Birdline New South Wales Weekly Update

Birdline New South Wales

Published sightings for the week ending 16 Feb 2014.

Sun 16 Feb	Tahiti Petrel Port Stephens Pelagic Single Tahiti Petrel well out over the continental shelf Ben Bright
	Freckled Duck, Little Egret, Spotless and Baillons Crake Pitt Town Lagoon An excellent number of birds this morning on the lagoon including 22 Freckled and c70 Pink-eared Ducks (amongst hundreds of other waterfowl comprising of 9 species), 2 Little and 13 Eastern Great Egrets, a White-necked Heron, 27 Royal and 5 Yellow-billed Spoonbill, 16 Glossy Ibis, a Spotless and a Baillons Crake, 2 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, 11 Red-kneed and 5 Black-fronted Dotterels, 5 Whistling Kites (2 feeding on a large dead carp), 3 Brown Quail etc. Attached is a record shot of the Freckled Ducks. Edwin Vella et al
	Barking Owl, Spangled Drongo Jamieson Park, Narrabeen Lakes The recently reported Barking Owl is still present. It was roosting in a palm close to the aged care home. The other highlight was a lone Spangled Drongo. Photographed attached. Greg McLachlan
	Spangled Drongo, Eastern Osprey Nepean Weir, Penrith A Spangled Drongo and an Eastern Osprey were highlights of a wet 'Breakfast with the Birds' morning organized by Penrith City Council (assisted by Blue Mountains Bird Observers and CBOC) at Penrith weir this morning. The Eastern Osprey was seen by all perched in a River She-Oak and the Spangled Drongo, which is rare in Sydney's west, seen by Jill Dark and Carol Probets early on in the day. Mark Ley for BMBO and CBOC members and visitors
Sat 15 Feb	Lesser Frigatebird, Great Knot (50) South Ballina A good count of 50 Great Knots roosting on the beach at South Ballina during this mornings wader count, & an immature Lesser Frigatebird was a surprise sighting cruising north along the shoreline & later seen hanging around the south wall & harassing the terns & gulls. Steven McBride, June Harris & Kathy Wilk
	Brown-headed Honeyeater, White-throated Needletail, Black Honeyeater Whittakers Lagoon, Moree Brown-headed Honeyeaters were identified passing through very quickly, in a flock of 30+ birds in scattered coolibah woodland surrounded by broadacre farmland. Very noisy, only briefly seen. First sighting in the whole region; rare on the plains. About 10 White-throated Needletails were also observed as well as 50 Tree Martins and 30 White-browed Woodswallows. 2 returning Grey Fantails were spotted. 6 Brown Honeyeaters & 2 Black Honeyeaters were also found. Other birds worth noting: 40 Red-winged Parrots, 10 Brown Treecreepers, 30 Little Corellas and a Brown Goshawk. Curtis Hayne and Ainslee Lines
Fri 14 Feb	Square-tailed Kite Bomaderry Creek Nowra A single Square-tailed Kite flying over the Bomaderry Creek. Roger Williams
	Square-tailed kite Mannix Park, Ashcroft 2 Square-tailed Kites seen flying low over canopy and feeding on nestlings. Daniel Barnet
	White-throated Nightjar, White-throated Needletail Deriah Aboriginal Area Just before nightfall, after a light shower, White-throated Needletails (further information link) were seen hawking for insects just above the canopy of dry sclerophyll woodland. Later, just after nightfall, at a location where I had previously flushed a nightjar (sp?), at least 3 White-throated Nightjars were heard calling in the distance. ID was established by comparing the calls I heard with recordings by Graeme Chapman (clear clucking sound with acceleration and rising pitch). Michael Dahlem
	Banded Lapwing Cornwallis Rd, Nth Windsor The Banded Lapwings are still at the same turf farm as reported early/mid January- & in the same approx numbers - we saw 37 today. John French & Andrew French
	Lewin's Rail Eastlakes Golf Course Water levels are quite low at the moment in the Northern ponds with not much cover along the waterline in some ponds. Other species included Brown Goshawk (1), Little Tern (19), Black-fronted Dotterel (5) as well as usual suspects for this time of year. Evening visit. Greg McLachlan
	Black Honeyeater Pinecliffe, 10 km SW of Molong village Clear sustained views, in the garden both a male and a female. This is my first definite sighting here, although two winters ago I had a glimpse, without binnoculars, of what I strongly suspected was this species. About 1700. Five minutes before a pair of Red-capped Robins were present in native forest, a notable, scarce visitor. Bruce Tinsey
	White-throated Needletail and Fork-tailed Swift Ophir Road, Rock Forest (west of Bathurst) A mixed flock of about 40 individuals seen this afternoon, hawking swarms of very small insects over the road, the eucalypt canopy and in adjacent paddocks. The sound of them slicing through the air at close range (10-20m) was fantastic! Tiffany Mason
	Spangled Drongo, Spotless Crake, swifts Eastlakes Golf Course 2 Spangled Drongos, near Fairy Martin colony. Spotless Crakes in 2 places, 100+ White-throated Needletails and several Fork-tailed Swifts overhead. Bas Hensen
	Square-tailed Kite Mount Gibraltar Park, Bowral Juvenile Square-tailed Kite observed roosting within and circling above tall Eucalyptus forest, when roosting the kite was constantly harassed by a Brown Goshawk. Brendon Levot and Rory Howard.
	Ground Cuckoo-shrike Eulah Creek 4 Ground Cuckoo-shrikes flew over our property, due South, at 9:00 this morning, calling each other constantly. Michael Dahlem
Thu 13 Feb	Little Egret Spring Creek Reservoir, Orange Neville Schrader
	Mallard Port Stephens Pelagic Single bird seen approx 22nm wide of Port Stephens at edge of continental shelf swimming on the water and flew off as approached. Ben Bright
	Wedge-tailed Eagle Annangrove Three Wedge-tailed Eagles circled low over my property on Shoplands Rd Annangrove for a few minutes this morning, two adults and a persistently begging juvenile. Not quite a breeding record for the County of Cumberland but good to see never-the-less. Darryl Smedley
Wed 12 Feb	Red-necked Avocet Sydney Olympic Park (Waterbird Refuge) I counted 95 Red-necked Avocets from the hide at Homebush Bay yesterday. There were also 120+ Black-winged Stilts and about 70 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. Mason Park was a 'bust', with virtually nothing apart from 25 Masked Lapwings. Ted Nixon
	Red-necked Avocet, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Spangled Drongo Waterbird Refuge, Bicentennial Park, Homebush Up to 100 Red-necked Avocets at the refuge, with approx 60 in one big roosting group. 65 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers in 2 groups (20 feeding in front of the hide; 45 roosting at the south end). Single Spangled Drongo seen in trees just by entrance off Bennelong Parkway. Also 4 Lathams Snipe at Northern Water feature, incl two that were feeding in the open on the point just beyond the walkway. Both were very aggressive to any encroaching Coots or Swamphens. Tom Wilson
	Little Corella Victoria Park, Camperdown At least 80 birds counted between the University and Victoria Park with many more in the trees. That flock has certainly grown since I was last here. [Moderator's note (NH): The flock used to count up to 300 in recent years] Tony Keene
	Marsh Sandpiper Chittaway Point 2 Marsh Sandpipers joined a group of Black-winged Stilts as CBOC members we're watching during our Wednesday outing. Michael Rutkowski
	Pacific Bazas (7), Mistletoebirds (20+), Nurragingy Reserve Generally quiet except for numerous Mistletoebirds present and a pair of Rufous Whistler in the northern section. We spotted the Pacific Bazas near the lake, the group then moved near the entrance, flying, feeding and calling. Mark Fuller and Jim Dixon
Tue 11 Feb	Glossy Black Cockatoo Jamieson Park, Narrabeen Lakes 4 Glossy Black Cockatoos seen Elisabeth Karplus
	Black Honeyeater Forbes-Cookamidgera Road, Parkes 1 male, first seen Sunday. Corner of Parkes-Eugowra Road and Forbes-Cookamidgera Road, 16.1 km SE of Forbes. Peter Crane
	Spotted Harrier Menangle One adult male flying over the Hume Highway about 3pm. I've never seen one here before. Lorne Johnson
	White-winged Triller, Little Penguin Warden Head, Ulladulla Two White-winged Trillers were spotted this afternoon, feeding along the escarpment at the head. These, to my knowledge, haven't been seen in Ulladulla ever! Although they have been seen 10 km or so either side of the town at times. As an added bonus, and what I'd been originally looking at before the WWTs, were a group of 10 Little Penguins off shore. There were also a good number of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters along with other types i.e. - Fluttering, Short- tails? but the light was atrocious owing to the mist and very difficult to ID. [Moderator's note (NH): Most exciting is the combination White-winged Triller - Little Penguin! There is one report (also by Bob Rusk) of White-winged Triller from 28th October 2008 at Yatte Yattah N.R. north of Ulladulla - that day Bob had a Brown Booby off Warden Head!!!] Bob Rusk
	Barking Owl Jamieson Park, Narrabeen Lakes One roosting Barking Owl at Jamieson Park. Ron Swanson
	Pacific Baza Nurragingy Reserve A quick visit to reserve. Seven Pacific Bazas (including 2 juvs) were on one tree near the entrance gate feeding on large stick insects. Ted Wnorowski
	Spotted Harrier, Australian Hobby, Spangled Drongo Deep Water Park Milperra This morning 1 adult Spotted Harrier in heavy moult was the 1st I have seen in the Milperra area since mid September. 1 juvenile Australian Hobby is the 1st I have seen in the area since late July. Also a juvenile Black-shouldered Kite and 2 juvenile Brown Goshawks (male and female). 1 Spangled Drongo in mangroves. Still plenty of Scaly-breasted Lorikeets . David James
	Grey Goshawk Corner of New Farm Rd & John Savage Cresent, West Pennant Hills It flew over heading towards Campbell Park. Steve Edwards
Mon 10 Feb	White-throated Needletail Seal Rocks Up to 50 overhead on 10th, up to 200 overhead on 11th and up to 10 overhead on the 12th.On 11th stayed hawking for several hours. Philip Brook
	Spangled Drongo and Black-browed Albatross Mistral Point, Maroubra A Spangled Drongo appeared 'in off the sea' this morning, very unusual. More expected observations were 3 Black-bowed Albatross, 20 Flesh-footed Shearwaters and over 40 Pomarine Jaegers [Moderator's note (NH): Yet another interesting combination! Antipodean Drongo? ;-)] David Mitford
	Little Lorikeet, Little Friarbird Corner of Hull Rd & Dean St, West Pennant Hills 20 odd Little Lorkeets in one flock here and 1 Little Friarbird. The trees in this area seem to have been flowering for the last 5 weeks or so. Lots of Rainbow Lorikeets, Scaly-breasted Lorikeets and Musk Lorikeets. However today while doing my run there seemed to be several Little Lorikeets in every street I went on between Cumberland State Forest, Pennant Hills Road and Boundary Road. I would suggest well over 40 in that area and another 5 flew over Kedron Ave in Beecroft. Steve Edwards
Sun 9 Feb	Long-billed Corella Centennial Parklands, Sydney A flock of about 30, performing aerial acrobatics, hanging upside down from branches, rolling on the ground, making a big racket and fighting off two Sulphur-crested Cockatoos. Ida Rohne

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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