Hi all after being cooped up by yesterday’s appalling Sydney weather (the wettest Christmas Day since 1942 apparently) I took myself out this morning (about 6-8:30am) to West Head in Ku-Ring-Gai NP and then we had a family walk at Long Reef late morning.
I went to W head to find some Glossy Blacks as the have eluded me all year and this is a reasonably reliable spot. It produced the goods with 5 birds found feeding the the casuarinas right by the parking area at the lookout entrance – they started off on the north side but crossed to the centre “island” and were feeding in there quite happily. There were 2 males, 2 yellow headed females and 1 very squeaky youngster. There may have been a 6th bird down the slope towards the water as well. From W Head itself I looked down the rocky gullies and eventually saw (very briefly) and then heard multiple times a Rockwarbler. A Lyrebird was also poking about.
On the way home I stopped and walked a little way along the Waratah Track, but the strong breeze was keeping most birds below the tops of the bushes and in denser patches of scrub. I did find a Chestnut Rumped Heathwren singing and many New Holland HEs, but nearly every other species was determined on song alone, including fairy wrens, another Lyrebird (Rosella, Whipbird, Currawong and its own peculiar noises coming from one spot), E Yellow Robins and E Whipbird.
Later in the morning we walked around the golf course and up onto the point at Long Reef (but not onto the reef flat itself). The Black-tailed Native-hen is still at the golf course and was on the margins of the big central pond and quite a few Pipits too. From the top point, the reef flat held a big flock (50+) Red Necked Stint, about 20 Turnstone and at least the same number of Golden Plover, 1 small but very white wader which wasn’t hanging around with the stints so hard to get a size comparison (so a mystery bird), 5 Sooty Oystercatchers, 2 Grey Tailed Tattlers, 1 Reef Egret and the usual collection of Crested Terns and Silver Gulls. Offshore, some sort of emergency services activity was taking place with Police and Rescue launches and a rigid hull inflatable and what seemed to be an upturned hull in the water. While watching this through the scope, amongst the many Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, I also picked up 2 Black Browed Albatross, some Fluttering types and a possib le Bullers Shearwater (as big as the Wedgies, looked grey rather than black on the back, clean white underparts) but I’d give the distance the benefit of the doubt and say only possible on that one.
It was nice to get out in the fresh air (twice!) and walk off some of yesterday’s culinary delights and add a couple more species to my 2012 list. Only a few more days birding to go until a clean new year list frees up. Cheers Tom Wilson ===============================
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