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Exploring Sydney - and further afield. (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter MKinHK
- Start date
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Many thanks Scozmoz - much appreciated - best wishes for the New Year!
Palmdale
8 December 2023
An enjoyable but hot visit to Palmdale with Dave Bakewell a little over two weeks ago produced the expected range of species (The eBird list can be found here), albeit in lower numbers than my winter visits - with two major highlights. My first Pacific Baza for NSW flew slowly overhead and circled a few time before watering slowly on.
Halfway through the the walk I left Dave to go on ahead while I took a work call and was honoured with a fly-by from a glorious golden-winged and golden-capped Regent Bowerbird, which is one of Palmdale's star attractions. Its always awkward to tell your birding companion you're just gripped them off with one of Australia's most iconic birds, but as I told Dave about the Regent Bowerbird I could tell he was not too disappointed ... and absolutely stunned me with a picture of a Noisy Pitta that had emerged from the bushes in front of him! Thankfully the pitta lingered and after a suitably tense 20 minutes eventually produced the most wonderful views, allowing me to score with one of the few birds that has the capability to stand up to the awesomeness of a regent Bowerbird!
Cheers
Mike
Palmdale
8 December 2023
An enjoyable but hot visit to Palmdale with Dave Bakewell a little over two weeks ago produced the expected range of species (The eBird list can be found here), albeit in lower numbers than my winter visits - with two major highlights. My first Pacific Baza for NSW flew slowly overhead and circled a few time before watering slowly on.
Halfway through the the walk I left Dave to go on ahead while I took a work call and was honoured with a fly-by from a glorious golden-winged and golden-capped Regent Bowerbird, which is one of Palmdale's star attractions. Its always awkward to tell your birding companion you're just gripped them off with one of Australia's most iconic birds, but as I told Dave about the Regent Bowerbird I could tell he was not too disappointed ... and absolutely stunned me with a picture of a Noisy Pitta that had emerged from the bushes in front of him! Thankfully the pitta lingered and after a suitably tense 20 minutes eventually produced the most wonderful views, allowing me to score with one of the few birds that has the capability to stand up to the awesomeness of a regent Bowerbird!
Cheers
Mike
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MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Patch Birding : Northbridge
December 2023
A week after hearing the Powerful Owl at the golf course I had heard it again just a week later and a good deal closer, but was not able to get any closer to seeing them. This frustration ratcheted up when I heard one from home in the valley below on 26 November, and went a step further when I heard what I was excited to confirm from the excellent Stewart Sounds app were trilling juveniles (the rising call between 4000 and 5000 Hz) that were begging for food from their parents. What drove me almost nuts were that they were either on my roof or on a tree or powerlines just a few metres away, because when I went outside to look for them there was no sign!
The day it all came together was Saturday 9th December, when I finally hit the jackpot and found a family party of four Powerful Owls - two adults and two well grown juveniles in a streamside tree right at the beginning of the Sailors Bay Track - some 250 metres as the owl flies from my front door! And what a sighting it was! They were visible from a stone stairway that descended to the stream bed, giving me views from about 20 metres away that were close to eye level, and was able to capture both adults and one of the juveniles head on and in focus in a single shot!
I took a few more shots to capture each of the owls and noticed that the left hand bird of the two adults had a distinctive deformity to its right pupil, which extended down to the left corner further than it should. I was excited about this because it means that when seen together this pair is identifiable, and I wanted to find out if they were the same birds that had been calling at the golf course.
The day after I was returning home from walking the dogs as night was falling. As I got to the intersection of my street I heard a different higher-pitched trilling and walked over to investigate. As I approached I noticed a dark owl-like shape sat on a wall about six feet away. It did not move until I went for my torch, whereupon it flew off without me being certain it was not a Tawny Frogmouth - of which a pair with two youngsters has successfully raised chicks just a couple of hundred metres away. But when I looked up not the tree where the trilling was coming from I was amazed to find two black-masked juvenile Australian Boobooks staring down at me without ever stopping to demand their next meal. Like the Powerful Owls I had heard the adults calling a few times over the four months since we moved here, but never got remotely close to seeing them.
Over the course of half an hour or so either one or both parents visited the youngsters every two or three minutes with a meal, completely unconcerned by my presence, the torch beam and the occasional flash as I struggled for a decent photo. I'm more than delighted with the eventual outcome!
If that were not enough I was amazed to hear the Powerful Owls trilling at the other end of my street! I walked over to find two of them with one of the adults in a tall tree but too far away for any but the roughest of record shots. As I turned to go home they seemed to follow me down the street, with landing unseen in another tree above my head before an adult called and disappeared over the gardens with both youngsters calling in pursuit. More by Luck than judgement an adult came out of a garden I was walking by and sat above me on a wire, again quite unconcerned my my presence. Spoiled by my views of the day before the picture was not much cop, but nonetheless amazing to photograph both species after dark within an hour!
A week later I got the first opportunity to test this when I found a Powerful Owl on Wreck Bay Walking track, which is the coastal path that winds through the bush below the golf course. Once again the bird was in a shaded perch above a stream and was again seemingly unbothered by my presence. Right away I could tell it was different as it had a deep and obvious wound across its forecrown and the upper lid of its left eye. It looked to me like a younger bird than the two adults I'd seen, somehow lacking their presence. I watched it check out an Eastern Water Dragon foraging within a few metres of its perch, but never showed any intent to catch it. Next morning I came back to see if it was still there and on my way back was shocked to find another pair roosting within 10 metres of the path! Neither of these birds had a scar, but one did have a distinctive chip on the bill, which - given their lifelong fidelity - means that this pair is also individually identifiable.
The final chapter - so far at least came when I was woken at 4am on Friday by a juvenile Powerful Owl trilling right in front of our house. This time I cam carefully through the front door and as I turned on the light it flew into the tree in our front garden to check me out - from less than five metres away!
I managed one decent photo and some very dubious video, and a point blank range recording of its trilling. As I write on Christmas Day I can still hear the juvenile trilling down in the valley below and I will certainly keep hoping for more views - ideally of the stereotypical view of a Powerful Owl clutchinging a deceased possum!
Unquestionably my best birding moment of what's been a pretty good year!
Cheers
Mike
December 2023
A week after hearing the Powerful Owl at the golf course I had heard it again just a week later and a good deal closer, but was not able to get any closer to seeing them. This frustration ratcheted up when I heard one from home in the valley below on 26 November, and went a step further when I heard what I was excited to confirm from the excellent Stewart Sounds app were trilling juveniles (the rising call between 4000 and 5000 Hz) that were begging for food from their parents. What drove me almost nuts were that they were either on my roof or on a tree or powerlines just a few metres away, because when I went outside to look for them there was no sign!
The day it all came together was Saturday 9th December, when I finally hit the jackpot and found a family party of four Powerful Owls - two adults and two well grown juveniles in a streamside tree right at the beginning of the Sailors Bay Track - some 250 metres as the owl flies from my front door! And what a sighting it was! They were visible from a stone stairway that descended to the stream bed, giving me views from about 20 metres away that were close to eye level, and was able to capture both adults and one of the juveniles head on and in focus in a single shot!
I took a few more shots to capture each of the owls and noticed that the left hand bird of the two adults had a distinctive deformity to its right pupil, which extended down to the left corner further than it should. I was excited about this because it means that when seen together this pair is identifiable, and I wanted to find out if they were the same birds that had been calling at the golf course.
The day after I was returning home from walking the dogs as night was falling. As I got to the intersection of my street I heard a different higher-pitched trilling and walked over to investigate. As I approached I noticed a dark owl-like shape sat on a wall about six feet away. It did not move until I went for my torch, whereupon it flew off without me being certain it was not a Tawny Frogmouth - of which a pair with two youngsters has successfully raised chicks just a couple of hundred metres away. But when I looked up not the tree where the trilling was coming from I was amazed to find two black-masked juvenile Australian Boobooks staring down at me without ever stopping to demand their next meal. Like the Powerful Owls I had heard the adults calling a few times over the four months since we moved here, but never got remotely close to seeing them.
Over the course of half an hour or so either one or both parents visited the youngsters every two or three minutes with a meal, completely unconcerned by my presence, the torch beam and the occasional flash as I struggled for a decent photo. I'm more than delighted with the eventual outcome!
If that were not enough I was amazed to hear the Powerful Owls trilling at the other end of my street! I walked over to find two of them with one of the adults in a tall tree but too far away for any but the roughest of record shots. As I turned to go home they seemed to follow me down the street, with landing unseen in another tree above my head before an adult called and disappeared over the gardens with both youngsters calling in pursuit. More by Luck than judgement an adult came out of a garden I was walking by and sat above me on a wire, again quite unconcerned my my presence. Spoiled by my views of the day before the picture was not much cop, but nonetheless amazing to photograph both species after dark within an hour!
A week later I got the first opportunity to test this when I found a Powerful Owl on Wreck Bay Walking track, which is the coastal path that winds through the bush below the golf course. Once again the bird was in a shaded perch above a stream and was again seemingly unbothered by my presence. Right away I could tell it was different as it had a deep and obvious wound across its forecrown and the upper lid of its left eye. It looked to me like a younger bird than the two adults I'd seen, somehow lacking their presence. I watched it check out an Eastern Water Dragon foraging within a few metres of its perch, but never showed any intent to catch it. Next morning I came back to see if it was still there and on my way back was shocked to find another pair roosting within 10 metres of the path! Neither of these birds had a scar, but one did have a distinctive chip on the bill, which - given their lifelong fidelity - means that this pair is also individually identifiable.
The final chapter - so far at least came when I was woken at 4am on Friday by a juvenile Powerful Owl trilling right in front of our house. This time I cam carefully through the front door and as I turned on the light it flew into the tree in our front garden to check me out - from less than five metres away!
I managed one decent photo and some very dubious video, and a point blank range recording of its trilling. As I write on Christmas Day I can still hear the juvenile trilling down in the valley below and I will certainly keep hoping for more views - ideally of the stereotypical view of a Powerful Owl clutchinging a deceased possum!
Unquestionably my best birding moment of what's been a pretty good year!
Cheers
Mike
I got some great sightings of the Regent Bowerbird Mike... very showy and beautiful guys, aren't they. Sadly didn't see any Pittas, though Hans and Judy did try hard for me. Saw some movement in the undergrowth in a place where they thought they should be, but couldn't see the blooking bird!!!
Merry Christmas to you lad I hope you've had a great day, guess you're heading for bed now.
Are you up for this: "Join in the Birdforum 1st January List (details here): January 1st joint Birdforum list (2024 edition) haven't had any entries from Australia the last few years anyway?"
Merry Christmas to you lad I hope you've had a great day, guess you're heading for bed now.
Are you up for this: "Join in the Birdforum 1st January List (details here): January 1st joint Birdforum list (2024 edition) haven't had any entries from Australia the last few years anyway?"
foresttwitcher
Virtually unknown member
Great owl experiences and photos, Mike. Happy Christmas.
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Fabulous owl pix Mike - Merry Christmas!
John
John
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Pete and John - thank you and best wishes for a bird-rich New Year!
Delia - I was amazed and delighted to get the pitta on the first try. Sorry you missed them, but glad to hear you got the Regent Bowerbird - they're one of my favourites. I'd be happy to participate in the 1st January Bird Count.
Patch Birding: Northbridge
December 2023
In all the excitement of the Northbridge Owlfest the other birds on the patch have taken something of a back seat. So to fill in a few blanks at this interesting time of year when the breeding species are rising youngsters and there's a chance of wanderers pushed my way by the growing heat in the Red Centre and the flowering of different tree species.
A morning walk around Sailors Bay Creek on 15th December started with a family of White-cheeked Honeyeaters that came down the trees at the mouth of the creek. I'm delighted to see them breeding here as there are few previous records here.
I walked up the path to check for any activity at the Brown Goshawk nest where I'd photographed an adult bird a week or so earlier and was delighted to find a fledged chick perched on the side of the nest. It called a couple of times and another bird answered unseen from a 50-odd metres away, then after giving itself a good long preen it sat looking rather ridiculous with a lone feather stuck on the left side of the bill.
A walk through Warners Park revealed my first Musk Lorikeets a cheerfully singing Olive-backed Oriole, at least two and possibly more Satin Bowerbirds and an unusually silent male Pacific Koel. I suspect the orioles are the architects and occupants of the hanging nest of dry grass, but having never seen them on or near it that remains pure conjecture. also enjoyed a couple of common species - a Noisy Miner that was thoroughly enjoying itself in the children's sandpit, , and a Crested Pigeon that posed like a film star in a shaft of sunlight in the forest.
I noticed the that female of the pair of Maned Ducks that had been raising five ducklings on the golf course ponds had disappeared. A couple of days later found what was left on a nearby fairway, having clearly been taken by a predator. The male seems to be making a decent fist of single parenting and ten days later the youngsters are approaching full size, so at least her genetic legacy continues. The Chestnut Teal pair on the same pond finally gave me a close enough view for a picture, and the same day a brown-winged bird that flushed in panic from a golf course ditch showed just enough to allow me to add species 95 - A Buff-banded Rail.
I finished my walk with a Grey Goshawk - just my third or fourth here - flying over Sailors Bay Track just as I came home, which made 50 on the day, and a new Tawny Frogmouth was hunched against a large fir tree in a roadside garden during my evening dog walk.
On Christmas Eve a wet walk around the Explosives Reserve in Castle Cove and Harold Reid Reserve in Middle Cove produced what may turn out to be my last patch tick of the year - a fine juvenile White-bellied Sea Eagle. And just because it's Christmas here's two more Brush Turkeys:
Cheers
Mike
Delia - I was amazed and delighted to get the pitta on the first try. Sorry you missed them, but glad to hear you got the Regent Bowerbird - they're one of my favourites. I'd be happy to participate in the 1st January Bird Count.
Patch Birding: Northbridge
December 2023
In all the excitement of the Northbridge Owlfest the other birds on the patch have taken something of a back seat. So to fill in a few blanks at this interesting time of year when the breeding species are rising youngsters and there's a chance of wanderers pushed my way by the growing heat in the Red Centre and the flowering of different tree species.
A morning walk around Sailors Bay Creek on 15th December started with a family of White-cheeked Honeyeaters that came down the trees at the mouth of the creek. I'm delighted to see them breeding here as there are few previous records here.
I walked up the path to check for any activity at the Brown Goshawk nest where I'd photographed an adult bird a week or so earlier and was delighted to find a fledged chick perched on the side of the nest. It called a couple of times and another bird answered unseen from a 50-odd metres away, then after giving itself a good long preen it sat looking rather ridiculous with a lone feather stuck on the left side of the bill.
A walk through Warners Park revealed my first Musk Lorikeets a cheerfully singing Olive-backed Oriole, at least two and possibly more Satin Bowerbirds and an unusually silent male Pacific Koel. I suspect the orioles are the architects and occupants of the hanging nest of dry grass, but having never seen them on or near it that remains pure conjecture. also enjoyed a couple of common species - a Noisy Miner that was thoroughly enjoying itself in the children's sandpit, , and a Crested Pigeon that posed like a film star in a shaft of sunlight in the forest.
I noticed the that female of the pair of Maned Ducks that had been raising five ducklings on the golf course ponds had disappeared. A couple of days later found what was left on a nearby fairway, having clearly been taken by a predator. The male seems to be making a decent fist of single parenting and ten days later the youngsters are approaching full size, so at least her genetic legacy continues. The Chestnut Teal pair on the same pond finally gave me a close enough view for a picture, and the same day a brown-winged bird that flushed in panic from a golf course ditch showed just enough to allow me to add species 95 - A Buff-banded Rail.
I finished my walk with a Grey Goshawk - just my third or fourth here - flying over Sailors Bay Track just as I came home, which made 50 on the day, and a new Tawny Frogmouth was hunched against a large fir tree in a roadside garden during my evening dog walk.
On Christmas Eve a wet walk around the Explosives Reserve in Castle Cove and Harold Reid Reserve in Middle Cove produced what may turn out to be my last patch tick of the year - a fine juvenile White-bellied Sea Eagle. And just because it's Christmas here's two more Brush Turkeys:
Cheers
Mike
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That last picture of the Brush Turkey really shows well how they hold their tail. I believe the only species that does that!
Cheers Mike.
Cheers Mike.
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Birding 2023 : Quick Links
In preparing my top 5 moments of 2023, in which I usually embed the links to the relevant posting, I decided to complete the job by creating an index which provides links to the first posts of each birding outing / session of the past year. Time will tell whether this is useful to anyone but me. I've added the key birds and occasional other wildlife to help remind myself of the highlights of each outing. In due course I'll do the same for my birding in 2022 as well (but NB ... this is NOT a New Year's resolution!) The only problem is that this gives melees than 24 hours before I can no longer edit the post, to write up two epic days of birding on 30 and 31 December, when I normally take several days to prepare the pix and text for each post.
In short it's been a terrific year for birding as I continued to make the most of relocating from Hong Kong to Sydney in May 2022. Choosing five birds has been simply not been possible. How on earth do you choose between the following?
- Filming a Superb Lyrebird startled by a Red-bellied Black Snake on the same day you see an Echidna and find Sydney's sixth Spectacled Monarch,
- Watching a pair of Glossy Black Cockatoos feeding completely unconcerned within two metres at the end of a fine day in the Blue Mountains,
- A four albatross haul at my Manly watchpoint that included my first true Wandering Albatross,
- Finding the world's heaviest moth, a massive beauty in silver-grey crushed velvet, newly emerged on the tree she'd being living inside for 2 years
- Watching the Medusa's nest of a harassed female Australasian Darter with three hungry, stabby chicks,
- Successful twitches for Black-backed Bittern, Swift Parrot, Regent Honeyeater, Red-backed Kingfisher, Noisy Pitta and Fairy Tern,
- Point blank views of the exquisite elegance of Crested Terns displaying in the full pink-tinged flush of their breeding plumage,
- Sharing a rainy, windswept headland in the Southern Ocean with a family of Cape Barren Geese, and a Black Falcon whipping 30 feet overhead,
- Finding the first Baillon's Crake for the North Shore on my suburban golf course patch in Northbridge,
- Being deafened by the Jurassic cacophony of the world's largest cuckoo claiming its territory over your house,
- A five patch-tick morning as the summer visitors arrived with a bloom of Red Gums in the valley,
- Watching and filing Flying Foxes swoop across the surface of the golf course pond to collect drinking water against a sunset sky,
- A Conference Birding morning with no less than eleven crakes of three species in the mist-wreathed Jerrabomberra Wetlands in Canberra,
- Seeing seven different Powerful Owls and three Southern Boobooks on the patch in a week - when you've never seen either there before,
- Walk-away eye-level views of an Osprey munching a fish less than 20 metres away after an up-close wader-fest on the last day of the year.
And a final and heartfelt thank you to everyone on BF who dips into and comments on the thread. best wishes for great birding in 2024!
Cheers
Mike
January
04 Jan Pioneer Dairy: Wood Sandpiper, Tawny Grassbird, Darters on nest, Pied Butcherbird (2 posts)
10 Jan Royal National Park: Lyrebirds, Catbird, Rock Warbler, Echidna (2 posts)
17 Jan Sydney Olympic Park: Black-backed Bittern, Little Grassbird (2 posts)
26 Jan Royal National Park: Spectacled Monarch, Lyrebirds, RBB Snake video, Brown Antechinus (2 posts)
February
02 Feb The Entrance and Ourimbah RTA (2 posts) Eastern Rosella pic, Giant Wood Moth
06 Feb Royal Botanic Gardens: Powerful Owl
07 Feb Pitt Town Lagoon: Australian Painted-snipe dip.
21 Feb Scheyville National Park Scarlet Myzomela, Restless Flycatcher,
26 Feb Central Coast Wetlands: Tawny & Little Grassbirds
March
02 Mar Blue Mountains: Woodford Creek Catchment; Glossy Black Cockatoo, Red-browed Treecreeper, Shining Bronze Cuckoo
19 Mar Warriewood & Irrawong: Black Bittern, Grey-headed Flying Fox
20 Mar Long Reef & Collaroy GC: Nankeen Kestrel, White-bellied Wedgie,
26 Mar Garigal NP: Slippery Dip Trail White-cheeked Honeyeater
April
01 Apr Harold Reid Reserve Owlet Nightjar, Tawny Frogmouth
8 & 14 Apr Sydney Olympic Park: Mason Park & Waterbird Scrape: Red-kneed Dotterel, Cattle Egret, White-plumed Honeyeater
10 Apr Kurri Kurri Dipping Regent Honeyeater, Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, Leaden Flycatcher
18 Apr Richmond Lowlands: Windsor Churchyard, Turf Farm & Pugh's Lagoon: Red-rumped Parrot, Banded Lapwing, Nankeen Night Heron
28 Apr Palmdale & Ourimbah Regent Bowerbird, Pigeons
May
02 May Long Reef Double-banded Plover, Red-necked Stint, Turnstone, Pied Cormorant, Crested Tern
13 May Mount Annan Botanic Gardens Swift Parrot, White-winged Chough, Striated Pardalote
28 May Tuggerah WWTP & Palmdale Musk Duck, White-necked Heron, Gang-gangs
June
18 Jun Morisset & Palmdale Regent Honeyeater, Scaly-breasted & Little Lorikeets, Gang-gangs
15 Jun Photospot: Tawny Frogmouth
16 Jun Richmond Lowlands: Cuppitts Lane & Pugh's Lagoon: Spotted Harrier, Zebra Finch, Red-capped Robin, White-bellied Cuckoo shrike
27 Jun Kamay & Kurnell Buff-banded Rail, Reef Egret, Lewin's Rail
July
1 Jul: Photospot: Brown Thornbill
9 Jul Kamay Botany Bay National Park: Solander Point and Terrigal Gap Trail Lewin's Rail, Black-browed Albatross, Humpback Whale
22/3 July Manly sea watch 3 x albatrosses, Brown Skua, Giant Petrel
August
6 Aug Manly sea watch 4 x albatrosses (including Wandering), Brown Skua
12 Aug Patch birding in Northbridge (July-August) : introduction to Northbridge
13 Aug Warriewood Wetlands and Long Reef Double-banded Plover, Crested Terns, Swallowing Pelican pix
26 Aug Northbridge, Castlecrag and Harold Reid Reserve Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
September
08 Sep Conference Birding: Phillip Island the wind and rain Cape Barren Goose, Brown and Black Falcons
16 Sep Pitt Town Lagoon, Bushell's Lagoon and Fred Caterson Reserve Rufous Songlark, Australian Spotted Crake, Powerful Owls
22 Sep Mt Annan Botanic Gardens Red-backed Kingfisher, Pied Triller, White-winged Chough
28 Sept Patch birding in Northbridge - September Baillon's Crake, White-winged Chough, Southern Boobook call, (46 spp)
October
1/2 Oct Patch Birding in Northbridge Lace Monitor, Rufous Whistler, Tawny Frogmouth, Chestnut Teal & Hardheads
06 Oct Patch birding in Northbridge 54 species (new patch record) inc Sacred Kingfisher
21 Oct Patch birding in Northbridge Square-tailed Kite, Brown Quail
22 Oct Patch Birding in Northbridge Dollarbird
27 Oct Patch Birding in Northbridge Latham's Snipe, White-cheeked Honeyeater
29 Oct Patch birding in Northbridge Rufous Fantail, Little Lorikeet, White-winged Triller, Scarlet Myzomela, Black-faced Monarch
November
04 Nov Richmond Lowlands: Edwards Rd & Cornwells Lane Pallid Cuckoo, Rufous & Brown Songlarks, Banded Lapwing
04/9/11 Nov Patch birding in Northbridge White-headed Pigeon, Superb Lyrebird, drinking Flying Foxes
16/18 Nov Patch Birding in Northbridge Osprey, White-throated Needletail, Powerful Owl, Leaden Flycatcher
December
02 Dec Pitt Town Lagoon Australian Painted-snipe, Baillon's Crake, Brown Songlark
08 Dec Palmdale Pacific Baza, Noisy Pitta
09/10/11/22 Dec Patch Birding in Northbridge Powerful Owl and Southern Boobook
15 Dec Patch birding in Northbridge Musk Lorikeet, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Brown Goshawk fledgling
25 Dec Photospot: Australian Brush Turkey.
30 Dec The Entrance Little & Fairy Terns
31 Dec Long Reef Siberian Plover, Osprey feeding
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MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Karagi Point Little Tern Colony
28 December 2023
in February last year I'd made a poorly researched visit to The Entrance to see the Little Tern Colony on Karagi Point. There were no terns, and I'd had to content myself with a couple of Red-capped Plovers on the otherwise deserted spit after a long hot walk across the bridge. While there had been other good birds and the utterly fabulous Giant Wood Moth at Ourimbah I had unfinished business. On hearing news of a Fairy Tern and a Siberian Plover being seen at the colony I caught the train and two buses up on another blisteringly hot day.
Arriving at the Karagi Point Carpark I steered a course between the holiday-makers on the beach towards the fenced-in enclosure in which I was happy to see twenty or so Little Terns for NSW species number 249. I've long been a fan of Little Terns after finding a couple of pairs breeding rather improbably on a remote beach in Western Guangdong a few years ago, and being deeply impressed by their continued elegance and super-cool head pattern. Through the scope I realised that several birds were taking care of up to three chicks of various ages. The youngest were sandy brown puff-balls, while older birds becoming grey and more structured as they began to fledge.
Part of the reason for scanning the colony was to look for Fairy Terns, which look very similar. Fairies are slightly larger and heavier with a deeper-based bill and less or no black on the lores. Battling the heat haze I tried to string a few possibles, and finally scored - finding an adult Fairy Tern - a full fat global lifer - loafing on one of the exposed sandbanks in the shallow estuary. It's the lefthand-most bird in the front group, and once found it became easy to pick it out when the birds were moved around by people walking across the sandbanks.
Despite the disturbance these sand bars were pretty bird and held around 50-80 loafing Little terns at any one time, as well as nine Caspian Terns six crested terns including a couple of juveniles, gaggles of Silver Gulls and Masked Lapwings, Australian Pelicans, Little Pied, Pied and Little Black Cormorants nine Bar-tailed Godwits, single Little Egret and Common Greenshank and half a dozen Red-capped Plovers. They were breeding inside the tern enclosure, and I saw one fluff ball on stilts get taken by a rather scruffy female Nankeen Kestrel despite the vociferous objections of the whole colony.
A little later I walked round to the seaward side of the breeding area where well over a hundred Little Terns were loafing on the beach. A check of my photos revealed I had also photographed a juvenile Fairy Tern - which has a much more scalloped back than juvenile Little Tern. I've highlighted the Fairy Tern and two juvenile Little Terns to illustrate the difference. I was pleased to get this shot as the birds were regularly disturbed by beach walkers.
Cheers
Mike
28 December 2023
in February last year I'd made a poorly researched visit to The Entrance to see the Little Tern Colony on Karagi Point. There were no terns, and I'd had to content myself with a couple of Red-capped Plovers on the otherwise deserted spit after a long hot walk across the bridge. While there had been other good birds and the utterly fabulous Giant Wood Moth at Ourimbah I had unfinished business. On hearing news of a Fairy Tern and a Siberian Plover being seen at the colony I caught the train and two buses up on another blisteringly hot day.
Arriving at the Karagi Point Carpark I steered a course between the holiday-makers on the beach towards the fenced-in enclosure in which I was happy to see twenty or so Little Terns for NSW species number 249. I've long been a fan of Little Terns after finding a couple of pairs breeding rather improbably on a remote beach in Western Guangdong a few years ago, and being deeply impressed by their continued elegance and super-cool head pattern. Through the scope I realised that several birds were taking care of up to three chicks of various ages. The youngest were sandy brown puff-balls, while older birds becoming grey and more structured as they began to fledge.
Part of the reason for scanning the colony was to look for Fairy Terns, which look very similar. Fairies are slightly larger and heavier with a deeper-based bill and less or no black on the lores. Battling the heat haze I tried to string a few possibles, and finally scored - finding an adult Fairy Tern - a full fat global lifer - loafing on one of the exposed sandbanks in the shallow estuary. It's the lefthand-most bird in the front group, and once found it became easy to pick it out when the birds were moved around by people walking across the sandbanks.
Despite the disturbance these sand bars were pretty bird and held around 50-80 loafing Little terns at any one time, as well as nine Caspian Terns six crested terns including a couple of juveniles, gaggles of Silver Gulls and Masked Lapwings, Australian Pelicans, Little Pied, Pied and Little Black Cormorants nine Bar-tailed Godwits, single Little Egret and Common Greenshank and half a dozen Red-capped Plovers. They were breeding inside the tern enclosure, and I saw one fluff ball on stilts get taken by a rather scruffy female Nankeen Kestrel despite the vociferous objections of the whole colony.
A little later I walked round to the seaward side of the breeding area where well over a hundred Little Terns were loafing on the beach. A check of my photos revealed I had also photographed a juvenile Fairy Tern - which has a much more scalloped back than juvenile Little Tern. I've highlighted the Fairy Tern and two juvenile Little Terns to illustrate the difference. I was pleased to get this shot as the birds were regularly disturbed by beach walkers.
Cheers
Mike
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Absolutely seconded 👍👍👍
Without certainty, I think there's an immature fairy just right of the left-most labeled little in the penultimate photo. This bird is slightly larger and (more importantly) has a deeper based bill than nearby non-breeding littles
Just wonderful pictures, first Hong Kong, now Australia, would you consider doing Latin America next, please.
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Many thanks for all your kind words folks!
Long Reef Aquatic Reserve
31 December 2023
While adding Little and Fairy Terns to my list at Karagi Point I failed to connect with a Siberian Plover that had been at the same site a few days earlier. So when one turned up at Long Reef I was keen to get out there to see if I could find it on the evening low tide as my last birding of the year. This was also a historic moment as it was the first time in my life I had driven myself to go birding in a car that I owned! I arrived when the tide was already well out and quickly found the wader flock on the northeastern corner of the rock platform.
The Siberian Plover was happily one of the first birds I clapped eyes, enabling me to finish the year on 251 New South Wales birds species since I arrived in Sydney in May last year. It's also the first time I've seen one of the Lesser Sandplovers since the split was formalised so its also a strange sort of lifer - although most of the birds passing through Hong Kong are Siberian Plovers. It turned out that there were two birds present, other showing a paler cheek patch and less well-defined half-collar.
It interesting to compare this typically short-billed bird with this one photographed by fellow Sydney birder Veeraj Sharma in Dubai a few days ago that has a significantly longer bill. That bird is so long-billed it raises the possibility of confusion with Greater Sandplover, as well as Tibetan Sandplover, which also occurs in the Middle East. Thankfully the Long Reef bird was much more straightforward! I did however enjoy tying myself in knots with one of the Pacific Golden Plovers that contrived to show four visible primary tips beyond the tertials , which it turns out, is not diagnostic of American Golden Plover!
I suspect that the longest right hand tertial is folded over the rump and therefore its tip is not visible in this photo. The second photo - albeit from a less than ideal angle shows the longest tertial being longer than the tail. The third photo shows the longest tertial on each side (A and B) Live ad learn.
Perching myself on one of the flat rocks helpfully distributed across the platform by the forces of nature I enjoyed wonderful grandstand views of the wader flock for the next 90 or so minutes. The bulk was made up of 102 winter-plumaged Red-necked Stints, 19 Ruddy Turnstones, 6 Pacific Golden Plovers and three Grey-tailed Tattlers. In the failing light most of my pix were underwhelming, but the phonescoped video from my iPhone performed significantly better and I was pleased with sequences I got, which I will upload in a future post.
Having drunk my fill of the waders I headed towards the point to see if there was any movement on the sea. But before I got there I was brought up short by an Osprey that was feeding on a long-bodied fish with a yellow tail. Through the scope I had frame-filling views as it steadily worked its way through from head to tail. The few shearwaters off the point were too far to see much, but I did also briefly get onto a dark phase Jeager sp. which I strong suspect of being Parasitic (Arctic Skua in old money), but the views were too brief and too distance for any certainty.
Cheers
Mike
Long Reef Aquatic Reserve
31 December 2023
While adding Little and Fairy Terns to my list at Karagi Point I failed to connect with a Siberian Plover that had been at the same site a few days earlier. So when one turned up at Long Reef I was keen to get out there to see if I could find it on the evening low tide as my last birding of the year. This was also a historic moment as it was the first time in my life I had driven myself to go birding in a car that I owned! I arrived when the tide was already well out and quickly found the wader flock on the northeastern corner of the rock platform.
The Siberian Plover was happily one of the first birds I clapped eyes, enabling me to finish the year on 251 New South Wales birds species since I arrived in Sydney in May last year. It's also the first time I've seen one of the Lesser Sandplovers since the split was formalised so its also a strange sort of lifer - although most of the birds passing through Hong Kong are Siberian Plovers. It turned out that there were two birds present, other showing a paler cheek patch and less well-defined half-collar.
It interesting to compare this typically short-billed bird with this one photographed by fellow Sydney birder Veeraj Sharma in Dubai a few days ago that has a significantly longer bill. That bird is so long-billed it raises the possibility of confusion with Greater Sandplover, as well as Tibetan Sandplover, which also occurs in the Middle East. Thankfully the Long Reef bird was much more straightforward! I did however enjoy tying myself in knots with one of the Pacific Golden Plovers that contrived to show four visible primary tips beyond the tertials , which it turns out, is not diagnostic of American Golden Plover!
I suspect that the longest right hand tertial is folded over the rump and therefore its tip is not visible in this photo. The second photo - albeit from a less than ideal angle shows the longest tertial being longer than the tail. The third photo shows the longest tertial on each side (A and B) Live ad learn.
Perching myself on one of the flat rocks helpfully distributed across the platform by the forces of nature I enjoyed wonderful grandstand views of the wader flock for the next 90 or so minutes. The bulk was made up of 102 winter-plumaged Red-necked Stints, 19 Ruddy Turnstones, 6 Pacific Golden Plovers and three Grey-tailed Tattlers. In the failing light most of my pix were underwhelming, but the phonescoped video from my iPhone performed significantly better and I was pleased with sequences I got, which I will upload in a future post.
Having drunk my fill of the waders I headed towards the point to see if there was any movement on the sea. But before I got there I was brought up short by an Osprey that was feeding on a long-bodied fish with a yellow tail. Through the scope I had frame-filling views as it steadily worked its way through from head to tail. The few shearwaters off the point were too far to see much, but I did also briefly get onto a dark phase Jeager sp. which I strong suspect of being Parasitic (Arctic Skua in old money), but the views were too brief and too distance for any certainty.
Cheers
Mike
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foresttwitcher
Virtually unknown member
Looks as though the Osprey is a bit miffed at being photographed mid-meal.
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Central Coast Wetlands: Macpherson's Rd and Chittaway Point
7 January 2023
Macpherson's Road Swamp
I went up to the Central Coast (getting off the training Wyong (1) in pursuit of a Black-necked Stork at Macpherson's Rd Swamp (2) that turned out to be long gone. Compensation presented itself in the form of a Swamp Harrier, a flyby from eight Topknot Pigeons, and my first White-breasted Woodswallows for many months. There was an also a smattering of waterbirds including four Australian Pelicans, two Australasian Darters, a Great Egret, three Intermediate Egrets and a smattering of ducks.
Chittaway Point
I headed for Chittaway Point in the hope of catching up with Striped Honeyeater. I heard them calling in the thick trees at the top of Lion Park (3), a fluting butcherbird/oriole type call, but did not realise it until I did find two birds singing down towards the southern arm of point of the southern arm. They were high in the casuarinas and a scruffier honeyeater I have never beheld. All the others are sleek and elegant, some more than others, but there's a high bar. This one, with matted spiky hair and a scruffy dusty grey-brown coat looked like it had slept rough in an alley after an all-night bender. Even its behaviour seemed different - as it hunted for insects in the outer branches. All told gave more the impression of a Wryneck! Partway along the point I was chuffed to find a pair of Tawny Frogmouths in another casuarina. The casuarinas also held a nesting Willy Wagtail, three Eastern Rosellas and not a whole lot else.
At the end of the point (4) I had views of a sandbar next to an island with a cormorant rookery where a nice mix of waterbirds included two each of Bar-tailed Godwit, Pied Stilt and Pied Oystercatchers, four Crested Terns, a Caspian Tern, nine Grey Teals, three Silver Gulls, four Australian Pelicans and three Black Swans.
To end with the beginning the whole bay was filled with hundreds of Black Swans, and my walk around the edge of the bay towards the point produced a couple of pairs of Pied Stilts and Masked Lapwing, Great and Little Egret, Striated and White-faced Heron, and the highlights - four Bar-tailed Godwits and a nice trio of Sharp-tailed Sandpipiers.
Cheers
Mike
7 January 2023
Macpherson's Road Swamp
I went up to the Central Coast (getting off the training Wyong (1) in pursuit of a Black-necked Stork at Macpherson's Rd Swamp (2) that turned out to be long gone. Compensation presented itself in the form of a Swamp Harrier, a flyby from eight Topknot Pigeons, and my first White-breasted Woodswallows for many months. There was an also a smattering of waterbirds including four Australian Pelicans, two Australasian Darters, a Great Egret, three Intermediate Egrets and a smattering of ducks.
Chittaway Point
I headed for Chittaway Point in the hope of catching up with Striped Honeyeater. I heard them calling in the thick trees at the top of Lion Park (3), a fluting butcherbird/oriole type call, but did not realise it until I did find two birds singing down towards the southern arm of point of the southern arm. They were high in the casuarinas and a scruffier honeyeater I have never beheld. All the others are sleek and elegant, some more than others, but there's a high bar. This one, with matted spiky hair and a scruffy dusty grey-brown coat looked like it had slept rough in an alley after an all-night bender. Even its behaviour seemed different - as it hunted for insects in the outer branches. All told gave more the impression of a Wryneck! Partway along the point I was chuffed to find a pair of Tawny Frogmouths in another casuarina. The casuarinas also held a nesting Willy Wagtail, three Eastern Rosellas and not a whole lot else.
At the end of the point (4) I had views of a sandbar next to an island with a cormorant rookery where a nice mix of waterbirds included two each of Bar-tailed Godwit, Pied Stilt and Pied Oystercatchers, four Crested Terns, a Caspian Tern, nine Grey Teals, three Silver Gulls, four Australian Pelicans and three Black Swans.
To end with the beginning the whole bay was filled with hundreds of Black Swans, and my walk around the edge of the bay towards the point produced a couple of pairs of Pied Stilts and Masked Lapwing, Great and Little Egret, Striated and White-faced Heron, and the highlights - four Bar-tailed Godwits and a nice trio of Sharp-tailed Sandpipiers.
Cheers
Mike
Just got back from Sydney but didn't have much chance to bird in the area as we were settling our daughter into accommodation at MacQuarie University. We did however go out for one day with a guide to Kangaroo Valley for an evening with Wombats. Bonus Red-bellied Black snake at Carrington Falls was good to see.
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Photospot: Satin Bowerbird
Warner's Park, Northbridge.
13 January 2024
It's taken a good long while to get a decent shot of Satin Bowerbird, but I reckon it's been worth the wait. Even on the morning I took this shot both this female and a fine male taunted me as they took fruit from a low tree and hunted through the shadows until she popped up on the one sunlit log in the thicket and that unbelievable violet eye caught the light. Pure magic!
Cheers
Mike
Warner's Park, Northbridge.
13 January 2024
It's taken a good long while to get a decent shot of Satin Bowerbird, but I reckon it's been worth the wait. Even on the morning I took this shot both this female and a fine male taunted me as they took fruit from a low tree and hunted through the shadows until she popped up on the one sunlit log in the thicket and that unbelievable violet eye caught the light. Pure magic!
Cheers
Mike
