Author Archives: Sarah Maddox
So cute! Juvenile Red-browed Finches
I was wandering around a new area of the bush, to the west of Sydney near the Blue Mountains, when I saw a couple of little birds that I couldn’t at first identify:
From the red in their tails, I thought they might be Red-browed Finches, but they didn’t have the characteristic red stripes above their eyes.
Then I saw an adult with them:
They were juveniles, yet to develop the red brows.
Common name: Red-browed Finch
Scientific name: Neochmia temporalis
Approximate length: 12 cm
Date spotted: 30 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Bulcamatta Falls Track, The Devils Wilderness, NSW, Australia: 33°33’19.4″S 150°36’04.8″E
Colourful Oriole singing
The colours on this Olive-backed Oriole are gorgeous: bright red eyes, olive green neck and shoulders, white underbelly with black stripes. The bird was uttering its typical ringing call, interspersed with the sounds of other birds that it was mimicking. The music in the background is from some nearby picnickers.
The sound that first drew me to look for this bird was the call of a Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike. Instead, I found an Olive-backed Oriole mimicking the call! (I didn’t catch that particular sound in the video, alas.)
The bird was on a Casuarina tree, looking for insects among the seed pods. Here’s a still photo:
Common name: Olive-backed Oriole
Scientific name: Oriolus sagittatus
Approximate length: 25-28 cm
Date spotted: 25 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’52.3″S 151°15’07.9″E
Birds galore at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve, Collaroy
Last week I spent a couple of hours at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve in Collaroy, NSW. I was there just for a walk with my partner, but I was delighted at the number and variety of birds we encountered.
First up were two raptors, a real treat to see. A Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillarus) hovered in the air, effortlessly riding the currents and looking out for prey:
An Eastern Osprey (Pandion cristatus) soared in circles, grasping a half-eaten fish in its feet:
I’ve written a separate post about these two birds, a third raptor, and some paragliders who shared the air currents with the kite: Three raptors in one day.
Huge Pelicans (Pelecanus conspicillatus) perched on the lampposts and glided above my head. Here’s one of them, looking sad and wise:
Another post has more pictures of these magnificent birds: Three pelicans on a lamppost.
A female Darter (Anhinga melanogaster) sat on a metal structure above the beach, surveying all the action with a cautious eye:
Silver Gulls (Larus novaehollandiae) wheeled around the fishermen at the edge of the rock plate:
Australian Ravens (Corvus coronoides) picked through the stranded seaweed in search of a snack:
Here’s a close-up of one of the ravens:
Fish skulked in a nearby rock pool:
A crab came out from under a rock, ready to dash back in at the slightest sign of danger:
A White-faced Heron (Ardea novaehollandiae) patrolled the border between land and sea:
On the grassy headland above the beach, a Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca) owned the land. These birds are also called Peewees, because of the loud shrill call (peeee-wheee) that they make whenever a person or anything else comes too close:
To close off with, here are a couple of shots showing the colours and serenity of the Long Reef Aquatic Reserve that afternoon. First, looking from the rock plate towards the land:
Then looking out to sea:
Three pelicans on a lamppost
Pelicans are very large and weighty birds: 1.7 metres from head to tail, weighing up to 13 kilograms. So, not a bird that you’d expect to see perched on a street lamp. The idea of three of them perched on the same lamp at the same time sounds unlikely, if not bizarre.
Yet, when I arrived at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve in Collaroy, I was greeted by this sight:
No wonder the street lamps are of sturdy construction!
What a face! A little glum, a little world-weary, but so wise:
When flying, a pelican is graceful and beautiful. Even so, it reminds me of an armchair in the sky:
Three Australian Pelicans head off towards the ocean, with a White-faced Heron in the distance:
Common name: Australian Pelican
Scientific name: Pelecanus conspicillatus
Approximate length: 170 cm
Approximate wingspan: 2.5m
Date spotted: 24 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Long Reef Aquatic Reserve, Collaroy, New South Wales, Australia: 33°44’19.7″S 151°18’42.0″E
Three raptors in one day
A few days ago, I was super lucky: I saw three birds of prey in one afternoon. The first was an Eastern Osprey, holding a fish in its claws. The second was a Black-shouldered Kite, hovering above the grasslands near the beach. For a short time, there were two of these birds quite close to each other. The third was a Peregrine Falcon, soaring in the sky above the suburbs.
Eastern Osprey
The Eastern Osprey was exciting to see. It was quite large, flying high in the sky above Long Reef Aquatic Reserve in Collaroy. At first I thought this large bird was one of the pelicans that were floating about. When I saw it through my camera lens, I spotted the fish in the bird’s grip.
The next picture is fuzzy and only a partial shot of the bird, but it gives a good idea of the colouring of the underside:
The next picture shows the Osprey’s long wingspan — about 1.5 metres. The bird is flying away from the camera:
Common name: Eastern Osprey
Scientific name: Pandion cristatus
Approximate length: 57 cm
Date spotted: 24 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Long Reef Aquatic Reserve, Collaroy, New South Wales, Australia: 33°44’19.7″S 151°18’42.0″E
Black-shouldered Kite
Nearby, a Black-shouldered Kite hovered above the grassy, bushy stretch that runs along the coast. It was amazing how the bird hung almost motionless in the air, held aloft by the air currents:
The next photo shows a slightly different angle. It might be the same bird or a different one, as there were two in the area:
Also in the area were some paragliders, enjoying the same up currents as the birds. The gliders kept a respectful distance, and the birds didn’t seem worried at all, as you can see in the next video. The second Black-shouldered Kite makes a brief appearance part-way through:
Common name: Black-shouldered Kite
Scientific name: Elanus axillarus
Approximate length: 35 cm
Date spotted: 24 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Long Reef Aquatic Reserve, Collaroy, New South Wales, Australia: 33°44’19.7″S 151°18’42.0″E
Peregrine Falcon
On my way home, I saw a Peregrine Falcon soaring high in the sky. As I took the photo, the bird turned its head and looked down at me:
The images are fuzzy because my camera isn’t super powerful, but you can still make out the features of the Peregrine Falcon:
Common name: Peregrine Falcon
Scientific name: Falco Peregrinus
Approximate length: 42 cm
Date spotted: 24 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Allambie Heights, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’18.2″S 151°15’39.4″E
It’s not often that I see one of Australia’s birds of prey. To see three different types in one day was a raretreat.
New Holland Honeyeater drinking from Mountain Devil flower
New Holland Honeyeaters are small birds that feed on nectar from flowers, as well as small insects. This video shows one of them drinking from the red, cup-shaped flower of a Mountain Devil bush (Lambertia formosa).
New Holland Honeyeaters are just one of the many types of birds labelled honeyeaters in Australia. It’s a varied and raucous group!
I did take a still photo of the bird, but it’s a bit fuzzy due to the early morning dimness:
After watching the bird a while, I walked further along the path and took a photo looking back the way I’d come. The bird was at the very end of the path in this picture, near the water. In the distance are the two headlands that form the mouth of Sydney Harbour:
Common name: New Holland Honeyeater
Scientific name: Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 17-19 cm
Date spotted: 23 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Dobroyd Head, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’38.0″S 151°16’24.3″E
My first Superb Fairy-wrens
I was out in the Putty Valley area this weekend, and spotted my first Superb Fairy-wrens. We often see Variegated Fairy-wrens closer to home, but I’m delighted to see a Superb at last. The familiar squeaky trills drew my attention, and I snapped a couple of shots, but it wasn’t until I downloaded the photos that I saw these were not the usual catch!
First the female:
Overall, her colouring is similar to the Variegated Fairy-wrens. The differences are that the brownish patch around the eye is more cinnamon than chestnut, and her tail lacks the blue of her Variegated cousin. Here’s another shot of the same bird:
The male was, as usual, hard to photograph. He’s partially obscured by a twig, but you can still make out the bright and darker blues. He lacks the chestnut shoulders of the Variegated Fairy-wren:
The next one is, I think, a juvenile male. The blue colouring is just starting to appear:
Common name: Superb Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus cyaneus
Approximate length: 13-14 cm
Date spotted: 15 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Putty Valley, New South Wales, Australia: 32°54’00.8″S 150°38’16.9″E
Eastern Whipbird’s dance
Two Eastern Whipbirds were chirruping at each other. One of them did a little dance, puffing up its white cheeks and flaring its wings and tail. Alas, the only photos that I got of the dance are very blurry, but I’ve included them at the end of this post anyway.
This is a good shot of the bird that was dancing:
Eastern Whipbirds are quite reclusive, staying low and using the undergrowth as cover most of the time. It was a pleasure to see one out in the open. They’re pretty in an unobtrusive way, with a black crest on their heads, a grey-black body, white cheek patches, and olive wings and tail.
The other bird was more coy, staying in the bushes and watching its friend:
There’s no difference in plumage between male and female birds. My guess is that the first one is the male, since he was doing the display dance.
The two birds were flitting from place to place, with one of them repeating his little dance at each new location. The dance was so fast that it was hard to see with the naked eye. The photos that I got were alas blurry, but they give some idea of what was happening.
This blurry photo shows a side view of the dancer puffing up its cheeks:
And this one shows a frontal view, with the puffed cheeks and flared wings:
Whipbirds get their name from the long, drawn-out whistle that they make, ending with an abrupt squawk. The call reminds people of a cracking whip, hence the name. You can hear the call in an earlier post.
Common name: Eastern Whipbird
Scientific name: Psophodes olivaceus
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 8 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Manly Dam Park near Sydney, NSW, Australia: 33°46’38.7″S 151°14’56.0″E
Blue-faced Honeyeater: my first sighting
It’s always exciting to see a bird species for the first time. Yesterday I saw my first Blue-faced Honeyeater. There were two of them in a Red Bottlebrush (Callistemon) bush, one an adult and the other a juvenile.
This bird is an adult — you can tell by the fact that the patch of skin around its eye is entirely blue (rather than green):
This is the youngster — the skin around the eye is mostly green, but already changing to blue:
Blue-faced Honeyeaters are larger than most other honeyeaters that I’ve seen. Like most honeyeaters, they make quite a noise! It was their enthusiastic cackles and comments that drew me to the bush where they were feeding on nectar.
Here’s another view of the youngster, showing the two white bands that extend from the eye patches and almost meet at the back of the head:
Both birds have a lovely olive-green back and a white front with an extended black bib.
Here’s the adult again:
In the next photo, the bird has twisted its neck up to take a look at me. Well, hello there:
The last picture shows that white band on the head again:
Common name: Blue-faced Honeyeater
Scientific name: Entomyzon cyanotis
Approximate length: 25-31 cm.
Date spotted: 3 March 2024 (summer)
Location: Laguna, New South Wales, Australia: 32°59’25.4″S 151°07’52.8″E
Little Pied Cormorant on honeycomb rock
Little Pied Cormorants are quite common in the waters around Sydney. Most often, you see them from afar, and they just look like another black and white bird. But when you see them through the camera zoom, they’re rather cute. They have big floppy black feet, a Tintin-like hairstyle, and a goofy smile:
Their tail is short and stubby, and seems to be useful in preventing them from teetering over backwards. That tuft of black hair extends down the back of their necks, adding a touch of sophistication:
The rock that this cormorant is sitting on has attractive honeycomb weathering patterns:
In this video, the cormorant is stretching its neck and gulping to help its latest meal go down.
Common name: Little Pied Cormorant
Scientific name: Phalacrocorax melanoleucos
Approximate length: 60 cm
Date spotted: 25 February 2024 (summer)
Location: North Harbour Walk, Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’05.9″S 151°16’10.1″E
Sydney Birder 