| Mon 24 | | Barn Owl and White-throated Nightjar
Garigal National Park (East) |
| Adding to the influx of Barn Owls in Sydney, I had great views of 1 perched at eye level on Slippery Dip Trail at around 11pm, my 4th sighting on the Northern Beaches in under a month, this species is typically rare in the area. 2 White-throated Nightjars were also heard calling throughout the night. |
| Jayden Walsh 25/9 #235543 |
| | Little Eagle
Private property off Hilltop Road East Jindabyne (no public access) |
| First noticed the Little Eagle last year searching for prey over our property. It has now built its nest in a large gum tree near our house and yesterday caught a rabbit underneath its nesting site.
Today it has been circling the paddocks around us and is now sitting on the nest. |
| Carole Jones 24/9 #235535 |
| Sun 23 | | Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
Combaning State Conservation Area, Cootamundra |
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| A group of 6-8 Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters were seen feeding with 4+ Brown-headed & 6 White-plumed Honeyeaters, and 3 White-winged Trillers on two flowering Mugga Ironbarks, in a sea on non-flowering Box and Ironbarks in Combaning SCA. There is only one previous report (in 1999) of Yellow-plumed Honeyeaters in the Cootamundra District for the Birdata Atlas Data Base 1998-2018, and these birds would be well east of their usual range. |
| Alan Morris,photo Marg Kibby & 19 members of CCGBNSW 24/9 #235539 |
| | Eastern Barn Owl (deceased)
Wilberforce |
| A freshly killed bird seen beside Wilberforce Rd. Also saw the remains of another Barn Owl at Bushells Lagoon the same morning. |
| Edwin Vella 23/9 #235531 |
| | Spotted Harrier
Bushells Lagoon |
| A juvenile Harrier seen beside the dried up lagoon. |
| Edwin Vella 23/9 #235530 |
| | Banded Lapwings
Freemans Reach turf farms |
| A pair of Banded Lapwings with 2 chicks in the turf farm bordered by Batchelors Wharf Rd, Gorricks Lane and Freemans Reach Rd. |
| Edwin Vella 23/9 #235529 |
| | Masked and White-browed Woodswallow, Rufous Songlarks
Cornwallis Road, Cornwallis |
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| Along Cornwallis Rd, had a flock of about 40 White-browed and 10 Masked Woodswallows in trees beside the road and the river, 3 or 4 Rufous Songlarks, Rainbow Bee-eaters, Crested Shrike-tit, Olive-backed Oriole and a Sacred Kingfisher. |
| Edwin Vella 23/9 #235528 |
| Sat 22 | | Striped Honeyeater, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Red-kneed Dotterel
Bethungra Dam, Cootamundra |
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| A pair of Striped Honeyeaters were seen and photographed on the access road just before entering Bethungra Dam, while around the dam edges were two Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and 4 Red-kneed Dotterels. There are no previous records for Striped Honeyeaters or Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, and only one previous record for Red-kneed Dotterels in the Cootamundra-Bethungra District in the Birdlife Australia Atlas Data Base 1998-2018. |
| Alan Morris, photo Marg Kibby & 19 members CCGBNSW 24/9 #235540 |
| | Superb Parrot, Barking Owl & Southern Boobook
Cootamundra Caravan Park |
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| During the period 21-24/9/18 the Central Coast Group Birding NSW held a camp for the Cootamundra District, based at the Caravan Park. During that time up to 6 Superb Parrots were present each day feeding in the trees in the adjoin Park, and were seen to be feeding on Yellow Box blossum, lerps on Yellow- Box and Red Gum leaves and feeding on grass seed on the ground. There were none present on 15-18 May 2018, and during our visited, they were seen in pairs and small numbers at ten sites across the District. Also present in the CP was a Barking Owl, heard by different people on two successive nights and Southern Boobooks were heard calling each night. Despite the fact that there have been 427 atlas sheets submitted to the Birdlife Atlas data Base 1998-2018, for the Cootamundra District, there are no previous reports for Barking Owls and only six reports for Southern Boobook in the database. |
| Alan Morris, photo Christina Port, & 18 members CCGBNSW. 24/9 #235538 |
|  | Regent Honeyeater
Douglas Farm Rd, Kurrajong Hills |
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| Single bird seen in flowering ironbarks on 22 and 23 Sep. Trees are buzzing with mainly White-naped and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, Red Wattlebirds, and a few other species - the Regent can be hard to pick out and is less active than the other species. Sightings so far have been early-mid morning and late afternoon. 5th (and best) honeyeater addition to my home list in this current unprecedented flowering event, which looks like it has a couple more weeks to run. (Moderator's Note: There was also a juvenile bird photographed in a backyard in Springwood on Friday, that has not been seen since. MR) eBird checklist |
| Eric Finley 24/9 #235533 |
| | Northern Royal Albatross, Wandering Albatross, Antipodean Albatross and Northern Giant Petrel
Offshore--Kiama Pelagic (SOSSA) |
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| The highlight of 22 September SOSSA trip was a Northern Royal Albatross that stayed with us for much of the day. Other albatrosses included Wandering (2+), Antipodean (7+), Buller's (2), Black-Browed (3) and Shy (30+). We also had a Northern Giant Petrel, a Brown Skua, several Solander and Grey-faced Petrels, plus a number of Fairy Prions. The Short-tailed Shearwater migration is in full swing, with flocks of 30-100 birds constantly moving through, there would have been 5000+ within sight of the boat during the day. (Moderator's Note: Identification has swung back to a Northern Royal. ORAC submission will follow. MR). |
| Brook Whylie and all aboard the MV Kato 22/9 #235518 |
| Sat 8 | | Caspian Terns
Pitt Town Lagoon |
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| Two Caspian Terns in breeding plumage resting in Pitt Town Lagoon. Infrequent visitor, looks like the last eBird report here was 4 years ago. |
| Richard Murray 25/9 #235546 |