HSC - Hardly Saw Coot...... let alone anything else!

Well, that's a lie. My schooling career officially ended today with the conclusion of the Biology HSC Exam, and I am a free man! I realised today that for this whole year, I have only made 4 blog posts, which is very bad (Max has made none! haha). So here's a quick summary - my survival guide for "How to bird successfully during Year 12" - I'm looking at you, Nathan/Henry/Simon/Julian!

1) DON'T MAKE EXCUSES, GO BIRDING!
Whilst a lot of time must be spent on schoolwork, there are always ways to fit in birding around it. Isn't that right Ashwin? ;)

2) GO ON PELAGICS, THE FRESH SEA AIR IS GOOD FOR YOU
I've been on a few pelagics this year, as they are very good single day breaks from study! I was on both the March and April Sydney Pelagics (in the vain hope of "twitching" New Zealand Storm Petrel, which has been sighted at that time of year over the last few years). No NZSP showed itself, however the April Pelagic was the day before Nathan's and Max's birthday, so I made an obligatory birdday cake which was well received on board.

An Edible (but not Tickable) New Zealand Storm Petrel

Little Penguin

Flesh-footed Shearwater

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

It is with great sadness that we learnt last month that the Halicat has been sold, and this era of Sydney Pelagics has come to an end, with a new arrangement needing to be organised at some point in the near future. Thankyou to Hal, Roger, Steve, Nikolas, and all the birders I have enjoyed my time with on board over the last few years - you kickstarted my love of ocean birding, and I hope to see you on the wide blue expanse again some other time!

Indeed, my last year of Halicatting held some fantastic experiences. My last bird tick was the March White-tailed Tropicbird, and while the April Pelagic netted me no new birds, we spotted pods of both Long-snouted Spinner Dolphins and Pantropical Spotted Dolphins, the former one of the first Sydney records, well out of range in the unusually warm Sydney waters. Soon after, we found a huge mass of floating pumice, with a whole marine ecosystem living off it. Steve dove in to grab some samples, and although I have no photos of this once-in-a-lifetime event, we were amazed by the display of spheroid orange, lime and spotted pufferfish, fluoro blue-striped slugs, pelagic sea snails, barnacles, and surface-dwelling crabs.

This is not a Tropicbird, but a White Tern, seen soon 

after the White-tailed Tropicbird disappeared

After a sudden influx of Common Diving Petrel sightings in June, (see SEAWATCHING) and a Blue Petrel of Wollongong, Max, Ashwin and myself quickly booked on an impromptu Swansea Pelagic, which was subsequently cancelled 5 minutes before we left home. A backup July Wollongong SOSSA Pelagic the next week was a milestone for me, first pelagic without a lifer! However we had a great day, with some great views of Buller's Albatross.

Buller's Albatross

3) SEAWATCHING... IT CAN BE ALRIGHT I GUESS
What a terrible idea. Who ever invented this? I've spent a fair few hours on North Head this year in perfect conditions (read raining, windy and cold), with very little to show for it. However, after the influx of Common Diving Petrels off the NSW coast, I decided to try my luck, and for the first time, I actually had some fantastic luck whilst seawatching! After only an hour, I saw a tiny bird right underneath me drop out of the sky and plunge into the water. After a tense minute, I finally relocated it, and had great views of Common Diving Petrel! Throughout the afternoon, I had 5 sightings,  at one point, 3 sitting an diving on the water right in front of me!

Double Common Diving Petrel

4) SYDNEY TICKING - EASIER THAN LIFERS
Max, Ashwin and myself spent a lot of effort this year on getting Sydney ticks, some of the highlights over our various trips to western Sydney being (in chronological order):

Great-crested Grebe
Square-tailed Kite (finally getting my bogey! Circing overhead as we quickly pulled over in Richmond)
Striated Pardalote (everywhere in Sydney this year)
Freckled Duck (everywhere all over Australia this year, with us counting 30 at Pitt Town in April)
Scarlet Robin*
White-naped Honeyeater*
Swift Parrot* (these last three on an exceptional morning at Mulgoa Nature Reserve in winter)
Eastern Barn Owl
Pallid Cuckoo
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin
Whiskered Tern

With a number of notable dips too, namely Australasian Bittern at Pitt Town Lagoon (double dip, one of which involved me wading through muddy thigh-deep water for an hour and bashing through almost impenetrable reeds) and Sooty Owl at Royal with Nathan Ruser, Henry Coleman, and disappointed visiting British birder Ben Jobson! We did get unbeatable views of four Freckled Ducks at Eastlakes though, and found some very cool glowworm colonies off southern Lady Carrington Drive.

Freckled Ducks at Eastlakes

5) TWITCHING AS STUDY BREAKS
One of my favourite pass-times this year was chasing rare birds which turned up at convenient times when I was burnt out from study. I already made a blog post about the Barking Owl, but I also twitched a Satin Flycatcher pair at Sydney Olympic Park with Simon Gorta the week before the HSC began, and a pair of Oriental Plovers at Long Reef with Max during the first week of the HSC (getting very confused by a dodgy Pacific Golden Plover in the process!). But not stopping there, Max and I were at it again two weeks later as we headed out to Pitt Town to twitch Painted Honeyeater and Pectoral Sandpiper, finding two Ruff instead (see previous blog post)!

Barking Owl, Satin Flycatcher, Oriental Plover (and dodgy PGP), Ruff

Also made a trip up to the Central Coast to meet with Alan Morris for a great tour of Pioneer Dairy Wetlands just after my HSC Trials in September, and successfully twitched Pectoral Sandpiper (of course since then, they've shown up everywhere, including the Pitt Town Lagoon birds!), though a host of other great birds were around including Australian Owlet Nightjar peeking out of a nest box.

Pectoral Sandpiper Hiding

Sleepy Afternoon Australian Owlet Nightjar

6) IT'S NOT JUST THE BIRDS
Have also made a few herping/frogging attempts with Nathan Ruser this year around the Northern Beaches, with one particular night being quite successful, with some great frogs, reptile (singular) and insects observed, plus a Tawny Frogmouth. We plan to spend a few more nights getting some more species later this year.

Eastern Stone Gecko

Common Ringtail Possum 

 Eudocima materna

Hemicloea major (Flat Rock or Major Pancake Spider)

Spotted Marsh Frog

Tawny Frogmouth

Also found this Threatening Jumping Spider Helpis minitabunda (I think that ID is correct, not 100%) in my backyard frogpond the other day, which is slowly filling with Striped Marsh Frogs, much to annoyance of the neighbors...

Threatening Jumping Spider

7) LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR FOUR MONTHS OF FREEDOM!
I've spent a lot of time this year organising my post-HSC movements, with three great trips coming up. Lake Cargelligo and Round Hill Nature Reserve with Ashwin and Lachlan Hall in December (it will be extremely hot, but we're looking for reptiles too!), and a month in Borneo with Max starting in late January.

I have had to cancel my previous plans with Max and Ashwin to bird in Northern NSW for schoolies, but only because my next stop is the wide, blue, cold, and windy Southern Ocean, with a huge thanks to Enderby Trust, Rodney Russ, and Heritage Expeditions for awarding me an Enderby Trust Scholarship to participate in the "Birding Down Under" expedition - Macquarie Island here I come!!! 9 days and counting...

____________________________

Furthermore, 15,000 blog views and counting, we're going pretty well!!!
Thanks for reading guys

Heading out for a night of celebration,
Joshua Bergmark

Well, that's a lie. My schooling career officially ended today with the conclusion of the Biology HSC Exam, and I am a free man! I realised today that for this whole year, I have only made 4 blog posts, which is very bad (Max has made none! haha). So here's a quick summary - my survival guide for "How to bird successfully during Year 12" - I'm looking at you, Nathan/Henry/Simon/Julian!

1) DON'T MAKE EXCUSES, GO BIRDING!
Whilst a lot of time must be spent on schoolwork, there are always ways to fit in birding around it. Isn't that right Ashwin? ;)

2) GO ON PELAGICS, THE FRESH SEA AIR IS GOOD FOR YOU
I've been on a few pelagics this year, as they are very good single day breaks from study! I was on both the March and April Sydney Pelagics (in the vain hope of "twitching" New Zealand Storm Petrel, which has been sighted at that time of year over the last few years). No NZSP showed itself, however the April Pelagic was the day before Nathan's and Max's birthday, so I made an obligatory birdday cake which was well received on board.

An Edible (but not Tickable) New Zealand Storm Petrel

Little Penguin

Flesh-footed Shearwater

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

It is with great sadness that we learnt last month that the Halicat has been sold, and this era of Sydney Pelagics has come to an end, with a new arrangement needing to be organised at some point in the near future. Thankyou to Hal, Roger, Steve, Nikolas, and all the birders I have enjoyed my time with on board over the last few years - you kickstarted my love of ocean birding, and I hope to see you on the wide blue expanse again some other time!

Indeed, my last year of Halicatting held some fantastic experiences. My last bird tick was the March White-tailed Tropicbird, and while the April Pelagic netted me no new birds, we spotted pods of both Long-snouted Spinner Dolphins and Pantropical Spotted Dolphins, the former one of the first Sydney records, well out of range in the unusually warm Sydney waters. Soon after, we found a huge mass of floating pumice, with a whole marine ecosystem living off it. Steve dove in to grab some samples, and although I have no photos of this once-in-a-lifetime event, we were amazed by the display of spheroid orange, lime and spotted pufferfish, fluoro blue-striped slugs, pelagic sea snails, barnacles, and surface-dwelling crabs.

This is not a Tropicbird, but a White Tern, seen soon 

after the White-tailed Tropicbird disappeared

After a sudden influx of Common Diving Petrel sightings in June, (see SEAWATCHING) and a Blue Petrel of Wollongong, Max, Ashwin and myself quickly booked on an impromptu Swansea Pelagic, which was subsequently cancelled 5 minutes before we left home. A backup July Wollongong SOSSA Pelagic the next week was a milestone for me, first pelagic without a lifer! However we had a great day, with some great views of Buller's Albatross.

Buller's Albatross

3) SEAWATCHING... IT CAN BE ALRIGHT I GUESS
What a terrible idea. Who ever invented this? I've spent a fair few hours on North Head this year in perfect conditions (read raining, windy and cold), with very little to show for it. However, after the influx of Common Diving Petrels off the NSW coast, I decided to try my luck, and for the first time, I actually had some fantastic luck whilst seawatching! After only an hour, I saw a tiny bird right underneath me drop out of the sky and plunge into the water. After a tense minute, I finally relocated it, and had great views of Common Diving Petrel! Throughout the afternoon, I had 5 sightings,  at one point, 3 sitting an diving on the water right in front of me!

Double Common Diving Petrel

4) SYDNEY TICKING - EASIER THAN LIFERS
Max, Ashwin and myself spent a lot of effort this year on getting Sydney ticks, some of the highlights over our various trips to western Sydney being (in chronological order):

Great-crested Grebe
Square-tailed Kite (finally getting my bogey! Circing overhead as we quickly pulled over in Richmond)
Striated Pardalote (everywhere in Sydney this year)
Freckled Duck (everywhere all over Australia this year, with us counting 30 at Pitt Town in April)
Scarlet Robin*
White-naped Honeyeater*
Swift Parrot* (these last three on an exceptional morning at Mulgoa Nature Reserve in winter)
Eastern Barn Owl
Pallid Cuckoo
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin
Whiskered Tern

With a number of notable dips too, namely Australasian Bittern at Pitt Town Lagoon (double dip, one of which involved me wading through muddy thigh-deep water for an hour and bashing through almost impenetrable reeds) and Sooty Owl at Royal with Nathan Ruser, Henry Coleman, and disappointed visiting British birder Ben Jobson! We did get unbeatable views of four Freckled Ducks at Eastlakes though, and found some very cool glowworm colonies off southern Lady Carrington Drive.

Freckled Ducks at Eastlakes

5) TWITCHING AS STUDY BREAKS
One of my favourite pass-times this year was chasing rare birds which turned up at convenient times when I was burnt out from study. I already made a blog post about the Barking Owl, but I also twitched a Satin Flycatcher pair at Sydney Olympic Park with Simon Gorta the week before the HSC began, and a pair of Oriental Plovers at Long Reef with Max during the first week of the HSC (getting very confused by a dodgy Pacific Golden Plover in the process!). But not stopping there, Max and I were at it again two weeks later as we headed out to Pitt Town to twitch Painted Honeyeater and Pectoral Sandpiper, finding two Ruff instead (see previous blog post)!

Barking Owl, Satin Flycatcher, Oriental Plover (and dodgy PGP), Ruff

Also made a trip up to the Central Coast to meet with Alan Morris for a great tour of Pioneer Dairy Wetlands just after my HSC Trials in September, and successfully twitched Pectoral Sandpiper (of course since then, they've shown up everywhere, including the Pitt Town Lagoon birds!), though a host of other great birds were around including Australian Owlet Nightjar peeking out of a nest box.

Pectoral Sandpiper Hiding

Sleepy Afternoon Australian Owlet Nightjar

6) IT'S NOT JUST THE BIRDS
Have also made a few herping/frogging attempts with Nathan Ruser this year around the Northern Beaches, with one particular night being quite successful, with some great frogs, reptile (singular) and insects observed, plus a Tawny Frogmouth. We plan to spend a few more nights getting some more species later this year.

Eastern Stone Gecko

Common Ringtail Possum 

 Eudocima materna

Hemicloea major (Flat Rock or Major Pancake Spider)

Spotted Marsh Frog

Tawny Frogmouth

Also found this Threatening Jumping Spider Helpis minitabunda (I think that ID is correct, not 100%) in my backyard frogpond the other day, which is slowly filling with Striped Marsh Frogs, much to annoyance of the neighbors...

Threatening Jumping Spider

7) LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR FOUR MONTHS OF FREEDOM!
I've spent a lot of time this year organising my post-HSC movements, with three great trips coming up. Lake Cargelligo and Round Hill Nature Reserve with Ashwin and Lachlan Hall in December (it will be extremely hot, but we're looking for reptiles too!), and a month in Borneo with Max starting in late January.

I have had to cancel my previous plans with Max and Ashwin to bird in Northern NSW for schoolies, but only because my next stop is the wide, blue, cold, and windy Southern Ocean, with a huge thanks to Enderby Trust, Rodney Russ, and Heritage Expeditions for awarding me an Enderby Trust Scholarship to participate in the "Birding Down Under" expedition - Macquarie Island here I come!!! 9 days and counting...

____________________________

Furthermore, 15,000 blog views and counting, we're going pretty well!!!
Thanks for reading guys

Heading out for a night of celebration,
Joshua Bergmark

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Dodgy Drongos Twitchathon 2012 Report - Part 2

Overnight we had jagged Eastern Barn Owl, Tawny Frogmouth and Southern Boobook, however a southerly bluster had picked up and it was bitingly cold by the time we had bedded down on the rainforest floor.

Our half-sleep was disturbed by Golden Whistlers and Eastern Yellow Robins which kept at it all morning. During the dawn chorus, before heading down through the foothills, we came across the following: Both thrush, two scrubwrens, two monarchs, Noisy Pitta, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, White-headed Pigeon, Green Catbird, Rufous Fantail, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Aus. Brush Turkey and, a corker, Red-browed Treecreeper.

We did well on the road down from the mountains, with Pheasant Coucal sunning itself, Torresian Crow, Scarlet Honeyeater and Pacific Koel making it onto the list.

Scaly-breasted Lorikeets at Seaham and 'Geoff' at Raymond Terrace were added amongst others and Grahamstown provided Musk Duck, Great-crested Grebe and Great Cormorant.

Our race took a disappointing turn, by arriving at Stockton too early. We picked up some of the basic waders, as well as the tereks, tattlers and PGP's nearby, but we agreed that a return trip to 'the spit' was absolutely necessary before the race end.

From here we cruised into Newcastle, through unusually light traffic (by Newcastle standards!) to the baths, but only picked up Crested Tern, Sooty Oystercatcher and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters offshore. Back to Stockton, and by now the waders had really arrived; Red Knot, both godwits, Curlew Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Ruddy Turnstone, Eastern Curlew, Whimbrel and Gull-billed tern.

Now we headed inland, stopping in breifly at Hexham and Ash Island to pick up some raptors, White-fronted Chat and Brown Songlark! Overlooking Lenaghans we picked up some distant Glossy Ibis, then, down the road, we lucked upon Topknot Pigeons (where they'd been the previous weekend), Channel-billed Cuckoo and Latham's Snipe flushed, but no jacana.

Our list had passed 200 concisively, and thus the rest of the time we had was spent mopping up what we could. New-Holland Honeyeater, Eurasian Goldfinch, Yellow-tufted Honeyeater etc.

We made it to the wetlands centre with plenty of time to pick up the Magpie Goose and Wandering Whistling-Duck and finally Tawny Grassbird.

Our 24-hour race had ended and our tally stood at an impressive 223 species. We had come in 3rd place, after the Hunter Home Brewers who ended up with 224... However, they did restrict themselves exclusively to the Hunter itself. The winner, as expected, were the Menacing Monarchs on 234.

And so ended the Dodgy Drongos Twitchathon campaign for 2012, a weekend of stunning birds, long hours, little food, little sleep enjoyed by all drongos!

A species list can be accessed here: http://www.eremaea.com/Lists.aspx?List=149116

Overnight we had jagged Eastern Barn Owl, Tawny Frogmouth and Southern Boobook, however a southerly bluster had picked up and it was bitingly cold by the time we had bedded down on the rainforest floor.

Our half-sleep was disturbed by Golden Whistlers and Eastern Yellow Robins which kept at it all morning. During the dawn chorus, before heading down through the foothills, we came across the following: Both thrush, two scrubwrens, two monarchs, Noisy Pitta, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, White-headed Pigeon, Green Catbird, Rufous Fantail, Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Aus. Brush Turkey and, a corker, Red-browed Treecreeper.

We did well on the road down from the mountains, with Pheasant Coucal sunning itself, Torresian Crow, Scarlet Honeyeater and Pacific Koel making it onto the list.

Scaly-breasted Lorikeets at Seaham and 'Geoff' at Raymond Terrace were added amongst others and Grahamstown provided Musk Duck, Great-crested Grebe and Great Cormorant.

Our race took a disappointing turn, by arriving at Stockton too early. We picked up some of the basic waders, as well as the tereks, tattlers and PGP's nearby, but we agreed that a return trip to 'the spit' was absolutely necessary before the race end.

From here we cruised into Newcastle, through unusually light traffic (by Newcastle standards!) to the baths, but only picked up Crested Tern, Sooty Oystercatcher and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters offshore. Back to Stockton, and by now the waders had really arrived; Red Knot, both godwits, Curlew Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Ruddy Turnstone, Eastern Curlew, Whimbrel and Gull-billed tern.

Now we headed inland, stopping in breifly at Hexham and Ash Island to pick up some raptors, White-fronted Chat and Brown Songlark! Overlooking Lenaghans we picked up some distant Glossy Ibis, then, down the road, we lucked upon Topknot Pigeons (where they'd been the previous weekend), Channel-billed Cuckoo and Latham's Snipe flushed, but no jacana.

Our list had passed 200 concisively, and thus the rest of the time we had was spent mopping up what we could. New-Holland Honeyeater, Eurasian Goldfinch, Yellow-tufted Honeyeater etc.

We made it to the wetlands centre with plenty of time to pick up the Magpie Goose and Wandering Whistling-Duck and finally Tawny Grassbird.

Our 24-hour race had ended and our tally stood at an impressive 223 species. We had come in 3rd place, after the Hunter Home Brewers who ended up with 224... However, they did restrict themselves exclusively to the Hunter itself. The winner, as expected, were the Menacing Monarchs on 234.

And so ended the Dodgy Drongos Twitchathon campaign for 2012, a weekend of stunning birds, long hours, little food, little sleep enjoyed by all drongos!

A species list can be accessed here: http://www.eremaea.com/Lists.aspx?List=149116

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Dodgy Drongos Twitchathon 2012 Report - Part 1

It was that time of year again, the last weekend of October, the NSW Twitchathon 2012 was here. For the third year running I made my way up to Newcastle to rendezvous with the rest of my team (Grant Brosie, Nick Livanos, Robert Kilkelly) and make our way west.

For those of you reading who haven't heard of Twitchathon, it is basically a 24-hour race during which teams  of birders race around the state in an attempt to see/hear as many species as possible. For a bird to go down on the race list, the majority of the team must have heard or seen it, another rule being that there must be a three-hour break between birding in order for teams to get some much deserved rest. This break usually occurs in the wee hours of the morning, but is an unnecessary precaution in my opinion. Anyway, back to it...

Grant, Nick and myself made our way up the New England Hwy from Maitland heading for the small country town of Manilla. Here we would stay the night in preparation for the race, which would start at 4pm on Saturday. The Friday afternoon was our allocated dummy run, following the same basic route as the race, while at the same time sussing out sites to check the next day. The weather had looked promising all day, but as we began, a stiff southerly blew up and remained constant for the rest of the evening, bringing several brief showers and overcast conditions - sh*t for birding!

To put it simply, we returned to Manilla very disheartened that evening. We had only found 83 species, of which only 25, or so, were 'western birds' (birds that we deem as being, although not strictly western, species that are difficult or impossible to encounter on the Sunday). We had seen a taste of the birds that were on offer and it would be our mission to comprehensively scour our route the next day to greatly increase our chances for the race and not make a repeat performance of the dummy run.

Saturday morning dawned with the weather looking somewhat dodgy (hah!), but by 10am it had turned around and we were looking at superb race conditions for the afternoon! After Grant had collected Rob from Tamworth and I had done a spot of birding around the caravan park and adjacent park (54 species in 2 hours, including White-winged Triller, Pallid Cuckoo and Azure Kingfisher), we set off.

We began our western route backwards in order to end up at our starting point in time for 4pm. Our 'town site' had all the required species; Musk Lorikeet, Blackbird, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Brown Honeyeater as well as Yellow-billed Spoonbill. At a bridge just off the highway we came across small numbers of White-browed and Masked Woodswallows (both species we hoped would stick around). At our 'whiteface spot', a top a rocky knoll covered with pines we found no evidence of Southern Whiteface, but were superbly compensated with Red-capped Robin, Spotted Bowerbird, Blue Bonnet, Mallee Ringneck and Grey-crowned Babbler. Western Gerygone was calling from where it should be, as was Singing, Spiny-cheeked, Brown and Painted Honeyeater, but it was time to head for the starting line.

The 3:55pm alarm rang as we all tried desperately to keep eyes on a female triller moving about in the top of a swaying gum. The starting gun sounded and White-winged Triller went down as bird #1. The next 10 minutes went something like this:

"Diamond Firetail, there, on the ground!"
"Got it!"
"Yes, tick."
"Tree Martin above!"
"Where?"
"Just went behind that gum tree."
"Ah, yes, got it! Nick?"
"Yep, me too, let's go!"
"Brown Treecreeper calling!"
"Nup, didn't hear it... Yes!"
"Tick it up!"

And so we made our way around, back to the car, coming across such goodies as Little Friarbird, Black-fronted Dotterel, Fuscous Honeyeater, White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike, Turquoise Parrot and Rufous Songlarks galore.

Out along the dusty roads, "Apostlebird!", "Chough in the paddock!", "Red-rumps flying up!", out to our bushlark stretch... Dip. Further along and, wait a minute, yes, "Banded Lapwings, down by the sheep, just flew in!", after a bit of confusion we added Little Raven and sped off.

Our honeyeater spot turned up the goods, but we couldn't find the Red-capped Robins from eariler. Spotted Harrier and White-winged Fairy-Wren, but no Yellow-throated Miners. Cockatiel expertely picked up by Nick and then, our best bird for the race, a pair of Ground Cuckoo-Shrike we had come across earlier nest building.

The 'whiteface spot' was a major dissapointment, with only Blue Bonnet to show for our effort. Into the state forest, birds calling from all directions; Speckled Warbler, Peaceful Dove, Little Lorikeet, Leaden Flycatcher, Varied Sittela, Buff-rumped Thornbill and not Inland, but Chestnut-rumped Thornbill - quite unexpected!

We arrived in town with the sun setting, but all the required species turned out to meet us, unlike the woodswallows just previously. A quick pit stop and we were off along the highway, hoping to have enough sunlight to pick out Blue-billed and Pink-eared Ducks on the sewerage works. Success, and Hoary-headed Grebe a bonus.

With the day's end, we could relax a little, stock up, tally the list and make our way to the rainforest. We ended up with an impressive 109 species, of which 45 were 'western' birds after counting up at KFC! Our spirits and caffeine levels high, we drove off into the darkness, not even half way through the race, yet eager for more!

It was that time of year again, the last weekend of October, the NSW Twitchathon 2012 was here. For the third year running I made my way up to Newcastle to rendezvous with the rest of my team (Grant Brosie, Nick Livanos, Robert Kilkelly) and make our way west.

For those of you reading who haven't heard of Twitchathon, it is basically a 24-hour race during which teams  of birders race around the state in an attempt to see/hear as many species as possible. For a bird to go down on the race list, the majority of the team must have heard or seen it, another rule being that there must be a three-hour break between birding in order for teams to get some much deserved rest. This break usually occurs in the wee hours of the morning, but is an unnecessary precaution in my opinion. Anyway, back to it...

Grant, Nick and myself made our way up the New England Hwy from Maitland heading for the small country town of Manilla. Here we would stay the night in preparation for the race, which would start at 4pm on Saturday. The Friday afternoon was our allocated dummy run, following the same basic route as the race, while at the same time sussing out sites to check the next day. The weather had looked promising all day, but as we began, a stiff southerly blew up and remained constant for the rest of the evening, bringing several brief showers and overcast conditions - sh*t for birding!

To put it simply, we returned to Manilla very disheartened that evening. We had only found 83 species, of which only 25, or so, were 'western birds' (birds that we deem as being, although not strictly western, species that are difficult or impossible to encounter on the Sunday). We had seen a taste of the birds that were on offer and it would be our mission to comprehensively scour our route the next day to greatly increase our chances for the race and not make a repeat performance of the dummy run.

Saturday morning dawned with the weather looking somewhat dodgy (hah!), but by 10am it had turned around and we were looking at superb race conditions for the afternoon! After Grant had collected Rob from Tamworth and I had done a spot of birding around the caravan park and adjacent park (54 species in 2 hours, including White-winged Triller, Pallid Cuckoo and Azure Kingfisher), we set off.

We began our western route backwards in order to end up at our starting point in time for 4pm. Our 'town site' had all the required species; Musk Lorikeet, Blackbird, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Brown Honeyeater as well as Yellow-billed Spoonbill. At a bridge just off the highway we came across small numbers of White-browed and Masked Woodswallows (both species we hoped would stick around). At our 'whiteface spot', a top a rocky knoll covered with pines we found no evidence of Southern Whiteface, but were superbly compensated with Red-capped Robin, Spotted Bowerbird, Blue Bonnet, Mallee Ringneck and Grey-crowned Babbler. Western Gerygone was calling from where it should be, as was Singing, Spiny-cheeked, Brown and Painted Honeyeater, but it was time to head for the starting line.

The 3:55pm alarm rang as we all tried desperately to keep eyes on a female triller moving about in the top of a swaying gum. The starting gun sounded and White-winged Triller went down as bird #1. The next 10 minutes went something like this:

"Diamond Firetail, there, on the ground!"
"Got it!"
"Yes, tick."
"Tree Martin above!"
"Where?"
"Just went behind that gum tree."
"Ah, yes, got it! Nick?"
"Yep, me too, let's go!"
"Brown Treecreeper calling!"
"Nup, didn't hear it... Yes!"
"Tick it up!"

And so we made our way around, back to the car, coming across such goodies as Little Friarbird, Black-fronted Dotterel, Fuscous Honeyeater, White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike, Turquoise Parrot and Rufous Songlarks galore.

Out along the dusty roads, "Apostlebird!", "Chough in the paddock!", "Red-rumps flying up!", out to our bushlark stretch... Dip. Further along and, wait a minute, yes, "Banded Lapwings, down by the sheep, just flew in!", after a bit of confusion we added Little Raven and sped off.

Our honeyeater spot turned up the goods, but we couldn't find the Red-capped Robins from eariler. Spotted Harrier and White-winged Fairy-Wren, but no Yellow-throated Miners. Cockatiel expertely picked up by Nick and then, our best bird for the race, a pair of Ground Cuckoo-Shrike we had come across earlier nest building.

The 'whiteface spot' was a major dissapointment, with only Blue Bonnet to show for our effort. Into the state forest, birds calling from all directions; Speckled Warbler, Peaceful Dove, Little Lorikeet, Leaden Flycatcher, Varied Sittela, Buff-rumped Thornbill and not Inland, but Chestnut-rumped Thornbill - quite unexpected!

We arrived in town with the sun setting, but all the required species turned out to meet us, unlike the woodswallows just previously. A quick pit stop and we were off along the highway, hoping to have enough sunlight to pick out Blue-billed and Pink-eared Ducks on the sewerage works. Success, and Hoary-headed Grebe a bonus.

With the day's end, we could relax a little, stock up, tally the list and make our way to the rainforest. We ended up with an impressive 109 species, of which 45 were 'western' birds after counting up at KFC! Our spirits and caffeine levels high, we drove off into the darkness, not even half way through the race, yet eager for more!

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Australian Painted Snipe - 'Year Tick' Twitch

Making use of my Tuesday afternoon off, I opted out of study instead heading to Warriewood Wetlands on Sydney's Northern Beaches to twitch a pair of Australian Painted Snipe that had been first sighted two days previously.

The site was little more than a temporary wetland on the edge of a construction site and it took me almost half an hour to eventually locate the pair, hanging around on the south-western edge of the wetland. They were only viewable from a point north of the wetland where I could look over the man-proof fence surrounding the construction site.

Pair of Australian Painted Snipe - the bird on the right can be seen displaying it's defensive wing spread behaviour towards the nearby Australian White Ibis.

Not much else around; Little Grassbird calling, Intermediate Egret and Hardhead. Over at Irrawong I got decent views of Superb Lyrebird, Rufous Fantail and Oriental Dollarbird. 

Little Pied Cormorant - attempting some basic digi-scoping

Below are a couple of shots from last weekend during my failed Grass Owl/Aus. Bittern twitch at Hexham Swamp.

Large flock of Pacific Golden Plover and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper put up by an Australian Hobby

Disused railway near the supposed bittern pond

Making use of my Tuesday afternoon off, I opted out of study instead heading to Warriewood Wetlands on Sydney's Northern Beaches to twitch a pair of Australian Painted Snipe that had been first sighted two days previously.

The site was little more than a temporary wetland on the edge of a construction site and it took me almost half an hour to eventually locate the pair, hanging around on the south-western edge of the wetland. They were only viewable from a point north of the wetland where I could look over the man-proof fence surrounding the construction site.

Pair of Australian Painted Snipe - the bird on the right can be seen displaying it's defensive wing spread behaviour towards the nearby Australian White Ibis.

Not much else around; Little Grassbird calling, Intermediate Egret and Hardhead. Over at Irrawong I got decent views of Superb Lyrebird, Rufous Fantail and Oriental Dollarbird. 

Little Pied Cormorant - attempting some basic digi-scoping

Below are a couple of shots from last weekend during my failed Grass Owl/Aus. Bittern twitch at Hexham Swamp.

Large flock of Pacific Golden Plover and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper put up by an Australian Hobby

Disused railway near the supposed bittern pond

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Signs of Spring in Sydney

After Josh's successful Noisy Pitta twitch in the morning, I was keen to get out birding myself and it turned out Josh was able to come along too. We decided upon an afternoon session at Sydney Olympic Park and nearby Mason Park, Homebush.

We were following up reports of a variety of species seen in the general area and although missing out on some, it turned out to be a very worthwhile visit.

Our first stop was Mason Park and it didn't take us long to happen across a decent-sized flock of Nutmeg Mannikin. A feral species that is seemingly becoming harder and harder to find in Sydney - a year tick for both of us and a 'Sydney tick' for Josh.

A slow circuit of Lake Belvedere in the vain hope of spotting the Black Falcon seen the day before, was unsuccessful, as was the quick check for Glossy Ibis at the Badu Wetlands. Brown Honeyeater was a minor consolation.

Triangle Pond was next, but we didn't spot Lewin's Rail or Spotless Crake once while making our way through to the Waterbird Refuge. Calling Reed-Warblers were of note and on our final try a pair of Glossy Ibis were observed overhead.

At the Waterbird Refuge we counted 45 Bar-tailed Godwit, 7 Red-necked Avocet, Little Egret and all the usual species. At Shipwreck Point we found 9 Black-fronted Dotterel on the wooden platform which we thought was a bit odd.

Haslam's Pier was excellent - we spotted a Glossy Ibis as soon as we arrived, Little Grassbirds were calling (later seen) and we soon got onto a male (coming into breeding plumage) White-winged Triller - more evidence that Spring is on its way!

As an additional note, I, alone, spent much of the day at Sydney Olympic Park on Sunday and ended up with a site list of 68 species - a new 'best day list' for Eremaea. Highlights included: Spotless Crake, Buff-banded Rail (both at Wentworth Common), Glossy Ibis, Red-necked Avocet, 50 Bar-tailed Godwits, Little Egret, Brown Goshawk and Rufous Whistler.

 Nutmeg (Scaly-breasted) Mannikin 

 White-headed Stilts

 9 Black-fronted Dotterels on a wooden jetty 

 Little Egret

 Bar-tailed Godwits

Camouflaged Glossy Ibis

Early returning White-winged Triller

After Josh's successful Noisy Pitta twitch in the morning, I was keen to get out birding myself and it turned out Josh was able to come along too. We decided upon an afternoon session at Sydney Olympic Park and nearby Mason Park, Homebush.

We were following up reports of a variety of species seen in the general area and although missing out on some, it turned out to be a very worthwhile visit.

Our first stop was Mason Park and it didn't take us long to happen across a decent-sized flock of Nutmeg Mannikin. A feral species that is seemingly becoming harder and harder to find in Sydney - a year tick for both of us and a 'Sydney tick' for Josh.

A slow circuit of Lake Belvedere in the vain hope of spotting the Black Falcon seen the day before, was unsuccessful, as was the quick check for Glossy Ibis at the Badu Wetlands. Brown Honeyeater was a minor consolation.

Triangle Pond was next, but we didn't spot Lewin's Rail or Spotless Crake once while making our way through to the Waterbird Refuge. Calling Reed-Warblers were of note and on our final try a pair of Glossy Ibis were observed overhead.

At the Waterbird Refuge we counted 45 Bar-tailed Godwit, 7 Red-necked Avocet, Little Egret and all the usual species. At Shipwreck Point we found 9 Black-fronted Dotterel on the wooden platform which we thought was a bit odd.

Haslam's Pier was excellent - we spotted a Glossy Ibis as soon as we arrived, Little Grassbirds were calling (later seen) and we soon got onto a male (coming into breeding plumage) White-winged Triller - more evidence that Spring is on its way!

As an additional note, I, alone, spent much of the day at Sydney Olympic Park on Sunday and ended up with a site list of 68 species - a new 'best day list' for Eremaea. Highlights included: Spotless Crake, Buff-banded Rail (both at Wentworth Common), Glossy Ibis, Red-necked Avocet, 50 Bar-tailed Godwits, Little Egret, Brown Goshawk and Rufous Whistler.

 Nutmeg (Scaly-breasted) Mannikin 

 White-headed Stilts

 9 Black-fronted Dotterels on a wooden jetty 

 Little Egret

 Bar-tailed Godwits

Camouflaged Glossy Ibis

Early returning White-winged Triller

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Second Time Lucky

After watching 'The Big Year' on Friday night with the rents, I found myself being bombarded with questions as to what my next new bird would be! The film seemed to stir the twitcher gene buried deep within them and Dad told me he'd be happy to take me up to Soldiers Point (north of Newcastle) the next day to find bird number 499 - Beach Stone-Curlew.

The forecast didn't look promising - 30-40km/h westerly winds - but I kept a sense of optimism as we cruised up the freeway, arriving in blustery Soldiers Point around 10:30am. First, a quick refresher - I had previously (in May) attempted to see BSC at this site with Grant Brosie in quite similar conditions. The result of that search was a resounding failure and as the dashboard clock ticked over, sitting in the car, scanning Dowadee Island today, I was beginning to anticipate a repeat performance.

There was a fairly good array of birds sheltering in the lee of the island, protected from the howling westerly. Over the course of the morning I saw the following species: Little Egret, Royal Spoonbill, three species of cormorant, Caspian and Crested Terns, a pair of Osprey, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Pied Oycs, White-headed Pigeon and Topknot Pigeons.

The day wore on and my optimism started to return with the receeding tide. Lunch passed, alternative searches at spots down the peninsula and on the eastern side turned up blanks and yet again we found ourselves sitting in the car watching the mudflats appear and occasionally stirring for fly-by White-faced Herons.

I headed out into the gale-force winds one more time and finally spotted a pair of Beach Stone-Curlew as they walked out from behind a grounded tinnie! Obligatory fist-pump and a few minutes study before I headed back to the car to pick up the camera.

Of course, as all good birders know, a camera will automatically make birds fly away and BSC's, as I discovered, are no exception to this rule.

Nonetheless, a successful trip was had and as we drove home, I flipped through Pizzey to find my next target, the big one, number 500 - Rufous Scrub-Bird.

The scene of the crime - Soldiers Point mudflats

After watching 'The Big Year' on Friday night with the rents, I found myself being bombarded with questions as to what my next new bird would be! The film seemed to stir the twitcher gene buried deep within them and Dad told me he'd be happy to take me up to Soldiers Point (north of Newcastle) the next day to find bird number 499 - Beach Stone-Curlew.

The forecast didn't look promising - 30-40km/h westerly winds - but I kept a sense of optimism as we cruised up the freeway, arriving in blustery Soldiers Point around 10:30am. First, a quick refresher - I had previously (in May) attempted to see BSC at this site with Grant Brosie in quite similar conditions. The result of that search was a resounding failure and as the dashboard clock ticked over, sitting in the car, scanning Dowadee Island today, I was beginning to anticipate a repeat performance.

There was a fairly good array of birds sheltering in the lee of the island, protected from the howling westerly. Over the course of the morning I saw the following species: Little Egret, Royal Spoonbill, three species of cormorant, Caspian and Crested Terns, a pair of Osprey, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Pied Oycs, White-headed Pigeon and Topknot Pigeons.

The day wore on and my optimism started to return with the receeding tide. Lunch passed, alternative searches at spots down the peninsula and on the eastern side turned up blanks and yet again we found ourselves sitting in the car watching the mudflats appear and occasionally stirring for fly-by White-faced Herons.

I headed out into the gale-force winds one more time and finally spotted a pair of Beach Stone-Curlew as they walked out from behind a grounded tinnie! Obligatory fist-pump and a few minutes study before I headed back to the car to pick up the camera.

Of course, as all good birders know, a camera will automatically make birds fly away and BSC's, as I discovered, are no exception to this rule.

Nonetheless, a successful trip was had and as we drove home, I flipped through Pizzey to find my next target, the big one, number 500 - Rufous Scrub-Bird.

The scene of the crime - Soldiers Point mudflats

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Critical Twitch: Regent Honeyeaters

After the reports of 12 Regent Honeyeaters only 1.5 hours away from home for the last 2 weeks, Max, Nathan, Henry and I were literally bouncing with enthusiasm today, as it was the first free day in 2 weeks available to make the trip north (the perils of being a birder still in school, with exams and such)

After a few issues getting organised (eg; Henry only being able to come on Saturday when I had tennis) we eventually agreed on meeting at midday then getting to Morisset at 1:30. After consulting the finders of the flock, it became apparent that the location was easy to get to, but the birds were often not seen after about 11:00. Of course due to timing issues we weren’t able to get there until 1:30 at the earliest… typical. The promise of late showers also dismayed us. Luckily, weather can never get in the way of a twitch!

Parking at the entrance to the reserve, we walked towards the site frequented by the birds over the last week. After a few tricky obstacles (for example: the muddy-swampy excuse for a track and a river, only crossable by climbing across a water pipe), we made it to the approximate area. I quickly picked up on a sign – footprints in the mud! Birders must have passed this way recently!


It only took 100m of walking until Max alerted us to the Regent Honeyeater feeding in the tree above us – what a bird! Throughout the next hour and a bit we were rewarded with views of at least 8 birds, probably more, plus a hoard of other honeyeater species. Unfortunately, it was very overcast with no sun, so photography was insane.


Walking back to the car, we found a flock of Varied Sittellas, and were just watching some White-naped Honeyeaters bathing in a puddle when the sun came out. Excellent. We high-tailed it back a kilometre to the Regents and were rewarded with much better views and photographic opportunities.


The day ended with a very easy Swift Parrot twitch, and we received year-ticks before even getting out of the car!

After the reports of 12 Regent Honeyeaters only 1.5 hours away from home for the last 2 weeks, Max, Nathan, Henry and I were literally bouncing with enthusiasm today, as it was the first free day in 2 weeks available to make the trip north (the perils of being a birder still in school, with exams and such)

After a few issues getting organised (eg; Henry only being able to come on Saturday when I had tennis) we eventually agreed on meeting at midday then getting to Morisset at 1:30. After consulting the finders of the flock, it became apparent that the location was easy to get to, but the birds were often not seen after about 11:00. Of course due to timing issues we weren’t able to get there until 1:30 at the earliest… typical. The promise of late showers also dismayed us. Luckily, weather can never get in the way of a twitch!

Parking at the entrance to the reserve, we walked towards the site frequented by the birds over the last week. After a few tricky obstacles (for example: the muddy-swampy excuse for a track and a river, only crossable by climbing across a water pipe), we made it to the approximate area. I quickly picked up on a sign – footprints in the mud! Birders must have passed this way recently!


It only took 100m of walking until Max alerted us to the Regent Honeyeater feeding in the tree above us – what a bird! Throughout the next hour and a bit we were rewarded with views of at least 8 birds, probably more, plus a hoard of other honeyeater species. Unfortunately, it was very overcast with no sun, so photography was insane.


Walking back to the car, we found a flock of Varied Sittellas, and were just watching some White-naped Honeyeaters bathing in a puddle when the sun came out. Excellent. We high-tailed it back a kilometre to the Regents and were rewarded with much better views and photographic opportunities.


The day ended with a very easy Swift Parrot twitch, and we received year-ticks before even getting out of the car!

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