Twitching twice

I’m not much of a twitcher, but when a rare shorebird shows up, that certainly is exciting. When it shows up practically on your doorstep, that’s unmissable. And when there are two species at once, well that calls for a serious twitching mission.

Pics: Narelle Wright & Paul Dodd – see links

There had already been a few tantalising vagrants showing up this side of the country over the summer. Australia’s first Long-billed Dowitcher was spotted at Lake Tuchewop in northern Victoria in November. Then early January brought a White-rumped Sandpiper at Lake Wollumboola on the Shoalhaven, less of a mega with six prior earlier accepted records, and a lot closer to home but I still didn’t make it. At the same time, a South Island Pied Oystercatcher showed up south of Coffs Harbour.

Then finally Sydney got a share of the vagrant action, with our very own SIPO sighting reported at the start of February. Apparently this species isn’t exciting enough for a local news report, perhaps because by the time a species racks up seven prior records in Oz the novelty has worn off, or maybe a wayward kiwi resident just doesn’t have the international glamour of a vagrant from the western hemisphere. Anyway take my word for it there were still plenty of twitchers in a flap flocking to see it, and BirdLine NSW was busy with updates on its movements among various islands and beaches in Sydney Harbour. Shamefully seven weeks rolled by before I found an opportunity to try to see it. Meanwhile three Pectoral Sandpipers had been reported at Pitt Town Lagoon, a rare-but-regular visitor that I’ve seen elsewhere but never in Sydney before (though there are multiple records for here).  So I decided I was going for the double and set off for a day of twitching.

Pitt Town Nature Reserve: hand-holding encouraged

I made an early start at Pitt Town Nature Reserve. There’s now a charming new concrete bunker bird hide, so I settled in to shelter from the rain and scope the birds on the islands out in the lake. It was very grey and those birds were far away. A sea-eagle flew through and spooked everything and I could see three medium-sized sandpipers settle on the island but it was just too distant to make out anything convincing.

Pitt Town Lagoon – view from the bird hide. Those distant dots are definitely Pec Sands…maybe.

At this point a big mob of pelicans provided some welcome entertainment, feeding in front of the hide.

With no sign of any improvement in the situation I gave up on my three distant sandpipers and walked around the east side of the lagoon.

Here there was a nice open muddy edge and the shorebirds were loving it, with dotterels dotted all over. And guess what suddenly came flying over from the other side of the lake – yep, it was those sandpipers, come to join me. Clearly they recognise a friend of the shorebirds when they see one!  Here’s a dodgy pic of two of the three Pec Sands.

Pectoral Sandpipers, Pitt Town Lagoon

Then I got excited because one of them was coming close and I took a bunch of photos, before I realised it was actually a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper that had snuck in as well.

Not a Pectoral Sandpiper

Twitch number one = TICK!

In a paddock on the way out, a Willy Wagtail was using a horse for hunting. It was  hanging around very close to the horse’s head and feet, ready to pick up any disturbed insects.

There are a few more snaps of Pitt Town sightings here, as well as a from quick stop at Longneck Lagoon for lunch.

Pitt Town Lagoon is always worth a look – here’s a map. It’s best to park in Bathurst St and walk the short distance down Church St to get to the lagoon.

On to Twitch Two (did you hear an owl just then?): searching for a SIPO in Sydney Harbour. Since the most recent sightings had been at Chowder head, I took a ferry across to Taronga Zoo and walked around the coast from there.

Taronga Zoo Wharf, Sydney Harbour and a Golden Orb-weaver Spider

There were lots of handsome Eastern Water Dragons on or near the track.

Harbourside dragons

And some pretty native and non-native plants too: here are orange Pittosporum fruits and yellow Senna flowers, but I haven’t worked out the other two plants with berries (please let me know!)

Fruits and flowers along the way to Chowder Head

I made my way to Chowder Head but I didn’t really know where I was going from there. But luckily, looking down from the track to the shore below I spied three other twitchers, and I deduced from their fervent binocular and scope action that they were onto the SIPO. I got down onto the beach and scrambled over the rocks to catch up to them. Just as I did, I could see a head peeping out from behind the rocks…

SIPO peep

Soon enough it came out from behind the rocks and gave us a better view, not worried at all about having an audience. Long bill, short legs, funny-shaped head = TICK!

There was a shark in the water nearby too, just a little one.

This time I ticked the bird and ran, just like a proper twitcher. It was getting late and I had to make it back to the wharf in time for the ferry. You can see a few more photos here.

Fruity in Maroubra

A stickybeak can happen anywhere at any time. Even where you least expect it, like on a sports reserve in the middle of suburbia. And so it was, on a beautifully bright morning in the first days of winter, when I was walking across Heffron Park in Maroubra and happened upon a fine flock of Figbirds flitting about in a fruiting tree. Fantastic.

Figbird flock in Maroubra: if the available evidence doesn’t convince you of a flock, you’ll have to believe me that there were actually 8 birds present

Here’s a closer look at those fruits. Seems to me this tree is a Melia azedarach, aka White Cedar, or Chinaberry. The Figbirds were loving it, having broader tastes in fruit than their name suggests. With plenty of fruiting trees in backyards and parks and streets, Figbirds are reasonably easy to find in this part of the eastern suburbs.

Adult males (above, right) are particularly striking, with green plumage and bright red warty skin around the eye. Females have a streaky breast quite similar to an Olive-backed Oriole, but still have the bare skin around the eye. The bird on the left above appears to be an immature bird, so perhaps I won’t place any bets on the identity of that one.

Figbirds weren’t the only birds getting a piece of the fruit action. Soon a Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike youngster flew in, and he’d brought his own takeaway from another tree, but he went on to take more berries from this tree too.

Then a Pied Currawong showed up and did some rambunctious calling before tucking into the fruit as well. Appropriate sound effects can be found here.

Both are species I wouldn’t particularly think of as fruit-eaters, yet clearly taking advantage of what’s available.

Wikipedia has some interesting information about chinaberries: apparently the fruits are poisonous to humans but not birds, although birds can become intoxicated after eating a large quatity. Also the leaves can be used to induce uterus relaxation, if you happen to need that!

Here’s a bonus pic of a male Figbird closing his nictitating membrane. Probably not the effect of too many chinaberries, just an unattractive habit that is the bane of bird photographers.