Thinking About Birds

November 2025

12-13 November

I called in at Central Coast Wetlands on my way to Newcastle for the HBOC meeting. There I saw a Latham’s Snipe, my first for the season, and also a Buff-banded Rail. To my surprise, as it’s been quite dry for months, there was still a lot of water and hence, no muddy margins for shorebirds. I had several close views of Tawny Grassbirds and also some Bell Miners down at about ground level.

The HBOC meeting’s main feature was a video about Masked Owls in southwest WA (also a short one about rodenticides) but they were able to turn it into a good interactive discussion afterwards.

Next morning I went first to Bulbul Crescent in Fletcher, for views over some of Hexham Swamp. There was another Latham’s Snipe, and some Sharp-tailed Ssndpipers - both species invisible until flushed by a Swamp Harrier. Grey Teals were the dominant duck but there were small numbers of various other types. From there I went to nearby Kau Ma Park. Three raptor species were on view when I arrived - Swamp Harrier, Brown Goshawk, Australian Hobby - and a Pacific Koel was flying about in the fringing trees. The highlight was a pair of Black-necked Storks, which were standing on an artificial structure put out in the swamp about 2 years ago specifically for them to nest on. My sighting today is the first time they’ve been recorded using it. There was a fire last weekend which damaged the tree they’ve been preferring.

Heading home, I stopped at the rainforest area at the Ourimbah RTA Reserve. Here I saw many great birds including Rufous Fantails, Golden Whistlers, Black-faced Monarchs and Yellow-throated Scrubwrens. I also saw a male Regent Bowerbird and a Large-billed Scrubwren. Two Varied Trillers were calling too, but I couldn’t track them down.

11 November

In the morning I surveyed two more of my sites in Brisbane Water National Park and then went around to the arboretum at Pearl Beach. I heard several Brush Bronzewings in the NP plus a couple of Pheasant Coucals - didn’t see any of that! At the arboretum I found a Satin Bowerbird bower - a male was very active at it and some females visited. I later saw a Regent Bowerbird - a female but I had a good view of it; it’s my first for the Woy Woy Peninsula. Not long after that I saw a furtive Superb Lyrebird - it began calling about ten minutes later ie no longer furtive!

8 November

In the morning I did the Ash Island survey, with Ross and James. We found 58 species, which is an impressive total for out there. There were four Far Eastern Curlews at Milhams Pond while at Swan Pond we had 5 Bar-tailed Godwits and eight Black-tailed Godwits. It took us quite a while to sort out species and numbers as they were buried within a roosting group of 200+ Pied Stilts. Eventually a White-bellied Sea Eagle disturbed the group, which gave us some better views. One pair of stilts had a nest with eggs. We saw about 20 Great Egrets - that’s down a lot on the October count though. Fish Fry Flats had too much water for there to be many birds (it was a very high tide) but we flushed a Little Heron there.

NPWS provided lunch for all the HBOC surveyors and then we all piled onto two boats for a river cruise. We went downstream to just beyond Stockton Bridge - where amazingly there was a Great Crested Grebe in the water plus a Brahminy Kite overhead. On the trip back we spent time drifting just off the dykes and checking out the shorebirds. As well as the Far Eastern Curlews and Common Greenshanks, both in moderate numbers, there was a Marsh Sandpiper and a Whimbrel. I recorded 25 species during the cruise but it was just as much about kicking back with fellow birders and chatting a lot.

6 November

I did my Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland sites in the morning. Unusually, there was a Black-faced Monarch present, plus I saw a pair of Lewin’s Honeyeaters together and at least three Eastern Yellow Robins were calling. One of those was in the burnt area as was a Black-faced Cuckooshrike. An Australian Brushturkey scampered off as soon as it saw me. There are two mounds but I believe only one is was active this year.

5 November

I surveyed three of my sites in Brisbane Water National Park - at Pearl Caves and then the Curra Swamp area. I heard three Brush Bronzewings at the latter and a Brown Cuckoo-Dove at the former. There also was an Olive-backed Oriole there.

4 November

Late morning I walked along Brisbane Water from Woy Woy to Blackwall. I found a Mistletoebird, which is certainly an uncommon bird for me locally. It initially was in a mangrove, which also is an unusual place for one to be. Once again I had a Long-billed Corella - just the one this time. And there was a pair of Pied Oystercatchers. Other birds of interest included a Black-faced Cuckooshrike (unusual for the area) and a couple of White-breasted Woodswallows.

October 2025

24 October

I surveyed two more sites in Brisbane Water National Park, and then the arboretum at Pearl Beach. I've finally caught up with the backlog after my extended bout of bronchitis in early October! The NP was very quiet, but the arboretum had plenty of birds including some Satin Bowerbirds hanging around a bower, Brown Gerygones, and a Brown Cuckoo Dove.

23 October

I walked from Woy Woy to Blackwall, alongside Brisbane Water. Maned Ducks were plentiful - I found 22 although that included a pair with 9 advanced youngsters. There were 3 Caspian Terns out on the sandbank along with all the Australian Pelicans, and overall I saw five Pied Oystercatchers (as 2 pairs plus a single). I found a single Long-billed Corella, then later, three more.

22 October

I did my surveys of the Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland. As usual it’s marginal for birds but I found 20 species overall including a Brown Thornbill and a Mistletoebird, also Australian Golden Whistler and Satin Bowerbird.

21 October

I did my surveys of the Warrah Trig section of Brisbane Water National Park. Several Brush Bronzewings were calling and I managed a nice view of one of them. I also came upon a pair of Glossy Black Cockatoos, quite close to the track. Honeyeaters were in short supply though. I finished up at Patonga, where I found five Australian Brushturkeys.

20 October

I surveyed three of my sites in Brisbane Water National Park - at Pearl Beach and then the Curra Swamp area. Although it was fairly quiet, I did hear a couple of Pheasant Coucals plus I flushed a Brush Bronzewing. Also, there were a few vocal Rufous Whistlers.

18 October

Ross, Callum and I surveyed Ash Island as part of the monthly Hunter Estuary survey. We found ten Far Eastern Curlews including the tagged bird AAE, now into its third season in the estuary. There also were seven Sharp-tailed Sandpipers at the Bellfrog Wetland and some Pied Stilts at the main ponds system. A highlight was an assembly of about 130 Magpie Geese along Cabbage Tree Rd, and later, a group of about 65 Great Egrets. The geese looked like they had overnighted, and they were gone a few hours later when we drove past again. We also had two highly vocal male White-winged Trillers during our rounds (and, 57 species overall).

17 October

I was part of a team that surveyed the Worimi swales (for the third time this year). With Martin, I walked south from Tin City until we met the northbound team a few hours later. The swales weren’t as treacherous as they were in July, thankfully. Birds weren’t in big numbers though. We found several pairs of Red-capped Plovers, a few Pied Oystercatchers and Australian Terns, and flushed a Double-banded Plovers. I also found recent footprints (from the previous night, presumably) of a Beach Stone-curlew. We had some nice views of adult White-bellied Sea Eagles too.

12-15 October

On Sunday I drove to the Gloucester Tops, where I camped for three nights. Mainly that was for the annual Rufous Scrub-bird surveys - we had eight participants this time around. The scrub-birds weren't calling much, presumably because it is so dry up there. However, I did hear several birds (comprising seven individuals overall) plus I had a nice view of a female, having first heard her clucking in the undergrowth near me. I saw some Red-browed Treecreepers, and there were several Olive Whistlers in the high country, plus many Bassian Thrushes. On the drive up to the Tops each morning, we flushed Brown Cuckoo Doves, Wonga Pigeons and Superb Lyrebirds, and plenty more Bassian Thrushes. Around the campsite there were Russet-tailed Thrushes, Satin Bowerbirds, Australian Brushturkeys, Noisy Pittas plus the usual small birds. Several Australian Boobooks called each night, and a Tawny Frogmouth on the final night.

1 October

I took a visiting Japanese birdwatcher to some places around Sydney - Centennial Park, and then part of Bicentennial Park. The latter was far more interesting - some nesting Pied Stilts, also nesting Masked Lapwings, plus there were White-faced Herons and White-necked Herons, and various other common species. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any migratory shorebirdspecies.