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Looking great!
These two Great Cormorants were chilling at Manly Dam, in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. I didn’t realise how pretty their wing feathers are until I saw them through the camera zoom.
The first bird’s image is slightly spoiled by the bit of fluff on its nose, but check out those clear turquoise eyes and white-and-yellow face markings:
The second bird has no fluff problems, and stands proud:
Common name: Great Cormorant
Scientific name: Phalacrocorax carbo
Approximate length: 85 cm; wing span 1.5 m
Date spotted: 6 September 2024 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’34.5″S 151°14’50.5″E
White-necked Herons in Sydney’s Northern Beaches
Yesterday, walking at the north western end of Manly Dam, I saw four large water birds flying high above the trees. Here are two of them:
Intrigued, I followed them around the corner where, luckily, they landed high in a tree. I managed to photograph two of them, before they took off again:
They’re White-necked Herons! This is my first sighting of these birds. They’re large and impressive, with those long legs and undertaker stance. The bird on the left has a misplaced feather that, combined with the reddish colouring on its wing tips, looks a little painful.
The birds were very high up, in the furthermost tree in this picture (though they had gone by the time I took the photo):
The left-most bird turned around at one stage, giving us a nice view of the spots running down its chest and the reddish marking at the top of its wings:
Another pose of the same bird:
This is the right-hand bird, looking altogether sleeker and fiercer:
It’s exciting to see such large, impressive visitors at Manly Dam!
Common name: White-necked Heron
Scientific name: Ardea pacifica
Approximate length: 75-105 cm
Date spotted: 2 September 2024 (spring)
Location: Manly Creek in Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’20.0″S 151°14’30.6″E
Currawong crazy hour
An excited group of currawongs made our backyard the centre of their activity yesterday afternoon. The commotion lasted at least half an hour. Birds dashed back and forth, calling and flying noisily past each other. Parents of young children will sympathise with the term “crazy hour”, sometimes called the “witching hour”, in late afternoon — it seems to apply to currawongs too!
Common name: Pied Currawong
Scientific name: Strepera graculina
Approximate length: 45 cm
Date spotted: 31 August 2024 (end of winter)
Location: Allambie Heights, north of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Golden Whistlers calling
It’s a lovely experience walking through an Australian forest, with Golden Whistlers calling around you. In this video, the bird appears only as a shape flashing through the branches. There’s also a Grey Fantail echoing the whistler’s call:
That video is from my Soothing Musings channel. I’ve included it here because it’s such a tranquil scene.
The next video shows one of the birds calling to his mates:
At the start of the video, some Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are screeching, but they quieten down eventually. You can also hear a Grey Fantail at about 26 seconds into the video and again at the end. There’s an Olive-backed Oriole calling in the distance too.
Golden Whistlers are small birds, about the size of a wren. They have a black head, a white bib, and the golden chest, underbelly, and collar that gives them their name.
Common name: Golden Whistler
Scientific name: Pachycephala pectoralis
Approximate length: 16-18 cm
Date spotted: 30 August 2024 (end of winter)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’50.3″S 151°14’51.7″E
Three whipbirds calling
The noise that whipbirds make is strange: “eeeuuw-phwit”. It reminds people of a whip whistling and cracking, and that’s what gives the bird its name.
In this video, at least three Eastern Whipbirds are calling to each other. Twice in the video, you can hear two of them doing the long drawn-out whistle at the same time: the whistle vibrates and little. When you hear two (or three) chirps after the whistle and crack, like “eeeuuw-phwit-pheeuw-pheeuw”, the last two (or three) chirps are actually made by a second bird. The final chirps come so close after the first call that it sounds like one bird.
As you can see in the video, whipbirds are very good at hiding in the bushes. It’s hard to get a good picture. They’re quite pretty, in a subdued, forest-loving way.
Here’s one of the birds:
Its head and neck are black and white, with a nice little crest. The back and tail are a soft forest green. Here’s the same bird from a different angle:
Common name: Eastern Whipbird
Scientific name: Psophodes olivaceus
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 22 August 2024 (winter)
Location: Dobroyd Head in Sydney Harbour, NSW, Australia: 33°48’35.6″S 151°16’04.6″E
Brush-turkeys mating on a mound built by the male
A male Australian Brush-turkey has spent months building a wide, high mound of leaves and twigs. Now at last it’s ready, and a female comes to visit. She inspects the mound, while he ducks his head and pays court to her. She tidies things up a bit, moving the leaves around, then goes into the deep hollow he’s made in the centre of the mound. He follows her in, and the mating is done.
It takes just a few seconds. He hops on top of her, grabs the skin on her head with his beak, and covers her. Then he hops off, and she continues scratching the leaves and twigs. After a few moments, he decides to try his luck again, but she rejects him this time.
Here’s the male Brush-turkey, showing off his yellow collar, red head, and fierce eye:
When a male is wooing a female, he often makes a deep, booming call. It sounds a bit like an owl: oo-oo-oom. I managed to record one a while ago.
The female will lay her eggs, either in this male’s mound of leaves or in another one, and cover them with leaves. Then she’ll go on her way. The adults birds don’t look after the eggs. Instead, the eggs incubate in the warmth of the mound. When the chicks hatch, they have to fend for themselves. The parents don’t look after them. I sometimes see two or three chicks running around together, exploring their world. This picture of a Brush-turkey chick is from a while ago.
Common name: Australian Brush-turkey
Scientific name: Alectura lathami
Approximate length: 60-70 cm
Date spotted: 16 August 2024 (winter)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’59.5″S 151°15’18.2″E
Lewin’s Honeyeater, dark green and yellow
I watched this little honeyeater for a while, but it was adept at keeping parts of itself hidden. Still, I got a shot of the bird drinking from some bell flowers:
The bird is overall quite dark in colour, with olive-green back and wings and a dark head. A light yellow streak runs alongside its beak — I think this is called the gape. Behind the eye is a yellow tuft covering the bird’s ear.
Here’s a photo from a slightly different angle:
This is only the second time I’ve spotted a Lewin’s Honeyeater. The other one was nearby, just over a year ago (June 2023).
Common name: Lewin’s Honeyeater
Scientific name: Meliphaga lewinii
Approximate length: 19-22 cm
Date spotted: 15 August 2024 (winter)
Location: Just outside Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’55.6″S 151°15’26.9″E
Brown Quails in Manly
A pair of plump Brown Quails sat picking at the grass, between the pellets of rabbit poo. I was out for a walk on North Head in Manly, and stopped amazed at the number of rabbits on a grassy patch. And lo, just a couple of metres away were the Brown Quails.
This is only the second time I’ve seen a Brown Quail. My first sighting was a few weeks ago, up near Grafton which is further north west of here.
At first I thought the birds were picking at the rabbit poo, but a closer look at the video shows that they were actually knocking the poo out of the way. Brown Quails eat plant shoots and insects. The birds live on the ground, but will fly to escape danger. This pair were nearby a handy bed of plants and grasses, which would provide shelter when needed.
This is one of the birds, sitting comfortably in between bouts of foraging:
This is the other bird, pecking at the grass:
Common name: Brown Quail
Scientific name: Coturnix ypsilophora
Approximate length: 17-20 cm
Date spotted: 9 August 2024 (late winter)
Location: Manly North Head, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’38.0″S 151°17’59.3″E
Bar-shouldered Dove in Manly
A pair of Bar-shouldered Doves cooed to each other as I walked down a path on Manly North Head. It was a beautiful nearly-spring day. North Head is a headland that forms the northern natural gate to Sydney Harbour.
Only one of the doves was visible, but I could hear the other one replying from a distance.
These are large doves, and quite pretty with their soft cinnamons and grey colouring. This is only the second time that I’ve seen one. The other sighting was way back in 2018. My bird book says that they’re common in the north of Australia, but sedentary, uncommon, or vagrant in the south.
Common name: Bar-shouldered Dove
Scientific name: Geopelia humeralis
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 9 August 2024 (late winter)
Location: Manly North Head, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’38.9″S 151°18’03.1″E
Corellas chewing yacht ropes
A group of Little Corellas has lately taken a shine to the Forty Baskets Beach area in Balgowlah, NSW. They spend their time in the nearby trees and on the rocks.
The corellas seem to enjoy the sea water trapped in crevices on the rocks. Or perhaps it’s rain water.
The corellas are beautiful, and fun to watch, but I’m rather glad that I don’t have a yacht moored there.
The birds really get into the ropes, watched by their friends:
It’s a good time for all.
When fun at the beach palls, it’s time to find a nook for a bit of canoodling:
This grooming session ended in a squabble:
Common name: Little Corella
Scientific name: Cacatua sanguinea
Approximate length: 36-39 cm
Date spotted: 28 July 2024 (winter)
Location: Forty Baskets Beach, Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’15.8″S 151°16’13.9″E
Sydney Birder 