The Duck Pond at Centennial Park in Sydney has been deserted by many of its usual residents; for example not one Hardhead was counted at the last survey - normally the count might be over one hundred. However there are still a few ducks present including this Grey Teal family. And a few days ago a party of six Plumed Whistling Ducks stayed overnight, en route to who knows where.
Grey Teal family feed at the Duck Pond, Centennial Park, Sydney.
Thursday’s survey of the Duck Pond, Randwick and Busby ponds in Centennial Park, Sydney confirmed that the water birds are still extremely scarce in the eastern suburbs. Counts of individual duck species of one or two were made where over one hundred is the norm for these ponds. Presumably they are still enjoying the rain and floods; reports from colleagues of thousands of waterbirds seen out west are reassuring. After the surveys we checked the regular residents and found one of the two Powerful Owls, the nesting Tawny Frogmouths and Common Koels.
Male Common Koel
Female Common Koel
The male Tawny Frogmouth sits on the nest while the female stands guard nearby and provides food. One of the two chicks can just be seen at the bottom of the male’s front on the left.
A moment later the chick has opened its mouth in hope of food. It is an impressive size for such a small bird!
With the forecast for rain later this week the best thing to do was to head out in the sunshine on Tuesday to have a better look at the Landing Lights Wetland, near Sydney Airport. This very productive site has quite a reputation and it proved a very worthwhile visit.
There were a number of Golden-headed Cisticolas calling and it looked like some nest building was underway.
Also calling was this Australian Reed-Warbler.
A feature of the site is the number of small birds including this Yellow-rumped Thornbill.
The honeyeaters were represented by a number of Brown Honeyeaters and there were also White-plumed Honeyeaters around.
A Yellow Thornbill, difficult to photograph as they prefer to frequent the tops of trees.
Also calling and making the briefest of appearances, the Buff-banded Rail.
Birdwatchers celebrate the arrival of the first Latham’s Snipe after the long flight from Japan and mainland Asia. The Snipes head north during the Australian winter to breed. They return for the Australian spring and summer, first returners arriving late in August to early September. Their flight time from Japan can be as short as three days! They are found in the vegetation and on the shore around wetlands such as found in Sydney’s Centennial Park, feeding on both plant material and worms, spiders and insects.
This Latham’s Snipe was the first sighted back in Sydney’s Centennial Park after returning from the northern hemisphere breeding season. It was seen in the park’s “Duck Pond” which as expected from the name usually supports large numbers of ducks: Pacific Black Ducks, Hardheads and Grey Teal as well as regular visits from Pink-eared and Freckled ducks. This year nearly all the ducks have gone, presumably to the flooded areas in the west of NSW.
I made my first visit to the Landing Lights Wetland near Sydney Airport last week. These wetlands are one of the few remnants of saline wetland on the Cook River that flows into Botany Bay. The site contains threatened salt-marsh ecosystem and is under restoration by the Bayside Council and many volunteers. Both mangroves and weeds have been removed to encourage the salt-marsh. The site attracts a variety of water birds, migrants and others with over 150 species listed on the Ebird list. On my short stay I saw Chestnut Teal, Black-winged Stilts, White-faced Herons, many Red-browed Finches, New Holland Honeyeaters as well as magpies, starlings, white ibis and Magpie-larks.
The later afternoon light casts impressionistic hews over these Chestnut Teal at Landing Lights Wetland near Sydney Airport.
There are seven sub-species of Silvereye recognised in Australia plus the ‘Capricorn White-eye’ which some think should be a separate species. The sub-species can be difficult to separate, made more so by the migration of some birds. A helpful pamphlet on bird identification is published by the Australian Bird Study Association Inc. on their website. Link to “Silvereye” pamphlet
This Silvereye was photographed at Sydney’s Centennial Park last week. After considerable discussion it was concluded that this bird was from the resident Sydney population, the South-eastern Silvereye belonging to the Zosterops lateralis westernensis sub-family. The key identification criteria were its tawny flanks and its yellow chin.
Also photographed in Sydney’s eastern suburbs last May, this bird was identified as the Tasmanian Silvereye, Zosterops lateralis lateralis. This was based on its rufous brown flanks and its grey chin. Many Tasmanian Silvereyes migrate north in the late summer and can be seen as far north as Queensland. They “island hop” across Bass Strait and join flocks of other Tasmanian and local birds.
This Western Silvereye was photographed in Albany on the southern coast of Western Australia. It has a distinctive olive-green back compared to the grey back seen on other sub-species.
Related to the Silvereye is the Yellow White-eye, Zosterops luteus, a mangrove dweller seen across the north of Australia. This Yellow White-eye was photographed from the famous Streeter’s Jetty in Broome, WA.
The normally full pond at Randwick Environment Park in Sydney dried up at the start of the 2017-2019 drought and apart from some brief interludes has been dry ever since. East Coast Lows are described as extratropical cyclones by the weather bureau and despite Sydney missing the full force of this week’s storm there was enough rain on top of previous wet weather to fill the pond. The pond is now well above previous levels. Hopefully this will provide a basis for continued water and will again attract the wide range of birds that have been seen in this city haven.
This view from the western viewing platform shows the water level well above normal.
A handfull of water birds have already arrived and yesterday’s survey included Pacific Black Ducks, Australian White Ibis, two Chestnut Teals, a Purple Swamphen and an Australasian Grebe, seen here.
Pelican landing on the Randwick pond in Centennial Park, Sydney.
Pelican on its “Final Approach” for landing
“Flaps and Landing Gear” down
“Touch Down”
“Brakes On”
“Reverse Thrust”
A successful “Landing”
The New Holland Honeyeater makes a handsome sight feeding in this flowering gum at Sydney’s Randwick Environment Park.
Photos from a visit to Sydney’s Centennial Park last Thursday.
Male Superb Fairy-wren in the reeds at the Willow Pond
Female Superb Fairy-wren at the Willow Pond
Pacific Black Ducklings at Musgrave Pond
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo near the new Kensington Bridge that connects the park to the light rail station.
Dragonfly at the Willow Pond
The Tawny Frogmouth is an enigmatic bird of the night, difficult to find in daytime, typically well camouflaged amongst the branches of a tree, imitating a broken tree branch or loose piece of bark. There are three species of Frogmouth in Australia, the Tawny Frogmouth (50 cm) seen Australia wide, the huge Papuan Frogmouth (60 cm) seen in Cape York and the Marbled Frogmouth (46 cm) seen in the very north and the south east corner of Queensland.
This female Tawny Frogmouth is roosting close to the nest where her partner sits with two young chicks, not far from Sydney’s busy Oxford street in Centennial Park.
Frogmouths eat insects, spiders and frogs and even small birds and mammals. They tend to nest in the same area over a number of years. In Sydney’s Centennial Park there are three pairs nesting at the moment.
The male bird supervises the two restless chicks. Tawny Frogmouth nests are flimsy and look quite precarious as the chicks get larger. This pair have chosen a medium sized Malaleuca tree for their nest.
Another family of Tawny Frogmouths in Sydney’s Centennial Park. The chicks are older and have left their nest.
This Tawny Frogmouth nest is anchored by a single pine cone, wedged between two branches of a pine tree.
The 300 hectares of bushland and waterways of Sydney Olympic Park demonstrate how nature can be nurtured even in the middle of a sprawling city. In addition to the waterbirds there are many birds of the bush and grassland, for a grand total of over 200 bird species in the park.
This juvenile male Superb Fairy-wren sports an unusual and beautiful livery, soon to change to the spectacular blue coat of the adult male Fairy-wren.
Red-rumped Parrots are often associated with the open farmlands of the west, but are here quite at home in the fields of Sydney Olympic Park. The dozen or so nest boxes provided for them at the Archery Centre are well used. Last week I counted eight birds in just a few minutes.
This Olive-backed Oriole was singing for quite a while before being spotted and photographed in the mangroves on the shores of Homebush Bay.
At the Waterbird Refuge this young Common Koel was calling for its foster parent, a Red Wattlebird waiting nearby. Unfortunate Red Wattlebirds are often selected by Koels to host their offspring.
An Australian Raven feeding down on the salt marsh of the Badu Mangroves, on the eastern side of Sydney Olympic Park. There appeared more than adequate food available for the group of five feeding.
Located on the shore of Homebush Bay, the Waterbird Refuge at Sydney’s Olympic Park is home to hundreds of waterbirds. One sees Chestnut Teal ducks, Grey Teal ducks, Pacific Black Ducks, Black-winged Stilts and Red-necked Avocet in large numbers, along with Black Swans, Pelicans, Royal Spoonbills, Black-fronted Dotterel and various Egrets. Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Bar-tailed Godwits are seasonal visitors.
There were over 100 Red-necked Avocet on the Wildlife Refuge last week. But numbers of ducks of all species were lower than normal.
Striated Heron are often seen in the Homebush Bay mangroves, just outside of the Waterbird Refuge.
There were a number of Black-winged Stilts nesting and chicks feeding at the water’s edge.
This Black-winged Stilt was keeping close to its chick seen in the photo above.
There were about twenty Chestnut Teal in the Wildlife Refuge but this pair was seen from the bridge across Haslams creek.
Another pleasant morning taking photos in the park. Always something new to see and subjects that are not easily disturbed by people, dogs or photographers.
Grey Teal Ducks seem attracted to the Musgrave Pond, a relatively small pond at the Queen’s Park end of Centennial Park. There are often Chestnut Teals here as well.
A group of Crested Pigeons was congregating close to the Ian Potter Children’s Wild Play Garden, currently closed down because of Covid.
A Dusky Moorhen, also on the Musgrave Pond in Centennial Park.
During this long lockdown in Sydney’s eastern suburbs we are fortunate to have Centennial Park nearby. Despite record numbers of people taking their daily exercise, the birds carry on as normal. As spring arrives so do Olive-backed Orioles, Figbirds, Channel Billed Cuckoos and Common Koels which have all been sighted in the park. A number of the regular inhabitants are raising families.
At the Willow Pond Black Swans have successfully raised a family of five, three of whom are seen here.
This photo illustrates the attentive parenting that has ensured the survival of all five chicks against predation by foxes, cats and ravens
In the Lachlan Swamp Malaleuca Forest the resident Tawny Frogmouths are nesting again. A single chick has been sighted to date. The female pictured here rests close to where the male is sitting on the nest.
A Powerful Owl family has successfully raised two chicks, the four family members still roosting close to the nest during the day.
Birding watching at this time consists of glimpses while “exercising” in Centennial Park, Sydney and fleeting views from the window - now in the sixth week of lockdown here in Sydney. On the positive side it is time to learn new photo processing skills. There are some interesting changes to Adobe Lightroom including more flexible colour control across shadows, midtones and highlights. Also AI assisted “magnification” of images that is said to give better quality large pictures and prints.
Spotted Turtle-dove graces a Paddington, Sydney rooftop. Lightroom’s new colour wheels helped capture the unusual sunset lighting.
A Pied Currawong eyes off the possibilities of the garden from the back gate.
Photos taken over the last few weeks in Sydney’s parks.
Brown Quail at Centennial Park, Sydney
Spangled Drongo photographed at Randwick Environment Park, Sydney
Superb Fairy-wren at Sydney Park in Sydney
Little Pied Cormorant at the Duck Pond in Centennial Park, Sydney
Powerful Owl with possum at Centennial Park, Sydney
The sight and sound of over one hundred Little Corellas rising together as one is a sure sign that some danger is present. This time in Centennial Park, Sydney it is a Brown Goshawk that is stirring up the park’s inhabitants.
A Brown Goshawk is on the chase at Sydney’s Centennial Park. Brown Goshawks are seen quite often in the city’s Eastern Suburbs.
It is a good question as to who is chasing who. Currawongs and Ravens were protesting the Goshawk’s presence while these Rainbow Lorikeets pass quickly by.
Taronga Zoo in Sydney enjoys a magnificent harbourside setting and provides a green haven for 350 species of animal. It is Australia’s largest zoo, established in 1906 on the 28 hectare site. For people interested in birds it is a chance to see rare species. The walk-through aviaries: the Australian Rainforest Aviary, Blue Mountain Bushwalk and Rainforest Trail, are all excellent places to take close up photos, although high ISO settings are needed for the often low light.
This Superb Fruit-Dove was in the Rainforest Trail aviary, together with Wompoo Fruit-Doves, Double-eyed Fig-Parrots and a number of birds from other lands. Picture taken at 1/125 second, f /5.0, ISO 2000 at 240 mm with the Canon EF 100-400 IS II USM lens.
Sydney Harbour provides the backdrop for the wonderful Free-Flight Bird Show and this Barn Owl poses against the city buildings across the harbour. A highlight of the show is the flight of the Andean Condor, soaring close above the heads of the audience.
Another Bird Show participant, the Black-breasted Buzzard, demonstrates how to break an egg with a stone - a technique used by Buzzards in the wild.
The zoo has a small group of Fiordland Penguins consisting of injured birds that have been brought to the zoo. These regular visitors to Australia breed in Fiordland, New Zealand.
The parks are quiet in the heat and our bird number count is down. Rumour has it that the water birds have left for inland waters this year; Kensington Pond at Centennial Park had only one solitary Eurasian Coot that had to join a flock of Pacific Black Ducks for company. The total species counts at Centennial Park were only one or two down on normal but total numbers were well below average. The morning’s survey was enlivened by two Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos squabbling with an agitated Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.
Although I associate Yellow-rumped Thornbills more with the open fields of the country they are seen quite regularly at Randwick Environment Park. Here two birds were foraging amongst the litter in the parks well maintained gardens for insects and the occasional seed.
The lake at Randwick Environment Park is bone dry, it has only had fleeting partial water fills since the drought. More worryingly the creek is running at a trickle. The count included a solitary magpie, even the Noisy Miners were down to two. There were more birds on the bushy side of the park, including Yellow-rumped Thornbills, New Holland Honeyeaters and Superb Fairy-wrens.
Randwick Environment Park is a surprising oasis of green in Sydney’s east. The flat area pictured was a well populated lake and water bird refuge before the drought.