Birdline New South Wales Weekly Update

Birdline New South Wales Published sightings for the week ending 25 Jan 2015. Sun 25 Jan Rainbow bee eaters Tallong Drive, Lake Cathie Small flocks of birds,heading north all day Darin Rounsevell White-throated Needletail (1000) Sydney Olympic Park The biggest flock I have seen since the 1980s in Sydney covering a kilometre plus in size with hundreds and hundreds of birds centred over Meadowbank. Despite a half hour scour no sign of Fork-tailed Swift. Other good birds today included Australian Hobby (1 female), Tawny Frogmouth (2), Nankeen Night-Heron (1), Glossy Ibis (1) Mangrove Gerygone (2), Australasian Pipit (1) Black-shouldered Kite (1 juv), WB Sea-Eagle (2), Dollarbird (8) Dion Hobcroft Powerful Owl Lovers Jump Creek Reserve, North Turramurra Single bird seen roosting over the stream at south end of reserve approx 7:30am Tom Wilson Sat 24 Jan Glossy Ibis, Latham’s Snipe, Collared Sparrowhawk McPherson Rd Swamp, Gavenlock Rd Tuggerah There were a group of 4 Glossy Ibis feeding in this swamp this morning, where at least 10 Latham’s Snipe were seen on the Swamp. A Sparrowhawk was escorted across the wetland by Magpies and Noisy Miners; 2 separate small groups of Chestnut-breasted Mannikins were seen that included juvenile birds; a pair of White-breasted Woodswallows were feeding dependant young; and Cisticolas, Tawny Grassbirds, Sacred Kingfisher and Dollarbirds were seen by 14 members of the Cumberland Bird Club. Alan Morris and 12 members of CBOC Pectoral Sandpiper Lake Chickiba, Ballina Single Pectoral Sandpiper observed at Lake Chickiba today. My first for this site. Steve McBride Streaked Shearwater Sydney Harbour National Park–North Head 2 Streaked Shearwaters flying in with Wedge-tailed Shearwaters off north head today. michael ronan. Magpie Goose Putta Bucca Wetlands, Mudgee 4 birds in dead trees on eastern side of wetlands. Mark Leary Mangrove Gerigone Liberty Grove Wetlands, Rhodes One Mangrove Gerygone singing beautifully came to say hello when I attempted to mimic him. He was spotted and photographed Between the bridge and the bird lookout toward the Rhodes side of the bridge. Richard Hardiman Square-tailed Kite Nowra Two birds on Kalandar Road about 1.5 km from the highway towards Culburra in the early afternoon. Murray Lord and Chris Gladwin White-rumped Sandpiper Lake Wollumboola, Culburra Bird showing exceedingly well all morning. Also 2 Fairy Terns, 1 Great Knot, 2 Red Knot, 3 Curlew Sandpipers, 9 White-winged Black Tern. Chris Gladwin, Murray Lord Fri 23 Jan White-rumped Sandpiper (Update) Lake Wollumboola White-rumped Sandpiper feeding at water’s edge Tony Dawe plus other birders Wed 21 Jan Freckled Duck (1), Little Pied Cormorant (nesting) Harrington Park Lake (about 6km North-east of Camden) A single Freckled Duck observed. Also, at at least three Little Pied Cormorant nests (in the trees on the man-made island in middle of lake) that contained Adults brooding young birds. Michael Paul Square-tailed Kite Beechwood One seen very low, being harassed by magpies as it circled at 4:38pm. Ian Kerr Black-necked Stork Oxley Hwy, Port Macquarie One adult Black-necked Stork seen at 7:30 am just 700m west of the Base Hospital on the North side of the Hwy. Very uncommon in this area of late. Ian Kerr White-rumped Sandpiper Lake Wollumboola The White-rumped Sandpiper was resting within the electric fence with Red-capped Plover and Red-necked Stint at Lake Wollumboola today. Also present, a Common Tern, ten White-winged Black Tern, Little and Fairy Tern, eight Lesser Sand Plover, five Red Knot and a Great Knot, a Sanderling, four Curlew Sandpiper as well as a number of Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. Dimitris Bertzeletos and Julie Morgan Tue 20 Jan Barking Owl, Black-faced Monarch Burrlow track Blue Mountains national park near bellbird hill One Barking Owl heard calling at about 9pm we did not see the bird. Kareena, Josh Allen Common Noddy, White-winged Black Tern Flat Rock, Ballina 1 Common Noddy & 4 White-winged Black Tern resting on Flat Rock late this afternoon. The Noddy appeared to have an injured wing, but seemed to be flying without a problem. Steve McBride Glossy Ibis McPherson Road Swamp 3 seen near the McPherson Road edge of the swamp from about 250 metres west of Gavenlock Road intersection. Graeme Robinson Common Noddy, Sooty Terns, Pomarine Jaeger Fort Drive, Newcastle, Hunter Valley 1 Common Noddy seen flying past, also 2 Sooty Terns and 2 Pomarine Jaegers, many thousands of Shearwaters, mostly Wedge-tailed. Only a 1hr session. Steve Roderick Mon 19 Jan Magpie Goose South Grafton 98 Magpie Geese seen beside the Pacific Hwy 1.5km east of South Grafton. Brett Allen Streaked Shearwater Sydney Harbour National Park–North Head 1 Streaked Shearwater heading south of north head this afternoon. michael ronan. Onychoprion-type Tern, Buller’s Shearwater, Great-winged Petrel Mistral Point, Maroubra One Onychoprion-type Tern was observed late in the day. It was flying south incredibly fast. No gliding involved. Sadly it was too distant to rule out either bridled or sooty, although it did appear to have a greyish back, with an intermediate wingspan between sooty and bridled (when compared with shearwaters), but it remains unidentified as no definite ID features were observed. One Buller’s Shearwater was seen by a few of the observers a fair distance out. 2 Great-winged Petrel were seen earlier in the day. All other species seen can be found on the list attached. False Killer Whales (5) and a Whaler Shark (1) was also observed. Simon Gorta, John Graff, Ray Gobbe, Biggles, Adrian Dick Black-necked Stork 1931 Pacific Hwy, Cowper, east of Ulmarra Two seen in a water meadow on north side of Highway. Colleen Lock Australasian Shoveler (6) Peregrine Falcon (1 juv) Sydney Olympic Park–Waterbird Refuge Highest ever count of Shovelers here, all feeding along the far edge in amongst the teal, so quite distant and not easy to make out. Recently fledged Peregrine Falcon repeatedly chasing gulls and avocets causing a lot of panic-great views. At Mason Park there were 15 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, 1 Curlew Sandpiper and 1 Red-kneed Dotterel. Dion Hobcroft Freckled Duck, Marsh Sandpiper Cotton farm, Ashley 6 Freckled Ducks were observed in a full 80 hectare (200 acres) irrigation farm dam. There were no other ducks present in this particular dam either and no vegetation at all. At least 250 Glossy Ibis were observed altogether in another irrigation dam, the highest count for this site. At another (low) irrigation dam, 75+ Red-necked Avocets, 200+ Black-winged Stilts, 6+ Marsh Sandpipers and 12 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers were found. 250 Whiskered Terns, 100 Gull-billed Terns, 10 Caspian Terns and 10 Silver Gulls were found resting in another irrigation farm dam. Curtis Hayne and Ainslee Lines Pacific Baza Wareemba Avenue Thornleigh 3.15pm perch high in blue gum in front yard. Took photos from deck. Quiet cry as it left – flew east Elizabeth Baxendale Glossy Black-Cockatoo Lower Pappinbarra 6 GBC seen this morning at 6:08am Ian Kerr Sun 18 Jan Wood Sandpiper Hexham Swamp Wood Sandpiper photographed along the old pipeline track (exact location can’t be confirmed) on Sunday. Very few shorebirds have been visible from the track in recent times. Hopefully these rain events may change things out there. Jeff Jones per Mick Roderick Golden Whistler, Satin Bowerbird, Coutts Crossing Village Immature Golden Whistler, probably 2nd year bird as rufous on wings very slight. This is an early record of this species which is usually an autumn-winter migrant-visitor to the local area. Adult female Bowerbird feeding two juveniles in backyard. Adult had been banded in the backyard on 22 Oct 2011. Greg Clancy White-headed Pigeon Epping, corner Beecroft Road and Kandy Avenue One adult White-headed Pigeon in a garden on the corner of Beecroft Road and Kandy Avenue. First time I see this species in the area. Wouter Maes Sat 17 Jan South Island Pied Oystercatcher Bundagen Headland Went on a grueling pilgrimage in searing 36 degree heat to see the SIPO. Walked from the Surf Club all the way to the point, where the bird was associating with up to three Sooty Oystercatchers on the rock platform at Bundagen Point. Also fresh Juv. Little Tern. David Mitford Fri 16 Jan Red-tailed Tropicbird & Brown Skua Sydney (Coast) Went fishing out through the heads towards 12 mile (about 20kms) and saw a lot of seabirds. I’m a pretty ordinary sea-birder, but I certainly saw a lot of the same shearwaters (probably wedgetailed) and petrels (great-winged I think). A few singles though- a single Shy Albatross, a single Brown Skua, a lone Long-tailed Jaeger, a Sooty Shearwater, 2 Fairy Penguins and a single Red-tailed Tropicbird. [Moderator: the observer, while familiar with Pomarine Jaegar, is unable to, with complete certainty, rule out that species in place of the Brown Skua. AR] Henry Cook Grey-fronted Honeyeater The OId Wheatfield, Nombinnie Nature Reserve, Mt. Hope A single Grey-fronted Honeyeater, was seen in the Old Wheatfield, Nombinnie NR. The bird was very flighty and disappeared quickly. Andrew Walker