[Birding-Aus] Regent Honeyeater - Nurragingy Reserve, Doonside NSW
Alistair McKeough
people over the past couple of weeks was seen by several birders at
Nurragingy Reserve this morning at about 9am.
The easiest way to the area it's been seen is to enter the reserve, park at
"Kookaburra" and follow the educational walking path to the northern
perimiter of the park and follow the path along the fenceline until you see
a spot where the fence is down. The bird was seen this morning about 15
metres further along the path. Other fun birds around were Brown Honeyeater,
Mistltoebird, Eastern Spinebill, Weebill and Spotted Pardalote.
Alistair
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Chris Gregory
Standing overlooking an open drain by a wire net fence (look for the bottle)
for 40 minutes from 3pm on a grey overcast day - birds came from everywhere
and not at all ones I expected to see.
The Regent Honeyeater kept me riveted to the spot but without moving more
than a metre I photographed on the fly about a dozen birds. Most already
have been mentioned but there was also Sacred Kingfisher, Dove - possibly
Emerald, Crested Shrike-tit, Jacky Winter - maybe, Fan-tailed Cuckoo. Check
them out below and any help with the queries would be appreciated.
http://picasaweb.google.com/cgregory123/NurragingyReserveSydney#
Chris Gregory
2010/1/4 Alistair McKeough <alistair...@gmail.com>
Michael Ramsey
Hi Chris,
Just some help with the ID of the birds you are unsure of from Nurragingy Reserve.Some of these birds are juveniles which can be tricky to identify, and are not often illustrated in field guides.
The Olive-backed Oriole is right, it looks like a juvenile or immature.The Jacky Winter is a Rufous Whistler, maybe a juvenile too. A Jacky Winter would flick its white-sided tail from side to side. It would not have streaks on its breast either, (though a juvenile Jacky Winter may have a mottled breast) and the jizz of the bird is whistler like (thickish head and the way the bird is perched)The Emerald Dove is a young Spotted Dove. Young Spotted Doves don't have spotting around the neck like this one. You can see white under the bird's tail and well and the greyish spotting on the wings starting to appear.
Well done on picking up the Regent Honeyeaters as well.Michael Ramsey
> Date: Tue, 5 Jan 2010 18:24:14 +1100
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Regent Honeyeater - Nurragingy Reserve, Doonside NSW
> From: cgreg...@gmail.com
> To: birdi...@vicnet.net.au
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Tom and Mandy Wilson
the Regent HE was still there today at 1pm, mostly in the tree directly
across the creek from where the bottle is jammed in the fence. It seemed to
occasionally shift a little further back into the trees on the far side of
the creek, but it also made one foray across the creek into Nurragingy
Reserve itself.
If anybody is planning a look over the weekend, Alistair McKeough's
directions, included again below, worked just fine.
Also there of note today several Scarlet Honeyeaters, the Brown Honeyeater
and a Leaden Flycatcher. The Brown H/E has a single silver band on its
right leg, if that is relevant to anybody - couldn't see any details.
Also lots of Mistletoebirds, E Spinebills, Silvereyes, several E Yellow
Robins and a few Rufous Whistlers.
Cheers
Tom Wilson
>
> The easiest way to the area it's been seen is to enter the reserve, park
> at
> "Kookaburra" and follow the educational walking path to the northern
> perimiter of the park and follow the path along the fenceline until you
> see
> a spot where the fence is down. The bird was seen this morning about 15
Chris Gregory
Good to see the Regent is still around as I know of a couple of people
heading out to look for it over the weekend. Also the list of other birds
sighted seems to be growing. A small point but I forgot to mention I also
photographed a Grey-whiskered Bulbul, which I have now added to the photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/cgregory123/NurragingyReserveSydney#.
Interesting you mention the banding on the Brown Honeyeater, which also
shows up on my photo. I noticed it at the time but I was more interested in
looking for coloured bands on the Regent but I saw none. The Brown HE also
interested me because, whilst a common HE, Pizzey puts its southern range
limit as Cronulla - P. Hacking. So the bird was very close to the edge of
its range. I know about the Regent HE banding project but who is banding a
common HE with ( I assume) a metal band. It's nearly impossible to ID any
band markings on a live bird in the field and the chances of coming across a
dead bird are almost zero.
So who is banding Brown HE's? Just as there is currently an excellent debate
about national databases - the flip side to this debate is you would think
there might be a national database for reporting banding sightings and its
whereabouts would be regularly promoted on birding sites like Birding-Aus.
Perhaps there is and I don't know about it. After all I am a bloke who until
recently thought WTNTs were just a peculiar obsession of this site and
Eremaea was a skin disease.
Anyway let me know if you get a reply as I do have other photos of the band
which might, with a bit of manipulation, reveal more detail if I know what
I'm looking for.
Chris Gregory
2010/1/8 Tom and Mandy Wilson <toman...@aapt.net.au>
michael norris
Thanks for the link to your pics, including the RED-whiskered Bulbul.
Interesting to see from the pics of the Regent HE feeding, as in an earlier
report, on mistletoe (what species?).
Down here in Bayside, with the drought, our mistletoes (Muellerina
eucalyptoides) are having a hard time and in the last year mistletoebirds
and Imperial Jezebel/White butterflies were very scarce.
So it's a pity that some people are still trying to get rid of mistletoe
from their gardens as a (very minor) threat to trees.
Best wishes
Michael Norris
37° 59' S 145° 0' E
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Gregory" <cgreg...@gmail.com>
> Hi Tom
>
> Good to see the Regent is still around ... A small point but I forgot to
> mention I also
> photographed a Grey-whiskered Bulbul, which I have now added to the
> photos.
> http://picasaweb.google.com/cgregory123/NurragingyReserveSydney#.
>
===============================
Chris Gregory
Thanks for that. Yup it's definitely Grey! Must be the heat. If it's any
consolation the photo is labelled correctly, Red-whiskered Bulbul.
As to the mistletoe. I assume as it was on a Grey Box (maybe that's where
the Grey came from) it was one of the Box Mistletoes but I know little about
mistletoes. So I'll pass on the ID. Although I note after a quick Google
that there are papers in the literature on the pros and cons of mistletoes
and eucalypt die back . I'll have to read more.
Thanks
Chris
2010/1/9 michael norris <meno...@ozemail.com.au>
> Hi Chris
>
> Thanks for the link to your pics, including the RED-whiskered Bulbul.
>
> Interesting to see from the pics of the Regent HE feeding, as in an earlier
> report, on mistletoe (what species?).
>
> Down here in Bayside, with the drought, our mistletoes (Muellerina
> eucalyptoides) are having a hard time and in the last year mistletoebirds
> and Imperial Jezebel/White butterflies were very scarce.
>
> So it's a pity that some people are still trying to get rid of mistletoe
> from their gardens as a (very minor) threat to trees.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Michael Norris
> 37° 59' S 145° 0' E
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Gregory" <cgreg...@gmail.com>
>
>
> Hi Tom
>>
>> Good to see the Regent is still around ... A small point but I forgot to
>> mention I also
>>
>> photographed a Grey-whiskered Bulbul, which I have now added to the
>> photos.
>> http://picasaweb.google.com/cgregory123/NurragingyReserveSydney#.
>>
>>
>
Greg & Val Clancy
all bird species, including common ones, are banded. The value of the
banding occurs when the birds are retrapped some years later by the project
bander. It is nigh impossible to read the numbers on small bands unlike
larger ones, like those on Pied Oystercatchers, Ospreys, Magpies, Currawongs
etc., where some recovery data can be obtained without the bird being
recaptured or found dead.
Over the years I have seen a number of Little Terns sitting on North Coast
beaches wearing numbered metal bands but could not read the numbers. The
use of colour-bands and flags greatly increases the number of recoveries of
banded bird by members of the public but they cannot be used on all birds
banded.
Greg Clancy
Ecologist
Coutts Crossing
NSW
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Gregory" <cgreg...@gmail.com>
To: "Tom and Mandy Wilson" <toman...@aapt.net.au>
Cc: "Birding Aus" <birdi...@vicnet.net.au>
Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 12:42 PM
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Regent Honeyeater - Nurragingy Reserve, Doonside
NSW
Darryl McKay
record for this site. Narragingy Reserve is one of four remnant woodland
sites in the Cumberland Plain, near Sydney, NSW at which avian populations
are being monitored sequentially over several years in a banding project.
Website, The Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme has information on
reporting band recoveries. (Australian bands have a return address on them
).
Website, Australian Bird Study Association. You can search for oldest
recovery and longest distance travelled for each species.
Website, Australasian Wader Study Group, flag sightings can be reported
online.
Darryl McKay
Bankstown
Tun Pin Ong
BEWARE OF SNAKES
I remember someone reported seeing a snake (Red-bellied Black Snake, I think). Well I noticed the creek below the area where the bottle was tucked to the fence had many activities. I heard some crake-like calls and found the creek was teemed with Skinks. Not surprisingly considering the heat in the late morning. But I was surprised to see a snake about 1 meter. I think the snake looks like Eastern Tiger Snake, could someone pls help the ID?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tunpin/tags/nurragingyreserve/
Also found a tree frog basking on horizonal branch of mistletoe. Pls help ID again. Thank you.
Similar to earlier reports by others, a Brown Honeyeater I photograhed also had a leg band.
Finally, I did not found the Regent Honeyeater. Considering the rich birdlife (and also rich with reptiles and amphibians), I am keen to try again for the Regent Honeyeater.
PS: There were also a lady birder and a young father with 3 little sons. They left before I discovered the snake and the frog.
ATTN: John, good that your kids stayed in the footpatch and did not stumble around.
Good luck and be safe to all who are visitng the site next.
Regards,
Tun Pin ONG
Sydney
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Alan Gillanders
If mistletoes are a problem then something is sick. Either the tree or the
environment.
I like misltetoes and one of these days I'm going to set about learning to
ID them.
Regards,
Alan
Alan McBride
Alan
Nigel Jackett
Too slender for a tiger and the head shape is all wrong...It looks like a
Yellow-faced Whipsnake (Demansia psammophis) to me. They are fast and shy,
and if you tried to catch it and were bitten, the symptoms would be similar
to that of a bee sting. Not sure about the crake-like calls though, as the
only noise a skink could possibly make is a hiss (and that would only be
audible from a very large lizard!)
Cheers,
Nigel
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