Aleutian Tern Twitch

I reckon every birder in Australia now knows what an Aleutian Tern is and where to find them in our country. But re-wind the tapes only five months and there would have only been a handful of 'world' birders here that had heard of this species let alone seen one. How times change! This species was identified in Australia thanks to the advent of Facebook and digital photography. Its founder: my twitch partner Liam. He was like most of us and had never even heard of an Aleutian Tern.

Boxing Day 2017. It was my only date available for me to go down and try and find these birds. Liam came with me, making my job much easier. It was a very wet day in the area but while we were out it only sprinkled. Nearby Port Macquarie had 73mm at the same time.

We waded through the inlet onto the mudflats then across to where they had been roosting. Whaammoo!! There they were! I snuck up closer and dared pull my camera out in the inclement weather, taking a few ok shots. Liam informed me that over 150 people had already made the effort and twitched the terns.

It was tick 568 for Australia for me and my first since the Grass Owl Liam had found near Port Macquarie in July.

We then spent some time on our walk back to the car searching for other species that had been spotted there since the Great Aleutian Tern Twitch began in early December. Eventually we chanced upon two Greater Sand-Plovers. They were NSW tick 390 for me!

Autumn Arrives

The past few weeks has seen the temperature drop back into bearable range, and allowed for easier birding. And the birds seem to be enjoying the cooler conditions too. Late last month I had the privilege of leading a group of 24 bird-watchers from Port Macquarie around Manilla. It was a great day out with the highlights being a pair of Black Falcons at the Manilla STW, a few Red-kneed Dotterels at Borah Crossing TSR, the regulars at Dowe NP such as Chestnut-rumped and Inland Thornbills, Blue-Bonnets, Grey-crowned Babblers, Southern Whiteface and Western Gerygones. There were no Painted Honeyeaters found at Rangari, but the weather turned sour there hindering our efforts. Not before a group of eight Ground Cuckoo-shrikes were located, and a couple of Singing Honeyeaters too.

Sorry, no pictures that day as I was too busy leading the group around. But the pictures have flowed off the camera this weekend just gone. For the parrot lovers out there I finally got a half-decent shot of the beautiful Turquoise Parrot. This parrot is endangered in New South Wales. The male is more brightly coloured, but even the female is lovely!

Turquoise Parrot

Male Turquoise Parrot feeding behind log.

Turquoise Parrot up tree.

Female Turquoise Parrot

In the same small reserve were other endangered and uncommon species. The finch lovers may enjoy the stunning Diamond Firetails. Three of them were buzzing around, and finally landed near me briefly.

Diamond Firetail

Diamond Firetail

Also coming and going were a group of Plum-headed Finches, which are not generally regarded as common in New South Wales. This one was feeding on grasses along the bank of a small dam.

Plum-headed Finch

The last bird of interest in this reserve 25kms from Manilla was the Hooded Robin. They are declining in numbers and now also listed as endangered. They were actively feeding from low branches and even rocks, and the male was seen to be enjoying a worm for breakfast. Afterall, the early bird catches the worm!

Female on the left, male on the right; Hooded Robins

Male Hooded Robin enjoying a worm.

Hooded Robin, male.

Hooded Robin, male.

Today I came across a group of about six White-backed Swallows. Most people in Australia are familiar with the Welcome Swallow but probably only bird-watchers even know about White-backed Swallows. They are the least common Martin or Swallow in Australia by a long way being generally uncommon. Theyprefer sandy creek banks to nest in, and are quite stunning! Unfortunately my photos do not do them justice. You will have to try and find one for yourself!

White-backed Swallow.

White-backed Swallows.

White-backed Swallow

Dry Rainforest at Rushes Creek

Dry Rainforest sounds like a misnomer, but it is indeed a classified forest type in Australia. It can handle dry seasons, typically Spring, has less understorey vegetation but still very good bird diversity. It is common around Lismore, the Upper Macleay and Manning but I had not heard anything about it in the Hastings valley which sits between the last two I mentioned. Yet on closer inspection of my father-in-laws property at Rushes Creek near Ellenborough vast swags of the forest here is Dry Rainforest.

Looking up into the canopy.

From left to right: myself, Peter, Julia and Tony

  

I was able to share this morning with good friends Peter, Julia and Tony, all from nearby Port Macquarie. Even before we got to the area I wanted to explore we had a handy list from the drive in including Wompoo Fruit-dove, Large-billed Scrubwren, Bell Miner and Restless Flycatcher to name a few.

We were now greeted by calls of the Emerald Dove, then we flushed a Wonga Pigeon. Both Spectacled and Black-faced Monarchs were easily found.

We ventured into the forest along an old snigging trail. A pair of Rose Robins flitted about noisily above us, but they remained high enough to remain hidden from some of those with me. We added Green Catbird, Regent Bowerbird and Pale Yellow Robin along the trail, but it was getting harder to navigate around the fallen trees and overgrown regrowth. We made one last desperate bid up the trail as a Rose-crowned Fruit-dove was calling up ahead, but in vain. We had all heard it so that will do today!

Green Catbird hopping around the middle levels of the forest.

We decided to return along the creek, which was easier than along the path! My ears alerted me to a Russet-tailed Thrush. But when I popped my head over the bank it scurried away. A Logrunner remained for a minute though. In the same area on the opposite side if the creek I heard tell-tale signs of wildlife: leaf litter being scratched. I snuck in and eventually found a young Noisy Pitta. The rest of the group came in and we all stood about 3 metres from it as it sat motionless on the forest floor.

I had noticed a Rufous Fantail and its wineglass nest in the area while searching for the Pitta, but now struggled to re-locate it. Eventually I did but could only get this angle photo of it: directly underneath!!

Young Noisy Pitta squatting on the forest floor.

Perhaps the worst angle for a photo of the Rufous Fantail nest!!!

We finally found the Thrush briefly and returned to our car for morning tea happy with our effort. As we sat there I heard the contact call of a Crested Shrike-tit which came over close enough for a photo.

Crested Shrike-tit

On our exit we identified an area of farmland that should support Red-backed Fairy-wrens and we left the comfort of the air-conditioned car and walked over to a fence. There were lots of Superb Fairy-wrens.... and finally a male Red-backed came into view! Stunning little guy! But by now the thermometer was pushing mid 30's so back to the car and head for home....

Male Red-backed Fairy-wren

Crimson Chats near Manilla!

Before I embark on relating to you this amazing finding let me preface this post with this statement: I was keen to get a few photos to prove the identity of the birds but the quality of the pictures is less than I would like. But I will proceed to show them anyway! I hope you don't mind!

It was Sunday morning just gone; I had a mountain of tasks around the house, so our routine Sunday morning bird outing was time-limited. I set it at 1.5hrs. I had no idea where I should go, and was a bit unmotivated to go far from home. So I choose Hall's Creek Rd, and decided to try and make it fun for my 4 year old in the back seat. The first track we deviated on was but only a lane so we turned around and at his prompting ventured across the other side of the road. Although semi-interesting, it was overly farmed and cleared country that seemed devoid of interesting birds, until.....

The reason I stopped: a Diamond Dove!

Around a slight bend and a small dove flew off the road and landed just a little up further. Instantly I hoped for a Diamond Dove, liked I hope nearly every time I see a small dove. I pulled the car to the side of the dirt road and said to my son, "I'll just have a quick look." And this time I was right! DIAMOND DOVE!!! I was just getting excited for this find when my eye caught sight of a red bird on the opposite side of the road. I focused there and exclaimed "CRIMSON CHAT!!!" Isaiah had no idea what either species were, but by my tone he knew I was very excited. So he hoped out too and we shared the binoculars for a minute enjoying the birds.

Then I thought I had better get some pictures as the skeptics may not believe these records. Both species are very unusual in this region, but the Chats more so. They occasionally make it into central western parts of New South Wales, but only rarely into the eastern areas. There were a few records around the Capertee area and even closer into Sydney back in 2008, but no eBird records at all around the Tamworth region.

After two distant pictures of the Diamond Dove as it strode away from us I relocated the Crimson Chat. Now it was sitting on a fence post; surely I could get a decent picture of it there! But I had to zoom in fully onto digital zoom so the quality is rather poor; but the bird is spectacular!

Male Crimson Chat waiting for me to take his photo. The female is obscured by grasses on the wire below the male.

On the fence, still waiting for me to find the focus button!!!

The owner of the surrounding property then raced over to us on his motorbike, and the birds disappeared. We talked for a few minutes, I showed him the pictures and told him how rare the birds were, and he returned to muster some cattle. But where were those Chats???

After a few minutes I heard them up the road. I got a few more photos, and a couple of short videos too! Isaiah eventually went back and waited patiently in the car, probably due to the intermittent showers of rain. After enjoying the pair for awhile I left them be. They were feeding along the road, which I had to drive on my exit. They flushed, flying high into the sky until I lost them. It is a large area that looked similar, so I hope they are still there, somewhere!

Female Crimson Chat eating on the road.

Male Crimson Chat feeding on the roads edge like when I first seen him.

Female Crimson Chat, well camouflaged in the middle of the road!

Female Crimson Chat, feeding in middle of the road.

Twitchathon 2016

Among the craziness of life one needs to slow down and .... do a twitchathon!!! This year the NSW Twitchathon went nationwide. Our team "Raven On" decided to once again compete in the second division, which has now been altered to a 12 hour race. Our rules are simple: we don't stop for a Butcherbird, Magpie or Pipit. How did we go? Did we defend our title from lat year? Here are the preliminary results:

CHAMPAGNE 12 HR
177 RAVEN ON (Matt Hinze, Ethan Marshall, Henry Siems, Liam Murphy, Dwaine Laxdal)
140 LOUSY JACKS (Paul Burcher, Deryk Engel, Ross Rapmund, Stephen Bloomfield)
130 NAGY MAGGIES (Miranda Moore, Krishna Nagarajan, George Voss)
129 WHICH IS IT
125 NOT ONE WRONG TERN
118 PARADISE SHOAL DUCKS
104 FREE-FLYING JUNGLEFOWL
101 LITTLE REGRETS
95 WOODEN SPOONBILLS
93 STORKERS
91 THE CITY CHICKS
83 WAMBOIN WARBLERS
73 MATHESON MOPOKES
73 KOOKABURRITOS
71 CENTENNIALS
15 THE SEE BIRDS
KOOKABURRAS

Yes we did it! Comfortably in fact! We began out west near my place at Manilla. I have posted about Dowe NP before, and we began there right at 6am. When we left about half an hour later we had Western Gerygone, Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, Southern Whiteface, Weebill, Red-capped Robin and Speckled Warbler in the bag. As we drove back to the main gate we flushed a pair of Greater Blue-bonnets on the right and spotted a few Plumed Whistling-Ducks on our left on a small dam. Awesome! Lake Keepit is now nearly full now, so we had a quick scan of it while we were so close. Liam called "large tern", and sure enough it was a Caspian Tern, followed by another, and two more!
Five hundred metres further along I suggested a quick stop for Bushlark. We got them, as well as Brown Songlark, Golden-headed Cisticola and Tawny Grassbird! Up to 41 species within 45 minutes! We flushed more Blue-bonnets as we drove away, and decided we would not stop for a Blue-Bonnet now either!

Male Red-capped Robin

Southern Whiteface from Dowe NP

I was feeling confident as we took the back roads towards Gunnedah. On cue the Ground Cuckoo-shrikes flew all around us thus negating the need to even stop! 

Ground Cuckoo-shrike, up a tree! Photographed at the twitch site a few weeks prior.

A few minutes later we pulled into our Painted Honeyeater site. I warned the team not to expect them this year as I had not had them here this season, but the honeyeaters here were still worth the stop. But, BINGO! As soon as we hopped out a Painted Honeyeater called! We added a few more honeyeaters here, including Singing before moving on with 59 species now on the board.

Singing Honeyeater

The next few hours saw us add more fairly common species with only the odd rarity. Somehow we missed Australian Ringneck along Lake Goran Rd. I had a dozen or so scattered along the road only 6 days before and have never missed them there! 

MIA: Australian Ringneck. This photo was taken 6 days before Twitch day but none found during twitch.

By 10:15am we had snuck up to 83 species with probably the only exciting species being the White-winged Fairy-wrens in their bush at Breeza (but only females seen today) and a Turquiose Parrot a bit further along. Then we arrived at an old favourite site of mine last year: Spring Creek. In 20 minutes the team racked up 14 more species to be on the brink of 100! After a few lean hours all newbies were excitedly admitted to our scoresheet, even Pied Currawong! The highlights were the male Hooded Robin, the regular Yellow-tufted and Fuscous Honeyeaters, and of course Ethan's finding on a small dam-- Black-fronted Dotterel! Waterbirds are scarce this year, not because of a drought but the opposite; too much water further west! Many species have headed west to the vast breeding grounds and green pastures. Even finches were missing from their normal spots, although writing a week after the event I have come across both Double-barred and Zebra Finches now. That always happens.... too late!

Male Hooded Robin

From here were ducked over to another old favourite site of mine: Limbri campground. Sadly, it was all but dead here. Only 3 species here including the Welcome Swallow. Whoopee Do! The only good aspect was these three gave us 100 species before we left the western slopes and headed up to the tablelands and coast.

From here we raced up the Moonbi Range and onwards and up. Unfortunately our car, Toyota Hilux, couldn't handle the hills too well. We were overtaken by a Vintage car, then a Charade! Anyway, we continued on, trying to put that shame behind us. It is the 12 hour race. The next few hours saw another lull in new species. We had our lunch break. A few waterbirds here and there. Goldfinch nice. Apsley Falls ok for another 9 species but nothing fantastic. 

And that is where I left the team (as per allowed in the rules in this division). The other three headed down to the coast, I returned home. My son was having his fourth birthday the following day and I didn't want to not be home for that!

How did the team cope? Within the hour of my departure Liam though it was all over. The Hilux had overheated and Henry and Ethan filled the empty radiator with their remaining drinking water then tiptoed it to Gingers Creek to get enough water for the trip through the mountains. Would it make it? It did! The few stops they had for birds added them some common rainforest species, and even Paradise Riflebird and Rufous Scrub-bird.

At Wauchope they swapped cars and jumped in Liams car. Then they raced to King Creek swamp adding Latham Snipe, Jacana, a few others and fluked Scaly-breasted Lorikeet and Torresian Crow (both flyovers as they were hoping in the car). I was home by now and warned them of impending rain within an hour or so. They had 90 minutes left which included a fairly long drive down to Harrington and a jog out to the sand spit. The tally? 158. What would the twilight bring at one of the best wader sites on the Mid North Coast?

"Spoonbill" was the call even before they arrived. Cattai Creek Ponds. They hopped out to investigate and instantly a Little Grassbird gave his typical two-note call. Another 2 ticks! No,a Black-shouldered Kite too made it three!

So they arrived at Harrington with 40 minutes left. The rain had held off while it was now bucketing down back in Manilla. They jogged out keen to finish strong. And sixteen extra ticks here in forty minutes says they did! Ethan did the best spotting. All eyes had been on the Osprey nest to get him, but Ethan found him on a stick on the beach!!! Then Ethan found the Straited Heron in the middle of the channel in the open. Red Knot, Little Tern , Pied Oystercatcher and White Ibis (yes normally a who cares species but it was our only Ibis species!!) and they tallied it all up. Less than last year, but with the preceding wet weather inland all teams were aiming lower, and with less time as well it was a solid effort. Indeed we won comfortably. 

Eastern Osprey

Straited Heron feeding on open mudflat like on twitch day

The stats:

• 576 kilometers
• 177 species
• 12 hours
• 5 team members
• 2 cars

Till next year,

RAVEN ON

Australia's Robins Explained

http://ebird.org/content/australia/news/rockin-robins/

Beautiful birds in small packages

There is a lot of beauty to be found if only people were to go out and look for them! I have managed to photograph just a few over the past few weeks but I thought I should share them with you. This afternoon we stopped in at a little forest near Gunnedah after visiting the church there in the morning. Two weeks ago the Tamworth Birdwatchers stumbled across the rare Swift Parrot on its winter holiday from Tasmania. I was hoping it might still be there.... alas it had flown, probably heading southwards again. But this magnificent parrot, the Australian Ringneck (Mallee race) greeted our family. Even my little son enjoyed its colours as he looked through the binoculars.

Mallee or Australian Ringneck parrot at Black Jack State Forest.

Last Saturday afternoon we spent at home. Late in the afternoon I took my camera for a walk to the river. The sun had nearly set, but a flock of Plum-headed Finches were hanging out on the river bank. Photographing them was a challenge with the lighting and their busy-ness. Their plum-red foreheads are just stunning in real life! These photos were the best I could get.....

Plum-headed Finch 

Plum-headed Finch

Immature Plum-headed Finch

But lets revisit the parrot family.... here are a few photos of Musk Lorikeets. They are fairly common out here, but most often as they dash through the sky on-track to their next blossom meal. Once you do find them stopped they are noisy and busily moving from the top of one flowering tree to next, often arguing with each other along the way. These ones paused long enough for a few photos.

Musk Lorikeet grooming itself

Musk Lorikeet

The last photos worthy of showing are not as colourful, but still lovely.... the first is the Southern Whiteface. I returned to see how the nesting was going at Dowe National Park. Unfortunately it was going real well, I think. They were very suspicious of me but would not lead me back to their nest. I assume that means the other partner was incubating quietly. Babies soon!!

Southern Whiteface at Dowe National Park

The final bird for this blog is a Noisy Miner. Not beautiful. Not even a nice personality. They often dominate an area to the detriment of smaller species. They are basically a native pest. But I have included it because it wakes me up most mornings. Who needs Kookaburras when these guys squark and squeal before sunrise each day!

Noisy Miner, a native but annoying