Thinking About Birds

December 2025

3 December

I surveyed Ash Island in the morning, as part of the monthly HBOC waterbirds survey. There was an adult Brahminy Kite by the north channel of the river, and nearby two Ospreys were at the tower where there used to be a nest. I found four Far Eastern Curlews at the Milhams Pond/Phoenix Flats ponds, but the only additional shorebirds were two Pied Stilts at Swan Pond. It was a really hot day (nudging 42C at times) and it was quiet birding as a result - I only found 43 species for the morning.

4 December

I did my monthly surveys in the Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland. It was far quieter than when I was there in November - there were hardly any birds and the probablt highlight was some Eastern Yellow Robins.

3 December

I surveyed three of my sites in Brisbane Water National Park - one at Pearl Caves and then two in the Curra Swamp area. I heard a Brush Bronzewing and two Pheasant Coucals at the latter plus there were both Golden Whistlers and Rufous Whistlers. A eucalypt in blossom had many New Holland Honeyeaters and White-cheeked Honeyeaters. There was a calling Brown Cuckoo-Dove at the Pearl Caves site, and a reasonable list of mid- to large-sized birds - nothing small.

November 2025

25 November

I went to the Central Coast group's meeting in Tuggerah in the evening - the main event was a talk about birding in Costa Rica, which brought back fond memories from my trip to that country 20 months ago. Before the meeting I visited the Central Coast Wetlands in Wyong. I found 43 species there, a good tally for that site, with thehighlights including Fairy Martins, Brown Quails, Tawny Grassbirds and Golden-headed Cisiticolas. Also, I saw two Latham's Snipe, and heard a Pheasant Coucal.

21 November

I walked from Woy Woy to Blackwall anolnside Brisbane Water. The Black Swans are back - I counted 75 of them today. Other highlights included some White-breasted Woodswallows (they've been back for a while but I didn't see them the previous time) and three Pied Oystercatchers.

18 November

I did my surveys of the Warrah Trig section of Brisbane Water National Park. It was quiet (very much so!) but I had good views of two Brush Bronzewings plus heard three others, and there was a Rockwarbler at my final 2ha site. At Patonga afterwards, there were three Australian Brush-turkeys.

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.