A couple of interesting things have happened since then.
A few weeks ago, reports started coming in of Regent Honeyeaters at the Chiltern Trail in Ingleside, on the northern beaches of Sydney. It didn't take me long to decide I wanted to go - much like the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, I made up my mind and booked my ticket the night before!
So I caught a bus up to Sydney, and as usual, I connected with Simon outside Central Station. From there, we headed up to Ingleside.
Max, Josh, Ashwin, Henry, and my newish young-birder friend Jayden had all seen the birds either that morning or the morning before - so with high hopes, we set off down the trail, noting a Little Eagle above us.
The Chiltern Trail is a brilliant one for honeyeaters - a mixed heath and eucalypt/banksia woodland blend, we saw a heap of species just within the first few minutes. Scarlet, Fuscous, Yellow-faced, New Holland, White-cheeked, White-eared, White-naped, White-plumed, Eastern Spinebill, Red and Little Wattlebirds, and Noisy Friarbird. But those weren't the ones we were there to see!
We wandered up and down the trail for a short while, until we decided to split up to maximise our chances of finding the elusive Regents.
Almost as soon as I started walking away from Simon, he yelled "REGENT!!" and I had to come running back up the path. I got a very brief view, and then it was gone.
Stoked to have seen it, but disappointed at the brevity of the view, we continued to search - and eventually, we were rewarded with reasonably good views of two birds. They stayed up in the canopy for the most part, but for a few seconds, one landed on an open branch allowing for (very dark, it was in shadow) pictures.
Regent Honeyeater, Chiltern Trail, Ingleside
We finished up, and headed back to Central (via Warriewood Wetlands/Irrawong Reserve for a quick shot at Noisy Pitta, which we heard but didn't see) in time for my 6.00pm bus home.
Just as an update, Stanley Tang and Henry Coleman got the Regents again today, and I think they were in the same place.
A few days later, Simon landed a big one - Noisy Pitta at Sydney Olympic Park, a very unusual occurrence, and one which drew lots of people. Just as well it was so accommodating with allowing itself to be viewed!! I'm super jealous of him. Or I was. Until today.
Today, I had just about finished a long and productive day of doing nothing (instead of revising for my mathematics exam next week) when my email alert went off at 4.08pm. Sadly I wasn't around to see it then, but when I got onto the computer half an hour later, I discovered an Australasian Bittern had been seen at Giralang Pond, not ten minutes from home!!
Begin an anxious hour of trying to convince dad that it was worthwhile going.
Eventually he obliged, and with just 20 minutes of light left in the sky, we set off. We arrived, and I began to search the reedbeds with my scope, hoping against hope that the bittern would be in view.
After five minutes and a quick saunter up and down the bank, nothing.
After 9 minutes, whoosh! As I was walking along the edge of the reeds, a big, dark, stilt-legged, hunch-backed, streaky shape erupted from the reeds just 5 meters or so from me. It did a lap of the pond as I stared at it in awe, and then flew off down the creekline with 4 magpies in hot pursuit.
I snapped myself out of my daze and ran down the bicycle path, following it. I left the path and walked through the long grass towards the thin line of reeds marking the creek, guessing the Bittern would perch among the reeds rather than in the grass. I was right, although again the bird was one step ahead of me, flushing some 30-40m away. It flew across the road, into a small park-style pond, where I was unable to locate it in the denser reeds.
It was almost completely dark, so I left the bird to it and returned to the car - two Bittern species in two years, both in the ACT, both less than 40 minutes from my house!! (The other was the Little Bittern that payed a surprise visit to Jerrabomberra Wetlands around August 2012). I am so pumped!!
Hopefully this will be enough to tide anyone reading over until the next installment of posts - I will be heading down to Deniliquin with Simon, Nathan Ruser, and David Stowe at the end of June, immediately followed by a Brisbane trip for an avicultural convention and some birding with Stanley Tang!! There should be some good posts to come!
And of course, Simon has yet to post his report from his trip to South-western Western Australia - HINT HINT NUDGE NUDGE, SIMON.
Julian :D
