After banding, the knowledge that school was about to begin in a week or so sent me into a bird crazy mindset. On the 23rd September, I headed out to Eastlakes Golf Course in an attempt to chase up the new arrivals at the site,
Latham's Snipe, with Ashwin Rudder. We succeeded in finding the snipe, along with a very tame
Black-shouldered Kite and a
Swamp Harrier on site.
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| Ashwin and the kite |
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| Black-shouldered Kite |
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| Black-shouldered Kite |
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| Latham's Snipe |
A
Baillon's Crake was also seen.
Jillian Nolan asked me if I wanted to do a Newcastle trip with her so of course I said yes. We started at Lenaghan's Drive where there is a small swamp visible from the road. As we arrived I flushed a
Latham's Snipe from a small swamp along a track that goes towards private property near the house on the dam. Following that,
Striped Honeyeater and a nest were found along with other goodies like
Scarlet Hoenyeater, Mistletoebird,
Brown Falcon,
Sea-eagle,
Swamp Harrier and
White-necked Heron.
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| Yellow-billed Spoonbill (centre) and Royal Spoonbills (LIFER!) |
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| Striped Honeyeater |
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| Striped Honeyeater nest |
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| Scarlet Honeyeater |
After a long stop at the road near the on the dam, we headed up to where the
Black Falcons and
Black Kite were being seen and sure enough we found them! Hundreds of Black Kite and a couple of falcons amongst them. Some
Brown Falcon were also seen.
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| Black Falcon |
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| Black Kite |
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| Black Kite flock |
After this stop, we briefly stopped at maccas and then continued to Stockton Sandspit. Here, we found numerous waders in the form of
Red Knots,
Red-necked Avocets, Bar-tailed Godwits,
Black-tailed Godwits,
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers,
Red-capped Plover,
Red-necked Stint,
Curlew Sandpiper and others. Also seen was an
Osprey and
Sea-eagles.
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| Blackwits (centre) |
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| Osprey coming in to land |
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| Hundreds of Avocet and others at Stockton |
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| Avocets |
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| Avocets and godwits, possibly some knots in there too, I haven't checked! |
After Stockton were were off to Ash Island to follow up on an Australasian Bittern report. We briefly went up to Scott's Point and found nothing. I decided I'd have a brief look at the board walk nearby and I was in luck. Bogey busted! A baby
Shining-bronze Cuckoo sitting on top of a
Brown Thornbill nest.
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| Shining-bronze Cuckoo |
On leaving the cuckoo, an adult
White-bellied Sea Eagle circled over us and we headed off to the Bittern site.
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| Sea Eagle |
A
Spotted Harrier greeted us near the pipeline over the river and as I got out to have a look at it, a
Black-necked Stork flushed from the mangroved mudflats nearby. Lifer! Sadly I only got a brief look at it through the bins but I was pretty stoked to have seen one!
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| Spotted Harrier |
As we drove along wagtail way, we located the reported
Whiskered Tern which was another lifer for me and I got great views of loads of them feeding over the pond. Some were in breeding plumage, some weren't and lots of them were in between.
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| Whiskered Terns |
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| Breeding Whiskered Tern |
We tried the Bittern spot... but no cigar. I guess 3 lifers for the day would have to do! :-D
On the 29th September, I headed up to Hawks Nest with the fam-bam for a few days of piece, quiet.... and hardcore birding!
On arrival the usual suspects of
Scaly-breasted Lorikeets, Rainbow Lorikeets, Pied Currawongs, Blue-faced Honeyeaters and others greeted us in the backyard.
I quickly located local nests of
Dollarbirds and
Galahs next door and set about clearing up the house.
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| Dollarbird at nest hollow |
After clearing up the house, we headed out to have a look around the area. After a brief look at the surf at Bennett's Beach, we went down to the track around the back of Barne's Rocks, starting near the children's playground. My parents decided to walk a little way up the beach (Joseph has stayed home to study), and I decided to walk around the back to the little lagoon. This turned out to be a great idea as I found some
Rainbow Bee-eaters,
Sacred Kingfishers,
Blue-faced Honeyeaters,
Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and a
Great Egret.
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| Rainbow Bee-eaters |
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| Rainbow Bee-eaters a few frames later |
On the way back we observed numerous
Whistling Kite along the river and a single
Sea-eagle on a post in the river.
Inshore Bottle-nosed Dolphin were seen near the Singing Bridge.
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| Dolphin |
We headed home and had an early dinner before Joe and I headed out for some sunset views... and birding. As I walked along the road towards the bridge from our house, a
Square-tailed Kite passed over my head carrying a small bird, continuing straight ahead over the mangroves and away to the north. Sadly I only got a distant shot of it's facing-away silhouette as I had to sprint 200m with my camera to get into a clear spot to view it again! Here's my terrible shot:
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| Square-tailed Kite |
We watched the sun set and headed home... for spotlighting on the golf course!
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| Sunset |
Joe and I headed out at around 9ish just as it was getting dark and we could hear a
Boobook calling. We tried behind some housed near the entrance to the Swan Bay track but couldn't locate the bird so we headed down to the golf course. On the way we encountered a mother and baby
Brush-tailed Possum in a tree.
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| Possums |
Once we were on the Golf Course, we located another baby possum and then finally the owl started calling again. We followed the call and sure enough we found it, high up in a pine.
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| Boobook Owl facing away |
We walked further up towards the dam, but failed to locate any bandicoots or snakes which was what Joe really wanted to find. However, I was briefly excited by the horrendous screech of a
Barn Owl directly over our heads which we must have flushed from nearby. Sadly I couldn't locate it and it promptly stopped calling.
The next morning I got up early and walked down the Swan Bay track for a few kilometres before taking a turn across Mungo Brush Road onto a track towards the beach. Along the track I found some nice bush birds including
Brown Thornbill, Yellow Thornbill, Striated Thornbill but most importantly, and surprisingly, two
Buff-rumped Thornbill which I did not expect in the area, nor the coastal scrub habitat! Sadly I wasn't able to photograph them but I got good views through the bins, heard them call and saw their rumps in flight. I was stoked! Other species observed along the track included
Eastern Whipbird, White-cheeked and New Holland Honeyeaters, Brown Quail, Silver-eye, Red-browed Finch, Whistling Kite, Brown Goshawk and
Variegated Fairy-wren.
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| Brown Quail |
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| Variegated Fairy-wren |
Later that day, after a couple of
Sea-eagles over the house, we headed down to Barne's Rocks for snorkelling, dolphin watching, relaxing... and lots more birding. Whilst the rest of the fam-bam lazed around and swam, I went rock-hopping and found some
Sooty Oystercatchers.
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| Photogenic Sooty Oystercatcher |
As we headed home, we briefly stopped along the river to look at a few more dolphins and a
Sea-eagle. A
Striated Heron flushed from the mangroves in front of us, did a loop and was off down the river.
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| Striated Heron |
After a rest, some food and some sugar, my brother and I headed out to find snakes along the Swan Bay track. Naturally we didn't find any, but I did happen across my first
Cicadabird, which provided some nice long views sitting in a tree about 20m away! We then headed down to the bridge to watch the sun set.
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| Male Cicadabird |
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| Sunset from the bridge |
The next morning I headed down to the bridge nice and early. A
Caspian Tern greeted me as I arrived followed by a group of dolphins playing in the morning sun, hundreds of cormorants, a couple of stingrays and something different, an
Eastern Fiddler Ray,
below the bridge.
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| Fiddler Ray |
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| Caspian Tern |
I crossed the bridge and walked along the Tea Gardens foreshore. A few
Blue-faced Honeyeaters which made quite nice photos in the early morning light.
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| Blue-faced Honeyeater |
I passed a couple of
Whistling Kite nests that were in use, one with a chick's bum just visible, and continues up towards Bi-lo, behind which there are some small wetlands.
White-cheeked Honeyeater, White-headed Pigeon,
Royal Spoonbill, Little Egret, Chestnut Teal (with young),
Red-browed Finch,
Torresian Crow and
Pacific Black Duck were all recorded.
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Chestnut Teal female with ducklings |
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| Dodgy Long-billed Corella |
I flushed a single
Latham's Snipe and then continued up the main road where I found a dead
Tawny Frogmouth on the road. I continued onto the ridge road, near the lookout.
White-necked Herons,
Black-shouldered Kite,
Pied and
Grey Butcherbirds,
Eastern Rosella, Bar-shouldered Dove, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Brown Falcon, Nankeen Kestrel and numerous others were seen along here along with a single
Spangled Drongo, the first for me for the year.
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| Drongo |
Tawny Grassbirds, Little Grassbirds and
Golden-headed Cisticola were all seen near the entrance to the water treatment plant and a single
Brown Quail was flushed. Dad came and picked me up and we headed down to the beach (Bennett's Beach)... but not without a short detour to the mudflats on the river where I found myself some
Bar-tailed Godwits and
(Far) Eastern Curlew, both of which are migratory waders that regularly visit the area each summer.
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| Curlew |
A single
Pied Oystercatcher flew by at the beach as well as a couple of
Crested Tern and
Whistling Kite. On returning home, I heard the call of some
Rainbow Bee-eaters and dashed out towards the Swan Bay track to find them. Along with the
Bee-eaters I also found some
Yellow Thornbills and
Golden Whistlers.
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| Rainbow Bee-eater |
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| Golden Whistler (male) |
Later we headed out into the National Park for a short walk in the dying evening light. We briefly stopped at the entrance to the National Park to see if the frogmouth nest was still there, which it wasn't, but found some
Noisy Friarbirds instead.
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| Noisy Friarbird |
We then walked down to Piper's Creek where we found numerous
White-cheeked Honeyeaters,
Wonga Pigeon and
Common Bronzewing,
Brown, Striated and
Yellow Thornbill and some
Whistling Kites. The highlight however, was a brief but identifiable view of an
Emerald Dove zipping past my head and an
Azure Kingfisher sitting in the mangroves on the opposite bank. Sadly neither was photographed but I was very happy to see an Emerald Dove as the last and only time I had recorded one in the area was in the Rainforest Walk at least 5 or 6 years ago.
The next morning I headed down Mungo Brush road, hoping to reach Piper's Creek and look for the dove, but I got too distracted and ended up on the beach after branching off from the road near the entrance to the National Park.
On the way down, I encountered
Yellow-faced,
New Holland, Blue-faced, Lewin's, White-cheeked and
White-naped Honeyeaters, as well as a single male
Scarlet Honeyeater and some
Noisy Miners. I was amazed to find a small group of 6
Brown-headed Honeyeater however, dancing around the roadside. This was the first time I have seen them in the park and only the second time I have ever seen them!
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| Brown-headed Honeyeater |
As I continued along the road I came across a couple of
Variegated Fairy-wrens and lots of
Striated Thornbill. One group of thornbills were bashing each other up and were flying from one side of the road to the other, jumping on each other and pecking. They eventually stopped and none seemed too badly hurt but it sure was interesting to watch! Sadly my images aren't quite in focus, but I've attached one with the two fighters and a referee.
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| Thornbill fight |
Continuing along the road, I happened across a
Black-faced Monarch feeding low down in a gum over the road. Sadly it didn't stick around. Not long after the monarch I heard the rising whistle of a
Shining Bronze-cuckoo, my ex-bogey. I whistled to it and if flew onto a branch nearby, my first views of an adult!
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| Shining Bronze-cuckoo |
A few
Superb Fairy-wrens, Grey Shrike-thrush and
Pied Currawongs kept me entertained as I wandered down the road a little more. A
Crested Shrike-tit called nearby and I got good looks at it foraging a little above eye-level. I accidentally flushed a male
Leaden Flycatcher from the ground as I walked by, so I sat down and he returned to his spot, seemingly taking a dust bath, jumping up onto some twigs every now and then to check me out.
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| Out of focus but rather friendly Leaden Flycatcher |
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| Crested Shrike-tit |
A couple of
Varied Sitellas were seen further down, around 500m from the entrance to the National Park and a couple more
Variegated Fairy-wrens called but didn't come out into the open.
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| Varied Sitella with a moth |
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| Variegated Fairy-wren |
I then turned off the road to the right and walked up towards the beach. Some
Dusky Woodswallows (around 100) passed overhead and a group of
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos were tearing bark from the gums.
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| Yellow-tailed Black Cocky |
A single
Brush Bronzewing was flushed about 200m along the track and a couple of
Bar-shouldered Doves followed. Some
Sacred Kingfishers,
Noisy Friarbirds, Leaden Flycatchers and
Dusky Woodswallows foraged in the low scrub around the track.
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| Bar-shouldered Dove |
Further down the track, a mixed flock of
Forest and
Australian Ravens were making a fuss over a
Little Eagle (dark morph).
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| Little Eagle (dark morph) |
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| Little Eagle with raven convoy |
A quick stop at the beach where I picked up a few
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters,
Australasian Gannets, one
Shy and two
Black-browed Albatross, and then we headed home.
Here endeth part two of my wrap-up turned detailed catch up. Thanks for reading!!
~Simon
