Thinking About Birds

October 2026

14 October

After a very wet day before, I did my monthly survey of the Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland. There were a lot of Rainbow Lorikeets and also about a dozen Little Wattlebirds, but other than that things were quiet and I only found 14 species. In the afternoon I drove to Newcastle via stopovers at the Central Coast Wetlands and the nearby McPhersons Swamp. There were some Torresian Crows at the Wetlands, having a shouting match with Australian Ravens. I heard a Shining Bronze Cuckoo at McPhersons. In the evening I went to the HBOC meeting, which featured a very interesting talk about the birds of Melanesia.

12 October

I surveyed three of my sites in Brisbane Water National Park. The highlights were heard-only - a Pheasant Coucal and a Brush Bronzewing. I also found some White-browed Scrubwrens with a nest with young.

10 October

Three of us had a wonderful morning on Ash Island doing the waterbirds survey. We found 69 species, which smashed the record for most species during one of these surveys (which of course don’t cover every bit of Ash Island habitat). Nothing was in big numbers, but everywhere we went we kept encountering something new for the day. Raptors and ducks were in short supply although we did find three types of each. There were 5 Far Eastern Curlews in the Milhams Pond / Phoenix Flats area including a locally colour banded individual (we couldn’t see any leg flag on it). Out at the main ponds we had Sharp-tailed Sandpipers (43), Red Knots (2), Red-necked Stints (2), Pied Stilts (5), Red-capped Plovers (2), Pacific Golden Plover (1) and a solo Ruddy Turnstone. It's been ages since I've seen a turnstone on Ash Island before. It’s also become uncommon to find Red Knots there. About 20 years ago there was a flock of about 1200 of them on Swan Pond, where today there were two birds.

Our morning began with a good look at a Buff-banded Rail on the edge of Cabbage Tree Rd. Later we had even better and longer looks at an Australian Crake wandering over a muddy patch on Bellfrog Wetland. Other great birds today included Sacred and Azure Kingfishers, Mangrove and White-throated Gerygones, Horsfield’s and Shining Bronze Cuckoos.

7-9 October

I went with Margaret to the Gloucester Tops - we stayed at Roseleigh Cottage a few km before the national park. I spent much of the next two days listening for Rufous Scrub-birds (as a follow-up to the September surveys), but unfortunately I only got onto one bird. That was across the river and a bit of a hike to get to. I had a few Bassian Thrushes during my walks, and there was a Russet-tailed Thrush down near the national park campsite as well as a fewvocal Black-faced Monarchs. We saw several Superb Lyrebirds during the drive up, and also flushed many Brown Cuckoo Doves and the occasional Wonga Pigeon and Grey Shrikethrush.

3-5 October

Margaret and I went to the HBOC camp, at a property in the Martindale Valley. Most of the spring migrants were back, so it was a good birding weekend. Highlights for me (of the migrants) included Pallid Cuckoo, Leaden Flycatcher, Varied Sittella, White-throated Gerygone and Rainbow Bee-eater, plus a White-throated Nightjar which flew over the campsite one evening. There were many Striped Honeyeaters and several Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters too, and the campsite had some Grey-crowned Babblers. At the swamp I flushed a Latham's Snipe and I heard two Australian Crakes (close by each other and probably they were a pair). Surprisingly, there were hardly any raptors (and I only saw one - a Black-shouldered Kite).

September 2026

25 September

I surveyed two more of my sites in Brisbane Water National Park - both were quiet, although I did hear a Pheasant Coucal (first for the season). Then then I visited the Crommelin Arboretum at Pearl Beach. There were a few Musk Lorikeets plus lots of Rainbow Lorikeets. Amazingly I found a group of seven Superb Lyrebirds within a small area, with many interactions happening between them.

24 September

I walked from Woy Woy to Blackwall alongside Brisbane Water. Highlights included a pair of Musk Lorikeets and a group of three Long-billed Corellas, and there were still three Caspian Terns not yet departed. Two pairs of Maned Ducks had ducklings - one pair had eight and the other pair had eleven! I wonder how many will survive?

18-20 September

I was in Newcastle for the 2026 Australasian Shorebirds Conference. There were lots of great presentations plus I had a great time catching up with old friends and making new acquaintances. On the Sunday afternoon I did a presentation about the Hunter Estuary shorebirds surveys. HBOC has been doing those monthly for more than 27 years (and I'm now the only active surveyor from the original group).

13-16 September

On Sunday afternoon I drove to the Gloucester Tops where I camped for three nights, to do the annual Rufous Scrub-bird surveys. There were great birds around the campsite over the three and a bit days that I was around - including Noisy Pitta, Bassian Thrush, Russet-tailed Thrush, Australian Logrunner, Glossy Black Cockatoo, Australian Owlet-nightjar and Greater Sooty Owl (called once, close to my campsite). There were also many Superb Lyrebirds, including displaying males and a male with a display mound just 30m from my tent. Up on the high country, I heard several Rufous Scrub-birds but saw none. There were Flame Robins, Bassian Thrushes, Olive Whistlers, Crescent Honeyeaters and lots of White-throated Treecreepers.The drive up had many Brown Cuckoo Doves foraging on the road plus the occasional Wonga Pigeon.

12 September

Ross and I did the Ash Island survey in the morning. We didn't find many shorebirds (just four Far Eastern Curlews and a Red-capped Plover) and the waterbird numbers were low (although many species were represented). However, it was a great morning - it's early spring and all the bush birds were quite active. We recorded 59 species overall, which is a great tally. One of the highlights was a male Black-necked Stork with an immature bird (about 12 months old) alongside it. We also had a fly-through by a Black Falcon, plus there were four other raptor species seen. A Rufous Whistler was calling at one point - presumably a newly returned bird and we also saw Fairy Martins, which have been back for a while now.

9-10 September

On my way to the HBOC meeting on Wednesday evening, I stopped at the Wyong Wetlands (Central Coast Wetlands) and then at McPhersons Swamp. There weren't many waterbirds at the former, although there was a scattering of ducks etc and about 20 Little Black Cormorants were roosting in a tree . I also found some White-breasted Woodswallows and, later, a Tawny Grassbird. At McPhersons there was a Great Egret and a Plumed Egret, and a pair of Black Swans had cygnets, and then there was a Red-whiskered Bulbul just as I was about to leave. The HBOC meeting was quite good, and lots of discussion, and then I joined others at the pub afterwards. Next morning on my way home, I stopped at the Ourimbah RTA Reserve. A Green Catbird was calling as I arrived, and the birding was lively for most of my walk. The highlight was a Bassian Thrush, which was singing beautifully and then popped into view. I also saw a Wonga Pigeon and a couple of Brown Cuckoo Doves - on the walking track initially in all cases. Unusually, scrub-wrens were low key - I only saw two Yellow-throated Scrubwrens and a single White-browed Scrubwren, and all three were non-vocal. The Scarlet Myzomelas and Brown Gerygones were the opposite of that!

8 September

I visited the Warrah Trig section of Brisbane Water National Park. Things were quiet there and I only found 16 species, with a couple of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos being the highlight. Afterwards I went around to Patonga - near the caravan park there were 11 Australian Brushturkeys in a group together, which is an assemblage the size of which I've not seen before.

4 September

I did my monthly surveys of the Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland. I found 23 species, which is excellent for that location. Once again I found some Variegated Fairywrens and by my reckoning there were six Australian Golden Whistlers (the same count as in August). There were a couple of Olive-backed Orioles, and an Australasian Figbird which was a first-time record for the site.

3 September

I surveyed my sites at Pearl Caves and Coora Swamp in Brisbane Water National Park. I only found 178 species with the highlights being a Brown Cuckoo Dove and a pair of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos.

August 2026

27 August

I walked from Woy Woy to Blackwall, alongside Brisbane Water, and found 34 species. I saw seven Pied Oystercatchers, a reasonable count, and the Caspian Terns were down to only two birds (which means that winter is nearly over). There was a single Long-billed Corella. Two pairs of Maned Ducks had ducklings - one pair had eight of them and the other pair had eleven!

25 August

There was no birding today as it was too wet, but in the evening I went to Tuggerah for the monthly meeting of the Central Coast branch of Birding NSW.

18 August

I did my surveys of the Warrah Trig section of Brisbane Water National Park. I had a calling Lewin's Rail at one of my sites - I approached to within 2-3m of it but never saw even a glimpse of it! The heath there was pretty thick. I found a Rockwarbler at the lookout - it passed right in front of me while I looked in admiration. Some Fan-tailed Cuckoos were vocal at a couple of places.

15 August

I did the Ash Island survey with Helen, a newbie. We found four Far Eastern Curlews at Milhams Pond - these must have been newly returned as there were none in the July survey. We didn't find any more shorebirds until nearly the end, where there was a flock of 11 Red-capped Plovers huddled together on the Fish Fry Flats track. When these flushed, two others came up from nearby and the whole group flew away together. Unusually, there were almost no ducks - just some scattered Pacific Black Ducks and no teals at all. Despite that, we found 45 species, and some of the highlights included a group of Variegated Fairywrens - these are not often recorded on Ash Island - and a Shining Bronze Cuckoo, which eventually posed well for us.

14 August

I walked from Woy Woy to Blackwall, alongside Brisbane Water, and found 28 species. There was a large flock of ground-foraging Long-billed Corellas - I counted 21 birds. That's easily the largest assemblage of them I've found locally.

12 August

I did my monthly surveys of the Umina Coastal Sandplain Woodland. I found 19 species which is rather good for that location. In the burnt area I had some Yellow Thornbills - a first-time record for these here - and Variegated Fairywrens which have been there several times now. There was also a male Superb Fairywren in the area - an eclipse-plumage bird that perhaps was on the roam.By my reckoning there were six Australian Golden Whistlers overall, which is a great tally. They were quite vocal.

11 August

I surveyed my two sites along the van Dahl's Trail in Brisbane Water National Park and then went around to the Pearl Beach Arboretum. I found 29 species of which the Rose Robin and Brown Cuckoo-Dove were the highlights.

6 August

I surveyed three sites in Brisbane Water National Park- the Pearl caves area and then up at Coora Swamp. I found 24 species, with highlights including Brown Cuckoo-Dove and an Australian Brushturkey.The Scarlet Myzomelas around Pearl Caves were vocal.

3 August

It was the annual winter survey of Port Stephens, with teams of HBOC members in boats (with skippers organised by NSW NPWS) covering all of the estuary. I went on foot to a couple of places around Swan Bay that can't be seen properly from a boat. I was with Pip from NPWS. It was a slog through the mud, but it was well worthwhile as we found groups of Double-banded Plovers, Red-capped Plovers and Pacific Golden Plovers, all a long way from the shoreline. Other sightings were an Osprey and a White-bellied Sea Eagle, and a very distant flock of 18 Far Eastern Curlews in flight. Afterwards I went around to the NPWS Anna Bay offices to join the others for lunch and debrief. Now, my job is to collate and interpret the results.