The Duck Pond at Centennial Park in Sydney has been deserted by many of its usual residents; for example not one Hardhead was counted at the last survey - normally the count might be over one hundred. However there are still a few ducks present including this Grey Teal family. And a few days ago a party of six Plumed Whistling Ducks stayed overnight, en route to who knows where.
Grey Teal family feed at the Duck Pond, Centennial Park, Sydney.
Thursday’s survey of the Duck Pond, Randwick and Busby ponds in Centennial Park, Sydney confirmed that the water birds are still extremely scarce in the eastern suburbs. Counts of individual duck species of one or two were made where over one hundred is the norm for these ponds. Presumably they are still enjoying the rain and floods; reports from colleagues of thousands of waterbirds seen out west are reassuring. After the surveys we checked the regular residents and found one of the two Powerful Owls, the nesting Tawny Frogmouths and Common Koels.
Male Common Koel
Female Common Koel
The male Tawny Frogmouth sits on the nest while the female stands guard nearby and provides food. One of the two chicks can just be seen at the bottom of the male’s front on the left.
A moment later the chick has opened its mouth in hope of food. It is an impressive size for such a small bird!
There are seven sub-species of Silvereye recognised in Australia plus the ‘Capricorn White-eye’ which some think should be a separate species. The sub-species can be difficult to separate, made more so by the migration of some birds. A helpful pamphlet on bird identification is published by the Australian Bird Study Association Inc. on their website. Link to “Silvereye” pamphlet
This Silvereye was photographed at Sydney’s Centennial Park last week. After considerable discussion it was concluded that this bird was from the resident Sydney population, the South-eastern Silvereye belonging to the Zosterops lateralis westernensis sub-family. The key identification criteria were its tawny flanks and its yellow chin.
Also photographed in Sydney’s eastern suburbs last May, this bird was identified as the Tasmanian Silvereye, Zosterops lateralis lateralis. This was based on its rufous brown flanks and its grey chin. Many Tasmanian Silvereyes migrate north in the late summer and can be seen as far north as Queensland. They “island hop” across Bass Strait and join flocks of other Tasmanian and local birds.
This Western Silvereye was photographed in Albany on the southern coast of Western Australia. It has a distinctive olive-green back compared to the grey back seen on other sub-species.
Related to the Silvereye is the Yellow White-eye, Zosterops luteus, a mangrove dweller seen across the north of Australia. This Yellow White-eye was photographed from the famous Streeter’s Jetty in Broome, WA.
The normally full pond at Randwick Environment Park in Sydney dried up at the start of the 2017-2019 drought and apart from some brief interludes has been dry ever since. East Coast Lows are described as extratropical cyclones by the weather bureau and despite Sydney missing the full force of this week’s storm there was enough rain on top of previous wet weather to fill the pond. The pond is now well above previous levels. Hopefully this will provide a basis for continued water and will again attract the wide range of birds that have been seen in this city haven.
This view from the western viewing platform shows the water level well above normal.
A handfull of water birds have already arrived and yesterday’s survey included Pacific Black Ducks, Australian White Ibis, two Chestnut Teals, a Purple Swamphen and an Australasian Grebe, seen here.
Another pleasant morning taking photos in the park. Always something new to see and subjects that are not easily disturbed by people, dogs or photographers.
Grey Teal Ducks seem attracted to the Musgrave Pond, a relatively small pond at the Queen’s Park end of Centennial Park. There are often Chestnut Teals here as well.
A group of Crested Pigeons was congregating close to the Ian Potter Children’s Wild Play Garden, currently closed down because of Covid.
A Dusky Moorhen, also on the Musgrave Pond in Centennial Park.
Birding watching at this time consists of glimpses while “exercising” in Centennial Park, Sydney and fleeting views from the window - now in the sixth week of lockdown here in Sydney. On the positive side it is time to learn new photo processing skills. There are some interesting changes to Adobe Lightroom including more flexible colour control across shadows, midtones and highlights. Also AI assisted “magnification” of images that is said to give better quality large pictures and prints.
Spotted Turtle-dove graces a Paddington, Sydney rooftop. Lightroom’s new colour wheels helped capture the unusual sunset lighting.
A Pied Currawong eyes off the possibilities of the garden from the back gate.
Musk Lorikeets range across the south-east corner of Australia and are regular Autumn visitors to Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. They are usually feeding high in flowering eucalypts or malaleucas and the height combined with their rapid movement makes them difficult subjects to photograph.
These Musk Lorrikeets were photographed at Frog Hollow in Centennial Park, Sydney last week, feeding on flowering eucaplyts.
The Musk Lorikeets stay high at the very top of the canopy, perhaps thus avoiding competition with the more aggressive Rainbow Lorikeets feeding lower on the same trees.
Musk Lorikeet at Frog Hollow in Centennial Park, captured in a rare moment of repose.
The parks are quiet in the heat and our bird number count is down. Rumour has it that the water birds have left for inland waters this year; Kensington Pond at Centennial Park had only one solitary Eurasian Coot that had to join a flock of Pacific Black Ducks for company. The total species counts at Centennial Park were only one or two down on normal but total numbers were well below average. The morning’s survey was enlivened by two Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos squabbling with an agitated Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.
Although I associate Yellow-rumped Thornbills more with the open fields of the country they are seen quite regularly at Randwick Environment Park. Here two birds were foraging amongst the litter in the parks well maintained gardens for insects and the occasional seed.
The lake at Randwick Environment Park is bone dry, it has only had fleeting partial water fills since the drought. More worryingly the creek is running at a trickle. The count included a solitary magpie, even the Noisy Miners were down to two. There were more birds on the bushy side of the park, including Yellow-rumped Thornbills, New Holland Honeyeaters and Superb Fairy-wrens.
Randwick Environment Park is a surprising oasis of green in Sydney’s east. The flat area pictured was a well populated lake and water bird refuge before the drought.
This morning was a catch up in eastern Sydney. Firstly Centennial Park, an oasis close to the centre of Sydney, gathering place for a surprising number of water birds and some bush birds. Checking on the regulars, there is one of the Tawny Frogmouths, a male, together with this year’s fledgling sitting on a higher branch in the same tree. The Intermediate Egret is on the Lily Pond and the Grey Butcherbird is in position to swoop on passersby. At Kensington Pond I do a standardized two hectare, twenty minute survey. Not many water birds, some Dusky Moorhens and a couple of Eurasian Coots. There are New Holland Honeyeaters, Red Wattlebirds, Spotted Doves and Crested Pigeons as well as the usual collection of Superb Fairy-wrens, Australian Magpies, Australian Ravens and Magpie-larks. Highlight is a Sacred Kingfisher sitting on the far bank close to construction work for the Randwick Golf Course Light Rail Station - still going on.
Then on to Randwick Environment Park, a small park formed in 2010 from 13 hectares that had been previously part of Randwick Army Barracks. The park contains endangered remnant Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub and a wetlands covering several hectares at its centre. At times this park has attracted unusual birds including Latham’s Snipe, White-necked Heron, Australasian Shovelers, Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo, and Spangled Drongos. However as this year’s drought kicked in the wetland dried and water birds disappeared. Another standardized survey confirms that Australian Magpies, Red Wattlebirds, Laughing Kookaburras (pictured below) and Noisy Miners have taken control of what is now a totally dry area. The highlight was a Yellow-rumped Thornbill, an uncommon visitor to the park.
