Gorokan

Little and Long-billed Corellas pre-dawn

Photographs cannot capture the huge numbers of corellas in the trees at Gorokan before sunrise, with more flying in. The noise when they all took flight was incredible.

Tuggerah STW

Fan-tailed Cuckoo

Grey Shrike-thrush

On way way back from purchasing a ‘smart’ TV, I stopped in the at the sewerage treatment works. There were good number of birds on the water: White-headed Stilt, Chestnut Teal, Australasian Grebe, Black Swans, Little Pied Cormorants, Purple Swamp Hen, White-faced Heron, Eastern Great Egret. And more bush birds warbling in the bush, and honeyeaters feasting overhead than I was able to see, let alone photograph.

Galgabba Point

Another brief birding outing, this time on the way to work I stopped off at Galgabba Point, Swansea to see if there were any Scarlet Honeyeaters lower down in the trees than I’d been able to see them so far this autumn. I came across a group of around twenty males and females hawking for insects at eye level, within minutes and metres of parking the car.

Blackbutt Reserve

We had the first sunny day in a while so I left work early with the thought of stopping off at Blackbutt Reserve, which I temptingly pass on the commute. But of course by the time I got to Blackbutt the clouds had rolled in and the wind had picked up.

They are in the process of rebuilding the cages destroyed in the Pasha Bulker storm, and they have some new captive bird species, however I was interested in the Emerald Dove that had been spotted hanging around the cage holding its captive cousins.  It was there, but I first saw it from the walkway above, foraging on the ground, and by the time I got down to ground level I couldn’t find it again. A number of twitchers reported it over the next few days, with various explanations for its presence in downtown Newcastle.

Birdy Google

Google Australia is celebrating John James Audubon's birthday today with this wonderfully birdy logo.

Lake Burrendong State Park

Glossy Black Cockatoo

I’d been wanted to visit Lake Burrendong State Park since the flood waters raised the dam level from 1% to 87%, so the week before Easter Maureen and I packed the dogs into the car along with our camping gear and headed west.

Apart from the water, and the walks through some incredible scenery, a big attraction was the Burrendong Botanic Garden and Arboretum at the entrance to the State Park. Established in 1964 the gardens cover approximately 167 ha. Dedicated to the preservation and conservation of Australia's unique and incredibly diverse flora, it is arranged in thematic areas that facilitate both driving tours and walks. Like many amazing conservation projects the gardens were established primarily through the efforts of one man, George Althofer. George was a big fan of one of my favourite plants, the mint bush, and wrote a book on the species. His brother Peter designed and supervised the building of the spectacular Fern Gully at the arboretum.

Fantastic place. We plan a return visit.

Bird list:

• Australasian Grebe
• Great Crested Grebe
• Australian Pelican
• Darter
• Pied Cormorant
• White-faced Heron
• Maned Duck
• Pacific Black Duck
• Whistling Kite
• Collared Sparrowhawk
• White-Bellied Sea-eagle
• Australian Kestrel
• Brown Quail
• Dusky Moorhen
• Eurasian Coot
• Masked Lapwing
• Silver Gull
• Common Bronzewing
• Crested Pigeon
• Peaceful Dove
• Eastern Rosella
• Galah
• Glossy Black Cockatoo
• King Parrot
• Musk Lorikeet
• Red-rumped Parrot
• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
• Fan-tailed Cuckoo
• Laughing Kookaburra
• Welcome Swallow
• Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
• White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike
• Eastern Yellow Robin
• Jacky Winter
• Crested Shrike-tit
• Golden Whistler
• Restless Flycatcher
• Grey Fantail
• Willie Wagtail
• Grey-crowned Babbler
• Superb Fairy Wren
• Yellow-rumped Thornbill
• Weebill
• White-throated Treecreeper
• Brown Treecreeper
• Red Wattlebird
• Blue-faced Honeyeater
• Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
• White-plumed Honeyeater
• Yellow-faced Honeyeater
• Eastern Spinebill
• Noisy Miner
• Noisy Friarbird
• Mistletoe Bird
• Spotted Pardalote
• Red-browed Firetail
• Diamond Firetail
• Double-barred Finch
• Zebra Finch
• Apostlebird
• White-winged Chough
• Australian Magpie-lark
• Grey Butcherbird
• Pied Butcherbird
• Australian Magpie
• Pied Currawong
• Australian Raven
• Little Raven
• Emu

Rainbow Lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeet, originally uploaded by marj k.

The gymnasts of the birding world at play in my garden.