December 2019
20 December
In the morning I attended a meeting about shorebirds, at the Wetlands Centre. BirdLife Australia will be developing site action plans for the four main shorebird estuaries/areas of the Hunter Region. I'm pretty intimately knowledgeable about three of the four of them. There wasn't any serious birdwatching done, but I was pleased to see some Magpie Geese on the main pond - they had disappeared for quite a while.
18 December
I did a day trip to Broughton Island today, with Greg and Neil as fellow birders, plus a cast of dozens of others. All the others were launching a PhD study of the Aboriginal heritage of the island. The three of us went first to the Osprey nest on the southern side of the island, to confirm that the chicks were still present. Neil then went off to look for Sooty Oystercatcher chicks while Greg and I went up to Pinkatop and checked the seabird nest boxes. We found Gould's Petrels in two nest boxes - and one of them was sitting on an egg! It's the first breeding record from out of any of those nest boxes. On my way home I stopped in at Stockton Sandspit where there were roosting high tide flocks of Red-necked Avocet, Bar-tailed Godwit and Far Eastern Curlew, plus some foraging Curlew Sandpipers.
14 December
Ross and I did the Ash Island survey. There was water at Swan Pond and Fish Fry Flats but none elsewhere, so it was good there and not so good anywhere else. We found ~400 Pied Stilts, also the 2 Banded Stilts which were with Red-necked Avocets and a group of ~40 Black-tailed Godwits. On Fish Fry Flats there were 20-30 each of Red-necked Stints, Red-capped Plovers and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. They were very hard to find amongst the mangrove stumps and we probably missed some birds. At Milhams Pond there were six Far Eastern Curlews and a group of 48 Pacific Golden Plovers (hard to count these as they were a long way off, and partially obscured in the grass).
30 November - 2 December
Four of us spent 2 and a bit days in the Gloucester Tops. Our intention was to catch and band a Rufous Scrub-bird but it now is very clear that the birds aren't breeding this year (on account of how dry are the conditions) and that makes them hard to trap. Kerripit Rd was closed (because of fire risk) and that further limited what we could do. However, I was able to get positional data on scrub-birds at two territories that I haven't investigated before - and I had a good sighting of one of those birds from virtually at my feet. Remarkably, while that was happening a Lewin's Rail was calling nearby. We saw a pair of Satin Flycatchers (coming to a pool to drink) and heard Red-browed Treecreepers and several Olive Whistlers. There did not seem to be any Flame Robins about - perhaps they'd left the area because conditions were too dry?
On my way home I briefly stopped at The Glen Nature Reserve (too dry, very quiet) and then I went to Ash Island. Here, I quickly found the two Banded Stilts which had been reported a day or so earlier. They were with a flock of ~250 Red-necked Avocets, both species very flighty. There were nearly 400 Pied Stilts in the same area - these have been uncommon on Ash Island for a couple of years. Also, I saw a flock of six Curlew Sandpipers.
November 2019
18-20 November
On Monday morning I drove to Durridgere Rd and birded there all afternoon plus much of Tuesday, and then again on Wednesday morning. On Monday morning I made a brief stop at Battery Rocks, where there were several active Rufous Songlarks. There were even more of them along Durridgere Rd, and ditto for White-winged Trillers. Other species seen during my peregrinations included Southern Whiteface, Painted Honeyeater, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Diamond Firetail, White-browed, Masked and Dusky Woodswallow. The latter had juveniles, as did pairs of Red-capped Robin and Jacky Winter. (and, a pair of Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters were feeding fledged young). I had brief and moderate views of a male Black Honeyeater and a female Crimson Chat (the latter was a Hunter Region tick for me). The absolute highlight was a pair of Ground Cuckoo-shrikes with a juvenile. I had marvellous and prolonged views of these birds, another Hunter Region tick for me, and I managed some OK photos of them.
16 November
Ross and I did the Ash Island survey - a late-starting one, which suited me enormously given the 3 hour time difference I'd just experienced. We had five Far Eastern Curlews at Milhams Pond but couldn't find the Pacific Golden Plovers there nor at Phoenix Flats. At the main ponds there were several hundred Red-necked Avocets and 50-60 Pied Stilts. Our search for Red-kneed Dotterels was going nowhere, and then all of a sudden we were seeing them at lots of places, ending up with a count of 11 birds. Our final main site to survey was Fish Fry Point, which looked bleak as we walked up. However, there were lots of shorebirds lurking, when we got the 'scopes set up. That included 18 Red-necked Stints and a few Red-capped Plovers and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers.
1-15 November
Margaret and I did a WA trip for the first two weeks of this month. We flew to Perth, met her sister Pam, then the three of us drove to Albany via an overnight stop in Narrogin. We had two nights in Albany (with their sister Jill and her family), and then on to Augusta. We spent two nights there, and then re-located to Busselton. After staying two nights in Busselton, we drove to Perth via Mandurah and Rockingham. Our stay in Perth (with Pam now departed) was for non birding reasons, plus I was unwell ... so, let's quickly move on from that! Monday late morning after some medical stuff, we headed east, eventually to Northam where we stayed the night. Then we went north, via Gin Gin to Cervantes where we stayed for two nights. Then, it was back to Perth and a flight back to NSW.
14 November
We left Cervantes early and drove the coast road south. We checked out the Pinnacles (which were not open to the public - not until 9:30am - so we didn't see much of them!). It was a very hot day, however, eventually we found Yanchep NP, and its Loch McNess - it's more than 50 years since I last visited here!. There was good shade and a few birds around, including pairs of Aust. Wood Duck and Red Wattlebird both had youngsters, and there were some Aust. Shelducks. The highlight was a shorebird which was on a distant bare island. It was obviously a Tringa species but I had no telescope. However, eventually it moved a little closer, before then disappearing to a shoreline screened from view - a Wood Sandpiper!
13 November
I went to Thirsty Point (near Cervantes) very early morning. The tide was high and there were four Bar-tailed Godwits and two Sanderlings roosting at the Point, and an immature Pacific Gull was flying about. Then to Lake Thetis to see the stromatolites (tick) and do the walk around the lake. There were more godwits, also two each of Red-capped Plover and Grey-tailed Tattler. The highlight was when two Whiskered Terns flew through. The day was already hot by then and the birding was slow and uninspiring. I found three more immature Pacific Gulls at Jurien Bay. At lunch time I gave up and joined Margaret for some Rock Lobster and a bottle of wine. That led to a quiet afternoon!
The 2019 issue of The Whistler was officially released today - the first of these with me as a joint editor. I'm quite pleased with the standard that we have set.
12 November
I headed back to Northam Weir in the morning, this time finding six Mute Swans (and later I talked with a local, who said there were only seven birds remaining, three of which have wing deformities; they won't be around for much longer!). The Yellow-billed Spoonbill count had gone up to 25 birds, and I saw three Laughing Doves together; other than that things were much as they were the previous day. We drove north-west after that, stopping for lunch at Gin Gin which included a walk alongside the brook. Although that was quiet, there was an Aust. Spotted Crake calling from within dense undergrowth. I waited for ages but never got any glimpse of it. After Gin Gin we were mainly passing through dry heath and birds were few and far between (also, it was hot and windy). Eventually we arrived at windy Cervantes - where a pair of Nankeen Kestrels were patrolling the "town centre" and we had New Holland Honeyeaters outside the motel room. However, I was more interested in the swimming pool!
11 November
Our first stop after leaving Perth was John Forrest National Park, an old favourite from my much younger, and non-birding, days. To my delight, the corellas here turned out to be Western Corellas, and I got some photos of one of them to boot. Also, a flock of seven Carnaby's Black-Cockatoos flew through. Later, on reaching Northam, I saw a Mute Swan on the weir as we drove by! I was back there soon after, and found three birds including one of them was sitting on a nest. There were lots of other waterbirds including a pair of Northern Mallard, 14 roosting Yellow-billed Spoonbills, many pairs of Eurasian Coots with chicks, and a Laughing Dove.
8 November
We left Busselton and went back to the Malbup site, as Margaret and Pam wanted to see the plague of Arum Lilies there. This turned out to be a good decision bird-wise as well. There were three species that I didn't find yesterday including a couple of Sacred Kingfishers and a flock of Tree Martins. But the highlight was a pair of Elegant Parrots! Only the third time I've seen this species (and the first time that I've had a camera with me). The remainder of the day was very quiet - we detoured to several beach sites surrounded by national parks of some sort, but I found very few birds.
7 November
Early morning I went to a favourite spot of mine in the Tuart Forest National Park, at Malbup, where there is a forest walk leading to a bird hide. Bush birds were thin on the ground (but amongst my sightings I had nice views of a male Splendid Fairy-wren). To compensate, there were stacks of waterbirds on the lake including 80 or so Little Black Cormorants and ~150 Grey Teal. There also were twos of Australasian Shoveler and Australian Shelduck. After that I tried at a spot in the Whicher National Park, very quiet, and then at a wetlands in the Vasse estuary. The latter had about 200 Grey Teal, some Eurasian Coots with dependent young, and a Yellow-billed Spoonbill. By then I was feeling stuffed on account of this persistent cold I have caught, so I went back to the motel and slept for an hour or more and then spent a quiet afternoon around Busselton.
6 November
We left Augusta early morning and headed for Margaret River, where I dropped the others and went looking for some birding sites. Eventually, after some quiet stops, I found Wooditjup National Park, and had a pair of Carnaby's Black-Cockatoos land in front of me almost immediately. Also here I had Western Yellow Robin, Square-tailed Kite, Spotted Scrub-wrens and more Red-winged Fairy-wrens. I heard a Western Shrike-tit which would be a tick for me (so far as I can work out) but unfortunately I could not track it down. We went over to the coast next, west from Margaret River. The highlight was at Gnarabup Beach, where there was a group of 47 Sanderlings doing their usual behaviour i.e. running after receding wave fronts then running from the incoming ones. I also saw (briefly) a Western Spinebill here. We stopped at Yallingup (quiet) and Dunsborough and then I went to Cape Naturaliste and did a walk there. Not many birds, but I flushed a Brush Bronzewing early in the walk.
5 November
Two Baudin's Black-Cockatoos flew over our cottage early morning; a lovely way to start the day. I spent the morning exploring sites around Augusta. At my first stop I found some Spotted Scrub-wrens feeding fledged young and a couple of Purple-crowned Lorikeets whizzed through. Things got better at the second stop, after a group of about seven Baudin's Black-Cockatoos flew in. I had great looks at them (sometimes) and also managed some OK photos. I ended up having Baudin's at three sites today, and also Red-winged Fairy-wrens at three sites. At Alexandra Bridge (one of the sites for both aforementioned species) I also found a White-breasted Robin. In the afternoon I went back to the lighthouse a coupe of times - still no Rock Parrots but I did see some Southern Emu-wrens.
4 November
We drove from Albany to Augusta today, having stops with birding opportunities at Denmark (just at a park in town) and Valley of the Giants (we also stopped at Pemberton). Denmark didn't have much to offer, but there was an Aust. Pied Oystercatcher on the grass in the park, which is not something that I see often! At the Valley of the Giants, there were plenty of Red-winged Fairy-wrens, with many of them showing an interesting behaviour. They approached each newly arrived car after the occupants had gone, and took the crushed insects from the grille and front of the car. It was happening all the time (although no adult males were doing it; they just lurked in the undergrowth). I also found a small group of Gilbert's Honeyeaters here. After settling in at Augusta, I went late afternoon to the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, near the lighthouse. My target was a Rock Parrot, but no joy there.
3 November
I left Albany early and went to Cheynes Beach / Waychinicup National Park (yet another regular haunt!). A Noisy Scrub-bird was calling but some other birders were interested in it so I left that one alone. Later though I heard another of them and spent more than an hour trying for a view. No luck! During this process I heard a Western Bristlebird calling, from quite a distance off. That was the closest I got to one of those today! A pair of Western Spinebills were hanging around the scrub-bird's territory and I had many brief views (but I didn't wish to be distracted from my mission). Later I found some Southern Emu-wrens, which I think is the first time I've seen those in WA. There were a few Brush Bronzewings (with others seen during the course of the day), some Grey Currawongs, and a Square-tailed Kite flying overhead. I tried some other places in the National Park and on the way back towards Albany, not finding anything new (nor anything much, to be frank). Then I went to Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve but it was raining heavily and so I just had a quick look around. Closer to Albany I found a Common Sandpiper at Oyster Harbour and some Blue-billed Ducks and Musk Ducks at Lake Seppings. This was a new site for me, and it also had 20 or so Aust. White Ibis sitting on nests. I was told later that the local residents hate them.
2 November
I headed out early morning to the Foxes Lair Nature Park, near Narrogin - another regular haunt for me. This also lived up to its standards. I saw several Red-capped Parrots (one feeding a youngster), also Western Rosella, Varied Sittella (Black-capped subspecies), Western Yellow Robin, Red-capped Robin (a pair), more Purple-crowned Lorikeets, a Brown-headed Honeyeater feeding young, Western Gerygone, etc. Next stop was Wagin, where I visited two nature reserves (Wagin Lake and North Wagin). Overall, both were quiet, but the lake had 400+ each of Australasian Shelduck and Grey Teal, some Red-capped Plovers and a single Red-necked Stint. That was the end of the "formal" birding for the day, but near Mount Barker a group of three Regent Parrots flew across in front of the car. So, that's the WA subspecies re-sighted just a few months after re-sighting the eastern subspecies (with ~30 year gaps for my sightings of both subspecies!).
1 November
After over-nighting in Sydney, and a family catch-up, we flew to Perth where we found Pam. The three of us left the airport about 1 pm, and drove to Narrogin via Wandering. Near the latter I stopped because there were some Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos feeding by the roadside. That turned into a flock of 45-50 birds! Next stop was Dryandra Forest, a regular haunt of mine (on my occasional trips west). As usual this was great. I found more than a dozen Rufous Treecreepers including a youngster being fed. There was a pair of Gilbert's Honeyeaters and I got so-so photos of one of them, also Scarlet Robin (female), Western Thornbill, Spotted Scrub-wren, Inland Thornbill, Grey Currawong, the WA Silvereye subspecies, and Purple-crowned Lorikeet. My trip was off to a flyer!
October 2019
30 October
I went to the Gloucester Tops again with Greg and Rob. We spent all of our time in just one of the Rufous Scrub-bird territories, a bird we want to fit with a radio tracker. Alas, it was too smart for us (actually, it isn't high enough in testosterone, I reckon). I saw an adult male Satin Bowerbird in the area and heard Crescent Honeyeater and Olive Whistler too. Home quite late.
28-29 October
On Monday evening I gave a talk in Gloucester about the birds of the Gloucester Tops (to 45-50 people). The original plan was to turn that event into a three day trip with Margaret but she was unwell. I left Newcastle early afternoon, and did a bit of birding en route and after arriving, but not finding much. On Tuesday morning I went to Barrington Reserve for a while; it too was quiet. For a copy of my talk, click here.
25-27 October
A group of 9 of us (from the bird club; there were a couple of others along) went to Broughton Island for three days, for the quarterly project visit. This time seabirds got some attention too. We found three new birds for Broughton: singles of Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Sacred Kingfisher ... and, a surprise, a Brown Songlark. The Broughton list continues to grow, although our main interest about that is in which species decide to stick around, and when that first happens, in each case. There's now been a Golden Whistler present for the past few visits but up until yet he hasn't had a mate turn up.
We had several breeding records over the three days. The most exciting of those was to find two Sooty Oystercatcher nests, each with 2 eggs. The Osprey nest had 2 eggs, which seems a late breeding record compared to birds on the mainland. There were hundreds of Silvereyes around. Most were sub-species cornwalli but we did notice an occasional westernensis bird still around. In winter they are in about an equal ratio (ie 1:1) and with some lateralis ssp birds also present.
NPWS have a project to track Wedge-tailed Shearwater movement using geolocators. On the weekend several geolocators were recovered from birds in burrows, with a couple of those devices having around 2 years of positional data. It's great that we are starting to learn about what these birds do when they leave the breeding grounds.
A highlight of visits to Broughton is to go to the highest point, Pinkatop. It's not an easy walk but the views are spectacular, and near to the top is where there is a trial of using artificial nest boxes for Gould's Petrel and White-faced Storm-petrel (smaller nest boxes for the latter). On the weekend Tom Clarke and I found 2 Gould's Petrels in nest boxes. That was very exciting, and let's hope it is a presage of a breeding attempt later in the year (at this time of the year, the birds are just exploring). And, with one of the Gould's Petrels in a nest box there was a much paler bird. We took photos of it, and later had the initial advise that it was a leucistic Gould's. However, we went back up there next morning and took scales etc so as to get the bird's biometric data. This has established it as a Pycroft's Petrel, in what will become the first confirmed Australian record of this NZ breeding bird. I will have to do a BARC submission first. NB I have seen a probable Pycroft's before, during a pelagic trip (in 2004, I think it was). However, that report has never been submitted to BARC.
20 October
I went out to Stockton Borehole swamp in the morning, to look for the Banded Stilt reported from there on Friday. There was no sign of it, but I found a few Red-kneed Dotterels, also some Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Pied Stilts. An Osprey flew over as well. I tried to get into Hexham Swamp but struggled with the lock, so went to Ash Island instead. Again, no sign of the stilt but there was a large group of Red-necked Avocets (over 600 birds) and roosting with them were some more Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and also four Black-tailed Godwits. However, overall it was low tide and it was quiet out there.
17 October
Greg, Rob and I spent the day in the Gloucester Tops. We were trying to catch a Rufous Scrub-bird, but it didn't cooperate. It was quite windy up there, which didn't help; also it is very dry and so I'm not sure if the birds are in breeding mode. We had Red-browed Treecreepers and Olive Whistlers in the area where we were working, but the birding was low-key all day. However, we found a White-browed Scrub-wren's nest and it was quite different to the nest we found earlier in the year. So, the possibility is back on that it might have been a scrub-bird's nest. However, the sticking point remains that it was unlined, whereas the northern RSB definitely makes a lining for its nests.
15-16 October
I joined the Martindale survey team on Monday late afternoon, four of us camping for two nights (heard Southern Boobook, Tawny Frogmouth, White-throated Nightjar and Owlet-nightjar at night). Although it's very dry out there, the birding was good. We had four Painted Honeyeaters and several Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters at Medhurst Bridge, Speckled Warblers at a couple of sites, several Pallid Cuckoos, another Spotted Harrier (or maybe it was the same one that I saw on Monday), some Grey-crowned Babblers, and plenty more. The highlight was to find White-backed Swallows, perhaps 11 birds in total. I saw a pair of them on Tuesday afternoon, then on Wednesday we had groups of six and three birds. And we finished off the surveys with a sighting of a male Red-capped Robin - which was a very nice way to finish.
13-14 October
I spent two days in the far west of the Hunter Region. On Sunday morning I stopped at Lake Liddell ,which had ~1500 Eurasian Coot, 4 (at least) of Great Crested Grebe and lots of other waterbirds. The shorebirds included Red-capped Plover, Red-kneed and Black-fronted Dotterel and a solitary Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. Then I visited the Muswellbrook WWTP, which had ~250 Pink-eared Duck. I spent the afternoon along Durridgere Rd near Ulan. Overall it was quiet but I found a Painted Honeyeater and a Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater at various locations, also several Rufous Songlarks, a pair of Southern Whiteface (which I think were breeding) and a Singing Honeyeater. I spent the night at the Cassilis Rest Area (in my new and very comfortable stretcher tent); saw a pair of Red-winged Parrots the evening I arrived (and one other a couple of km down the road) but there were 8-10 of them next morning. I also had a few pairs of White-winged Trillers and several Pallid Cuckoos, one of which I assessed as an immature bird but am now advised that it probably was a young female. On Monday afternoon, nearing Martindale, I flushed a Spotted Harrier with a recently caught Brown Snake - got some OK photos.
12 October
Nev and I did the Ash Island survey. It was the best one all year, as finally there were some decent birds out there. We had some Far Eastern Curlews at Milhams Pond, Pacific Golden Plovers at Phoenix Flats, and Red-necked Avocets (~500 of them) at Swan Pond. We also had a Brown Songlark at Wader Pond and small numbers of Red-kneed Dotterel, Black-fronted Dotterel and Red-capped Plover as well.
10-11 October
I went up to Brisbane, the purpose being to visit the Qld Museum and inspect their Rufous Scrub-bird collection, which included a nest (collected in 1919 by the famous Syd Jackson). The nest was in a very poor state but I took some measurements and thought about the Gloucester Tops analogy. I tried some birding sites around Brisbane (Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Roma Street Parklands, Sherwood Arboretum) over the two days. None were great; Sherwood being the best and I saw a Little Friarbird there plus some Blue-faced Honeyeaters and ~70 Dusky Moorhens. In the evening, back in Newcastle, I attended a review meeting of the 2018 Hunter Region bird report (the first one that I have not prepared).
9 October
Bob McDonald and I did some drone trials at Hexham Swamp in the morning. There were hardly any birds but we mostly were working on flying fixed routes (to develop a standard survey method) so that didn't matter too much. There were 30-40 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers on the mudflats but no other shorebirds (that I could see, but I had no telescope). We spent a lot of time down at the Ironbark Creek end of the track and had Mangrove Gerygones and Grey Fantails flitting around us all the time. In the evening I went to the HBOC meeting.
4-7 October
Margaret and I went to the HBOC camp at Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve, near Mudgee. On the way there, we stopped for a while in Goulburn River NP, which was quiet (it was hot and windy, in the afternoon). However, I did find a male Hooded Robin and there were some Dusky Woodswallows. At Munghorn there was a drought on, so bird numbers were down a bit but we still found around 100 species. I found a couple of groups of White-browed Babblers and some Emus, and there were plenty of Little Lorikeets in one particular area where there was some blossom. A Channel-billed Cuckoo flew through one night and the next morning a Pallid Cuckoo briefly joined the dawn chorus. I also heard or saw Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Shining Bronze-cuckoo and Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo (so it was a good cuckoo weekend!). But the highlight was all the White-throated Gerygones, calling all the time and at many locations. We had a couple of silent Rufous Songlarks as well.
September 2019
23-25 September
A group of five of us did the Rufous Scrub-bird surveys this week. The weather was good although chilly (and way too chilly at night; I couldn't stay warm). We found 11 Scrub-birds, despite the fact that they weren’t calling as actively as they do in some other years, perhaps because it has been so dry up there. The other specialists of the Gloucester Tops were well represented. We had Red-browed Treecreepers at many locations, also quite a few Crescent Honeyeaters and several Olive Whistlers. Flame Robins were seen at 4-5 locations, also there were Scarlet Robins at two locations. Rose Robins were heard constantly and seen sometimes, both at high altitude and around the campsite. Black-faced Monarchs are back (at high altitude and around the campsite) and on Tuesday afternoon we heard a Noisy Pitta near the campsite. Several Russet-tailed Thrush were calling from around the campsite, often. We had Aust. Logrunners a couple of times during our travels, and on Wednesday morning we had fantastic views of a male Paradise Riflebird after I heard it as we drove through its patch. A Bassian Thrush was calling nearby while our cameras were busy clicking. Shortly before encountering the Riflebird, I had flushed a Spotted Quail-thrush from the road. It was the first time I’ve seen one in the Gloucester Tops. We also saw many Superb Lyrebirds and Brown Cuckoo-doves as we moved around.
Our views of the Riflebird were disrupted by an ultra-light circling above us. It did three loops right above us, just as we were trying to listen for the Riflebird to call again! Later we found out why it was there, when a little bit further on we encountered a cyclist riding up the hill. We chatted to him for a while (I think he was pleased to have an excuse to take a break!) and it turned out that he was doing a 1400km ride from Byron Bay to Canberra, as part of some endurance race. I googled it when I got home, some extra details are here: https://www.terraustralisbikepic.com/.
14 September
Ross and I did the Ash Island monthly survey. Although it rained this month and hence there was water in the ponds, that hasn't yet brought birds back. About all that we found at the main pond system were some Black-fronted Dotterels (which were already there from before the rain). However, we found six Eastern Curlews at the tidal Milhams Pond and a Brown Songlark at Wader Pond. The highlight was right at the end, when we found a pair of Black-necked Stork wandering through a paddock. After finishing the survey, we went around to the rainforest walk where we could get a closer look at them.
13 September
Margaret and I went to Glenrock SCA for a while in the morning. The area around the lagoon had lots of birds although nothing out of the ordinary. Still, it was nice watching the Red-browed Finches and Superb Fairy-wrens hopping about on the grass and listening to the Bell Miners calling. We also walked the Yuelarbah Track, to the lookout. My highlight was when I heard a Rose Robin.
11 September
Today was my first day of birding in more than 2 weeks! Too many other things have been happening. I went up to the Gloucester Tops with Greg Little and Rob Kyte. Our main purpose was to clear net lanes for the coming season's Rufous Scrub-bird program. We visited five territories, and heard five scrub-birds. We also heard Red-browed Treecreepers and Crescent Honeyeaters, and Rose Robins at a few spots (so, they're back for the summer). Flame Robins are back too - we saw a pair together, the male an immature bird (with only a faint reddish wash on his breast). And at the same spot as the robins, there was a big surprise - a Willie Wagtail! I have never seen one at high altitude in the Gloucester Tops before, in more than one hundred visits. On our way back down from the Tops, we came upon a flock of ~45 Little Ravens; that was another first for me in that part of the Gloucester River valley.
In the evening I went to the HBOC meeting, where we had a very interesting talk by Lynn Baker about coastal Emu (and the use of sniffer dogs).
August 2019
24 August
I spent the morning in Goulburn River National Park. Highlights for me included: Tree Martin, Little Lorikeet, pair of Rockwarbler, Restless Flycatcher, pair of Turquoise Parrot, Dusky Woodswallow, Speckled Warbler, Diamond Firetail, Brown Treecreeper and then a Spotted Quail-thrush flew across the road and landed alongside it.
23 August
At a park in Yanco I found a mixed flock of various thornbills (Yellow, Yellow-rumped and Buff-rumped Thornbill, also Weebills). I ended up at Fivebough Swamp where I spent a couple of hours and did the circuit. There were remarkable numbers of Purple Swamphens, also Golden-headed Cisticolas, Australian Reed-warblers, Little Grassbirds, etc. The highlight was a Black Falcon flying through, I also had a nice encounter with a Black-shouldered Kite, and the fairy-wrens were Purple-backed Fairy-wren (which I suppose I can now tick; they are separated from Variegated on the IOC list). I had a lot of driving required in the afternoon but made a brief stopover at Gum Swamp near Forbes. It didn't have a lot of birds but there were some Pink-eared Ducks amidst the Grey Teal. I stayed overnight at Gulgong where the highlight (perhaps) was a Common Blackbird.
22 August
I left Euston in the morning, heading back east. However, at Balranald I detoured northwards towards Ivanhoe, until I was into good salt bush country. Mick Todd had given me some locations for Redthroat, and at the second of those I found a couple of them and a White-winged Fairy-wren. Also, there were Brown Songlarks at a couple of stops, and some Yellow-throated Miners. Back on the Sturt Highway the trip was uneventful - very windy conditions and not many birds. I tried for Superb Parrots at a couple of spots, unsuccessfully. However, there was good birding at the Birdcage Rest Area including some Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters and large numbers of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and Little Corellas. Late fternoon I tried some spots around Leeton and Yanco for Superb Parrots, again with no luck.
21 August
I met Mick Todd this morning and he took me to some Regent Parrot nesting areas. Mick is the Threatened Species Recovery Coordinator for them. The first place we went to turned out to be where I was yesterday and where several hundred of them breed! We visited a nearby Peregrine Falcon nest (not active) and later saw one bird. Apparently they feast upon Regent Parrots regularly; the parrots fly fast but predictably. At a second breeding colony we again saw many Regent Parrots; they do well in this area but their range is very restricted. Once again there were many Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and Little Corellas in the same area, and many many hollows.
20 August
I spent the day in the Euston Regional Park. In the morning I found 3 Regent Parrots but later on a tip-off from John and Beth Cockerell (also visiting this area) there were 30 or so of them in red gums down by the river (plus many Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and Little Corellas, all hanging around hollows. In the morning I also had a male Crimson Chat, several White-winged Trillers, a couple of Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoos, Chestnut-rumped Thornbills and a Pallid Cuckoo. There were Australian Ringnecks as well, and I found a Brown-headed Honeyeater in the mallee.
19 August
I had stayed overnight in Gundagai, after the first day of my trip down to the Murray. It was a cold windy day today and hence the birding stops were few. I stopped at a lagoon near Narrandera, finding very little except almost at the end I flushed a pair of Australasian Shelduck. My next stop was by the river just west of Hay. Here were some Black Kites, a Restless Flycatcher by the river, Tree Martins and a few Yellow Rosellas. I went into Yanga NP near Balranald, where I found three Marsh Sandpipers also Pied Stilts, Red-necked Avocet and Red-capped Plovers at the lake. There was a pair of Singing Honeyeaters near the car park too. My final travel stop was a rest area west of Balranald (Prungle Mail) where I found Mulga Parrots and an adult Blue Bonnet feeding a juvenile. Eventually I reached my destination, Euston, and soon after was on a walk alongside the river. There were lots of Red-rumped Parrots, and plenty of Yellow Rosellas. Then, finally, my target - a Regent Parrot. Two of them actually, and the first sighting for me since October 1989. Very pleased!
17 August
Ross and I did the Ash Island survey. It continues to be very quiet out there but at least this time we had some Red-necked Avocets (4 birds!) and Pied Stilt (43 birds). At Fish Fry Flats we also had nine Black-fronted Dotterel, and a single Red-capped Plover.
16 August
I had a meeting at midday with the bird banders, to go through some planning for the now three projects I'm involved with that have each a banding component. It was a productive meeting! In the evening I went to a gathering of birders, a chance to talk about "nothing but birds" for a few hours. That sort of worked (and overall I enjoyed it).
7 August
I spent the morning at the Victorian Museum in Melbourne, examining their Rufous Scrub-bird collection. They had lots of skins; almost all were of birds collected in the northern parts of the range, but there were two birds from the Chichester River collected in the 1920s. There were two broods of eggs (and there was a missing brood, the indentations of the two eggs still visible in the cotton wool). The three remaining eggs looked similar to the ones I saw in Sydney last week. There also was a nest, which is what I had been keenest to see. It was partly disintegrated and so I couldn't get a full impression of what it looked like, but it wasenough to know what to look for in the field. It was lined with chewed vegetation, very much like the Noisy Scrub-bird nest that I saw in WA last year.
5 August
After spending much of the day dealing with papers for The Whistler (only one of them being one of mine), I went to Nobbys Beach for a walk out along the pier. There were some Aust. Gannets around, and lots of Silver Gulls and Crested Terns, but not much else until I found a group of Sooty Oystercatchers on the rock platform near the Ocean Baths.
July 2019
31 July
I spent the afternoon at the Australian Museum in Sydney, examining their Rufous Scrub-bird collection. They had 11 skins, all of birds collected in the northern parts of the range, and two eggs, taken from a brood near Dorrigo in 1948. it was the first time I'd seen scrub-bird eggs - they were a beautiful pinkish colour with lots of flecks.
27-29 July
A group of seven of us spent three days on Broughton Island as part of the study of its terrestrial birds. The weather was pretty good and we got quite a lot done. As usual in autumn/winter, three races of Silvereye were present and our banding studies of them continued. Also in the nets we had a Fan-tailed Cuckoo and a Shining Bronze-cuckoo, and an Eastern Yellow Robin. The latter was the first record of that species for the island and, intriguingly, it was a northern sub-species bird (race chrysorrhoa). They're uncommon in southern NSW and I'm unaware of any prior Hunter Region confirmed records. In our surveys we recorded several Eastern Reef Egrets, and a Ruddy Turnstone on Providence Beach on both Sunday and Monday (an uncommon winter record). There were also six Red-capped Plovers on the beach sometimes. One afternoon at high tide there was a group of 31 Sooty Oystercatchers together on Providence Beach and we'd found pairs or small parties elsewhere i.e. perhaps 35-40 birds were on the island. At one of the Little Penguin colonies we found fresh tracks, indicating that several birds had come ashore. It is a known breeding site.
25 July
I went on a pelagic trip from Swansea out to the continental shelf where we spent a couple of hours. As pelagics go, it was quite a good one. We had lots of albatross around for most of the day, of four species including a Wandering (Antipodean) Albatross joined us for a while. We had several Providence Petrels, and a Kermadec Petrel also came in (allowing good comparisons of the two species). The only prion for the day was an Antarctic Prion, which fed on our slick for a long time although always hanging back from the boat. A Northern Giant-Petrel also came in, offering excellent views, and later it or another one followed the boat almost back to shore. A few km from shore a Brown Skua started following the boat, and then it was replaced by what might have been a dark phase South Polar Skua - the jury is still out on that one. If it is decided that's what it was, it will be a new species for me and for almost everyone else on board.
23 July
I went up to Swan Bay in the morning, for a meeting with various others about shorebirds in Port Stephens and the important habitats in that estuary. As part of the meeting, we walked in to Gir-um-bit National Park and inspected the shorebird roost site. Despite it being high tide, there weren't many birds around - the best that I could manage to find was a group of four Red-capped Plovers and miscellaneous herons etc. At the picnic table where we mostly were, a group of three Pied Butcherbirds showed remarkable confidence in approaching people - they were hopping on the table right amongst us. The food on offer was not good for them and so we didn't allow them to have any of it.
22 July
We did the Port Stephens waterbirds survey today, after it was postponed from Friday. Despite some hurdles, everything was done that needed to be. I did the Winda Woppa and Corrie Island sections, finding some Double-banded and Red-capped Plovers, a Red-necked Stint and 10-15 each of Eastern Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwit. Overall, we found 128 Aust. Pied Oystercatcher and 83 Eastern Curlew - good counts for both. Also, good numbers for Black Swan and Pied Cormorant. However, the count for Bar-tailed Godwit was very low, just 57 birds.
20 July
Ross and I did the monthly Ash Island survey. It was what can only be described as a very quiet day! We found Black-fronted Dotterels at a a couple of places but very few other waterbirds at all. But there were plenty of Gull-billed Terns, a species which we only see occasionally on the surveys. There were 5 of them at Phoenix Flats and 11 of them at Fish Fry Flats, in a range of plumage varieties.
18 July
It was what one could call a quiet day. I spent it a) dealing with some papers submitted for The Whistler, b) dealing with a request from NPWS about Osprey nests, and c) sorting out the Port Stephens waterbirds survey. It was scheduled for tomorrow but had become an on/off proposition, because of weather. It is now re-scheduled to happen on Monday. I spent much of the afternoon chasing down the volunteers and sorting out about Monday.
17 July
I went to the Gloucester Tops, my first trip there in about 6 weeks. My main purpose was to replenish some camera traps I set up in early May in two Rufous Scrub-bird territories. Both birds were calling but irregularly and I couldn't track them down (ditto in two other territories that I visited). It was quiet up there (winter!!) and also the honeyeater influx is pretty much over - I found some New Holland Honeyeaters near the Falls carpark and that was it.
15 July
I called in at Hexham Swamp for a couple of hours late morning. It was rather quiet out there, and a stiff cold wind blowing. I saw two pairs of White-fronted Chats, and on the mudflats there was a mixed flock of Red-capped Plovers and Black-fronted Dotterels. At a pond on the approach road there were 48 White-faced Herons together, although they began to disperse almost as soon as I pulled up to count them. A Mangrove Gerygone was singing in the mangroves at the far end of the Pipeline Track but I was unable to get any glimpse of it.
12 July
I went to Myall Lakes NP for the morning, my mission being to find the Regent Honeyeaters that had been found there recently. Success! I had a bird almost as soon as I was out of the car, and eventually saw at least six birds. They were very mobile and so it was hard to know for sure how many of them were there. Interestingly, they were feeding on insect swarms quite often, as well as on the blossom. A Brown-capped Emerald Dove flew through at one stage, and also a pair of Little Lorikeets came in briefly for the blossom. I tried several other spots in and around the National Park, with the highlights including a Crested Shrike-Tit and Brown Gerygone, and various honeyeaters such as White-cheeked and Scarlet Honeyeater.
11 July
It was the HBOC meeting in the evening and I really enjoyed it. The main talk was very interesting (Matt Herring, speaking on Australasian Bitterns in the rice-growing areas around Leeton etc) and I caught up with lots of people afterwards.
June-July 2019
Summary: Margaret and I flew to Darwin on 22 June, picked up our rental car and drove to Katherine which we used as a base for a week-long stay. Then, we went back to Darwin for a week (via a one-night stop at Pine Creek). My main activity in Darwin was to attend the Australasian Ornithological Conference (AOC) and its associated activities. I also managed to fit in some birdwatching time, of course.
8 July
On our last morning in Darwin we stopped at the Botanic Gardens for a couple of hours. I saw a very interesting interaction between two Spangled Drongos (seemingly a dominance/submission thing, at one stage they were both on the ground and one standing on the other). I also had excellent views of a Grey Goshawk - initially it was being pursued by a White-gaped Honeyeater across a clearing in front of me, and then it landed in a nearby tree. But the highlight was to find a pair of Rufous Owls. They were roosting in a spindly tree only 3-4 metres above the ground, although tricky to photograph because of the angle of the sun. However, I did my best!
7 July
I went back to East Point this morning, hoping the tide would be more favourable for doing the mangrove boardwalk. Partial success! I got to ~20m from the end of it, bit the tide was coming in fast and I had to retreat. En route I had nice views of a Black Butcherbird, also a female or young Mangrove Golden Whistler. and several Shining Flycatchers. I saw a pair of Forest Kingfishers somewhat distantly but back at the carpark Margaret found one perched quite close and quite placidly - I took many photos! From there we went to Bayview, where I hoped the tide would have pushed in the Chestnut Rails. Alas, this time there was too much water. However, I did get great views of a male Red-headed Honeyeater. In the late afternoon I went to Knuckey Lagoon, where there were several Pied Herons, a Comb-crested Jacana, some Green Pygmy-geese and some Magpie Geese.
6 July
In the morning I had a very early start, at 5 am joining an AOC-associated excursion to the Mary River NP. After a long coach ride to get there, we did a longish walk which included a visit to a lake, where there were hundreds of Wandering Whistling-Ducks, a few tens of Plumed Whistling-Ducks, several Pied Herons, some Glossy Ibis, some Radjah Shelducks, and many other waterbirds. We found Silver-crowned Friarbirds and Little Friarbirds, and many honeyeater species including Rufous-throated Honeyeater and Bar-breasted Honeyeater. Two "rarities" were Dusky Moorhen and Grey-fronted Honeyeater; both birds ween well by many people but both well out of range. Late in the morning a Square-tailed Kite flew over us. Later in the afternoon I went to Bayview where in 2006 I saw a Chestnut Rail. No such luck this time (NB the tide was wrong) but I found a pair of Torresian Imperial-Pigeons for my troubles, and later a very vocal Helmeted Friarbird, at the nearby Dinah Beach.
3-5 July
Most of these three days have been consumed by my attendance at the Australasian Ornithological Conference (AOC), during which (on the Friday) I gave a talk about Rufous Scrub-birds (click here to see it). There were some good birds on campus including a roosting Tawny Frogmouth (and a Frill-necked Lizard just alongside), an Osprey, Dusky Honeyeaters. On Thursday morning I joined the AOC excursion to East Point,where we found Brahminy Kite, Spangled Drongo, Black Butcherbird, Lemon-bellied Flycatcher and Striated Heron, amongst many others. I picked up lots of great information about the options for bird tracking during AOC.
2 July
I went to a couple of workshops today, associated with the AOC program. In the morning it was about radio tracking, all aspects, and in the afternoon it was about Motus, a technology I'm interested in for its possibilities on Broughton Island. Lots of learnings today! On my way back I stopped at Sunset Park, where there was a white phase Eastern Reef Egret and a Sacred Kingfisher, both of them foraging on the rock platform.
1 July
I started my morning at Buffalo Creek on the eastern outskirts of Darwin. First bird today was a Rufous-banded Honeyeater! Followed soon after by a female Red-headed Honeyeater (later I managed photos of a male). Several Brown-headed Emerald Doves were calling (but not seen) but that was compensated for by sightings of 20+ White-breasted Woodswallows, 3 Grey Whistlers, a Collared Kingfisher and an Eastern Reef Egret. Next stop was Lee Point , where there were 50+ Red-tailduring which I ed Black-Cockatoos and similar numbers of Chestnut-breasted Mannikins, also a pair of Forest Kingfishers, two White-winged Trillers and a Little Bronze-cuckoo. I visited some sites at East Point, generally quiet except for a Black Butcherbird whilst doing the mangrove walk. Mid-afternoon, I went with Margaret to the Darwin Botanic Gardens; I dipped on the Rufous Owl but I saw and photographed a Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove and a Torresian Imperial-Pigeon.
30 June
I went out right on dawn to see whether the Hooded Parrots had stayed overnight. You betcha! Their numbers kept rising, and eventually I has 48 of them feeding on the lawn and another 10-15 birds still in the trees. A White-winged Triller joined them on the lawn at one point, and there was a Dusky Honeyeater hanging around too. From there we headed north, stopping at Berry Springs for birding (me) and eventually for lunch. It was quite crowded but only at the waterholes, and I had a very peaceful walk through the monsoon forest with bonuses of finding Orange-footed Scrub-fowl, Varied Triller, Arafura Fantail, Northern Fantail and Grey Whistler. After that we headed to Fogg Dam, where on the dam walk I found 50+ Immediate Egrets, a Comb-crested Jacana, pair of Black-necked Stork and numerous terns. The latter caused me some research, but I eventually decided were a mixture of Whiskered Terns and White-winged Black Terns (all in non-breeding plumage). Then I did the boardwalk/forest walk with highlights including Grey Whistler and some Broad-billed Flycatchers (with photos!).
29 June
We left Katherine in the early morning and headed to Edith Falls. I tried to find the site for Gouldian Finches that Ray McLean had tipped me off about - no luck there! I had pretty much the same birds at Edith Falls as on my visit there earlier in the week, including another fly-by from the Brown Goshawk. I also found the Crimson Finches again. We pressed on to Pine Creek where we had booked a cabin for th night. After settling in I was immediately out wandering - fruitlessly for a bit over an hour (apart from birds such as Yellow Oriole and various honeyeaters) and then, shortly before 4pm, a flock of 10 Hooded Parrots flew in! Another new species for me! My views were ordinary at first but became increasingly better and I managed some decent photos eventually. Also had a happy chat with to other birders there (we'd been looking at the same birds for half an hour).
28 June
I spent most of my day birding in the Katherine environs, at first on foot and then in the mid-afternoon heading back out to Nitmiluk NP (Katherine Gorge). Most of the time I found no special birds although there was a large mixed flock of Apostlebirds and Grey-crowned Babblers at a spot near the river and I also found some White-breasted Woodswallows at a small lagoon on the way towards the Gorge. The highlight for sure was when I came upon an Australian Bustard marching purposefully across a paddock towards the roadside. I took lots of photos!
27 June
I drove to the Mataranka area today, my first stop being Bitter Springs in the Elsey National Park. At first it was quiet (for birds, there were many noisy bathers) but I found a Lemon-bellied Flycatcher and a Restless Flycatcher to keep me occupied.Then, to my delight, a new bird - Arafura Fantail. There was a pair of them and I spent 20 minutes or so trying to get a decent photo. I also saw a male Shining Flycatcher during this period. Next I went to the Mataranka Thermal Pool which is just outside the NP. This was very noisy from people bathing in the pool (it was Yobbo Central, basically) so I didn't stay long. Best birds here was a very noisy squabbling group of 30-35 Apostlebirds (they appeared to be fighting over access to a small puddle formed from a tyre rut, despite there being plenty of other water opportunities in the general area). I left and went to dothe Botanic Walk back in the NP. That was great; it circumnavigated a small creek and had Northern Fantails and more Arafura Fantails; also a pair of Shining Flycatchers. And then I got onto a pair of Pacific Bazas, having wonderful views and even managing some decent photos for the first time ever for me for this species. It was also the first time I'd ever recorded them in Birdata. And just as I got back to the car, a Grey Goshawk flew over.
26 June
We went to the Cutta Cutta Caves in the morning. We did the guided tour of the caves (which was very interesting) and also some short walks on or near the property. I found Singing Honeyeaters a couple of times, and also had good views of some White-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes. There were Weebills on the property too. In the afternoon I tried some more sites around Katherine, with the highlights including Restless Flycatcher and Black-faced Woodswallow.
25 June
I headed for Edith Falls today, after receiving a tip that Gouldian Finches had been seen at a waterhole off the road in. I found the waterhole but all that was using it were some Red-winged Parrots. However, further along, at where the road crosses the Edith River, I had very good birding. Almost immediately I found some Crimson Finches and then a Lemon-bellied Flycatcher that was feeding a fledged young. In addition to the "usual" honeyeaters I found a few Banded Honeyeaters, some Varied Lorikeets, a Northern Fantail and a female Shining Flycatcher. There were Little Woodswallows flying overhead and a Sacred Kingfisher perched on a stump in the river. I also flushed a Bush Stone-curlew, which gave me brief views as it quickly disappeared around a bend. At Edith Falls itself (a beautiful spot) I managed some good photos of a Northern Fantail. In the late afternoon I explored more places around Katherine, not very productively except at the sewage treatment works. Although the main evaporation pond was some distance in and behind a locked gate, I could make out several dozen Radjah Shelducks, also a Common Greenshank, several to many of Black-winged Stilt, Red-kneed Dotterel and Black-fronted Dotterel, and also miscellaneous other waterbirds.
24 June
We went to Nitmiluk NP (aka Katherine Gorge) for the day. The highlight for me was to find a group of Crimson Finch (I've since found them a few times). As well as the common honeyeaters (such as Yellow-tinted, White-gaped, Dusky, Brown and White-throated Honeyeater), I found the Sandstone form of Silver-crowned Friarbird, some Masked Woodswallows, a female White-winged Triller and a White-bellied Sea-Eagle. In the afternoon we did a boat tour down two sections of the gorge ("Two Gorge Tour") - very pretty country which didn't yield many birds (but then there was a Peregrine Falcon at a roost high on a cliff).
23 June
I spent the day walking and birding in the area around Katherine. It was a pretty good day! I saw one new species, a Masked Finch - for long enough to be happy with my views of it, but not for long enough to get a photo. I caught up today with many species that I haven't seen often, for example, Yellow-tinted Honeyeater, White-throated Honeyeater, White-gaped Honeyeater, Dusky Honeyeater, Great Bowerbird, Yellow Oriole and the northern form of Grey-crowned Babbler. I had a great view of a female Pheasant Coucal too, managing photos of her with a grasshopper she had caught. And, so many Black Kites today (and also quite a few Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos).
22 June
After flying from Sydney, we collected the rental car at Darwin airport and headed south on the Stuart Highway. There wasn't time for specific stops for birdwatching as we wanted to be in Katherine before the kangaroos came out. I saw well over 100 Black Kites over the 300km journey (perhaps over 200). Several pairs of Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos flew over. In Katherine, there were Red-collared Lorikeets and some White-breasted Woodswallows, and then on dusk hundreds and hundreds of Little Corellas flew over, heading towards the river where presumably they had roosts. I estimated at least 500 birds.
June 2019
16 June
I joined HBOC's New Members' Day function at the Wetlands Centre. We had a pleasant walk for an hour and a half or so, followed by a picnic lunch (i.e it was all very much the usual format). It's still very dry there, with most of the ponds holding no water or very little water. Consequently waterbird numbers were low, the highlight being 100 or more Grey Teal at the front pond but not much else. We saw some raptors though: Black-shouldered Kite, Brown Goshawk, Swamp Harrier, Whistling Kite.
15 June
Ross Zimmerman and I surveyed Ash Island, which was quiet apart from a group of 15 Red-capped Plover at Fish Fry Flats and a total count of 22 Black-fronted Dotterel. We only saw one raptor all day - a Brown Falcon. Afterwards we hurried up to Birubi Point, for a 4.5km walk along the beach with others. eventually we came to a group of 20 Aust. Pied Oystercatchers, and amongst them was the South Island Pied Oystercatcher that we were seeking! A new bird (in Australia) for me; I saw hundreds of them when I was in New Zealand. We met many other birds on the beach walk, and passed several pairs of foraging Red-capped Plovers.
13 June
Rob Kyte, Greg & Judy Little and I met for a couple of hours to plan our next activities for the Broughton Island project and the Rufous Scrub-bird project. We have now set dates for all sorts of activities - it will be a busy spring/summer!
12 June
I had a couple of stimulating exchanges with OEH staff today, one was about beach-nesting birds and the other about Rufous Scrub-birds. In the evening I went to the HBOC meeting, where Mick Todd was guest speaker talking about Regent Parrot conservation efforts down near the Murray River. I think that will be my next trip away (after we get back from the Northern Territory trip, that is!).
11 June
Our plans for camping on the long weekend fell through, so this morning I went to the Swansea area for a morning of birding. It was a nice day for it but the birds didn't oblige all that well. The highlights were two pairs of Aust. Pied Oystercatchers and several largish flocks of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters with some White-naped Honeyeaters mixed in. And also there were Brown Honeyeaters at several locations
4 June
It was forecast to be a wet day but I went along to the HBOC scheduled outing at Galgabba (near Swansea) just in case. Unfortunately, just as we came up to a good patch of blossom that was brimming with Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, the heavens opened up ... and that was it for the day. I used the unplanned spare time to finish off a paper about Rufous Scrub-birds, which I have now submitted.
3 June
I went to the Martindale valley for the day. It was cool and blustery and for most of the time the birding was fairly quiet. I found a flock of 40 or so Zebra Finch feeding in a paddock along with some Yellow-rumped Thornbills and Double-barred Finches. At Medhurst Bridge there was a Black Falcon soaring over, just as I arrived. Alas, by the time I got my camera out it was too far away for a photo. However, I did manage some shots of the two Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters that were hanging around. The Square-tailed Kite nest at the H.H. White Bridge is falling into disrepair but right alongside it is a new, similar-looking nest. I didn't see any kites though.
May 2019
30 May
I went to Chain Valley Bay on the southern side of Lake Macquarie, where there is lots of blossom and some interesting birds are being reported. There was indeed a lot of blossom there. Amongst the Noisy Friarbirds and Noisy Miners I found a Little Friarbird quite quickly and there probably were more of them around. There were Little Corellas and also I found a group of four Long-billed Corellas with them.The main lorikeets were Rainbow Lorikeets but I saw some Musk Lorikeets as well. After about 40 minutes and starting to think I would be dipping on them, a couple of Swift Parrots arrived. That was the main reason I had gone there. I took plenty of photos and there were at least six birds where I was standing. However, I talked with some other birders and they had found more Swift Parrots further along. A week or so ago, the first reports were of 100 or so birds.
28 May
Early afternoon I met with Andrea Griffin at the University, firstly to review how things were going with the Port Stephens Eastern Curlew project and then to talk about Broughton Island. I am interested in whether the MOTUS technology that she is involved with, would be of use on the island for my study of the land birds there. Short answer = yes it would be, but it is a bit more expensive than I'd hoped. After that, I had a meeting out on Ash Island to do with the rehabilitation projects there. There wasn't a lot of time for birding, and there was an awesome wind blowing. However, we found 19 Red-capped Plovers at Fish Fry Point and there were some Black-fronted Dotterels and Red-kneed Dotterels around too.
23 May
I made another trip to the Gloucester Tops. One purpose was to retrieve the three Song Meters; I have decided to wind up the study of Rufous Scrub-bird calling behaviour and get serious about analysing and reporting the results. I got a very good look at one Rufous Scrub-bird and could quite easily see the yellow band we placed on it back in November. I set up some trail cameras in two territories. I heard one other Scrub-bird calling, two other birds were silent. Highlight was the honeyeaters at the Falls carpark including some Crescent Honeyeaters (at least four birds). I think we can now conclude that they are resident up there.
22 May
In the evening I was one of the two guest speakers for a community event at Karuah. I spoke about shorebirds in Port Stephens, and Andrea Griffin (Newcastle Uni) spoke about a radio tracking technology we are planning to use in Port Stephens. There were almost 70 people attended and all the feedback was very positive.
20 May
I went to Louth Park (near East Maitland) to see if the Freckled Ducks were still around in the flooded paddocks (they were reported there about a week ago). I couldn't even find any water! Eventually I gave up and headed instead to the wetlands at Chisholm. As I arrived, a Spotted Harrier was soaring over the area and I thought my luck was improving. Alas, there weren't many birds to be seen and that was the only real highlight. There was a group of four Yellow-billed Spoonbills as well - a good count of these for the lower Hunter. In the evening we had the party to celebrate 20 years of HBOC's Hunter Estuary surveys. I reckon I have done well over 200 of the 238 surveys (there would have been 240 surveys by now but two of them were cancelled because of very bad weather conditions).
11-13 May
It was our quarterly visit to Broughton Island - this time with a bit of a twist as we went over by helicopter on account of the challenging sea conditions. The first two days were windy but day 3 was near-perfect. I did several bird surveys plus I helped the banding team from time to time. One of my aspirations is to get a better handle on the Brown Quail on Broughton Island, and so I spent several hours over Sunday and Monday trying to lure them into traps. That was unsuccessful but I did get some close looks at a covey of nine of them as they wandered past (they were completely ignoring the calls that I was manipulating). I also had close views of a Buff-banded Rail whilst I sat there (and a fleeting view of a Lewin's Rail near the NPWS hut). I saw the Eastern Reef Egret several times and a pair of them together one afternoon. The Silvereye study continues to intrigue, and we had all three of the possible sub-species on the island this visit. The banders trapped a female Brown Goshawk, which was very interesting to inspect. An hour later there was a an immature male in the same net, initially thought to be a Collared Sparrowhawk as it was a much smaller raptor and had some other features that seemed right, however the correct ID was eventually sorted out.
7 May
I went on the HBOC outing which was to an offset woodland near Ellalong Lagoon (which was completely dry). Overall the birding was quiet but we had good views of a pair of Gang-gang Cockatoos (It's been a while since I've seen any of those) and there were lots of Little Lorikeets, often with us having really great views of them. We also had prolonged looks at a White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike and a Striped Honeyeater, and there were plenty of Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters around as well. A few people saw Chestnut-rumped Heathwren (there was a pair). I didn't but I was delighted to listen for a while to some of their mimicry.
2-5 May
It was the Tocal Field Days, for which I have been part of the organising team for HBOC's display. On Thursday afternoon Liz Huxtable and I collected equipment from the storage depot and drove out to Tocal where four of us then set up the display. Friday and Saturday were quiet, apart occasionally checking in with the volunteers and then dealing by phone with a crisis out there - our stall has become a mud patch because of the rain. Eventually we got a load of straw down and that helped a lot. I was rostered on duty on Sunday afternoon - there was a steady stream of visitors until mid-afternoon and I really enjoyed chatting with them. After that things quietened down and we started our packing-up at about 3:30.
April 2019
30 April
Rob Kyte and I went to the Gloucester Tops and made another attempt to catch and band a Rufous Scrub-bird. Alas it was not to be! All of our equipment worked fine and the bird definitely was in the area, but that's the end of the story. However, it began a calling bout just as we were packing up; I tracked it down and was able to watch it for 10 minutes, calling from within a clump of Lomandra. I'll take that as a consolation prize, any time. It generally was quiet up there today (and the altitudinal migrants appear to have departed). There were fewer honeyeaters than on my last visit but we had Crescent Honeyeaters at two sites.
April 2019 trip to western NSW
Overview: Margaret and I drove to Warren on 17 April, where we stayed two nights, and then went to a private property near the Macquarie Marshes to join the HBOC campers for 3 nights. From there we went south to Lake Cargelligo for 3 nights and I did various birding expeditions from there. After that we headed back to Newcastle stopping for two nights at Gulgong on the way back. I recorded 130 species into Birdata during the trip plus there were a handful more that I saw only while driving.
25-27 April
We departed Lake Cargelligo after breakfast for what proved to be a frustrating drive eventually to Gulgong. Almost all the countryside we passed through has been ravaged, basically. They leave a thin (very thin) strip of bush alongside the roads, virtually useless as habitat for small birds. Behind it are vast cleared paddocks, sometimes with the occasional remnant tree only of use for birds like magpies. Just out of Condobolin we found a nice dam (Lake Gum Bend) which had 300 or so Eurasian Coots, also lots of Australian Pelicans, Black Swans and Little Black Cormorants and various other species. Our lunch stop was at Goodang NP, which was very quiet although I did find a couple of Fuscous Honeyeaters. After checking in at our Gulgong motel, I headed to Yarrobil NP which was amazingly quiet.
On Friday morning I headed to Ulan and then the Durridgere area (birding along Durridgere Rd and then in Durridgere SCA). I found a female Hooded Robin in the SCA and Speckled Warblers at a couple of places, also a Restless Flycatcher and a Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater I stopped at Honeyeater Hill, a known location for the Singing Honeyeater. It was becoming windy and for quite a while I heard nothing, and was becoming increasingly pessimistic - and then all of a sudden the bird called a few times and then flew across the road in front of me!
For the final day of our trip we went through Goulburn River NP. That turned out well! At our first stop, I got onto a pair of Chestnut-rumped Heathwrens and I even managed a so-so photo of one of them. While I was following them around, a pair of Rockwarblers crossed my path - it was hard to decide which species to look at! In the NP I also found Striped Honeyeaters, Diamond Firetails, Fuscous Honeyeaters, Brown Treecreepers, Jacky Winters etc and another female Hooded Robin. Where were the males??
22-24 April
We packed up after breakfast and headed across country on backroads, to Nyngan. I saw Black-faced Woodswallows early in the trip, none subsequently, and also Spotted Bowerbirds a few times and a group of Black Kites flying together. We stopped by a billabong before Nyngan which had stacks of ducks including 50+ Grey Teal. From Nyngan we went to Lake Cargelligo via Tullamore (lunch stop) and Condobolin. The birding was quiet and so after setting up our camp at Lake C I headed for the sewage works. It was fantastic there, the highlight being 7 Black-tailed Native-Hens and also 15-20 each of Red-kneed Dotterel and Black-fronted Dotterel.
On Tuesday I covered large tracts of the countryside starting at “chat alley” which was a big disappointment and including a visit to Round Hill Nature Reserve. Unfortunately it had rained and the dirt roads were too dodgy for me to go on. However, I found some great birds including Crested Bellbird, Gilbert’s Whistler (a female, bathing), Grey-fronted Honeyeater, Red-capped Robin, Speckled Warbler and Chestnut-rumped Thornbill.
On Wednesday I did more exploring, again for most of the day. I didn’t find any new species for the trip, until mid afternoon; prior to that my highlight was to find approximately 580 Galahs feeding in a paddock together. Another stop, near Euabalong, yielded 100+ Little Corellas. My final stop was back at the sewage works. I found most of the same birds as on Monday, and with the count of Black-tailed Native-Hens now risen to 11 birds. Just as I was thinking about leaving, I heard an Australian Spotted Crake. I did eventually get a poor brief view of one bird. In the meantime I had done some call playback, and three of them responded. There were two crakes in the reeds in front of me (including the bird I saw) and another one on the opposite side of the smallish pond.
19-21 April
We left Warren early morning and very soon were seeing plenty of Emus. Setting up our tent at the HBOC camp a pair of Restless Flycatchers came over to check us out. I spent the second half of the morning wandering the property. Although it was never especially birdy at any time, my sightings included Grey-crowned Babblers, Chestnut-rumped Thornbills, Blue Bonnets, Tree Martins and Red-winged Parrots. In the afternoon I went to Monkeygar Creek where there were Australian Shelducks, Black-fronted Dotterels and Royal Spoonbills. That night I heard an Owlet-nightjar just before going to bed and then again in the early hours of the morning.
Next day a group of us drove to Carinda for the morning, with several roadside stops. The highlights were a flock of about 25 Cockatiels and a pair of Spotted Harriers together. We also saw some Splendid Fairy-wrens and two White-breasted Woodswallows. In the late afternoon I wandered more of the property where we are camped, finding Weebills and White-winged Fairy-wrens.
On Sunday morning I wandered more of the property, finding Spotted Bowerbirds, Variegated Fairy-wrens and a male Red-capped Robin. Just before lunch I went back to Monkeygar Creek, finding similar birds to the previous visit except there were some Yellow-billed Spoonbills and both of the common herons. On my way back I saw a Hooded Robin and stopped there, also finding some Singing Honeyeaters and a Mistletoebird.
18 April
In the morning I went back to Tiger Bay Wetlands. Although it was quieter than on Wednesday I found most of the same birds although dipping on the fairy-wrens. In compensation, when I returned again late morning, there was a Glossy Ibis, and I found a Spotted Bowerbird in the motel gardens as well. I went to a TSR on the north side of town, Quinnies Reserve, where I found Peaceful Dove (many), Cockatiel, Brown Treecreeper and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater.
17 April
We headed through very familiar territory for quite a while, until past Cassilis, and then finally leaving the Golden Highway at Dunedoo, thence via Gilgandra to Warren, our destination. We had three birding stops, at the rest areas at Battery Rocks near Merriwa, Cassilis Park and then at Nullen. The birding was quiet, to say the least, with the highlight being a pair of Jacky Winters at Battery Rocks and Weebills at both the other stops. Warren more than made up for the slow day! Our motel was just across the road from a terrific wetlands (called Tiger Bay). I was there until near dusk, finding many species including Apostlebird, Australian (Mallee) Ringneck, Red-winged Parrot, White-winged Fairy-wren and Restless Flycatcher as well as waterbirds such as Pink-eared Duck, Grey Teal and Australasian Shoveler. Hundreds of Galahs came in to roost and there were plenty of Rock Doves loitering as well.
15 April
We did another drone trial this morning, starting at Ash Island and later moving over to the Deep Pond area. We wanted to get images with good numbers of birds in them, because the method for counting birds has now become our focus. The plan worked! We had about 120 Red-necked Avocets on Swan Pond and could get the drone right over the top of them. At Deep Pond we had more avocets (and the Swan Pond birds eventually joined them) plus Black-tailed Godwits, Pied Stilts, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Silver Gulls, and a few other species too. We now have many images to work with!
14 April
I went up to the Gloucester Tops again, primarily to service my Song Meters. There still were lots of honeyeaters around although their numbers have dropped somewhat compared to when I was last up there (about two weeks ago). The banksias around the Falls carpark area are still doing well though and I had 10 different honeyeater species there. That included at least one Fuscous Honeyeater, uncommon at the Tops, and a Crescent Honeyeater which we don't seem to know for sure if it stays all year. I think it's my first lateish autumn record for them. I heard an Olive Whistler, which is another species that we're not sure what happens in winter ie do they stay or go. I also saw a female robin but she shot through before I could get an ID. I saw a white wing bar but after consulting the Morcombe app I couldn't decide if it was "prominent" (= Scarlet Robin) or "conspicuous" (= Flame Robin). I favour the former, and I suspect any self-respecting Flame Robin has moved downhill, but who knows?
One Rufous Scrub-bird was very vocal (the other territories I visitedwere quiet). I followed it for about an hour and eventually I had wonderful views of it calling from a patch of Lomandra. And I managed my first ever photos of one (not counting of birds in the hand!)
11 April
Six of us went this morning for another drone trial. We had a very slow start due to the presence of an ultralight at Hexham, our planned location, and then a lock-out at Tomago Wetlands due to someone else's incompetence at the gate - our lock was no longer part of the daisy-chain. When at last we were in, there weren't many birds but we found a group of 87 Common Greenshank and tried photographing those. There were also a few Sharp-tailed Sandpiper present and I saw a White-fronted Chat. We have the control part sorted now (i.e. flying to pre-selected way-points) and the non-disturbing approach sorted, our focus needs now to be on getting accuratecounts of birds from the photos taken.
9-10 April
On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings we (five of us at the peak) surveyed the targeted sites around Martindale. The species diversity was better than in January but still down compared with the spring surveys. We found a Hooded Robin at a new site, apparently a dispersing young bird, and there was a pair of Restless Flycatchers there too. We had Speckled Warblers at three sites, a good return, and Grey-crowned Babblers were at three locations as well. We saw a Spotted Harrier both mornings although from locations not greatly separated, hence probably the same bird. Other raptors included a very pale Brown Falcon which had us stumped for a while, and a group of seven Black Kites, which seem to be starting another influx based on the various reports around. Our raptor list also had Wedge-tailed Eagle, Australian Hobby, Peregrine Falcon, Black-shouldered Kite and Nankeen Kestrel. I stopped at a few spots on my way home, with the highlight being approximately 30 Zebra Finch at the Barry Bridge near Denman.
When home, I had time for a quick shower then raced off to dinner with tonight's guest speaker at the HBOC meeting, followed by the meeting itself.
8 April
Em route to Martindale for the quarterly surveys there, I detoured via Bunnan to visit the woodland site there (saw Brown Treecreepers and a pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagles, also a pair of Sacred Kingfishers), and then to some sites in Goulburn River National Park. I had mixed successes there, with the White Box site very quiet but great birding at Fossickers and it was OK near the Poggy homestead. I saw pairs of Hooded Robins and Turquoise Parrots, also Speckled Warblers, Little Lorikeets and several Diamond Firetails. A dam near Fossickers had some water and was attracting many honeyeaters to drink, including a young male Scarlet Honeyeater was hanging around. We heard a Tawny Frogmouth at the campsite that night.
6 April
Ross Zimmerman and I did the monthly survey of Ash Island in the morning. We found a group of 41 Pacific Golden Plover at Milhams Pond, some were in breeding plumage which was nice to see. We also had a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and a Black-fronted Dotterel there. At the main ponds we had 122 Red-necked Avocet plus four Red-kneed Dotterel, which we almost missed, and at Fish Fry Flats there were some Red-capped Plover including a runner whose parents doing broken-wing acts all the time (it's a dead give-away really!). It was a good morning for raptors, with five types seen including close views of Australian Hobby and Nankeen Kestrel.
5 April
I decided I wanted to try out my new camera (the previous one lasted 4 and a half years of frequent exposure to the elements) and I headed to Walka Water Works. I thought that would give me a nice mix of waterbirds and bush birds to practise on. However, it started to rain when I was about half way there and that kept up for about three hours before I gave up, with the camera not ever having left the car. By the time I reached around Hexham on my way home, conditions were bone dry so I went in to Ash Island and did the mangrove boardwalk. Birds were in short supply and mosquitoes the converse, so that didn't work out too well! I heard a Rufous Whistler (late departing?) and a Whistling Kite flew over.
3 April
Bob McDonald, Ann Lindsey and I did more drone trials this morning, at Tomago Wetlands. Although there weren't many birds we flew the drone over to a group of Common Greenshanks, which continued to feed. Earlier a flock of Australasian Shovelers had flown off which was a pity as we would have liked to try approaching them too. We have now worked out how to fly to way-points, which is a good step forward. Afterwards we re-located for coffees and a general review of what we had done thus far and future plans. In the afternoon I wrote up a summary for the HBOC Management Committee, whose meeting I attended in the evening. The summary is here if you are interested.
2 April
I went to the HBOC mid-week outing which was at the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens. The mozzies were ferocious! We wandered various tracks for a couple of hours, not seeing much. A eucalypt in blossom near the Visitors Centre had Rainbow, Scaly-breasted and Musk Lorikeets and that was the highlight for me. Then, a long way from shelter, it began to bucket down. I was soaked by the time I made it to shelter, so I went home!
March 2019
30 March
Rob Kyte and I went to the Gloucester Tops, meeting Judy & Greg Little at Sharpes Creek and then all of us driving up the hill. I had built some mirror traps and Rob and I set them up at a Rufous Scrub-bird territory. We heard the bird (not doing a standard call) but only very briefly. In fact, that was the only sound I or any of the others heard from a Scrub-bird all day! We were unable to entice the Scrub-bird to the mirror traps and eventually gave up. The other three spent the remainder of the day operating some standard mist nets, catching and banding 21 birds as six species - White-throated Treecreeper, Eastern Yellow Robin, White-browed Scrubwren, Eastern Spinebill, Brown Thornbill and Yellow-faced Honeyeater. It was quite cold up there, 6C when we arrived and not getting above 11C all day. We saw a Bassian Thrush (interesting that they're still up high) but there were no signs of any of the migratory robins.
28 March
Bob McDonald and I went to Tomago Wetlands this morning for some more drone trials. We bumped into Nev McNaughton out there and he joined us for a while. Unfortunately there weren't many birds about, so we couldn't trial all the things we had planned. Later in the morning we went over to Hexham Swamp but that was equally as bird-less. We were able to approach a group of White-faced Herons quite closely and ditto some Black-winged Stilts. A young Swamp Harrier displayed considerable interest in the drone and we had to land it for a while. Later, at Hexham, several Welcome Swallows were just as interested but we continued to fly the drone as they were never going to attack it.
27 March
The Rufous Scrub-bird team had a meeting to sort out our plans for Sunday's field trip to Gloucester Tops. I had spent the morning making a mirror trap and I took it along to show the others. It met with approval and I will make up at least one more for Sunday.
25 March
We did some more drone trials this morning, with four of us going to Tomago Wetlands for a few hours. First we flew the drone over the Black-necked Stork nest (which is not currently in use) so as to get a better view of the platform they had built. Then we went around to the main wetlands. There were at least 1,000 teal present, a mixture of Grey Teal and Chestnut Teal. We were able to fly the drone right over them, by making a low and slow approach and pausing the forward movement if they began to look restless. We also found some Common Greenshanks, eventually at least 80 birds, and there were some small flocks of Sharp-tailed Sandpiper occasionally in the air. The Greenshanks were restless and more easily took to flight than did the teal. However, we were able to fly quite close to them and take photos (which will lead to counts using point-count software). Raptors seen today included a magnificent young White-bellied Sea-Eagle and a couple of Swamp Harriers.
22 March
This week we received permission from NPWS to trial in some local national parks the use of drones for bird monitoring. Four of us including our local drone expert Bob McDonald went to Hexham Swamp this morning for the first attempt at this. Fortunately there were some Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, one of the species I hope a drone will help us to monitor as they can be very dispersed at times. They are restless at the moment (because they soon will leave for their northern migration), and it was difficult to be sure to what extent the drone was disturbing them vs their natural flightiness. We saw several instances where they flew underneath the drone, having put to air. Not sure how to interpret that! We were able to approach closely with it to some Grey Teal, with no signs of any reaction from them, but later a large flock took to air as soon as the drone appeared. However, there were some raptors around at the time and they might have been sensitized. Black Swans paid no attention to it. We'll do more trials in the coming weeks.
20 March
Rob Kyte and I were up in the Gloucester Tops today, primarily to investigate a Rufous Scrub-bird nest which Rob discovered earlier this month. We had Flame Robin, Bassian Thrush and Rose Robin in the high country and a couple of Rufous Scrub-birds were calling (and a couple of others were silent). We didn’t find any of the other “specialists” from up there. The extent of the honeyeater influx had risen since my last visit (which was about 2 weeks ago). There were lots of White-naped, Yellow-faced, New Holland and Scarlet Honeyeaters wherever we went, and ditto for Eastern Spinebill.
19 March
I joined a pelagic trip from Swansea. There was almost no wind all day making for a quiet day at sea - and a slow one too, with more than 8 hours of chugging slowly along in the boat to and from the continental shelf. We had Wedge-tailed and Flesh-footed Shearwaters in attendance for most of the day and occasional appearances of various other shearwaters. At the shelf there were a couple each of Grey-faced and Providence Petrel, also one Wilson's Storm-Petrel, and occasional Pomarine Jaegers at sea (plus Arctic Jaegers inshore). I missed a couple of species which did not stay long enough for decent views, e.g. Gould's Petrel.
17 March
I had planned to attend the HBOC outing but it rained heavily through the night and was still pouring down when I first woke, so I chickened out. However, later in the morning the rain stopped and so I went to Hexham Swamp for a couple of hours. Although it was quiet there, I found some White-fronted Chats, about 150 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and seven Common Greenshanks. It was a good morning for raptors, with Swamp Harrier, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Nankeen Kestrel and Black-shouldered Kite seen.
16 March
I gave a talk at the ABSA Conference held in conjunction with their AGM. My talk was on Rufous Scrub-birds in the Gloucester Tops and it seemed to go well. I stayed all day, with there being five other interesting talks. My slides are uploaded onto the website here.
14 March
The Tocal Field Days are coming up (in early May) so this morning a group of us got together to start the detailed planning for HBOC's display stand. We decided to take somewhat of a fresh approach and with a focus on Citizen Science. There is some prep work now to be done!
13 March
At the HBOC club night it was announced that I was the recipient of the 2018 Wilma Barden Memorial Grant, for my Rufous Scrub-bird research. Nice for that to finally be made public! The funds ($2000) will be used to pay for the special nets, call playback system and VHF tracking equipment that we use. I also was given a bottle of very good wine in acknowledgment of my having produced 25 Hunter Region annual bird reports. I figure that works out at 30ml per year! But I appreciate the gesture.
11 March
I spent the morning finalising my Rufous Scrub-bird talk for Saturday (at the ABSA conference in Newcastle). In the afternoon I had two meetings at the University - firstly to deliver some Scrub-bird feathers (for DNA analysis) and chat about next steps, secondly for the Port Stephens Eastern Curlew study. In preparation, I had dug out a lot of old records.
9 March
Ross and I did the Ash Island survey. It remains very dry out there and bird numbers continue to be low. However, we found 9 Eastern Curlew at Milhams pond and 28 Pacific Golden Plover at Phoenix Flats, also some Red-capped Plovers and one each of Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Red-necked Stint at Fish Fry Flats. Not much else of note, except for a group of 5 Common Greenshanks at Teal Waters. It has been a long time since my previous record of those on Ash Island.
8 March
I went up to the Gloucester Tops. There had been rain up there recently so the fords had a bit more water and there were puddles here and there. I visited three Rufous Scrub-bird territories, two of which had very vocal birds. I have recording devices at all three territories, which I was servicing. Rose Robins and Bassian Thrush are still in the high country (and there was a Rose Robin down at the campsite) and along Kerripit Rd I saw two male Scarlet Robins together. The regular autumn influx of honeyeaters to the Tops has begun. There were plenty of them everywhere I went, and including White-naped and Scarlet Honeyeater which normally we hardly ever find in the Tops (except in autumn; in any other season they are uncommon).
I did lots of bush bashing today and at one point came upon a Satin Bowerbird bower. One of its items of decoration was a blue plastic biro, which I’m pretty sure I recognised as one that I lost up there about 6 months ago. I decided to let the bird keep it. Just near Roseleigh Cottage on my way out there were some Dusky Woodswallows which I rarely see in the Gloucester valley. Although, it was my third record of them in the past 12 months. However, no prior records over 2010-2017 (by me). The road has been graded quite recently, from the end of the bitumen all the way up, so it was an easy trip.
February - March 2019 trip to Victoria
Overview:Margaret and I drove to Melbourne for her niece's wedding. We went there via the Princess Highway and with several stops along the way, and then came back stopping at Bombala and then in the southern highlands, and with a side trip into Canberra for some more catching-up with her family.
4-6 March
We drove to Bombala on Monday, our trip much disrupted by the bush fires in Victoria. Our stops weren't bird-rich but I did find a large group of very noisy Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos at Cabbage Tree Creek and some White-throated Needletails not far from Bombala. Next day after discharging various family obligations I spent time at Jerrabomberra Wetlands and then Rowes Lagoon. The latter was quiet (and completely dried out) but the Wetlands still had a small amount of water. The highlight here was a Collared Sparrowhawk (which I saw attempt to take a small bird that landed to perch just a metre or two from where the Sparrowhawk happened to be waiting). I looked for a long time for any crakes or rails in the exposed habitat - didn't see any, but I met a fellow who had seen several earlier in the morning. Timing!!
1 March
This was my big day of the overall trip! I had arranged a interstate visitor day-pass to the Western Treatment Plant at Werribee. I collected my key, with a minor scare when the Melbourne Water receptionist assured me I couldn't get in today because of the Avalon Air Show (it turned out there were some minor traffic flow changes when I exited). My first stop was Lake Borrie, and what a way to start! There were at least a thousand Pink-eared Ducks and almost as many Australasian Shelducks, also many hundreds of Blue-billed Ducks and Hoary-headed Grebes. There were only a handful of Musk Ducks (but I saw them before all the other stuff so they had a pretty good thrill factor). In the bushes alongside the lane there were 25+ White-fronted Chats, just to add to the effect. I didn't find Blue-billed Ducks anywhere else in my travels but at every subsequent stop there were large numbers of Pink-eared Ducks and Aust Shelducks plus intermittent sightings of lesser numbers of the other fore-named species. Several Whistling Kites were hunting over the ponds, and I saw a young Swamp Harrier several times (also, there were Black Kites but these were over the paddocks).
When I got close to Port Phillip Bay I started to see Whiskered Terns including many young birds, but there was only one main area where they were and probably only a few hundred birds in total. The previous time I was at Werribee I estimated 5,000 of them! Some birds were using one of the floating roost platforms which are about to be trialled in the Hunter Estuary. An adult Little Tern and a non-breeding White-winged Black Tern were also on the artificial roost (disappointingly, no shorebirds though). I started to find shorebirds further along the edge of the Bay - mostly these were Sharp-tailed Sandpipers (500+ birds) and Red-necked Stints (300+ birds) with 100 or so each of Curlew Sandpiper and Pied Stilt (and a single Australian Pied Oystercatcher).
I left early afternoon as by then it was well over 40C and there had been no shade all day. I reckon I saw at least 5,000 birds today (and probably closer to 10,000).
Later in the afternoon I was interviewed by a reporter from the Port Stephens Examiner about the February shorebirds survey. It seems that there will be another article about it soon. The ABC News on-line article was quite popular.
27-28 February
We drove to Melbourne stopping overnight at Lakes Entrance. On Wednesday I managed several birding stops but it was quiet everywhere (at Point Ricardo near Marlo I only found one species, White-browed Scrubwren, in a 20 minute survey!). The Drummer Walk, near Cann River, was very pretty and I had a close encounter with a group of four Eastern Whipbirds along it plus there were a couple of Rose Robins. It was very windy at Lakes Entrance. Although I found a nice walk through a salt marsh to the inlet's edge, there were few birds - but then a young Pacific Gull flew through and later I had some sightings of adult birds as well.
Next day we explored one of the "silt jetties" near Bairnsdale - it was a remarkably long drive along a very narrow promontory with water only 10m away on each side. At the end was a sizable cormorant roost, with at least 50 Little Pied Cormorants present plus some each of the 3 other common cormorants. Alas, no sign of my target (the Black-faced). However, a pair of Fairy Terns flew through and I was very pleased about that! Later we walked around Sale Common, and I did the boardwalk. There was no water and the birding was quiet, although the sight of a pair of Brown Goshawks soaring over the treetops was a great compensation. We took a circuitous route to Melbourne, via South Gippsland (Yarram etc) but conditions were very dry and it was a very hot day i.e. not much chop for birding!
25-26 February
We spent two nights at Mallacoota, a place I had long wanted to visit. An afternoon walk after we arrived produced 30 species including a singing Superb Lyrebird, Rufous Fantails, a juvenile Eastern Koel and a Common Blackbird. Next day I drove to various nearby localities, with the highlights including to find two Hooded Plovers (adult and a juvenile) at Benka Beach, a Bassian Thrush at Gipsy Point and an Aust. Pied Oystercatcher at Bastion Point. In the bushland around the inlet there were lots of pigeons particularly Wonga Pigeon and White-headed Pigeon.
24 February
We drove to Huskisson as the start of our trip away. Unfortunately, there weren't many birding opportunities as much of the trip was through built-up areas. We stopped at Mt Annan Botanic Gardens for a walk and lunch, with the birding highlights being a male Satin Bowerbird feeding on berries and Eurasian Coots scurrying amongst the picnickers.
February 2019
22 February
It was a non-birding day, but I did lots of bird-related things. An interview with the ABC about the recent Port Stephens survey, which will be published as an on-line story; a meeting with Rob Palazzi to show him how to publish material on the HBOC website; tracking down how to access Werribee sewage works for next week's visit; finishing the drafts of two papers (one about Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and the other about birds of the Gloucester Tops); and ... trying (unsuccessfully) to fix my camera.
21 February
I went up to the Manning Valley for the day, starting at Harrington where I found Little Terns and Common Terns, also Sanderling, Pacific Golden Plover, Red-capped Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Double-banded Plover, Sanderling etc. Much later I went to the Old Bar side of the estuary, where I found all of the above plus a few each of Lesser and Greater Sand Plover and two Aleutian Terns. There was also a solitary Beach Stone-curlew. I also tried various other of my regular spots in that area but I didn't find much else. While at the furthermost point at Old Bar, the heavens opened and I became completely drenched. Not only did that seriously affect my counting of birds, and leave me in soaking wet clothes for the remainder of the day, it wrecked my camera as well. It won't turn on any more!
19 February
I posted off copies of The Whistler and the annual Hunter Region bird report to all the libraries and institutions that receive it, plus to some of the more remote club members. Total cost $162!
16 February
Ann Lindsey and I made yet another trip to Durridgere Rd. This time we were successful, finding a male Pied Honeyeater at the top of a dead tree - we had brief but clear views! Later we found a Little Friarbird in flowering mistletoe, also two White-eared Honeyeaters, some Diamond Firetails and still plenty of Rufous Songlark and White-browed Woodswallows and some Dusky Woodswallows. We also saw well a Masked Woodswallow (but there may well have been more). On our way home we stopped at Cassilis Rest Area, but it was very quiet (there were some Weebills).
11-13 February
Margaret and I with Ann Lindsey drove to Rylstone where we stayed for two nights. On the way we stopped briefly at the Battery Rocks near Merriwa, where I saw an Australian Hobby attempt to take a honeyeater (White-plumed, I think). We made a much longer stop at Durridgere Rd near Ulan, from where Pied Honeyeaters had recently been reported. Ann and I spent a couple of hours searching for them, to no avail. However, we did find many other good birds including White-browed Babbler, Southern Whiteface, Plum-headed Finch, White-browed and Dusky Woodswallow, Rufous Songlark, Diamond Firetail and Speckled Warbler. On Tuesday morning Ann and I drove up Mount Coricudgy and eventually re-entered the Hunter Region. After a while we tracked down the Grey Currawongs that live up there - it was a Hunter tick for both of us. On the way we went through a paddock which had 80+ Little Ravens, and later, at Glen Alice, we found Crested Shrike-tits with dependent young.
Our drive back included a lengthy stop along Durridgere Rd. We met two other birders there, and spent almost 5 hours in the area. We re-found all the birds from Monday plus a Diamond Dove (a Hunter tick for me) and a Black-eared Cuckoo, and saw a couple more large groups of Little Ravens. Alas, still no Pied Honeyeaters.
10 February
The Rufous Scrub-bird team made another day-visit to the Gloucester Tops. We attempted to catch two new birds - both were curious but did not come close enough to the net for capture. The birding was quiet overall but I did see several Flame Robins and heard a Crescent Honeyeater. On the drive up the big hill we flushed several Wonga Pigeons and Brown Cuckoo-doves. I reactivated the three Song Meters while I was up there.
9 February
Ross and I did the monthly Ash Island survey. It was very dry out there so we didn't find a lot, but we did get some Eastern Curlew and Pacific Golden Plovers, and a group of Red-capped Plovers with a runner. We had five different species of raptor in the first half hour but no additional species of them after that. The highlight of the survey was a juvenile Black-necked Stork with an adult female not far away.
8 February
It was the Port Stephens summer survey, which as usual I coordinated plus I surveyed one of the sectors (Alpha sector). I found stacks of birds in my sector, so it was a good day out. My highlight was to find a breeding colony of Little Terns on Corrie Island - about 150 birds and I saw four runners amongst them. Also in the area were 75 Eastern Curlew, 170 Bar-tailed Godwit,120 Common Terns and various smaller shorebirds in low numbers. Overall we found 361 Eastern Curlew in the Port - which is an internationally significant count of them. It's the highest count we've had for them in four years.
6 February
I took a small group of people to some Hunter Estuary sites in the morning, in connection with a planned trial of floating roost platforms for shorebirds. We firstly boated up-river to a site inside the Kooragang Dykes, then visited land-accessed sites at Fullerton Cove and Fern Bay. It was high tide and there were lots of shorebirds around including Curlew Sandpipers, Common Greenshanks, Eastern Curlews, Bar-tailed Godwits and Pacific Golden Plovers. We flushed a Latham's Snipe from a drain at Fullerton Cove. In the afternoon I was busy with organising Friday's Port Stephens survey and in the evening I went to the HBOC management Committee meeting.
2-4 February
I went with the Broughton Island project team for the summer surveys. On Saturday we bashed our way to Pinkatop and checked out the nest boxes - unfortunately all of them were empty although some had loose feathers indicating a bird had been there before. We set up mist nets and caught 37 birds over the three days - a good proportion of those were Tawny Grassbirds which was pleasing as it's a species I'd like to know more about in a Broughton context. We only caught one Brown Quail though, and zero Golden-headed Cisticolas - disappointing results since they are two other Broughton species that I'd like to get a better handle on. In the survey work, I found an Eastern Reef Egret (two sightings, not sure if it was the same bird), several Sooty Oystercatchers and four Red-capped Plover, and had a remarkable sighing of eight Ospreys all in the same view. Three of them were fledged chicks standing on the nest.
January 2019
30 January
I had a meeting at the University in the morning, about the Rufous Scrub-bird DNA studies. Afterwards I went to Marathon Swamp in Shortland, where amongst other species there were some Wandering Whistling-Ducks (a first for the year for me). Then I went around to Stockton, where for a few days now a Brown Booby had been reported to be roosting on the breakwater. It had a fish hook stuck into its breast, which was a distressing sight (and probably not at all good for the bird). Walking out on the breakwater, another highlight was to have a Common Tern fly past.
26-28 January
Early morning I went to Chisholm where interesting birds including Australian Painted-snipe had recently been reported. I only had poor views of it (I should have taken my 'scope!) but there were lots of other waterbirds present, such as Latham's Snipe, Pink-eared Duck, Great and Intermediate Egret, Red-kneed Dotterel and a couple of hundred Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. In the afternoon we drove up to Smiths Lake to join the HBOC camp. It was extremely hot and so instead of going birding after pitching the tent, I headed for the lake. There was a pair of Forest Raven on the beach and also some waterbirds about e.g. Black Swan, Australian Pelican. Next morning I walked for a couple of hours, finding many good things including White-breasted Woodswallow, Brown Quail, Dollarbird and Sacred Kingfisher. Again, the afternoon was hot so I didn't do much, but mid-afternoon we went around to the main Smiths Lake settlement where I saw an Australian Hobby and various terns, cormorants etc. On Monday morning conditions were cooler, thankfully; my walk yielded Cicadabird, Variegated Fairy-wren, a pair of Regent Bowerbird, some Varied Sittella, an adult male Satin Bowerbird, adult White-bellied Sea-Eagle and quite a bit more.
24 January
No birding today, but I went to a longish meeting at the University to discuss the Port Stephens Eastern Curlew project, which is starting to fire up.
21-23 January
I helped do the HBOC surveys in the Martindale valley. On Monday afternoon I stopped at some spots in the Denman/Martindale area, finding several Rufous Songlarks, a Horsfield's Bushlark and good numbers of White-browed Woodswallows - which included many young birds some of which we still being fed. That night there was an Owlet-nightjar around the campsite plus Tawny Frogmouth and Southern Boobook (on the Tuesday night they were joined by a White-throated Nightjar, which did a brief fly-by followed by lots of calling). In the daytime surveys we found more White-browed Woodswallows also Speckled Warblers, a Crested Shrike-tit, Hooded Robins, Rockwarblers and White-winged Trillers. There was a very demonstrative Brown Songlark in a paddock near the Medhurst Bridge.
19 January
Ross and I did the Ash Island survey today. Conditions were bleak out there - all the ponds were dry or well-advanced in drying, and there had been many fires (resulting in charred landscapes and some fallen power lines). Accordingly, bird numbers and diversity were down but we did find a group of 31 Pacific Golden Plover at Phoenix Flats and 38 Red-capped Plover (including one runner) at Fish Fry Flats. We also found seven Eastern Curlew.
12-14 January
We headed to Ballina via the Gold Coast (to visit relatives) and then from there home to Newcastle. The only highlight of the driving part was to see some Little Terns at Lennox Head. On Sunday I explored Bundjalong National Park near Evans Head (and I tried Broadwater NP as well). I found Brahminy Kite and Osprey around the estuary and a few shorebirds - Aust. Pied Oystercatcher, Eastern Curlew, Pacific Golden Plover, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit. There was also a Striated Heron hunting. On Broadwater Beach I found a group of seven Pied Oystercatchers together (but overall I did poorly in that NP). Arrived home to find waiting for us the proofs of our Corella paper.
5-12 January
We spent a week at O'Reilly's Guest House in Lemington National Park. I did lots of walks in the area and enjoyed some of the up-close opportunities for what normally are shy rainforest birds - for example, Australian Logrunners and Eastern Whipbirds, which have become habituated to the crowds of people (often noisy) that do the easier walks. It was the same story for the scrub-wrens (White-browed, Yellow-throated and Large-billed Scrub-wren) which were happily foraging right in front of me or at my feet. The forests abounded with the calls of pigeons and doves e.g. White-headed Pigeon, Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove, Wompoo Fruit-Dove but they were much more difficult to see except by a fluke. The same went for Noisy Pittas and Paradise Riflebirds. Conversely but with similar consequences, the Albert's Lyrebirds were silent and difficult to track down, except to stumble upon one. I saw one lyrebird on Tuesday and then two birds together on Wednesday - in both cases the birds "ran" off as soon as they became aware of my presence. On Monday I did a long walk for the express purpose of getting onto a Rufous Scrub-bird, which eventually I did but it was too far off the track and the terrain too difficult, so I didn't try to see it. On Thursday night on my way to the glow-worm tour I saw a Marbled Frogmouth - my first sighting of one in about two decades!
4 January
Margaret and I were heading north and today was a fair bit of driving (and then in the motel pool). The only stop where there was any birding opportunity was at Woolgoolga where we walked around the headland - the highlight was to find an Eastern Reef Egret hunting on the rock platform.
2 January
On my way back from a shopping expedition I stopped at Stockton Borehole swamp (near Teralba). It was a hot afternoon so I didn't stay for long, but there were plenty of birds including a couple of hundred each of Pied Stilt and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and 30-40 Red-kneed Dotterels including some immature birds. I also found a group of 7 Red-necked Avocets: it's not often these are away from the Hunter estuary.
1 January
I made my first trip for the year to the Gloucester Tops, mainly to service the Song Meters which I have installed up there. Bird-wise it was quiet, perhaps partly because it was rather warm up there (it got to 26C). There was a Satin Flycatcher near the Kerripit Rd car park and and all four Rufous Scrub-bird territories that I visited the male was singing (quietly/intermittently at two of them, rather robustly at the other two). I almost trod on a Highland Copperhead - that's one of the perils of summertime visits to the Gloucester Tops.