| Sat 6 | | Great Bowerbird
Palm Lake Resort Ballina |
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| Reporting my sighting of the Great Bowerbird which I saw from my back garden this morning at the top of tree in small park 20 metres away.
He was "hissing, clicking" and mimicking for a couple of minutes then had a quick preen before he flew off.
The first sighting of this bird was 17th June when he was in my garden collecting 15-16 cm twigs from my bottlebrush. I found the bower that same morning. It seemed fully constructed, complete with small whitish rocks and a variety of pink pegs and other treasures. Lately he has green peppers to place at the entrance. This bird has no leg bands.
Palm Lake where we now retire is a private property, gated community with no public access.
I have daily written notes of his displays, feeding on Melicope berries, interactions and mimicking of local species and many photos. (Moderator's Note: While the Moderator's have a policy of not publishing details of aviary escapees, which this bird must surely be, this event is so extraordinary that I believe it is worthy of publication. Note that the distribution shown for the Great Bowerbird in the Aust. Bird Atlas 1978-1982 (Blackers et al 1984) appears similar to the current distribution as shown in eBird, so that there is little evidence that would indicate a gradual movement south by this species. AKM). |
| June Harris 6/9 #272689 |
| Fri 5 |  | White-headed Petrel
Shelly Beach Carpark, Manly |
| Flew south past Bluenose Point at 4:37 eBird checklist |
| Mike Kilburn 5/9 #272688 |
| | White-throated Gerygone; Eastern Shrike-tit
Pitt Town-Dural Rd at Scheyville Rd |
| 2 Gerygones heard calling from trees in the house paddocks on w side of road. 3 Shrike-tits in trees by the fate into the NP area. eBird checklist |
| Tom Wilson 5/9 #272685 |
| Thu 4 | | White-winged Triller, Dusky Woodswallow, Diamond Firetail & Fuscous Honeyeater
Gumble Community Hall, near Manildra |
| 14 members of Central Coast Group explored the roads and tracks around the Gumble Community Hall, along Bocobra Lane Bocobora, (Diamond Fioretail, Brown Falcon and Common Bronzewing), Windus Rd Gumble (5 White-winged Triller, 10 Dusky Woodswallow & Jacky Winter on 4/9/25 and 10 Diamond Firetails on 1/9/25), and Fuscous Honeyeaters & Jacky Winters on Gumble Trail, Killumbatta NR. First return of White-winged Trillers to the Mid West for this season! eBird checklist |
| Doug Hocking et all, m,embers of Central Coast Group, Birding NSW 6/9 #272704 |
| | Ground Cuckoo-shrike
Baldry Rd Baldry |
| 14 members of the Central Coast Group, Birding NSW surveyed the lanes and roads around the Baldry Community Hall and found a variety of good birds which included an early Sacred Kingfisher, and a Ground Cuckoo-shrike, on Baldry Road. However on 1/9/2025, Doug Hocking and Graham Nelson located two Ground Cuckoo-shrikes at this site. Also present were 3 Brown Falcons and Nankeen Kestrel eBird checklist |
| Doug Hocking et al, members of Central Coast Group, Birding NSW 6/9 #272701 |
| | Diamond Firetail, Little Lorikeet
Spring Creek picnic Area, Goobang National Park |
| a pair of Diamond Firetails were seen basically around the carpark for this picnic area, feeding on the ground. There were few other birds present at the site despite plenty of flowering Mugga Ironbarks, although a small number of Little and Musk Lorikeets were present. However, there were many Noisy Friarbirds, but the smaller honeyeaters were noticeably absent. A Wedge-tailed Eagle and a Brown Goshawk were also presaent. eBird checklist |
| Doug Hocking et al, members of the Central Coast Group, Birding NSW 6/9 #272692 |
| Wed 3 | | Freckled Duck, Little Eagle, Magpie-Goose
Gum Swamp, Forbes |
| about 90 minutes were spent at Gum Swamp by 14 members of the Central Coast Group, Birding NSW during the Parkes Camp Out. The highlight was seeing 9 Freckled Ducks amongst the 600+ Grey Teal, with lesser numbers of Black Ducks, a few Hardheads and surprisingly only 3 Pinkears. Also seen was an immature Little Eagle, a Brown Goshawk, an Australian Hobby and a Whistling Kite. At nearby Lake Forbes there were a group of 30+ Magpie-Geese eBird checklist |
| Doug Hocking et al, members of Central Coast Group, Birding NSW 6/9 #272699 |
| Tue 2 | | Baillon's Crake
Parkes Sewerage Ponds |
| The Parkes Regional Council are at present re-landscaping and re-developing the Parkes STW evaporation ponds and turning them into a wetland suitable for waterbirds and wildlife generally and have landscaped the surrounding area with new tree plantings. with an expected opening to the public later this year. While there we all had great views of a Baillon's Crake feeding and swimming in the shallow water. Pied Stilts, Swans and Australasian Grebes were nesting there, and the usual ducks were present. There are no previous eBird records for Baillon's Crake's at Parkes. eBird checklist |
| Doug Hocking et al, Central Coast Group, Birding NSW 6/9 #272702 |
| Mon 1 | | White-browed Woodswallow
Boat Harbour, Kurnell |
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| Just one seen hawking insects in vegetated dune area. Also chirped several times. (Moderator's Note: A very early record for a coastal site, perhaps blown in during the persistent westerlies recently? MR). eBird checklist |
| Darren Broughton 5/9 #272687 |