Thinking About Birds

April 2025

14 April

I did my monthly surveys of the Warrah Trig section of Brisbane Water National Park in the morning and then went around to Patonga for a while, for some waterbirds. There were three types of cormorant there - Great Pied, Great and Little Black Cormorant. The National Park had lots of honeyeaters but not much else of note.

12 April

Four of us did the quarterly survey of Ash Island in the morning. The only migratory shorebirds were two Far Eastern Curlews but we found 700+ Pied Stilts on Swan Pond. There were 12 Red-necked Avocets amongst them, and we found Black-fronted Dotterels at a couple of spots too. There were a couple of hundred each of Chestnut Teal and Grey Teal, plus some Australasian Shovelers in with them. A raptor highlight was a Collared Sparrowhawk, which flew across Phoenix Flat and briefly perched in a gum tree (I got it into my scope, for a moment). We had several other raptor species through the morning - Brown Falcon, Nankeen Kestrel, Black-shouldered Kite, Whistling Kite and Swamp Harrier, all in multiples. Other highlights were a Caspian Tern and a Spangled Drongo.

9-11 April

After I left Martindale I went to a property at Turanville near Scone. The place has a large area of River Red Gums, which are now protected by a Conservancy Agreement with the NSW government. Many of the trees are hundreds of years old and some approaching 1000 years. They have hollows galore, and so there were lots of parrot-types around (lorikeets, rosellas, cockatoos). The owner is keen for us to do regular surveys there.

Then I went to McCullys Gap, where four of us did the quarterly surveys over Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday evening we heard a pair of Powerful Owls around our campsite and the male was calling again on Thursday evening. We saw a young Swamp Harrier on Wednesday afternoon - the first record of one for the area (I was surprised that it wasn’t a Spotted Harrier instead). There were several Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters around the campsite (some also at a couple of other sites) and we had a small group of Dusky Woodswallows too. Overall we recorded 90 species (68 for me). On my way to Newcastle (where I spent Friday night) I stopped off at Doughboy Hollow, where around 120 Plumed Whistling-ducks were visible. It’s always a bit pot-luck how many are able to be seen there.

7-9 April

Four of us did the quarterly surveys at Martindale. On my way there I stopped at Jerrys Plains cemetery which was quiet except that I found a female Red-capped Robin. Martindale had many Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters - including about 15 of them at the Medhurst Bridge site where the Mistletoe was flowering prolifically. There were lots of other honeyeaters also using the blossom. Overall we had around 100 species (79 for me) including Little Lorikeets and Musk Lorikeets, Speckled Warblers, Grey-crowned Babblers, Blue-faced Honeyeaters and Brown Quail. The highlight was a Spotted Harrier, which we saw a few times near the bridge. We also had several good views of Wedge-tailed Eagles, and briefly a Little Eagle.

4 April

I went to the Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland. It was a little bit birdier than my previous visits - including I saw Yellow Thornbill and Scarlet Honeyeater plus Eastern Yellow Robin (seems to be reliable there) and heard a couple of Golden Whistlers.

3 April

I surveyed two more sites in Brisbane Water National Park - there were plenty of honeyeaters including I saw an immature Fuscous Honeyeater - not a bird that I find often locally. There was a group of three Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos just as I was leaving. I also went to Crommelin Arboretum, where there were a couple of Musk Lorikeets.

2 April

Margaret and I went up to Nelson Bay for a dinner with visitors from Yugawara City. They hosted us during part of our birdwatching visit to Japan in 2023. On the way we detoured to Palmdale, where I had been tipped off about some Gang-gang Cockatoos being present. Bingo! I saw a dozen birds, high up in an avenue of liquidambers. Walking around Nelson Bay in the drizzle, I saw Scaly-breasted Lorikeets and a Striated Heron.

1 April

I surveyed three sites in Brisbane Water National Park - nothing exceptional recorded.

March 2025

31 March

I walked from Woy Woy alongside Brisbane Water with my daughter Sally. We saw a Caspian Tern a few times (but probably the same bird each time) and there were four Australian Pied Oystercatchers on the sand island. That didn’t have many Australian Pelicans on it this time, but amongst the ones present there were a couple of young ones. The final bird of the walk was the highlight - we flushed a Striated Heron.

28 March

I did a pelagic trip from Terrigal - my first one from that port. The shelf is much closer than it is from Port Stephens which is a plus but the boat produced a lot of spray, which is a negative. Although the diversity wasn’t great we had some good birds including a Gould’s Petrel at the start of the drift and two Kermadec Petrels near the end of it. We also had several each of Providence Petrels and Grey-faced Petrels, and 3-4 Shy Albatross types. There were numerous Wilson’s Storm-petrels too, and hundreds of shearwaters. The highlight though was a prolonged encounter with a Smooth Hammerhead shark, which hung around the boat for almost two hours.

25 March

Mid-morning I visited Katandra Reserve, a hilly rainforest site near Mt Eliot. However, I didn't find a lot of birds - the highlight was some Large-billed Scrub-wrens. I quickly became quite leech-conscious, and consequently I didn't stay very long. I then headed to the coast - to the rock platforms at Soldiers Point and Norah Head. I saw some Caspian Terns, also a Sooty Oystercatcher and various cormorant species, plus lots of gulls and terns. My last stop was the Central Coast Wetlands at Wyong, where there was a group of four Black-fronted Dotterels on a narrow mudflat and many Cattle Egrets in the paddocks. There alos were a couple each of Great Egrets and Plumed Egrets.

In the evening I went to the monthly meeting of the Central Coast branch of Birding NSW. The main talk was about olfactory disguise of shorebird nest sites, to protect them from foxes and other predators. I found it interesting.

20 March

I went to the Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland to do my monthly surveys there. As usual it was very quiet. I had my first record for there of Lewin's Honeyeater, and once again there were some Eastern Yellow Robins present. I'll give this site a few more months but it isn't a very fruitful one.

18 March

I surveyed the Warrah Trig area of Brisbane Water National Park in the morning. At my first site I saw a female Variegated Fairy-wren - that was probably my highlight for the day. There were lots of honeyeaters, including a few Noisy Friarbirds, a Yellow-faced Honeyeater and at least a couple of Scarlet Honeyeaters. Early signs of the autumn northern migration?

17 March

I did my walk alongside Brisbane Water, from Woy Woy to Blackwall. Surprisingly, the numbers for both Black Swan and Australian Pelican were down a lot on recent months - there were only 50-60 of each species compared with 150 or so of each usually. The Mallard count was alarming - there were about 120 of them including two groups each of about 40 birds. But, I also saw some Pacific Black Ducks (about 20 of them), two Chestnut Teal and a pair of Australian Wood Ducks had eight youngsters. There was a single Blue-faced Honeyeater along the foreshore, and earlier I saw a Sacred Kingfisher and a pair of Australian Pied Oystercatchers.

15 March

The three of us (me, Ross, Cyrus) had a good morning on Ash Island – there were plenty of birds to look out and a good diversity of them too. On the main ponds there were about 350 Pied Stilts, with about ten Red-necked Avocets amongst them plus ten roosting godwits (nine Black-tailed Godwit, one Bar-tailed Godwit). We couldn’t find any Pacific Golden Plovers around Milhams Pond/Phoenix Flat but there were three Far Eastern Curlews, one of which was the bird with leg flag AAE – it’s being quite faithful to that site. We found a Latham’s Snipe foraging in a swale along Cabbage Tree Rd. Teal Waters was living up to its name (which isn’t always the case). There were about 300 teal on it, with Grey Teal outnumbering the Chestnut Teal, and also four Australasian Shovelers and five Pink-eared Ducks. The raptor species count was good too – Brown Falcon, Nankeen Kestrel, Whistling Kite, Swamp Harrier, Black-shouldered Kite and White-bellied Sea-Eagle. We also had two separate Spangled Drongo sightings, plus views of Sacred Kingfisher and Azure Kingfisher.

13-14 March

Both mornings I did some of my regular surveys around Brisbane Water National Park. There was't much species diversity but the honeyeaters were very active, and their numbers have risen (especially for the White-cheeked Honeyeaters). At the Crommelin Arboretum I saw two Australian Brush-turkeys plus two Brown Cuckoo-doves were calling.

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NSW/ACT short trip

Margaret and I went to Canberra for two nights, followed by three nights at West Wyalong and then three nights at Wagga Wagga. The trip was only partly for birding .

3 March

Margaret and I drove to Canberra - an uneventful trip with no birding stops until we were in the ACT. Then, we stopped off for a while at the Jerrabomberra Wetlands, lateish afternoon. I discovered a couple of Freckled Ducks lurking under a shady tree - it had been several years since I last saw any in the wild. Another shaded area had a large group of Australasian Shovelers - about 35 birds were bunched up together. I also had a nice view of an Australian Reed-warbler during my walk around.

4 March

My plan was to spend the morning at the National Botanic Gardens but it was quiet there plus several tracks were closed for maintenance work. I left mid-morning having not had much by way of highlights - perhaps a pair of Common Blackbirds, many New Holland Honeyeaters were the best of them. I decided to try some of the many dry woodland nature reserves in the ACT but I had trouble finding where exactly one could access them. Eventually I made brief visits to Isaacs NR and Wanniassa Hills NR but it was already late morning and there wasn’t much bird activity. And the afternoon was spent on cultural activities.

5 March

We left Canberra early afternoon and had an afternoon of mostly driving - which was not helped by an accommodation snafu. We made one birding stop, near Ungarie where there was plenty of Grey Mistletoe. Here I found some Mistletoebirds, and also a couple of Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, but not much else was using the vegetation. I saw two Masked Woodswallows overhead, but I heard many more woodswallow-types way above the canopy. Near Lake Cargelligo there were some Yellow-throated Miners, and en route I saw several groups of Apostlebirds and White-winged Choughs, plus a group of three Blue Bonnets.

6 March

There were Little Ravens and Blue-faced Honeyeaters around the West Wyalong caravan park. I spent a fair bit of the morning at Charcoal Tank Nature Reserve. White-eared Honeyeaters were the predominant arboreal species but above the canopy (and occasionally landing in trees) were hundreds of woodswallows - mostly White-browed but I saw a few Masked Woodswallows too. Small bush birds were absent until right at the end when, in rapid succession, I had Brown Thornbills, Chestnut-rumped Thornbills and Splendid Fairy-wrens around me.

I tried a couple other places without much success, and then idled until lateish afternoon when conditions were beginning to cool. I visited Cooinda Waters, where I found White-breasted Woodswallows and a Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, but not much else. Then I went across the road, to a wetland I’d visited several years ago. Since then, connections with the sewage treatment works have opened up. I found a Musk Duck, 10-12 Pink-eared Ducks, and miscellaneous other water birds including two Yellow-billed Spoonbills and about 30 Hoary-headed Grebes. It was my 6000th Birdata survey so I was pleased that there were a few “specials” amongst the species I found.

7 March

I spent the morning in the north-west section (“Hiawatha section”) of the South West Woodland Nature Reserve. At my first stop, I flushed a Common Bronzewing - for a moment I thought it might be a nightjar, but that wasn’t to be. There were White-browed Woodswallows overhead always, but not in large numbers. I found some Inland Thornbills in company with Buff-rumped Thornbills and some Purple-backed Fairy-wrens. I also saw a Brown-headed Honeyeater nearby, and later a pair of Brown Treecreepers. The second spot had White-throated Treecreepers, more Inland Thornbills and Brown-headed Honeyeaters, and also Peaceful Doves, Dusky Woodswallows and Double-barred Finches. The afternoon was too warm for birding and I just hung around the cabin.

8 March

Before we checked out, I went back to the West Wyalong Wetland. It was jumping - I found 39 species compared to 27 on Thursday afternoon. There was a large group of White-breasted Woodswallows huddled together on two branches (one directly above the other) plus a couple more smaller groups, also 100 or more Welcome Swallows and 50 or so Tree Martins. Highlights for me included several Australian Ringnecks, a pair of Black-fronted Dotterels, and a very wary Black-tailed Native-hen. The Musk Duck and Pink-eared Ducks from Thursday were still around.

We drove to Narrandera and visited the artificial wetland there. It was almost bone dry, and not many birds around. However, I found a couple of Yellow Rosellas (ssp of Crimson) and separate groups of Purple-backed Fairy-wrens and White-winged Fairy-wrens. Thence to Wagga Wagga.

9 March

I spent most of the morning at or near the Marrambidya Wetlands on the fringes of Wagga, alongside the Murrumbidgee River. I was hoping I might find a Superb Parrot but yet again they shunned me. I had very pleasant birding, but found nothing extraordinary. A highlight was a close encounter with a juvenile Sacred Kingfisher (later, I also had nice views of an adult). Late morning I went to a woodland site, Pomingalarna Park. I had trouble finding it as the birding trails brochure was a bit lacking. The site was quiet, until right at the end when I found a female Red-capped Robin. I finished my expedition at Lake Albert - cited as a shorebird site but it was full of water and speedboats.

10 March

I went to the Mates Gully Rd TSR - it was further away than I anticipated plus hard to find (poorly signed). But, I found it eventually. It was woodland birding, with my highlight being a pair of Black-chinned Honeyeaters. There was also a large busy group of Fuscous Honeyeaters. An Eastern Shrike-tit came in while I was enjoying a close encounter with a Grey Shrike-thrush. I tried three other TSRs in the same general area. Two were full of cattle (I tried birding at one of them and soon had a hundred or so cows following me around). The third was unsignposted and I wasn’t sure whether I was at the right spot. It didn’t look all that appealing either, and so I called it quits for the day.

1 March

I took Sally and Tom to the Ourimbah RTA Reserve late morning. Our very first bird, foraging on the track near the entry gate, was a Bassian Thrush - which was a new bird for both of them. Later we had wonderful views of Large-billed Scrubwrens (a couple of groups of them) and Yellow-throated Scrubwrens (many, often foraging on the track), and a few Black-faced Monarchs, including a young one (it had no black face). We saw several Eastern Whipbirds foraging on the ground. Afterwards we stopped at Mt Penang Gardens, where there were 30+ Australian Wood Ducks, and a couple of Mallards were wandering around the cafe.