A honeyeater and a view from Dobroyd Head
Dobroyd Head is one of the headlands that juts out into Sydney Harbour, on Australia’s east coast. The walking track leading around Dobroyd Head is part of the Manly to Spit Bridge Trail. It offers plenty of bird life and gorgeous views.
When taking this picture, I was at Fairlight Lookout on Dobroyd Head, looking north east across the harbour towards Manly. On the other side of Manly is the Pacific Ocean. Next stop Fiji and then the United States.
This pretty little bird is a New Holland Honeyeater, its white ear patch tousled by the breeze:
Common name: New Holland Honeyeater
Scientific name: Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 17-19 cm
Date spotted: 28 August 2021 (winter)
Location: Dobroyd Head, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’34.7″S 151°16’18.2″E
Currawong snacks on brush-turkey’s scrapings
Spring is approaching, and male Australian Brush-turkeys are busily preparing their mounds in the hopes of attracting a female. This year there seem to be more brush-turkeys in my area than ever before. On the plus side, they do a great job of clearing the ground near their chosen location for a mound. On the minus side, the mound itself is a little unsightly. Unless you happen to be a brush-turkey, of course.
A canny currawong hung around close to this particular busy brush-turkey, snapping up the beetles and grubs that the brush-turkey’s scraping exposed:
The brush-turkey was scraping the leaves methodically and energetically in a single direction. His destination lay behind him. So I went round and found the large pile that he was creating. It was already over a metre high and three to four metres across.
A day later, I returned to the area and found the brush-turkey close to his mound:
Common name: Australian Brush-turkey
Scientific name: Alectura lathami
Approximate length: 60-70 cm
Date spotted: 25 August 2021 (winter)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’37.7″S 151°14’48.8″E
Call of the Grey Shrike-thrush
I’ve heard the lovely, clear calls of this bird a few times, always in the same spot on one of my favourite walks. Now at last I’ve identified the bird. It’s a Grey Shrike-thrush (I’m pretty sure) and this is only the second time I’ve managed to get some pictures of one of these birds.
In this short video, you can see glimpses of the bird and hear its call:
Evidently these birds have a variety of calls. In the next video, the same bird is singing a slightly different tune:
The next video gives a much better view of the thrush in its favourite gum tree, but the bird is taking a break from singing. In the background are the harsh calls of a wattle bird:
The bird is rounder and more fluffy than the drawings in my bird book, but the colouring and the song seem right for a Grey Shrike-thrush. I think the difference arises from the fact that there are different races of this bird in various areas of Australia.
The wing feathers have a lovely olive tinge, blending in nicely with the gum nuts and leaves:
Common name: Grey Shrike-thrush
Scientific name: Colluricincla harmonica
Approximate length: 23 cm.
Date spotted: 16 August 2021 (winter)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’07.4″S 151°14’36.8″E
Pacific Baza pays a visit
Exciting! We had a visit from a rare bird this morning. A juvenile Pacific Baza took refuge in the trees in our garden for a short time.
A Pacific Baza is a large bird of prey with a funny-looking crest on its head. The adults have a white head, neck, and shoulders, whereas this one still has the cinnamon colouring of a juvenile.
These birds are uncommon, mostly found in north and north-east Australia, and are rare in New South Wales (where I am). They eat small reptiles, and praying mantises and stick insects (both of which can be quite large in Australia).
Common name: Pacific Baza
Scientific name: Aviceda subcristata
Length: 35-45 cm
Wing span: 1 metre
Date spotted: 6 July 2021 (winter)
Location: Allambie Heights, NSW, Australia
Sea-Eagles at Manly Dam
For the second time ever, I spotted a White-bellied Sea-Eagle at Manly Dam, north of Sydney. This one was circling high in the sky:
Common name: White-bellied Sea-Eagle
Scientific name: Haliaeetus leucogaster
Approximate length: 85 cm. Wing span: 2.2 m
Date spotted: 3 July 2021 (winter)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’59.2″S 151°15’19.4″E
These eagles are large, imposing creatures. The last time I saw one at the dam was back in April 2017. I didn’t post any pictures then, but now I’ve gone back and rooted out a video of that bird. The eagle was very far away then too, and I had my camera on maximum zoom.
This video, from April 2017, shows the bird coming in to land at a small beach on the opposite side of the dam from where I was:
One day, with luck, I’ll see one of these eagles from closer by!
Cuddly Tawny Frogmouths
Tawny Frogmouths have to be the cuddliest birds in the world! Today I came across these two huddled up together in the winter cold:
Do you find it difficult to distinguish the birds from each other and from the bark on the tree? That’s by design! Their camouflage is extraordinary. In fact, it took me ages to spot these birds. A bush walker had told me where they were, and even so it took me three trips to the park on three separate days, a second encounter with the same bush walker, and many minutes of looking before I found them.
Here’s a closer view of the Tawny Frogmouth at the top of the two-bird pile:
See the two large eyes and the upside-down smile of the beak? Tawny Frogmouths eat insects and spiders, and other small prey, which they catch in their beaks.
Around the beaks they have some rather endearing tufts of hair. People aren’t quite sure what the purpose is of the tufts. Some people think that the tufts help the birds detect insects and other prey flying around them. Other people think that the tufts keep potentially-harmful prey, like a centipede, away from the bird’s eyes and mouth until the bird has crushed it in its beak. No matter, I think the tufts make the bird look a little goofy:
Tawny Frogmouths are nightjars, though people often mistake them for owls. They’re nocturnal. During the day, they huddle together pretending to be parts of a tree.
Here’s a close view of the bird that’s lower down in the two-bird pile. In the middle, near the top of the picture, you can see one eye and the beak, and half of the bird’s body. On the left is the other bird’s body, on the right is the tree:
What a face!
Here’s a zoomed-out view of the birds in the tree. Spot them if you can!
To finish, here’s another angle on the top bird:
Common name: Tawny Frogmouth
Scientific name: Podargus strigoides
Approximate length: 34-52 cm
Date spotted: 27 June 2021 (winter)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’58.3″S 151°15’19.0″E
Update on 3 July: Here’s another photo of the birds on another day. They’d posed at a slightly different angle, which made it easier to capture a profile and a good view of the feather markings on one of them.
Local cockatoos excited about new tree stumps
Over the last few weeks, our neighbours have been cutting down some tall trees on their property. The local cockatoos are excited about the new tree stumps that have appeared in their neighbourhood. (I call them “stumps”, but they’re several stories high.) The birds arrive on most evenings to sit on the stumps, and have started hollowing out the centre of one of them. I guess the cockies may be thinking the tree would make a good nest.
You can see the tree felling in my earlier post, Magpie scolds tree feller.
Video of Pardalote emerging from nest
Walking along a path in Manly Dam park this morning, I saw a flash of movement down at ankle level. A little bird had flown straight into the bank on the left of the path:
Pardalotes, tiny as they are, are unusual in that they dig holes in banks of earth to nest in. Here’s a closer view of the area where the bird disappeared:
So I trained my camera on the area and waited. After a few minutes, my patience was rewarded. In the video below, watch the top right of the picture. You’ll see the tiny head of a Spotted Pardalote appear. The bird examines the surroundings carefully before emerging and flying away:
Update: A week or so later, on 12 June, I was walking in the same spot when a bird emerged from the same nest and perched on a branch close by. I managed to get a still photo. Here it is:
I’ve posted more pics of Pardalotes in earlier posts.
Common name: Spotted Pardalote
Scientific name: Pardalotus punctatus
Approximate length: 10 cm
Date spotted: 6 June 2021 (winter)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia
Shy Eastern Spinebill
Eastern Spinebills have long curved beaks, giving rise to the name “spinebill”. They’re one of many types of Australian birds that live on plant nectar and insects. Unlike many other honeyeaters, though, spinebills are shy and don’t stay in one place for long.
The bird’s dramatic colours of white, black, and chestnut, as well as its red eye make it a striking presence in the Australian bush.
Common name: Eastern Spinebill
Scientific name: Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris
Approximate length: 16cm
Date spotted: 29 May 2021 (late autumn)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’29.7″S 151°14’46.0″E
Pretty Pardalote on a Banksia bush
Pardalotes are tiny birds that manage to pack a lot of prettiness into sleek bundle. A couple of days ago I saw one foraging in a Banksia bush. It was probably picking tiny bugs (psyllids) from the leaves, or it could be drinking. I noticed in the photo that there are droplets of water on the twig near the bird’s feet:
A view from the top shows the spots on the bird’s head. It also demonstrates how nicely camouflaged the bird is in its natural environment:
Common name: Spotted Pardalote
Scientific name: Pardalotus punctatus
Approximate length: 10 cm
Date spotted: 25 May 2021 (late autumn)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’47.3″S 151°15’02.2″E
Sydney Birder 