Satin Bowerbird at Mount Annan
This morning I paid my first visit to the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan. The gardens lie to the south west of Sydney, on the east coast of Australia. They’re well worth a visit, with beautifully laid out pathways and flower beds, and a number of different bird species.
A female Satin Bowerbird pottered around a bed of plants:
Female Satin Bowerbirds are gorgeous, with violet eyes and soft shades of green, yellow, and brown plumage. This is only the second time I’ve photographed a bowerbird. Both times they were female.
It was interesting to see this bird tucking into the carefully laid out plants. I didn’t know that birds can be this keen on eating their greens!
Common name: Satin Bowerbird
Scientific name: Ptilonorhynchus violaceus
Approximate length: 28-34 cm
Date spotted: 16 October 2022 (spring)
Location: Mount Annan, New South Wales, Australia: 34°04’16.3″S 150°45’58.1″E
Channel-billed Cuckoo at Mount Annan
Today I went for a stroll at the Australian Botanic Garden in Mount Annan, to the south west of Sydney. It’s a good place for a walk, with well-maintained pathways and beautifully laid-out gardens.
This Channel-billed Cuckoo sat high on a bare tree branch, basking in the morning sun:
Channel-billed Cuckoos are large, imposing birds. I often think they look a bit creepy, with their red eyes and huge curved beaks. They’re migratory, coming down to the south east coast of Australia during the summer months. I heard the first arrivals of the season just a couple of weeks ago.
You can find out more about these birds in my other posts about cuckoos.
Common name: Channel-billed Cuckoo
Scientific name: Scythrops novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 58-65 cm
Date spotted: 16 October 2022 (spring)
Location: Mount Annan, New South Wales, Australia: 34°04’29.9″S 150°45’48.5″E
Kookaburra snagged a goldfish from someone’s pond!
Kookaburras are members of the kingfisher family, after all, and it looks as if this kookaburra has raided someone’s garden pond!
I feel sorry for the fish. It looks very sad. I think it’s a goldfish, because of its size, but it could be a koi or something else. There might be some pond owners near by, wondering where their fish are disappearing to!
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted: 1 September 2022 (spring)
Location: Allambie Heights near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Black-winged Stilt in pretty Australian pool
Update on 23 July 2024: When entering this bird into eBird, I discovered that the bird has been renamed from Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) to Pied Stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus).
This Black-winged Stilt marked another first for me on the guided bird walk that I did last weekend. It was in the area around Newington Armory – formerly the Royal Australian Navy Armaments Depot – at Sydney Olympic Park.
Stilts are waders, with long thin legs and a beak made for poking into muddy pool bottoms. I saw a stilt flying overhead too, with its legs trailing out behind it.
The next photo shows a rather comical view of the bird and its reflection. It’s hard to tell where the real beak and legs end and the reflection begins:
The guided bird walk is offered by the BirdLife Discovery Centre on the last Sunday of every month. It’s fun and a good way to get out, meet some people, and see some birds.
Here’s a zoomed-out view of the stilt and the surrounding water. We’ve had a lot of rain recently, which means that the water covers more ground than usual. It’s a pretty site, with the typical Australian vegetation and the reflections:
Common name: Black-winged Stilt — now Pied Stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus)
Scientific name: Himantopus himantopus
Approximate length: 33-37 cm
Date spotted: 28 August 2022 (winter)
Location: Sydney Olympic Park, Newington, New South Wales, Australia: 33°49’29.5″S 151°03’57.0″E
Majestic White-bellied Sea-Eagle
White-bellied Sea-Eagles are not uncommon in some areas around Sydney, but I’ve yet to get a good look at one. Today is the closest I’ve ever got to a decent picture, though my camera was at its maximum zoom (70x):
I was in Sydney Olympic Park, in the area around Newington Armory, doing the guided bird walk offered by the BirdLife Discovery Centre. The bird was on the far side of the Parramatta River.
White-bellied Sea-Eagles are very large and imposing birds. From head to tail, they measure approximately 85cm. They have a wing span of around 2 metres.
Here’s another picture of the bird:
The Birdlife Discovery Centre offers a webcam view of the sea-eages’ nest: Eagle Cam. The eagles currently have two chicks. You can watch them sleep, stretch, and be fed by their doting parents!
Common name: White-bellied Sea-Eagle
Scientific name: Haliaeetus leucogaster
Approximate length: 85 cm. Wing span: 2.2 m
Date spotted: 28 August 2022 (winter)
Location: Sydney Olympic Park, Newington, New South Wales, Australia: 33°49’16.7″S 151°04’06.3″E
Red-rumped Parrots in Sydney Olympic Park
Today I saw my first Red-rumped Parrots! These are very pretty little parrots that spend their time foraging on the ground among the flowers or sitting high in the trees. The male is a spectacular turquoise in colour, while the female is a more demure brown and fawn.
This video shows a male and a female walking through the grass and flowers, occasionally popping up their heads to check what’s going on around them:
At times in the video you get a glimpse of the browny-red patch at the base of the male’s back, which gives them the name “red-rumped”.
I saw the parrots in the area around Newington Armory – formerly the Royal Australian Navy Armaments Depot – at Sydney Olympic Park. I was doing the guided bird walk, offered by the BirdLife Discovery Centre. The walk happens on the last Sunday of every month. It’s fun and a good way to get out, meet some people, and see some birds.
Here’s the male Red-rumped parrot:
And this is the female:
The next picture shows the male high in a tree, showing his colourful front:
Common name: Red-rumped Parrot
Scientific name: Psephotus haematonotus
Approximate length: 26-28 cm
Date spotted: 28 August 2022 (winter)
Location: Sydney Olympic Park, Newington, New South Wales, Australia: 33°49’40.4″S 151°03’56.8″E
Laughing Kookaburras with a drop-in Australian Raven
As I was crossing the dam wall at Manly Dam, a couple of Laughing Kookaburras landed on the railing a few metres away and started cackling. I managed to get my camera out in time to recorded some of their song. (That’s unusual, because most kookaburras stop and look at you when you stop and look at them!)
A few seconds into their song, an Australian Raven appeared as if from nowhere and landed on one side of the kookaburras. They seemed annoyed. Then the raven hopped into the air above the kookaburras. It’s funny to see the kookies stretch their necks upwards to keep the raven in view. The raven, ever annoying, then landed on the opposite side of the kookies. At that stage, the kookies decided enough was enough, and flew away.
Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) — approximate length: 47 cm
Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides) — approximate length: 50 cm
Date spotted: 13 August 2022 (winter)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’53.9″S 151°15’20.2″E
Pretty Silvereye
Silvereyes are tiny birds (about 11cm from beak to tail) that flit around the scrub, chirping and twittering merrily. Their colouring is muted but lovely, with a soft olive head and wings, a white front, and a chestnut blush on each side. And of course, the silver ring around the eyes that gives them their name.
Unfortunately, a twig got in the way of my photo. Still, you can get a good idea of this pretty little bird:
Common name: Silvereye
Scientific name: Zosterops cornwalli
Approximate length: 11 cm
Date spotted: 6 August 2022 (winter)
Location: Dobroyd Head, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’35.4″S 151°16’19.3″E
Scarlet Honeyeater at Dobroyd Head
A little Scarlet Honeyeater adds a dash of colour to a wintry day:
It’s interesting that the bird was focusing on the Red Spider Flowers (Grevillea). Perhaps it’s not a crazy idea to be bright red in colour if you spend your time among red flowers! I’ve read that these birds also frequent Bottlebrush shrubs (Callistemon) which are also red.
This is only my second sighting of a Scarlet Honeyeater. They’re small and move fast, which makes it hard to get a good shot. Here’s still photo of the same bird, a male:
Scarlet Honeyeaters feed mainly on the nectar from flowers, hence their name. Sometimes they catch insects.
A female was close by. This photo shows the bird’s curved beak, a good tool for probing blossoms in search of nectar:
Common name: Scarlet Honeyeater
Scientific name: Myzomela sanguinolenta
Approximate length: 10 cm
Date spotted: 17 July 2022 (winter)
Location: Dobroyd Head, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’36.4″S 151°16’19.0″E
A few birds from my recent trip to Cairns
This post rounds off my series of bird photos from a recent trip to Far North Queensland. The birds in this post were in Cairns, a lovely city on the east coast of Australia near the Great Barrier Reef.
A Great Egret stalked the mudflats of the bay. At low tide, this area is a vast muddy plain. The tide was in when I took this photo:
In this close up, the egret is looking rather alarmed. I think I just caught it at an inopportune moment. Perhaps a yawn, or a fish that went down the wrong way:
The next picture shows the bay when the tide is out. In the distance is a Black-necked Stork a first sighting for me:
Here’s a close-up of the same Black-necked Stork. These are large birds, at 1.5 metres tall with a wingspan of over 2 metres. They’re the only species of stork found in Australia:
Figbirds called from the trees lining the Cairns promenade. The males in this area have a bright yellow front, which is different from the more subdued colouring of the figbirds down near Sydney. Here’s a male Figbird:
Here’s a female Figbird, with her gentle olive-brown colouring and streaked front:
There were large numbers of Metallic Starlings, congregating in trees and shimmering in the sun. This is another first sighting for me! Unlike the Common Starling, which was introduced to Australia, these Metallic Starlings are indigenous to North East Queensland:
I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief glimpse into the birds of Far North Queensland. I hope to travel up there again sometime soon. It’s a unique area of the world.
Sydney Birder 