| Tue 29 |  | Asian Dowitcher, Common Gull-billed Tern
Stockton Sandspit |
|
| An Asian Dowitcher was first reported at Stockton Sandspit by Anders Balksten on Friday (25/11) but not seen again until yesterday afternoon (28/11) when several people saw it on the dropping tide. The bird was back there this morning and it appears to be following the same routine as the Bar-tailed Godwits (i.e. roosting at the sandspit at high tide, staging on the beach on the run-out / run-in tides and flying off to feed in Fullerton Cove at low tide). It is not known if this bird is occasionally using the Kooragang Dykes as a high tide roost on some tides, but I think this is likely if the godwits use the dykes. Therefore my recommendation would be trying for it between say 2 to 3.5 hours before or after high tide when birds are staging on the beach (though of course it could be in the lagoon on high tide as well).
This would be the 5th record of Asian Dowitcher in NSW and the third time it has been recorded at Stockton Sandspit (the previous two times were April 1985 and Aug + Oct 1988). A NSW ORAC submission will be prepared. The Common Gull-billed Tern that has been frequenting the sandspit for the past couple of weeks was also present. |
| Mick Roderick 29/11 #268652 |
| Mon 28 | | Sooty Tern
Offshore--Sydney Pelagic |
|
| Highlights from Monday's rescheduled November trip included a single Sooty Tern seen close to the shelf. Also typical for this time of year we had migrating shearwaters in reasonable numbers. Also many Hutton's Shearwaters were encountered loafing on the surface. In contrast to a private charter on last Friday we had numerous Flesh-footed Shearwaters following the boat instead of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters. A White-chinned Petrel was also seen on Friday giving everyone onboard excellent views. See eBird list for details. eBird checklist |
| Sydney Pelagics and all onboard 30/11 #268654 |
| Sat 26 | | Greater Sooty Owl x 2, Southern Boobook x 4
Blaxland |
|
| A spotlighting outing turned up two juvenile Greater Sooty Owls, constantly begging to be fed. I could only locate one of the two owlets, but there was a second bird screeching, begging close-by. Also found at least four boobooks, with a nest nearby (at least two were immature birds). |
| Ákos Lumnitzer and others 27/11 #268641 |
| | Magpie Goose
Geneebeinga Wetlands Casino |
|
| 50+ Geese at edge of water, probably more as some were laying in grass, 3 adults (breeding trio) and 3 goslings moved from group and the 3 adults were foraging, with the young following. |
| Greg Clancy 26/11 #268640 |
| Fri 25 | | Grey Plover
North narrabeen rockpools |
|
| I saw this bird on 23rd and 25th November, both times was wondering around the rockpool tide lines. It was spotted on 4-5pm on both days |
| Jack Fegan 26/11 #268639 |
| | Aleutian Terns, White-winged Black Tern, Great Knot
Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar |
|
| 9 Aleutian Terns on the Northern side of Farquhar Inlet. Note that there is a large colony of breeding Little Terns in the fenced area, please be mindful when near the fences. (Moderatopr's Note: On 24/11/2022, Yesterday, the Hastings Birdwatchers in their monthly survey of the Farquhar Inlet, also saw a White-winged Black Tern, a Great Knot, 2 Curlew Sandpipers, Sanderlings and estimated 300 Little Terns as well as the other expected waders. AKM). |
| Silas Darnell James Bennett 25/11 #268636 |
| | Sanderling, Lesser Sand Plover, Grey Plover
Manning Estuary at the Harrington Breakwall |
| Good wader watching at the Harrington breakwall this afternoon. Birds seen included 23 Sanderlings, 1 Grey Plover, 2 Lesser Sand Plover, 83 Red-necked Stint, 25 Pacific Golden Plover, 2 Curlew Sandpipers and a Grey-tailed Tatler, plus Eastern Curlews, Bar-tailed Godwit and 53 Red-capped Plovers. Pied Oystercatchers had young and were nesting. Silas counted 16 nesting pairs of Little Terns inside the fenced area yesterday, an it has been estimated that over 250 Little Terns, mostly non-breeders are present in the estuary. The Grey Plover and 42 Sanderlings were counted by the Hastings Birdwatchers in their monthly wader survey at this site yesterday. |
| Alan Morris and Silas Darnell 25/11 #268634 |
| Thu 24 | | Grey Plover, Curlew Sandpiper
Harrington Sandspit |
| A single Grey Plover, two Curlew Sandpipers and 42 Sanderling were recorded on the Harrington Sandspit by Sue Proust, Mick Anderton and Fiona Neville from Hastings Birdwatchers during our monthly wading bird surveys. |
| Sue Proust 29/11 #268651 |
| | Grey Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, White-winged Black Tern
Farquhar Inlet, Old Bar |
| A single Grey Plover, two Curlew Sandpipers and a single White-winged Black Tern were seen while conducting our monthly high tide surveys at Farquhar Inlet. Surveyors were Peter West, Peter Hudd, Ted Giblin and Phillip Shelley all from Hastings Birdwatchers. |
| Peter West 29/11 #268650 |
| | White-winged Black Tern
Boat Harbour, Kurnell |
|
| A single White-winged Black Tern seen on the rock shelf at Boat Harbour, Kurnell, around 10am, falling tide. With 15+ Common Terns, about 7 Little Terns and a number of Crested Terns. eBird checklist |
| Roksana Boreli, Marie Lister, Greg McLachlan 25/11 #268637 |
| | Crested Shrike-tit
Condobolin , Lachlan River near caravan park |
| Went to check out flood this morning ( now slowly falling ) and heard two Shrike tits calling loudly from big Redgums above the water. Rare visitors this far West |
| warren Chad 24/11 #268627 |
| Wed 23 | | Spotless Crake
Narrawang wetlands, syd Olympic park |
| A spotless crake can maintain a pace of >13kph for over 50m. Best bird seen while running for me as it stayed on path only a couple metres in front. No photo but a great look. Of note is 15 turkeys in area |
| Andrew Holmes 24/11 #268626 |
| Tue 22 | | White-winged Tern
Stockton Sandspit |
|
| A White-winged Tern joined the roosting waders at Stockton Sandpit at 5pm on the 22nd of November. The previously sighted Gull-billed Tern (Asian or Common) was also present. eBird checklist |
| Nick Giles 23/11 #268624 |
| | Pectoral Sandpiper and Curlew Sandpiper
Jellat Jellat wetlands Bega |
|
| 4 Pectoral Sandpipers, were photographed with a Pacific Golden Plover, Curlew Sandpipers and Red-necked Stints (one that has an orange flag above a yellow band). Seen on freshwater wetlands near Bega. Note the photograph used shows the yellow base to the bill and yellow legs. (Moderator's Note: the photo shows clearly 4 Pectoral Sandpipers and a Curlew Sandpiper, rare birds for the Far South Coast. The flagged bird should be reported to the ABBBS. AKM) eBird checklist |
| Luke McPherson 22/11 #268621 |
| Sun 20 | | Black Falcon
Coomaditchy Lagoon Reserve |
|
| Was fortunate enough to spot my first Black Falcon for my local area yesterday evening while driving past my local reserve, presumably courtesy of the very strong westerly winds. I pulled over and got good bin views of it soaring overhead and was lucky that it stayed around long enough for me to grab some distant record shots when I got home before it continued heading north, composite photo attached. eBird checklist |
| Paul Lynch 21/11 #268618 |
| | Eastern Barn Owl
Minchinbury |
|
| I was releasing a rehabilitated Eastern Barn Owl this evening in Minchinbury. It called a few times when it settled and in a few minutes a second owl came in to investigate the released owl. They both flew their separate ways shortly thereafter.
Photo of second owl supplied. |
| Ákos Lumnitzer 20/11 #268616 |
| Fri 18 | | Powerful Owl
Oatley Park |
| Powerful Owl heard at about 8.00 pm in Dame Mary Gilmore Road which is the eastern border of Oatley Park. There may have been a pair of them.This species is a regular visitor and inhabitant of the park although not seen or heard recently. |
| Dave Koffel 19/11 #268614 |
| Sun 13 | | Gull-billed Tern (Asian)
Stockton Sandspit |
|
| The Asian Gull-billed Tern was reported on eBird earlier this month again and seen on Sunday by us. Also present circa 150 Bar-tailed Godwits, 20x Black-tailed Godwits, many Pacific Golden-plover, circa 90 Eastern Curlew, circa 50 Curlew Sandpiper, 4 Red Knots, 1 Terek Sandpiper, Caspian and Crested Terns. eBird checklist |
| Chris Rehberg - Sydney Birding, with Peter Stevens and Allon Traub 15/11 #268607 |
| | Red-backed Buttonquail, King Quail
Nabiac Aquifier Borefield |
|
| Female Red-backed Buttonquail heard calling and flushed. Two King Quail heard calling. Two Brown Quail seen on road. Note - the aquifier, west of the main road, which was the location for many RBBQ sightings a couple years back, is super dry, but The River Trail heading east toward Minimbah NR still has suitable habitat. Snake also seen crossing road in this area - probably Tiger. eBird checklist |
| Chris Rehberg - Sydney Birding, with Peter Stevens and Allon Traub 14/11 #268605 |
| Sat 12 | | White-winged Chough
Haberfield |
|
| One bird in the Richard Murden Reserve, just north of the basketball courts near the Blackmore Oval bridge.
In the five years I’ve lived in Leichhardt I’ve seen some unusual birds along the GreenWay, but for me perhaps this is the most unexpected. |
| David Hair 12/11 #268599 |
| Thu 10 | | Australian Brush Turkey
Caringbah Railway Station |
| I'm not a birder but I feel a Brush Turkey crossing the road towards the main entrance of Caringbah station at 07:40 this morning is worth reporting. I was driving so no photo but plenty of others around must have seen it.. Glad to say it didn't get run over (Moderator's Note: There are no sightings for Brush Turkeys at Caringbah on eBird. AKM) |
| Ian Hawkins 10/11 #268590 |
| Mon 7 | | Pallid Cuckoo
Cnr Avondale Rd & Pitt Town-Dural Rd, Pitt Town |
| Single bird calling from far end of paddock opposite the road junction. Seen in dead tree at far end but was chased away by a Magpie. (Not remarkable in itself, but not many records from the Hawkesbury this spring.) |
| Tom Wilson 7/11 #268584 |
| Sun 6 | | Black-chinned Honeyeater
Capertee Valley--Birdwatching Site #2 Crown Station Road |
|
| A pair moving through the trees foraging together, immediately adjacent south side of road. Four birds also seen here on 2 Oct. Male Turquoise Parrot feeding on herbage just beyond fence on northern side of road too. AM suggested sharing the observation as this species becoming scarcer - although we also heard the bird at other places in the valley. eBird checklist |
| Chris Rehberg - Sydney Birding, with Charuka Abhayawickrama (and Allon Traub in Oct) 9/11 #268588 |
| | Wompoo Fruit-Dove
Alice Street Grafton |
|
| Wompoo Fruit-Dove, thought to be a juvenile due to dull purple on breast, perched in backyard tree. First record for this location but other records for Grafton in past months/years. |
| Lynette Eggins per Greg Clancy 6/11 #268582 |
| | White-winged Black Tern
Chittaway Point, Tuggerah |
|
| A single White-winged Black Tern was seen roosting with Little Terns on sand bar. (Moderayor's Note: White-winged Black Terns are irrregular visitors to Tuggerah Lakes, usually during dry years, and particuarly in dry years in inland NSW. More common 2000-2010, fewer records since. AKM) |
| Dean Purcell and Andrew Robinson 6/11 #268581 |
| Sat 5 | | Plumed Whistling Ducks
Harrington Park Lake |
|
| 7 PWDs in same spot as Rajah Shelduck last year |
| Brett Mezen 5/11 #268577 |
| Fri 4 | | Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Urunga Boardwalk |
| About 50 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos flying above in the afternoon. |
| Madeleine Siao 5/11 #268574 |
| | Barn Owl
Pejar Dam, Crookwell |
| Pair of Barn Owls located. 2 birds flushed accidently, both perched. Location: Drive by toilet block at the dam and take track to right up hill, drive down other side. Birds were just at the bottom on the left. More detail and very poor phone photo recorded in checklist. eBird checklist |
| Martin Snowball 5/11 #268573 |
| Thu 3 | | Long-tailed Jaeger, Sooty Shearwater
Swansea Pelagic |
| a standard summer trip but still good numbers of Albatross. - 19 species .Silver Gull, Crested Tern, Australasian Gannet, Short-tailed Shearwater, Fluttering Shearwater, Wedge-tailed Shearwater. Flesh-footed Shearwater, Hutton’s Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Shy Albatross, Campbell Albatross. Buller’s Albatross, Black-browed Albatross, Wilson’s Storm-petrel, Providence Petrel, Grey-faced Petrel, Pomarine Jaeger, Long-tailed Jaeger, White-bellied Sea-eagle |
| Allan Benson 7/11 #268585 |
| | Spectacled Monarch
Greenwich (Holloway Park below the S end of Vista St) |
| Something of a (local) jackpot this morning, with a Spectacled Monarch low down in thick bush (only my second record for Sydney).
Also a Rufous Fantail.
Further up Berrys Creek, a pair of Powerful Owls roosting together in a big Coachwood, the female with very bedraggled and tattered tail feathers. I haven't been able to find a likely nesting hole nearby, however. |
| Ted Nixon 3/11 #268570 |
| Tue 1 | | Painted Buttonquail, Black-faced Monarch
Bradleys Head |
| Lots of activity on Bradleys Head at the moment with migrating birds, including a single Painted Buttonquail and Black-faced Monarch seen first thing in the morning Tuesday 1st November. |
| Simon Blanchflower 3/11 #268569 |