Birdline New South Wales Weekly Update

Birdline New South Wales

Published sightings for the week ending 23 Feb 2014.

Sun 23 Feb	Peregrine Falcon Moore Park, Sydney Pair overhead Eric Finley
	Superb Lyrebird, Squirrel Glider Kurrajong Hills Female Superb Lyrebird feeding in open alongside a Black Wallaby. Excited to locate and enjoy good extended views of a Squirrel Glider. This is the second glider species I have recorded in our garden. Gliders have been calling frequently here for the past few months but am not confident of identification by calls as these seem to differ from online recordings I've listened to and can rarely locate the animals. Also seen family group of 5 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos, 2 Grey Goshawk, numerous small groups of subadult Satin Bowerbirds. Eric Finley
	Australian Hobby North Richmond Single Australian Hobby on the power lines over the Hawkesbury River Eric Finley
	Little Eagle, Collared Sparrowhawk, Marsh Sandpiper Pitt Town Lagoon Water levels are still low. Highlights today were Little Eagle (1), Collared Sparrowhawk (1) and Marsh Sandpiper (1). Photograph attached of Little Eagle. Greg McLachlan
	Barking Owl Jamieson Park, Narrabeen Lakes Barking Owl seen in same areas as previous sightings. Murray Lord
	Superb Lyrebird Swain Gardens, Killara A female Superb Lyrebird was foraging beside the track into the gardens, about 75m from the entrance in Nelson Rd. Also 2 courting Eastern Whipbirds and a very tame Eastern Water Dragon that did not move as I put my foot beside it to get over a fallen tree stump. UBD map 175 D 13. Judy Clark
Sat 22 Feb	Plumed Whistling-Duck, Freckled Duck, Black Falcon Deniliquin Sewage Treatment Works Approximately 2000 Plumed Whistling-Ducks roosting on the pond banks with around 50 Freckled Ducks as well. A lone Black Falcon also seen soaring nearby. Michael Ramsey
	Streaked Shearwater Mistral Point, Maroubra A brief sea-watch at Maroubra obviously well-timed for within minutes of arriving a pair of Streaked Shearwaters pass, heading south into the SE wind. Seen at approx. 4.00pm and apparently the same pair seen by Michael Ronan at Nth Head. Otherwise the usual sightings. Robert Griffin
	Streaked Shearwater North Head Manly Highlight from a seawatch from north head today were 2 Streaked Shearwaters. michael ronan.
	White-necked Petrel, 3 Long-tailed Jaegers Wollongong Pelagic 2 White-necked Petrels and 3 Long-tailed Jaegers were the highlights of the February 2014 SOSSA pelagic. Other sightings included 10+ Black-browed Albatross, 10+ Shy Albatross, 8+ Pomarine Jaegers, along with good numbers of Wedge-tailed and Flesh-footed Shearwaters. There were also a few Short-tailed about and one Sooty Shearwater. Brook Whylie and all aboard the Sandra K
Fri 21 Feb	Eastern Osprey Lower Hawkesbury, 10km downstream of Wisemans Ferry One Eastern Osprey being chased and harrassed by a Whistling Kite over the Hawkesbury River, around 10 km downstream of Wisemans Ferry. At around 11am. Jon Spicer-Bell
Thu 20 Feb	Fork-tailed Swift Oatlands Possible Fork-tailed Swift to far away for clear photo Tony Dawe
	Spangled Drongo Dee Why Lagoon Was chased by another similar looking bird. Not sure if it was another Drongo or a male Koel Mark Young
	Plumed Whistling-Duck, Spangled Drongo, Common Greenshank Picnic Point Reserve, The Entrance This morning I found 24 Plumed Whistling-ducks at the mouth of the creek. Also at the reserve a family of Spangled Drongos (2 adults and 1 juv) and 4 Greenshanks. Christina Port
	Plumed Whistling-duck Centennial Parklands 18 Plumed Whistling-Ducks roosting on the western end of the western island of Busbys Pond. First seen two days ago by Marylon and Alan. Graeme Robinson
Wed 19 Feb	Pacific Baza Bayview Located close the the water in the back yard of a privatre property, 3 Pacific Baza have been sighted. I went to have a look and spotted a juvenile in a tree and an adult flying over head. There was constant calling. Both birds flew further up the hill side, I could still hear them but they could not be seen. The resident says they have been there for 2-3 weeks, a nest is present in a large ironbark at the front of the property. The attached photo was taken 3 days ago by the resident. Jacob Sife
	Black Bittern Warriewood Wetlands Within the first minute of starting my walk following a "similar" route. Hard right at the first "fence". A missing panel of the same being the marker. Flushed before even using my binoculars. Overcast sky, 9 AM, quiet for the rest of my walk. Paddy de Klerk
	Australasian Bittern West Byron Wetlands One Australasian Bittern seen clearly flying over the water in cell "i" pond and dropping down into the reedy area on the southern bank. Aust. Bittern has been reported in this particular cell before which is directly in front of the car park. June Harris and Brunswick Valley Birdwatchers.
	Square-tailed Kite Chapman Ave, Beecroft Landed high in a gum tree with dinner until it was mobbed so much it had to leave. First I have ever seen in Beecroft. Steve Edwards
	White-throated Nightjar Bellawongarah - Berry Mountain Surprised to be awoken close to 4:00 am by a WTNJ calling. It called 6 times from rainforest/or fringe of in wet habitat . Elevation of 375m. I know of 2 sightings (birds flushed in daylight) late last year, from Kangaroo Valley and Budgong, both in drier habitat as more typical for this species I expect. Carla Jackett
Tue 18 Feb	Arctic Jaeger, Rose-crowned Fruit-Doves, Black-faced Monarch and Spectacled Monarch Bundjalung National Park (Woody Head), Iluka Nature Reserve An Arctic Jaeger was on the rocks at Woody Head and later (same one?) flew past us at Iluka Bluff. Pair of Rose-crowned Fruit-Doves more active and feeding lower than we've seen gave good views, as did an Eastern Whipbird and Brown Cuckoo-Dove. One Black-faced Monarch and one Spectacled Monarch. Two pairs of Little Shrike-thrush, each being an adult and begging young were seen in the Iluka NR. Unlikely to have been the same pair because of the distance between sightings. Peter & Bev Morgan
	Square-tailed Kite Ulladulla town centre Square-tailed Kite was quartering above the town centre shops. Sighted regularly above Millards Creek during the last week. Chris Shinton
	Common Cicadabird, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Bundanoon Cemetery Adult Common Cicadabird seen feeding juvenile. One White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike seen in association with a number of Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes. Both species appear to be uncommon in the local area. M Filipczyk
	Spangled Drongo, Peregrine Falcon, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike Vale of Ah Reserve, Milperra A single Spangled Drongo and adult Peregrine Falcon seen early morning. 30-40 Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes, including some juveniles, appeared to be a post-breeding movement of some sort. David James
	Grey Goshawk Bellawongarah - Berry Mountain Good views of an adult Grey Goshawk seen flying/gliding reasonably low over house yard and forest at 10:30 am. Carla Jackett
	Spangled Drongo, Grey Goshawk, Hoary-headed Grebe Lane Cove National Park (Fairyland) Had a nice lunch time walk assorted with grey morph Grey Goshawk, single Hoary-headed Grebe and a young Spangled Drongo eating a huge mantis only 2meters away. Apart from highlights, 10+ Dollarbirds along the river, Sacred Kingfishers, Yellow-faced Honeyeaters were also seen. Fatih Sam
	Spangled Drongo Sydney Olympic Park Single Spangled Drongo seen in the grove of casuarinas between the big hill with the bike track over the top and the fenced-off swampy part of the Armory. David Langley
Mon 17 Feb	Noisy Friarbird Yellomundee Regional Park, Yellow Rock nr Penrith Mass northern migration of Noisy Friarbirds observed this morning. I counted 343 individuals in about an hour but that is a very conservative number as I would have missed many when among trees or while looking elsewhere. There were a few Red Wattlebirds among them. Mark Ley
Mon 17 Feb	Grey-tailed Tattler Toowoon Bay & Blue Bay Reefs Seen 4 Grey-tailed Tattlers on back rock shelf, about 15 Red-necked Stints and 2 Pacific Golden-Plovers in late arvo, yesterday. (Moderator's note: when the tide is above 1.8m, the waders off the Toowoon Bay Reefs cross over to the Blue Bay Reefs where they can be readily photographed and counted. This is a good spot for Turnstone and PGP- AKM). luke ullrich
	Double-banded Plover Norah Head, Pelican Point Single Double-banded Plover in company with 3 Red-capped Plovers (pair & juvenile), approx 20 Red-necked Stints and 100 Little Terns. This is the first return for 2014 of a Double-banded Plover for the Central Coast. Steve Merrett
	Rufous Fantail, Crested Shrike-tit, Red-capped Robin, Fan-tailed Cuckoo Pinecliffe, 10 km SW of Molong 1 Rufous Fantail, the third sighting since June 1982 at this site. The two previous ones were both in April of 1995 and 1999. As well, a Crested Shrike-tit and 2 Red-capped Robins pursuing a Fan-tailed Cuckoo (only after the cuckoo would initially fly! All scarce visitors to this site. Bruce Tinsey
	Pacific Baza Milperra Adult Pacific Baza in heavy moult flying around Milperra near Riverlands Golf Course for an hour or so this afternoon. David James
	Spotted Harrier, Spangled Drongo Deep Water Park Milperra This morning, a single adult Spotted Harrier, 2nd in a week at this site. At least 5 Spangled Drongos. Fair numbers (>100) of Noisy Friarbirds on migration. David James
	Bar-tailed Godwit Sans souci Enjoying a cappuchino at" Kiss the Barista" (Sandringham Bay)watching 180 Godwits with a solitary Caspian Tern in their midst on the beach. On a fence overlooking the creek behind us 1 Sacred Kingfisher Oliver Williams
	Fork-tailed Swifts; White-throated Needletails 147 Levensrath Rd. Levenstrath. nr Grafton NSW 7.45am At least 3 Fork-tailed Swifts feeding on insects down to about 10 metres overhead in company with 10 + White-throated Needletails. Overcast and humid conditions. Warren Thompson
Sun 16 Feb	Great-winged Petrel, Sooty Shearwater Long Reef, Collaroy A 1 hour seawatch from the reef 3:40-4:40pm produced a single Great-winged Petrel heading north (most other birds seen heading south) and a single Sooty Shearwater in with the Wedge-tailed (mostly) and Short-tailed (about 3%) Shearwaters. Plenty of Australasian Gannets, 1 each of Arctic and Pomarine Jaeger. Visibility was rubbish further out, but an unidentified grey/white pterodroma was also seen. Reef flat held the usual species, but at one point had Pacific Golden Plover, Sooty Oystercatcher, Grey-tailed Tattler, Red-necked Stint and Ruddy Turnstone in scope view. Tom Wilson
Sun 16 Feb	Pied Oystercatcher, Fork-tailed Swift Wallis Lake Entrance, Tuncurry On a sandbar and high tide roost, in a 1.93m tide, on Sunday morning 48 Pied Oystercatcher and 1 Sooty Oystercatcher were gathered with Pied Cormornats and, Pelicans and Crested Terns. It was drizzling and overcast at the time, with some showers, and White-throated Needletails continued to hawk over the Entrance througout the morning together with atleast 3 Fork-tailed Swifts. Alan Morris
	Red-footed Booby Mistral Point, Maroubra In dark, rainy conditions, not many birds at all saw a distant unfamiliar bird. I initially thought it was a Streaked Sheawater because of its flight style. As it became more perpendicular to me and slightly closer, I realised that it was a sulid !!! It stayed very low to the water, meandering slowly into the wind with wings angled at the carpal joint and it also appeared long tailed. After prolonged views, I came to the conclusion that it could only be a Red-footed Booby. Also about 15 Australasian Gannets and a Black-browed Albatross David Mitford
	Buff-banded Rail, Swamp Harrier Nurragingy Reserve A single Buff-banded Rail came out from Eastern Creek (near the Eastern Creek Rd) in heavy rain. A young (very dark brown) Swamp Harrier was harassing duck on the ponds near the Centre. It killed a sick domestic duck but 3 A. Australian Ravens chased it away and claimed the kill. I've never seen Swamp Harrier in this site before. Ted Wnorowski
	Glossy Ibis, Little Egret, Red-necked Avocet Bicentennial Park, Homebush Bay Two Glossy Ibis flying over the waterbird refuge, one Little Egret with the 50-odd Red-necked Avocets near the hide. Also, a pair of White-bellied Sea-eagles on the Parramatta River opposite Newington Armoury and a single Peregrine Falcon on a pylon in Mason Park. Lots of good birds, but rather wet. Tony Keene
Sat 15 Feb	Latham's Snipe Bicentennial Park, Homebush Bay Also saw Red-necked Avocet (flock of about 50), Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Black-fronted Dotterel, Black-winged Stilt, Spotless Crake, Spangled Drongo, Australian Reed-Warbler, Little Grassbird, Glossy Ibis, Brown Goshawk, Striated Heron, Hoary-headed Grebe, a pair of Red-browed Finches, one lonely Fairy Martin in amongst a flock of Welcome Swallows, and many other birds (about 46 species in total) Wet, but lovely day. Ida Rohne
	Lesser Frigatebird, Great Knot (50), Double-banded Plover South Ballina A single Double-banded Plover and 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. [Moderator's note (NH): Michael Hanvey (#216294) saw and photographed an immature Lesser Frigatebird the previous day about 100 km away. This may be the same individual.] Steven McBride, June Harris & Kathy Wilk
Fri 14 Feb	Lesser Frigatebird (immature) Iluka Bluff Picnic Area I observed and photographed this bird for at least 90 minutes between 9 and 10 am as it hovered over the rock shelf adjoining the Iluka Bluff Picnic Area. During this time, it made several harassing dives on a group of Crested Terns, coming quite close to some startled anglers in the process. When I returned to the Bluff area late that afternoon, the bird was still there, hovering in the same 'recon' position facing the sea. [Moderator's note (NH): An immature Lesser Frigatebird was seen the following day about 100 km away (#216190). This may be the same individual.] Michael Hanvey
Thu 13 Feb	Mallard or Mallard x Pacific Black Duck hybrid 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. [Moderator's note (NH): Based on the phenotype seen in this photograph this bird cannot be genotyped. This bird could well be a Mallard x Pacific Black Duck hybrid] Ben Bright
Tue 11 Feb	Sooty Oystercatcher East Corrimal Lone healthy Sooty Oystercatcher observed walking on the beach at around midday. Unusual as I have not seen this species at Corrimal before. Damon Whiting
	Red-browed Finch Tennyson Street Campsie 2194 Have worked one day a week for 6 years in Campsie (Tennyson/Shelley Sts), and we are regularly serenaded by Red-whiskered Bulbuls, see Little Wattlebirds and many New Holland Honeyeaters. On 11th saw for the first time Red-browed Finches (about 10) feeding on the grass verge. [Reporting on 18th - no sign of them today.] Barrie Ayres
Mon 3 Feb	Glossy Black-Cockatoo Smiths Creek NSW 2474 Flock of at least 10 Glossy Black-Cockatoos spotted feeding off She-oak trees (casuarina) in closed eucalypt forest on private land. They hung around for about a week before moving on. This is the first time I've seen/heard them in the 3 years I've been here. The beautiful red on their tails and different voice to the common yellow tailed black cockatoo is what caught my attention. Nicole Stokes

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