Birdline New South Wales Weekly Update

Birdline New South Wales

Published sightings for the week ending 2 Feb 2014.

Sun 2 Feb	Australian Spotted Crake, Baillon's Crake, Spotless Crake, Buff-banded Rail Pitt Town lagoon, Hawkesbury Highlights from a mornings birding at Pitt town lagoon were 5 Spotless Crakes, 4 Baillon's Crakes, 2 Australian Spotted Crakes and 1 Buff-banded Rail. michael ronan
Sat 1 Feb	Great Crested Grebe, Hoary-headed Grebe, Musk Duck, Chestnut-breasted Mannikin Castleraegh and Cranebrook Roads wetlands, Penrith A few short stops along the road around Nepean Lakes. 9+ Great Crested Grebes, a tight knit flock of Hoary-headed Grebe, lone Musk Duck female, 2 Chestnut-breasted Mannikin, several Red-kneed and Black-fronted Dotterels and a Yellow-billed Spoonbill closer to Richmond. 61 species in an hour. Eric Finley
	Little Egret Kyffins Reserve, Mulwala A rare species locally so I was surprised to see two birds at this site. One bird was perched on a log and another in flight over Lake Mulwala. Michael Ramsey
Fri 31 Jan	Black Honeyeater Nangar N.P. In spite of extremely hot weather persisting over the past few weeks, early in the morning around sunrise there have been good sightings of birds feeding on the flowering mistletoe. Amongst the various honeyeaters I saw for the first time a pair of Black Honeyeaters. Other interesting birds included Speckled Warbler, Diamond Firetail, Brown Treecreeper and Crested Shrike-tit. David Simpson
Thu 30 Jan	Grey Goshawk - White Morph Newington Armory, Sydney Oplmpic Park We have observed many different visitors to the Sea Eagles nest, Possum, Brown Goshawk, Lorikeets, Ravens, Cockatoo, Dollar birds and lots more, but this has been the rarest a Grey Goshawk White Morph. I think the first sitting for Sydney Olympic Park. Geoff Hutchinson
	Australian Little Bittern Berrioye, 25 km East of Maules Creek Previously flushed at the same location while driving past on 25 January and seen again on 27 Jan and 29 Jan, I finally managed to obtain photographic evidence of an Australian Little Bittern on 30 January. The bird is solitary, probably an immature moulting into adult plumage (still lightly striated on its breast, but not rufous-brown, while the upperwing pattern already looks like an adult bird's). For information on the habitat in which the bird was found see "further information". Michael Dahlem
	Musk Duck, Blue-billed Duck, Peregrine Falcon Old Cement Works, Portland Musk Ducks were breeding successfully again in the Old Cement Works dams. Total population (on 3 dams) is now 11 birds (at least 3 juvs). Other birds from this site: Blue-billed Duck (1 male), Hoary-headed Grebe (9), Peregrine Falcon (2). They are probably breeding there and feeding on rock pigeons living in the old empty buildings. Ted Wnorowski
	Straw-necked Ibis Blair Athol Single bird sighted foraging on a large lawn towards the southern end of Blair Athol. A single Australian White Ibis was also foraging about 20 metres away. I've not seen Straw-neck Ibis in the Campbelltown area before. [Moderator's note (NH): There are a few sightings reported to Eremaea NSW from this area] Hickson Fergusson
Wed 29 Jan	Black Bittern McIntosh Park, Coutts Crossing Village A very black bittern was observed flying over McIntosh Park, in the centre of Coutts Crossing at 1150 hrs and disappearing behind a building into trees along a small creekline. I scanned the trees for some time with binoculars but couldn't pick up the bird again. Although only seen in flight at some distance the very black colouration rules out both adult and juvenile/immature Nankeen Night Heron and Striated Heron. Night Herons occur fairly often locally but I have not had any records of Striated Heron near Coutts Crossing. The Black Bittern has been recorded on the Orara River just north of the site and at McPhersons Crossing. Quite a surprise in the middle of the day. Light conditions were good with some sunlight breaking through the clouds. Greg Clancy
	Little Eagle Fort Street High School One Little Eagle (light morph) was observed for about a minute circling over the school before flying off at some speed towards Ashfield. It appeared to come from the direction of Leichhardt. An unexpected raptor for the area. It would be interesting to know where the bird came from. Simon Gorta
	Fork-tailed Swift Merimbula A large flock of about 200 Fork-tailed Swifts over Merimbula at 11.00 am. The flock split up and most swifts headed north while the rest lingered in the area. Martin Edvardsson
Tue 28 Jan	Emu Cherry Tree Rd., Belanglo State Forest 8 Emus sighted while driving along Cherry Tree Rd. A group of 4 - 1 Adult, 3 immatures in the Pine forest. A single adult further on and 3 adults in the open paddocks adjacent to the pine forest. [Moderator's note (NH): see attached IBOC information] Christine Kelly, Peter Dewey and Terry Dunlea
	Streaked Shearwater, White-necked Petrel, Buller's Albatross North Head, Manly Had some good seabirds from north head this afternoon with 1 Streaked Shearwater, 2 White-necked Petrels, and a Buller's Albatross. michael ronan.
Mon 27 Jan	Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Ruff, Pectoral Sandpiper, Black Falcon Hexham Swamp Nature Reserve The Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Subject to submission to BARC) was located at around 2pm near where it was originally seen. It was observed and well photographed by many. 6 possibly 7 Broad-billed Sandpiper seen early in the morning where the Buff-breasted was later found. A Ruff and a Pectoral Sandpiper with very strong markings were located later in the day on the same pond, but near the concrete bridge/drain. All of the waders later moved to the left hand side of the track if facing towards the end. Two Black Falcon were observed very well flushing waders in the late morning. Simon Gorta, David Stowe, Julian Teh, Nathan Ruser and many others
	Southern Emuwren Wading bird sanctuary, Captain Cook Drive, Towra Pt Sydney NSW There were four Southern Emuwrens hanging around a wattle tree next to a patch of lantana and some young Casuarina at the edge of the lake. Flitting around the lower branches. [Moderator's note: Southern Emuwrens are actually not that uncommon on Kurnell Peninsula but since they seem to be frequently overlooked, we decided to publish this post] Richard Hardiman
	Streaked Shearwater North Head, Manly Recorded my first 2 Streaked Shearwaters for the summer traveling south from North Head today. michael ronan.
	Musk Duck, Pied Butcherbird Castlereagh A single Musk Duck was seen this morning in the large quarry lagoon on the western side of Castlereagh Rd and nearest to the Cranebrook Rd turnoff. Also seen around Castlereagh was the resident pair of Pied Butcherbirds (as I last reported last December), 5 Great Crested and about 20 Hoary-headed Grebes (on same lagoon as the Musk Duck), 2 White-necked Herons, an Intermediate Egret, 2 Rainbow Bee-eaters and a Dollarbird. Edwin Vella
	Latham's Snipe Warriewood Wetlands Single Latham's Snipe at 8 am on the rear bank of the water to the left of the walkway entering from Katoa Place. Stayed for around a minute until chased by a Purple Swamphen. Rae Lister
	Sooty Owl Blue Mountains National Park (Glenbrook) Young male roosting in small overhang. Got really close in plain view without disturbing him. I was looking in area along creek for roost sites. Ákos Lumnitzer
	Lewin's Rail Eastlakes Golf Course This morning, 1 adult Lewin's Rail crossing the dam wall between the lake closest to Wentworth Avenue and the next one along. Good numbers of Latham's Snipe about (~15), Nankeen Night-Heron, Tawny Grassbird filmed, Little Grassbird heard, and the rest of the usual suspects seen. Troy Mutton
Sun 26 Jan	Broad-billed Sandpiper, Double-banded Plover, Black Falcon, Yellow Wagtail Hexham Swamp Nature Reserve Also seen beside the Buff-breasted Sandpiper were 2-3 Broad-billed, 2 Pectoral, 3 Wood, c30 Marsh, c100 Curlew and at least a thousand Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, c30 Red-necked Stints, a single Double-banded with 5 Lesser Sand Plovers, a flock of 30 Royal Spoonbills, a Whiskered Tern, Australian Crakes, Yellow Wagtail and a Black Falcon circling overhead. Edwin Vella et al
	Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Subject to submission to BARC) Hexham Swamp Nature Reserve John succeeded in finding the Buff-breasted Sandpiper close to the location it was originally found (where the track goes over the small bridge). It then flew over to the eastern side where I was able to get the a number of photos within a few metres. Edwin Vella, John Weigel, Allan Richardson et al
	Oriental Plover (Subject to submission to NSW ORAC) Phoenix Park (near Morpeth) Oriental Plover found this afternoon by Trevor Williams in a weedy pasture with several Banded Lapwing (including immature birds) on Phoenix Park Road, about 3km north of Morpeth. Trevor and Dan Williams, Mick Roderick, Allan Richardson et al
	Red-tailed Tropicbird, Buller's Shearwater North Head, Manly Highlight from a sea watch from north head this afternoon was a Red-tailed Tropicbird and 3 Buller's Shearwaters. michael ronan
	White-headed Pigeon Glebe 1' Cell White-headed Pigeon (1) Female bird perched on a TV wire on Clare street (off Bridge road) before being chased off by Noisy Miners. Robert Hynson
	Swamp Harrier (Juv) Bobbin Head Rd, Nth Turramurra Juvenile Swamp Harrier crossed over road heading West-East approx 3:30pm - very upswept wings, bouyant flight, long slim tail, chocolate brown with suggestion of white on the rump and paler patches around base of primaries. Weird day - also had a White-faced Heron fly over the house Tom Wilson
Sat 25 Jan	Little Raven Richmond Road, Berkshire Park At least 15 Little Ravens foraging on pasture in loose flock next to road Eric Finley
	Little Eagle Yarra One Little Eagle seen close to Kibby VC Rest Area, Hume Hwy. Lorne Johnson
Fri 24 Jan	Black-necked Stork 18 km north of Grafton One Black-necked Stork seen feeding in dam next to Pacific Hwy. [Moderator's note: Black-necked Storks are not uncommon on the North Coast. There are 73 territorial pairs there, not to mention non-breeding birds in the population.] Terrill Nordstrom
Wed 22 Jan	Freckled Duck McPherson Road Wetlands, Tuggerah Sorry for late post. 45 Freckled Ducks, the highest count at this site this year. Also recorded over the last week - up to 22 Royal Spoonbill, 8 Great Egret, 2 Little Egret, 5 White-necked Heron, 1 Intermediate Egret, 3 Glossy Ibis, 5 Red-kneed Dotterel and 5 Chestnut-breasted Mannikin. Nick Carson, Alan Morris and Graeme Catt
Sun 19 Jan	Oriental Plover (Subject to submission to NSW ORAC), Pectoral Sandpiper, Double-banded Plover Lord Howe Island On the airport runway in the middle of the day were 3 Oriental and a single Double-banded Plover as well as a Pectoral Sandpiper amongst a good number of Pacific Golden Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones and Bar-tailed Godwits. A pelagic trip later in the afternoon also produced good numbers of White-bellied Storm Petrels and Kermadec Petrels (of all sorts of morphs) as well as the other usual seabirds found this time of year in Lord Howe Island. Edwin Vella, Tony Dawe, Mark Fuller and David Koffel
Sat 18 Jan	Australian Bittern Rose Lagoon, Collector, NSW Sighted a pair of Australian Bitterns on the eastern part of the lagoon around 7am. One emerged from the reeds and flew a short distance. Then spotted the second bird standing in the reeds near the site where the other had emerged from. Lindsay Hansch

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

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