, Sacred Kingfishers, at least 2 Leaden Flycatchers (male and female seen), White-throated Gerygones, White-throated Treecreepers (locally rare and there were both Fairy and Tree Martins flying overhead with the Dusky Woodswallows. Spotless Crakes were also heard from the wetland there. Edwin Vella and Mark Fuller
Sat 14 Dec	Pied Butcherbird Castlereagh Yesterday morning, I saw an adult pair of Pied Butcherbirds at my reliable spot for them opposite the tractor place outside No. 900 Castlereagh Rd. To my knowledge this is still only one of a few sites which have resident pairs of Pied Butcherbirds within the Sydney area. Edwin Vella
	Red-necked Avocet, Marsh Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Red-capped Plover Burren Junction In addition to the aquatic birds spotted at the Burren Junction Bore Bath on 16 November 2013 (all of which still seem to be present), three more species have in the meantime arrived. There are now 7 Red-necked Avocets (further information link) and at least 2 Red-necked Stints in non-breeding plumage (photos taken for ID) and a few Red-capped Plovers (photo ID). Managed to get slightly better photos of one of the Marsh Sandpipers. The shallow ponds to the West of the parking lot have now dried up and the dam to the East of the bath remains as the only wetland (it was 37 C there today). Michael Dahlem
Fri 13 Dec	Tawny Grassbird Lake Cargelligo Sewage Treatment Works Very surprised to hear one calling. Located it, and it appeared to not quite be adult, as the crown was not as rufous as usual. Poor photo taken which I can't upload for a few days. This appears to be a fairly significant westward range extension. Also two Australian Crakes and four Baillon's Crakes. Ashwin Rudder and Joshua Bergmark
	White-throated Needletail Bogangar Northern NSW A group of 100+ White-throated Needletails hawking low over wet heath behind Bogangar village late afternoon 11 December. Overcast and humid with a mass emergence of winged termites emerging from this site at the time. Late morning 13 December ~30 Needletails hawking high over same area. This site is regularly visited by this species. Clive Easton
Thu 12 Dec	White-throated Needletail Kyogle White-throated Needletails flying over the town for most of the morning with up to 3 spiralling towers visible at once, with several hundred birds in each. Low dark clouds overhead and an obvious edge with high pale cloud beyond about 5 to 10 km to the west. Some birds were flying below the tree tops. Hot and humid but no rain fell. Rob Elvish
	Black Honeyeater 39a Opperman Way, Bathurst, NSW Spotted and photographed a pair (male and female) feeding on a bottle brush in our garden at approximately 7am this morning. Not a commonly observed bird within the Bathurst Region, I would have considered this species to be outside of the normal range. David Michael McKellar
	White-browed Woodswallow Budderoo National Park (Budderoo Fire Trail) A nice walk down the fire trail where we found the White-browed Woodswallow nesting. David & Michelle Rower with Terry Edwell, Kara and David
	Brown Honeyeater, Freckled Duck Eastlakes Golf Course Near the Fairy Martin colony: Two Brown Honeyeaters sharing a 2m high bush with an Australian Reedwarbler, a Golden-headed Cisticola, a Yellow-rumped Thornbill, and several Fairy Martins. Not seen Brown Honeyeaters here before. Still 3 Freckled Ducks about. Bas Hensen
Wed 11 Dec	Brolgas Lake Cullival, Urana Brolgas are not uncommon here however a flock has recently turned up of 22 which is uncommon hopefully they may breed in the lake which is in ideal condition for them to breed. Charlie Webb
	White-throated Needletails Lower Pappinbarra At least 19 White-throated Needletails seen hawking just above the tree tops at 5pm. Cicadas consistently between 88 and 95 decibels. Over 33 years I can't remember them as abundant here. Ian Kerr
	Eurasian Tree Sparrow Willans Hill Reserve, Wagga Wagga Eurasian Tree Sparrow feeding young in trees beside back of amphitheatre and on grassy slope between building and car park. Judy Leitch
	Gang-gang Cockatoo, Glossy Black-cockatoo Kings Tableland A group of 10 Gang-gang Cockatoos flew into the trees at the back of the old Queen Victoria Hospital and happily fed around us as we walked along the road behind the hospital. The Glossy Black-Cockatoos (two groups of 3) were right near the car park at Lincoln Rock and were found by the sound of them cracking seeds open. The first group of three were directly opposite the car park and buried deeply in the Casuarina tree they were feeing in. The second group were along the road a little further and out in the open at the edge of the tree they were feeding in. Jon & Alison Elliott
Tue 10 Dec	Ruff, White-winged Tern Hexham Swamp Single Ruff on Hexham Swamp yesterday afternoon, seen by 4 observers during a count of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers (of which we counted 2269 - a gross under-count too). Also seen was a non-breeding White-winged Tern, 3 Whiskered Terns, 400+ Red-necked Avocet, 600+ Pied Stilt and a few other shorebirds. A single Australian Spotted Crake too. Very surprised to not hear or see a White-fronted Chat. Mick and Steve Roderick
	White-throated Needletail Levenstrath nr Grafton 5+ White-throated Needletails over Levenstrath Rd nr intersection with Burragan Rd. Humid and overcast. Warren Thompson
Mon 9 Dec	White-throated Needletail Long Jetty The Entrance This morning I saw a group of about 250 - 300 White-throated Needletail along the edge of Tuggerah Lake at Long Jetty. One even drinking in front of me. The photograph shows a portion of the group. Christina Port
	White-throated Needletail Jamisontown Public School About 15 White-throated Needletails hawking low as dark, stormy clouds were approaching. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Painted Honeyeater Capertee Valley (Genowlan Bridge) Single Painted Honeyeater feeding in blossom. Heard a number of times subsequently along the road away from the bridge (location 11 of Capertee Valley Bird Trail brochure) Jon & Alison Elliott
	Regent Honeyeater Capertee Valley (Glen Alice Rd near Tambo Rd turnoff) Regent Honeyeater Feeding in blossom at location 18 of Capertee Valley Bird Trail brochure (Glen Alice Rd near Tambo Rd turnoff). Jon & Alison Elliott
	White-throated Needletail Wollstonecraft/Waverton Approx 12 or more White-throated Needletails seen flying south around the railway stations late morning. Thought I'd seen a few in the area a fortnight ago, but this was a better sighting - they were fairly low and easily seen. Lindy Jones
	Bush-hen Terania Creek Rd private property Bush-hen (2) Heard all morning until roughly 1pm, One seen skulking on edge of lantana thicket. Gus Daly
Sun 8 Dec	Square-tailed Kite, Weebill Acacia Gardens Saw a Weebill amongst a group of Yellow Thornbills in my backyard in the early morning and later in the afternoon a beautiful adult Square-tailed Kite flying low beside my fence and then circling over no doubt trying to raid nests like many Pied Currawongs have been doing. Have had a group of Weebills visit once here before but the Square-tailed Kite on a few other occasions. Edwin Vella
	Sanderling, Grey-tailed Tattler Comerong Island Nature Reserve 2 Sanderling among the usual migrants which included 40 E. Curlew, 40 Pacific Golden Plover, 2 Little Tern, 50-60 Bar-tailed Godwit etc.... Found 1 Grey-tailed Tattler at the rocks near the ferry on Comerong Island side. No Asian Dowitcher but very windy with most birds facing NE with bills obscured. At the carpark there were 4 Bar-shouldered Doves on the track. While heading back to ferry we counted 11 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers in a billabong/marsh (freshwater) on the south? side of the road with Chestnut Teal. Carla Jackett, Jill Molan, Nerida Hudspith
	White-throated Needletail Caniaba, Lismore. 50+ White-throated Needletails seen flocking over ridges at Lismore NSW. I have had regular sightings of this species for the past three weeks with 100+ on the 15th Nov (see separate post)`. paul griffin
Sat 7 Dec	Peregrine Falcon, Australian Hobby, Little Lorikeet, Musk Lorikeet, Rufous Fantail Mt Annan Botanic Gardens Amazing high speed aerial display when a Peregrine Falcon was mobbed by another aerial master - Australian Hobby above the gardens. Managed a brief shot only. Also of note were 2 Little Lorikeets and 2 Musk Lorikeets sharing a flowering bush with numerous Rainbow Lorikeets. Rufous Fantail was also present in the gardens. Sorry for late report David Vickers
	Pacific Heron, Little Eagle, Gray Goshawk, Azure Kingfisher, Black-faced Monarch Mill Road and Little Wheeney Creek, Kurrajong HIlls Pacific Heron (2), Little Eagle (1), Gray Goshawk (1), Azure Kingfisher (1), Black-faced Monarch first sighting this summer in this regular location. Juvenile Rufous Fantail. Very close encounter with Red-bellied Black Snake on the ridge. This stretch of L Wheeney Creek is in beautiful condition. Birding at present hampered by severe cicada noise! Eric Finley (2906)
Fri 6 Dec	Pacific Baza Narrabri Observed along the Newell Highway before Spring Creek bridge (driving south from Narrabri). Pacific Baza (1) Flew over Newell highway into a crown of a tree (near the Brigalow growth). Kurtis Lindsay

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