Exploring Sydney - and further afield. (2 Viewers)

[MKinHK]

Thanks Ian - I'm really pleased with the Cormorant shot and owe a big thank you to Veeraj for both the Logrunner and the Speckled Warblers, which were among my top targets in Sydney birding. Personally I generally prefer the in-habitat shots to the "bird on a plain bokeh background", but the challenge of achieving that with a small sensor camera is interesting. I feel like the Sooty Oystercatcher pix especially would have benefited from the increased image quality that a larger sensor would offer, and I continue to think about upgrading. Dreams, dreams ...

Kuring-gai Chase National Park - Bobbin Head & Gibberagong Track
27 April 2024

Since then my birding has continued to focus on Willoughby and Long Reef. I did make an abortive visit to Bobbin Head in Kuring-gai Chase National Park to get better pix of Rockwarbler and Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, and despite an enjoyable day out I failed on both counts, which was most eloquently illustrated by the fact that the highlight of the day was a couple of rather tame Cunningham's Skinks. I've seen one here before, on an epic day for herps and my first ever Echidna but this sunny morning I ended up seeing seven of them on the rocky promontory just across the bridge at the beginning of the Gibberagong Track.


I did also get my best shots so far of Large-billed Scrubwren, which was working hard at finding a way in to some sort of little egg chamber stuck between a couple of leaves. I also got within a few feet of a loudly singing Superb Lyrebird that remained stubbornly incognito in the bush while cycling through his repertoire of local songbirds. The eBird checklist is here.




Cheers
Mike

 

[MKinHK]

Dee Why and Long Reef Golf Course
25 April 2024

Thursday 25th April was a public holiday in Australia, andI took advantage of the midweek break to chase down a Yellow-billed Spoonbill at Dee Why Lagoon, which was just the fifth record of the Northern Beaches. Unfortunately it kept itself to the far side of the lagoon, but I did also pick up a few other good birds, including a pair of Black-fronted Dotterels and a Double-banded Plover ( both my first records for this site), plus Little and Plumed Egrets and the Pied Oystercatcher that had for once come to my side of the lagoon. On a decent morning I managed 41 species (eBird list here), with other highlights including a Brown Goshawk and a couple of Musk Lorikeets, New Holland and White-cheeked Honeyeaters in the trees in the southern corner.

Long Reef Golf Course continued to host my Musk Duck friend on her usual pond, along with a coupe of Little Grassbirds while the highlight was a Great Egret that drifted in from the north and landed in the cormorant roost alongside a couple of White-faced Herons. The Little Corellas were up to their usual mischief - breaking off from foraging on the airways to squabble and wrestle on the grass. Osprey and White-bellied Sea Eagle flew over, but there was again no sign of the Red-tailed Tropicbird I'd been hoping for.




I have a theory that one of the ways to distinguish Plumed from Great Egrets is that the Kees fall level with eh tip of the tail on Great Egret and with the base of the tail on Plumed Egret. Interested to hear any thoughts.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Owene]

Love those skinks

 

[MKinHK]

Thanks Owen - I did enjoy them, even if they were mere lizards!

Patch Gold Photospot: Pacific Baza at Mowbray Park
2 May 2024

A Thursday morning dog walk at Mowbray Park last week not only delivered my highest ever single site score in Willoughby , but gave me my best patch tick of the year in the form of a pair of Pacific Bazas that were foraging in the trees above the meadow at the north end of Reid Drive. They were patch tick no. 105 and one of the highest placed birds on my "most wanted" list as my neighbour across the valley sees them every year in Sailor's Bay Creek.





Other good birds on an eventful day that included losing about a pint of blood to mosquitoes, a briefly lost dog, a suspected Bull Shark in the river and a total of 37 species included a pair of Galahs checking out a nesting hole, just my second Crimson Rosella and third Australasian Darter on the patch.

Seeing the Bazas also provoked my to explore on eBird what my prospects for new birds in Willoughby are. Only one - Bell Miner has a more than 1% probability. I tried unsuccessfully in the most regular site yesterday, which also holds Nankeen Night Herons, and Peregrine is next ...

Cheers
Mike

 

[foresttwitcher]

Pacific Bazas - what stunning birds...