Yesterday Warren Thompson, Russell Jago, my wife Val and I travelled ‘down river’ to check on the local nesting Black-necked (Satin) Storks. We decided to keep a tally of all species observed as well. By the end of the day we had notched up 112 bird species, 2 mammals, 2 reptiles and 1 frog species. As we had to do a pre-poll vote we stayed close to Grafton waiting for the electoral office to open,. We checked out the Waterview are where there is a resident pair of Storks. We didn’t find any Storks but 6 Glossy Ibis and a small number of Black-winged Stilts were of interest. We called in at the Cowans Pond bird hide and added a number of waterbirds but there were no rare or threatened species, other than a lone Yellow-billed Spoonbill. A flock of about Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos greeted us as we arrived at the Pond. Cowans Pond was the site of the Northern Pintail record some years back. After voting we headed to the Stork nest site at Trenayr. A flock of twenty Pelicans swimming on a small wetland included some immature birds. A Latham’s Snipe on Bunyip Creek was my first for the season and a Hoary-headed Grebe was an unusual species for this site. Unfortunately the Storks’ nest tree was dead and the nest was in disarray. There were no Storks in the general area. Storks don’t nest every year so this might be their ‘gap year’. A lunch stop at Southgate State Forest produced some forest/woodland birds including Peaceful Dove, Fuscous Honeyeater, Painted Button-quail, Rainbow Bee-eater, and a pair of Eastern Yellow Robins nesting. The male flew to the nest and fed the sitting female. I was able to photograph the birds at the nest from a safe distance photographing through my spotting scope and an 800 mm adapter. People are rightly concerned about photographers disturbing nesting birds but good nesting photographs can be taken through scopes or long lenses without disturbing the birds. Travelling back to the Lawrence Road from the State Forest Warren spotted an adult pair of Storks loafing in a grassy paddock. We aren’t sure which territory these birds belong to as the site is near the overlap zone of a few territories. We next visited the Everlasting Swamp stork nest site and checked on the nest where three young were fledged last year. I managed to colour-band these birds just before they fledged. One of them has been observed in the Tweed Valley recently. The nest was empty but speaking to the landowner as we departed it appears that they may have built a new nest. An adult female with ‘dirty’ plumage was feeding in a creek just south of Lawrence. This bird may be a breeding bird as the dirty plumage suggests that it hasn’t had time to bathe regularly due to nesting commitments or possibly the white feathers were becoming tattered due to wear. An adult male Stork was photographed actively foraging in a dam near the Little Broadwater and our only Brolgas for the day were near this site. Two more adult Storks were found in a wetland at Elbow Creek on Woodford Island and another two in a wetland adjacent to the Pacific Highway south of Cowper, making a total of 8 Storks for the day. A juvenile Shining Bronze-Cuckoo was found as a roadkill at the approach to the Lawrence Ferry. It may have been fostered by the Brown Thornbills calling nearby. However the most significant sighting of the day was of 56 Freckled Ducks and 1,000+ Pink-eared Ducks at the Lawrence Egret colony swamp. The full list is a s follows: Brown Quail, Magpie Goose, Freckled Duck, Black Swan, Australian Wood Duck, Pink-eared Duck, Australasian Shoveler, Grey Teal, Chestnut Teal, Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead, Australasian Grebe, Hoary-headed Grebe, Rock Dove, Spotted Dove, Crested Pigeon, Peaceful Dove, Australasian Darter, Great Cormorant, Little Black Cormorant, Pied Cormorant, Australian Pelican, Black-necked Stork, White-necked Heron, Eastern Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Cattle Egret, White-faced Heron, Little Egret, Glossy Ibis, Australian White Ibis, Straw-necked Ibis, Royal Spoonbill, Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Eastern Osprey, Black-shouldered Kite, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Whistling Kite, Brahminy Kite, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Nankeen Kestrel, Brown Falcon, Brolga, Purple Swamphen, Dusky Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Australian Pied Oystercatcher, Black-winged Stilt, Black-fronted Dotterel, Red-kneed Dotterel, Masked Lapwing, Comb-crested Jacana, Latham’s Snipe, Painted Button-quail, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Crested Tern, Silver Gull, Yellow-tailed Back-Cockatoo, Galah, Little Corella, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Rainbow Lorikeet, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Eastern Rosella, Shining Bronze-Cuckoo, Laughing Kookaburra, Rainbow Bee-eater, Superb Fairy-wren, Red-backed Fairy-wren, White-browed Scrubwren, White-throated Gerygone, Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Brown Thornbill, Striated Pardalote, Lewin’s Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Fuscous Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Scarlet Honeyeater, Brown Honeyeater, White-throated Honeyeater, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Friarbird, Little Friarbird, Striped Honeyeater, Grey-crowned Babbler, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Rufous Whistler, Grey Shrike-thrush, Australasian Figbird, Olive-backed Oriole, Grey Butcherbird, Pied Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Grey Fantail, Willie Wagtail, Torresian Crow, Magpie-lark, Eastern Yellow Robin, Golden-headed Cisticola, Australian Reed-Warbler, Tawny Grassbird, Silvereye, Welcome Swallow, Fairy Martin, Tree Martin, Common Myna, Mistletoebird, Red-browed Finch, Australasian Pipit (112). Mammals: Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Red-necked wallaby. Reptile: Eastern Long-necked Turtle, Lace Monitor. Amphibian: Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog. Eight of these species (Magpie Goose, Freckled Duck, Black-necked Stork, Eastern Osprey, Brolga, Australian Pied Oystercatcher, Comb-crested Jacana, Grey-crowned Babbler) are listed as threatened in NSW. Regards Greg Dr Greg. P. Clancy Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide | PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460 | 02 6649 3153 | 0429 601 960 http://www.gregclancyecologistguide.com =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au http://birding-aus.org ===============================
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