Thinking About Birds

March 2025

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.

February 2025

27 February

In the morning I did my regular walk alongside Brisbane Water, going from Woy Woy to Blackwall. I saw 3 pairs of Australian Pied Oystercatchers, and there were 150+ Black Swans. It’s only a few months ago that they were completely absent locally. I also had a couple of Musk Lorikeets, and a group of three Long-billed Corellas (as well as many Little Corellas).

26 February

I did my monthly surveys of the Warrah Trig area of Brisbane Water National Park. My regular sites were quiet, but as I walked around I had delightful encounters with a Rufous Fantail and a group of Variegated Fairy-wrens, and then a pair of Rockwarblers. The latter were uninhibited by my presence, and at times were foraging almost at my feet. I had a great view of a Spotted Pardalote at the same spot.

25 February

In the evening I went to the February meeting of the Central Coast group of Birding NSW. The guest speaker was Ann Lindsey, talking about the various Black-necked Stork breeding attempts in the Hunter Estuary. Prior to that I visited the Central Coast Wetland - it was quiet there, and the highlights were 19 Great Cormorants (mostly roosting together in a tree) and a Sacred Kingfisher.

21-23 February

Eight of us from HBOC spent 3 days on Broughton Island for the summer visit there. It was quiet - the banders only caught 40 birds, with many re-traps of presumed residents especially of Silvereyes. Those of us doing surveys didn't find much either. The highlights included brief fly-throughs from a group of four Fork-tailed Swifts and a flock of about 30 White-throated Needletails, a few sightings of Eastern Reef Egrets, and a Peregrine Falcon. There were no chicks (nor eggs) in the Gould's Petrel nest boxes but we did find a total of sevenindividuals (from three visits to the nest boxes). There were many Wedge-tailed Shearwaters on the island, presumably all with chicks in burrows, and we saw quite a few of them on the boat trips to and from the island. We also saw a couple of Australasian Gannets from the boat.

16 February

Dave Stone and I surveyed 5km of the swales behind the foredunes of the Worimi Conservation Lands, as part of an HBOC project to survey all of those swales. We found 25 Red-capped Plovers - whereas, the team doing the beach didn't find many, presumably because of disturbance from the massive numbers of 4WD people on the weekend. We didn't find much else - except for plenty of Australasian Pipits, some Welcome Swallows, and a solitary Tree Martin. Along the beach on our way back, there were 100+ Australian Pied Oystercatchers.

15 February

Ross, Cyrus and I surveyed Ash Island. The main ponds had stacks of birds - about 700 Pied Stilts, 350-400 Red-necked Avocets, a lone Red Knot, some Bar-tailed and 15+ Black-tailed Godwits. We also had eleven Far Eastern Curlews and a group of 30 Pacific Golden Plovers. There weren't many bush birds though.

14 February

Jeff and I were in a Marine Parks boat for the summer survey of Port Stephens. We found a group of 21 Whimbrel on an oyster rack and there were scattered small numbers of Far Eastern Curlews and Bar-tailed Godwits. We found a group of 20+ Australian Pied Oystercatchers together with four Sooty Oystercatchers, and we had Grey-tailed Tattlers in small groups at three sites. The main raptor was the White-bellied Sea-Eagle - we found six individuals, and there were 22 of them recorded overall, by the six teams.

13 February

On my way to Lemon Tree Passage for tomorrow's survey of Port Stephens, I stopped at the Tuggerah salt marsh area and then at the Central Coast Wetlands. The salt marsh was full of water, and not many birds - the highlight was some Litte Egrets. Similarly, there wasn't much at the CC Wetlands.

12 February

I spent the afternoon in the Box Head section of Bouddi National Park - birding, but not finding much. The highlight was a fly-by from a White-bellied Sea-Eagle.

10 February

Not much birding today, but at the end of a trip around the Hawkesbury River I saw an adult Brahminy Kite - I had prolonged views, and so presumably it's a well-established bird. The southern expansion continues!

6 February

I surveyed another two of my sites in Brisbane Water NP, in the Van Dahls Firetrail area, plus visited the Crommelin Arboretum at Pearl Beach. The highlights (these bothwere in the NP) were a group of four Brown-headed Honeyeaters and a fly-through by a pair of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos.

5 February

I visited the Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland, having shunned the place in January becasue of very high cicada activity. They weren't too bad this time. There weren't many birds but I found a pair of White-browed Scrubwrens and a female Variegated Fairy-wren - both were new species for my list for the site. I also found a very young Eastern Yellow Robin - that's almost certainly a breeding record for the site.

4 February

I surveyed three of my sites in Brisbane Water NP - two of them in the Coora Swamp area and one at Pearl Beach. Although it was fairly quiet bird-wise, at least the cicadas weren't too bad and some honeyeaters have returned (at last). The highlights were a group of three Brown-headed Honeyeaters. and a small group of Variegated Fairy-wrens.