| Sun 12 | | Australasian Bittern
Pitt Town Lagoon |
|
| One seen around noon today foraging out in the open along side the reedy island on the north side of the lagoon. Record shot attached. |
| Edwin Vella et al 12/7 #258303 |
| Sat 11 | | Musk Duck (high count)
North Quary Lake |
| Had at least 13 Musk Duck and 20 Blue-billed Duck on this lake. The most Musk Ducks I have seen in Sydney area.
Lake viewed with scope from Castlereagh Rd and just south of Smith Lane. |
| Edwin Vella 12/7 #258302 |
| Fri 10 | | Redthroat
Silverton Cemetery and Penrose Park Camping Area |
|
| 2 Redthroats were sighted about 100 metres south of the cemetery entrance eBird checklist |
| Martin & Penny Potter 11/7 #258300 |
| | Plumed Whistling Duck
Hunter Valley Zoo, Nulkaba |
|
| Single bird seen on & besides the large waterfowl pond with 4 captive Wandering whistling Duck. Bright pink legs, white flanks & peaked head. Had a full set of wings that weren't pinioned & no bands like the captive waterfowl. I would be interested to see if they occur here regularly. There was a report back in 2019 too. eBird checklist |
| Archie Brennan 10/7 #258289 |
| Thu 9 | | Major Mitchell's Cockatoo
Bulloo Bore Vicinity, Milparinka-Wanaaring Road |
|
| Travelling along the Milparinka-Wanaaring-Bourke Road, Major Mitchell's Cockatoo were regularly seen in pairs, but near the Bulloo Bore, one flock of 42 were encountered. |
| Jodi and Richard Webber 13/7 #258310 |
| | Freckled Duck (2), Brown Honeyeater (1)
Campbell's Swamp Griffith |
| It was good to see the Freckled Ducks back locally after an absence of several months. Also, the Brown Honeyeater was quite unusual for this site. There was a report last week of several birds there - possibly 3. eBird checklist |
| Max O'Sullivan 9/7 #258284 |
| Wed 8 | | Cinnamon Quail-thrush, Bourke's Parrots
Gorge Loop Track Sturt NP Tibooburra |
| The Quail-thrush were calling beside the road on the Gorge Loop Track, a family of four, Bourke's Parrots were seen along this road |
| Jodi and Ricard Webber 13/7 #258308 |
|  | Flock Bronzewing, Bourke’s Parrot,
Toona Gate, Sturt NP Tibooburra NSW |
|
| We visited the North-west NSW from Wilcannia through White Cliffs to Broken Hill up to Tibooburra and Cameron’s Corner then on to Bourke. The Flock Bronzewing were seen on private property just outside Sturt NP beside Toona Gate. Permission is required for this property; the resident is very approachable. A single bird followed by six and then another three in the morning coming into drink. The following afternoon the Bronzewings were again seen coming into drink. South of the Toona gate inside the NP there was a family of Bourke’s parrots amongst them were two very young ones. Checklists on eBrid. eBird checklist |
| Jodi and Richard Webber 13/7 #258307 |
| | Flock Bronzewing, Bourke's Parrot, Inland Dotterel, Cinnamon Quail-Thrush
Sturt NP - |
|
| We are currently on a visit to north-west NSW and took the opportunity to take in Sturt NP. As dusk approached on 8th July we staked out South Myers Tank on the Jump Up Loop track. After the arrival of around 30 Cockatiels, 3 Bourke’s Parrots flew in at 5pm. These were followed by a group of 6 Flock Bronzewings that drank from the tank. Over several days we scanned many kilometres of gibber plain with no sign of a Gibberbird, but instead found Inland Dotterel at 2 locations and also a brief view of a Cinnamon Quail-Thrush. With permission from NPWS and the outgoing owners we visited Narriearra Station but the road to the Grey Grasswren site had become part of an ephemeral wetland which yielded over 100 Black-tailed Native-Hens and 2 Brolga along with many other birds including Orange, Crimson and White-fronted Chats. eBird checklist |
| Martin & Penny Potter 11/7 #258299 |
| Tue 7 | | Rufous Field-wren, Cinnamon Quail-thrush
Packsaddle Plains North of Roadhouse |
| Two Rufous Fieldwrens were seen on a smaller road east of Packsaddle and Cinnamon Quail-thrush were heard calling at that site. There were areas throughout the north-west with feeding parties of Budgerigars, Crimson & Orange Chats, Pied Honeyeaters, Trillers and Woodswallows. Checklist on eBird. |
| Jodi and Richard Webber 13/7 #258309 |
| | Masked Owl
Ben Boyd National Park--Section North of Eden |
| One dark morph presumed male, by size seen by spotlight about 630 pm. Closest views to about 30 m. |
| Dion Hobcroft 11/7 #258294 |
| | Buller's Albatross (2)
Ben Boyd National Park--Green Cape |
| Excellent scope views of two individuals in early afternoon that approached closely to the point. The first I have sea-watched in NSW for me. Also Yellow-nosed (2), Black-browed (2) and Shy (100) Albatrosses, one juvenile Southern Giant-Petrel feeding on the ocean surface and at least two Brown Skuas. An Olive-backed Oriole was unusual in woodland on the heathland edge. |
| Dion Hobcroft 11/7 #258293 |
| | Glossy Black-Cockatoo
Leura (Sublime Point lookout) |
|
| Birds feeding at the lookout for a few days now. |
| Vanessa Cartwright 7/7 #258277 |
| Sun 5 | | Australasian Bittern
Pitt Town Lagoon |
| Presumably same bird as reported 4 July seen 2x approx 2:45pm. Was on the southern side of the easternmost (Pitt Town side) island so was not visible from the hide except when it moved. Seen 2x seen when it flew briefly and dropped down behind the island again. Water level at lagoon sufficient to prevent walking down the east bank and looking back at the island. No sign of Musk or Blue-billed Duck reported on 4 July, but 7 Shoveler still present, and the Swamp Harrier was terrorising the Coots again (also noted in the 4 July report). |
| Tom Wilson 5/7 #258264 |
| | Buller's Albatross
Long Reef Aquatic Reserve |
| There was a Buller's Albatross off Long Reef during a seawatch today also an adult and juvenile Kelp Gull on the island. |
| Michael ronan 5/7 #258263 |
| | Regent Honeyeater
Lake Hume--Dam Wall and Spillway |
| Two Regents feeding in a flowering eucalypt next to the lookout adjacent to the Hume Dam power station. Chased off by Blue faced Honeyeaters. (Moderator's Note: Birds were seen and photographed yesterday [6/07] and photos reveal that the male bird is 'OMNP'; a captive-released bird from the 2017 Chiltern Regent Honeyeater release - one of 16 birds confirmed alive 12 months or more post the 2017 release and the first of that cohort observed three years post release. It has dropped its colour bands and is now only carrying a metal band. MR) |
| Murray Lord 5/7 #258260 |
| Sat 4 | | Glossy Black Cockatoo
Between Blackheath and Mt Victoria on Station Road |
|
| At least 2 pairs feeding, very approachable. Apologies for the awful photo. |
| Jonathan Lyford 5/7 #258258 |
| | Australasian Bittern, Blue-billed and Musk Ducks
Pitt Town Lagoon |
| From about 11 am I observed an Australasian Bittern foraging on the edge of the far-eastern end of the lagoon from the bird hide over several minutes. Seen well through my scope but too far for photos. Also seen were 6 Blue-billed (2 adult males, 2 females and 2 immature birds), a male Musk Duck, a Swamp Harrier putting on a good show trying to snatch the coots, 7 Australasian Shoveler and about 22 Hardhead, |
| Edwin Vella 4/7 #258257 |
| Fri 3 | | Australian Brush Turkey
Blue Mountains National Park- Springwood NSW. |
| Saw a Brush Turkey walking up towards Thompson Avenue on the ridge line. The scrub was thinner than normal so bird could move through easily. The area may have been cleared for access to this bush fire prone area. |
| James O'Connell 3/7 #257254 |
| Wed 1 | | Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, Eastern Bristlebird
Ground Parrot Site, Hyams Beach Rd, Jervis Bay |
| A beautiful day at Hyams Heath with an 'exuberance' of c.200 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos making one hell of a racket feeding in bloodwoods and banksia. Also loads of very active honeyeaters on the heath - New Holland, White-cheeked, Yellow-faced, Brown-headed + Tawny-crowned. Other species too including a calling Eastern Bristlebird - in this wonderful site |
| Michael Ellison 1/7 #257251 |
| Tue 30 | | Striated Pardalote (breeding record)
Doyalson |
| Pair present since at least early May now nesting in tree hollow. Both sexes observed collecting nesting material, displaying at the nest chamber entrance and vigorously calling.
As previously reported pair of over-wintering White Throated Gerygone still present and very vocal, along with other ‘woodland species’ that included Varied Sittella, 3 x Jacky Winter and a single Brown Headed Honeyeater. |
| Andrew Robinson 30/6 #257250 |
| | Pheasant Coucal
Sydney Olympic Park |
| As previously reported by JJ Harrison in Narawang Wetlands on south side of Avenue of Oceania. Looks like an adult female by size in non-breeding plumage although it has a red iris. Sitting in a paperbark in middle of flooded swamp area then dropped to forage on ground in thick stuff. Elusive for me-must have visited ten times since first reported. Many thanks to JJ Harrison for reporting it. Mega! Also a pair of King Parrots and YT Black Cockatoos. |
| Dion Hobcroft 30/6 #257246 |
| Mon 29 | | Australian Bustard
Road between Goodooga and Weilmoringle far western NSW |
|
| My husband and I spotted two lots of these birds about 30 minutes apart about 9.55am and then 10.30am. We were driving from the township of Goodoodga to the settlement of Weilmoringle. The birds were on open grassland plains. In the first group there looked to be 3-4 birds. In the second sighting 2. In all my 53 years I have never seen these birds before. Neither has my 81 year old mother who grew up in the district of Brewarrina. |
| Lucy Howard-Shibuya 11/7 #258291 |
| | Pheasant Coucal
Newington |
| Flushed from bushes at -33.837306, 151.059540 on the Louise Sauvage Pathway just south of the Avenue of Oceania. Quite close to where it was spotted a few months ago. |
| JJ Harrison 29/6 #257243 |
| Sat 27 | | Superb Parrot
Bramble Rd Caleriwi Creek Crossing |
|
| A very large flock of at least 67 individuals was recorded on video taking flight from trees as a Black Shouldered Kite flew overhead. This flock then proceeded to land back in the trees when I was able to obtain numerous good photographs of them. This flock of Superb Parrots was the largest that I have ever personally encountered. eBird checklist |
| Matthew Piper 28/6 #257240 |
| | Peregrine Falcon
Morisset Showground |
| Just returned from the Showground where for the last 30 minutes I’ve watched a Tiercel swoop at the pine tree near the northern entrance or sit on top of a dead tree less than 100 metres away. It was working in conjunction with a Pair of Pied Butcherbirds and the Tiercel would make up to 20 swoops before going back to its perch for up to 8 minutes. I’ve seen Peregrines hunt with Pied Butcherbirds before but never seen such a sustained effort in one location nor the Peregrine behave like it was Still Hunting - in the entire time I was there the Tiercel never flew more than 30 metres above the ground and it was stooping within a metre of the trees ( sometimes between them) at great speed. Very exciting to watch. I checked the pine tree after the trio of hunters moved off to the south but could see nothing in it. There were Peewees, Noisy Miners and Rainbow Lorikeets all hiding in the nearby trees throughout the entire incident plus Magpies and Indian Mynas just across the road calling alarms and staying on the ground |
| Paul Schofield 27/6 #257237 |
| Fri 26 | | Spotted Harrier
Intersection of Colna Rd and Canonba Rd, Nyngan |
| Single bird flew over road before landing in paddock in farmland |
| Mick Crosland 26/6 #257233 |
| | Diamond Dove
Belar creek, Canonba Rd, Nyngan |
| Single bird seen drinking at the creek. |
| Mick Crosland 26/6 #257232 |
| Thu 25 | | White-throated Nightjar
Wardell area |
| Two birds heard calling at 1815hr. Unusual and rare winter record. |
| David Charley 25/6 #257229 |
| Tue 23 | | Australian Bustard
Killarney Gap Road near Narrabri |
|
| 2 more Australian Bustards have been reported to me, with video evidence, from a location on a private property that can be seen from the public road. When seen this morning, the birds were on the cropping area of Sydney Uni's Plant Breeding Institute, on the north-western side of Killarney Gap Road, somewhere along the first 3 km of the road from the Newell Highway turn-off. On the opposite side of the road there is a cattle paddock with a great crop of turnip weeds more suitable for birds as big as bustards to hide in when disturbed, so that is also worth checking. This location is about 15 km from the bird reported recently from Spring Creek Road. |
| G. Roth via Michael Dahlem 23/6 #257218 |
| Mon 22 | | Fluttering Shearwater
Swansea Heads Marine Rescue Centre |
| Today's seawatch yielded 700+ Fluttering Shearwater feeding by Moon Island before about 200 flew south. Also 3 Australasian Gannet, 2 Sooty Oystercatcher & a White-Faced Heron. (Moderator's Note: It is usually a bit later in the season that we start to see the very large flocks of Fluttering-types off Swansea-Newcastle. There were about ~2000 of them off Fort Drive 08/06. MR). eBird checklist |
| Archie Brennan 23/6 #257216 |
| Sun 21 | | Cape Petrel, Black-bellied Storm-petrel (+ Orcas)
Offshore--Port Stephens pelagic |
|
| The first Cape Petrel on a Port Stephens pelagic since September 2015 was seen on a (Covid-adapted) trip that got out on 21/06/2020. Also seen was a single Black-bellied Storm-petrel, good numbers of Solander's Petrels, 2 Grey-faced Petrels, 3 Northern Giant-petrels and small numbers of expected albatrosses (though no Wandering-types). The highlight was 3 Orcas seen on the return trip, no doubt because I wasn't on board! This is the first Orca sighting on any Hunter-based pelagic trip. Photos by Allan Richardson. |
| Allan Richardson, Dan Williams and others per Mick Roderick 25/6 #257226 |
| Sat 20 | | Glossy Black-Cockatoo
Long Beach NSW |
|
| Three Glossy Black-Cockatoo's feeding in Casuarina tree Blairs rd Long Beach NSW |
| Tony Dawe 20/6 #257198 |
| | Pied Butcherbird
North Turramurra Oval, North Turramurra |
| Single Pied Butcherbird came out of gully/trees to south of oval and flew northwards across playing fileds and car park and beyond Bobbin Head Rd - approx 8:15am. Seen well in good light - black hood and wings separated by white collar seen well. Never seen one in my local area before. |
| Tom Wilson 20/6 #257197 |
| Fri 19 | | Black-chinned Honeyeater, Black-eared Cuckoo
Mount Kaputar National Park--Upper Bullawa Creek |
| Bird heard calling around 8 am at the dam 2 km upstream from Foggy Dell (walk the last 500 m from the road sign saying "no vehicle access"; Bullawa Creek is running with a few cm of water across the track); audio available from ebird. There will be other records, but it has taken me more than 10 years to find the species there (again). Other highlights include White-backed Swallow, Brush Cuckoo and Black-eared Cuckoo (see checklist). eBird checklist |
| Michael Dahlem 22/6 #257213 |
| | Superb Fruit-dove
Royal National Park |
|
| Very exciting to find a young Superb Fruit-dove at 4:45pm on 'The Forest Path'. Had excellent views of it feeding and resting in a large lilly-pilly until sunset, at approximately -34.13959, 151.02000 eBird checklist |
| Jayden Walsh and Mike Barrow 19/6 #257196 |
| Thu 18 | | Australian Bustard
Spring Creek Road, about 20 km NE of Narrabri |
|
| This is a report based on information received this morning and I post it with today's date, but the bird in question has, I am told, been on location for months. R. and V. Collins have been seeing an Australian Bustard along Spring Creek Road, which is reached from Narrabri by driving over 12 Mile Hill on Killarney Gap Road (towards Bingara). From the hill top, it is the first turn-off to the right, about 20 km out of town). The bird was seen about 1 km in, in cropping fields that now only have stubble on them (ID shot obtained by V. Collins on 10 May 2020 attached). This is the farthest to the east an Australian Bustard has been found in the region in eBird records, further yet than one along Yarrie Lake Road, 10 km W of Narrabri, in July 2014. (Moderator's Note: A very interesting record adding to the small easterly influx of bustards at present. There is a record in Birdata from "20km south of Narrabri" [displayed as near Eulah Creek] in late 2006. MR) |
| R. & V. Collins (per Michael Dahlem) 18/6 #257188 |
| Wed 17 | | Little Penguin
Arakoon NP, Laggers Point |
| Local experienced bird enthusiast/pro fisherman, Laurie McEnally gave me a report of several Little Penguin feeding beside Laggers Point breakwall this morning and over the last few days. Many Gannets were also in the feeding event.
The penguins were very noisy.
I went looking for them a little later, Just after 9-00 am. but the Gannets were only cruising and penguins not found.
Before leaving the park a visiting couple stopped to ask me about the big birds diving earlier and when I mentioned the penguin report, they looked at each other and smiled, the gentleman had heard what he thought was penguin calls, but they thought they were too far north. They were very familiar with penguins from Victoria and Tasmania.
I mentioned this only in comments as I had not seen them, eBird checklist.S70517723 |
| Laurie McEnally, per Ian Bradshaw. 17/6 #257185 |
| Tue 16 | | Australian Magpie
Wiseman's Ferry Rd at Ironbark Ck |
| At least 50 Magpies all in one dead tree beside the road just before crossing Ironbark Ck (heading South). Tree coordinates: -33.39060678 151.152051849 (NSW SIX Maps). Will be interesting to hear if this flock is persistent. HANZAB notes flocks of up to 100 have been observed. |
| Lewis Benham 18/6 #257186 |
| | Horsfields Bronze Cuckoo, Black-eared Cuckoo
Taratta State Forest 35 km North of Condobolin |
| Late afternoon visit yielded 3 HBC and 2 BEC all within 50m of each other right beside main Cobar road. Birds were calling and interacting with each other. Very late to see any of these species here. Also good to see good numbers of Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters have returned to the mallee. |
| Warren Chad 17/6 #257184 |
| | Little Corella, SC Cockatoo, Galah
Hampden Ave - North Wagga - Cartwrights Hill |
|
| A huge mixed flock containing thousands of birds were feeding on the ground in a floodplain paddock between North Wagga and Cartwrights Hill. Most seemed to be Little Corellas and SC Cockatoos but Galahs were also in their hundreds. I identified 1 LB Corella in the short time I had available - surely there were many more. The birds were startled at one point and rose as one - the noise was deafening. My poor Iphone photo does not do justice to the spectacle. eBird checklist |
| Steven Cooper 16/6 #257183 |
| | Swift Parrot
Fairhaven, Wallaga Lake |
| At least 4 birds seen flying between trees calling, likely more but couldn't get close as it was in private property. Same spot I had a flock of up to 70 birds in late April 2019 eBird checklist |
| Ash Allnutt 16/6 #257182 |