Nine of the bravest birding souls met at Stevenson Street (north), Redwood, for a BirdLife outing on a cold and windy Saturday morning, 9 July 2022.
Despite vigorous flapping of the flag at Picnic Point high above us, we enjoyed some good birding—mainly in patches—where the road and bridle trail were sheltered.
A few yellow box were flowering and many Scarlet Honeyeaters were buzzing about, tiny red dots in the canopies, and several White-throated Honeyeaters announced themselves with high-pitched rapid calls. A male Regent Bowerbird was among the fruit-eating birds near privet and other weedy shrubs with ripe berries.
Although not often seen at this site, a pair of Buff-rumped Thornbills was seen multiple times today in she-oaks and gums near the limit of our walk, recognised by their distinctive twittering calls, plain head pattern and thorn-shaped beak (to distinguish from Weebill).
Grey shrike thrush Colluricincla harmonica photos above by Mike Ford and Tony Bond
Altogether, 27 bird species were recorded; this would have been a higher tally if the accipiter that spasmodically excited the miners had stayed around long enough to be identified!
Variegated fairy wren Malurus lamberti (above) in winter non breeding plumage. Note black bill and feint chestnut shoulder indicate a male. Photos by Tony Bond (R) and Mike Ford (L)
Here is the full species list for the day – the actual survey entry can be found on Birdata here
Australasian Figbird – Sphecotheres vieilloti
Brown Goshawk/Collared Sparrowhawk spp
Buff-rumped Thornbill – Acanthiza reguloides
Eastern Whipbird – Psophodes olivaceus
Golden Whistler – Pachycephala pectoralis
Grey Fantail – Rhipidura fuliginosa
Grey Shrike-thrush – Colluricincla harmonica
Laughing Kookaburra – Dacelo novaeguineae
Lewin’s Honeyeater – Meliphaga lewinii
Noisy Miner – Manorina melanocephala
Pied Butcherbird – Cracticus nigrogularis
Pied Currawong – Strepera graculina
Rainbow Lorikeet – Trichoglossus moluccanus
Red Wattlebird – Anthochaera carunculata
Red-browed Finch – Neochmia temporalis
Regent Bowerbird – Sericulus chrysocephalus
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet – Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus
Scarlet Honeyeater – Myzomela sanguinolenta
Silvereye – Zosterops lateralis
Spotted Pardalote – Pardalotus punctatus
Striated Pardalote – Pardalotus striatus
Torresian Crow – Corvus orru
Variegated Fairy-wren – Malurus lamberti
White-browed Scrubwren – Sericornis frontalis
White-throated Honeyeater – Melithreptus albogularis
White-throated Treecreeper – Cormobates leucophaea
Willie Wagtail – Rhipidura leucophrys
Yellow-faced Honeyeater – Caligavis chrysops
The Buff rumped thornbill photos above were taken by Roger Jaensch a few days later at Kleinton, and are included for identification purposes. Roger’s notes: They show the white iris, buffy-yellow underparts—especially the vent; also the rump) and almost black tail contrasting with the rump. Also, you can see the pale scalloping on the forehead, which is often not conspicuous in the field (Yellow-rumped Thornbill has a black-and-white pattern on the front of the head). There is even a hint of olive-green on the back. The fourth and rather fuzzy image shows that in poorer light, this species can look quite yellow underneath. Subspecies nesa is apparently the one in our area; the nominate subspecies apparently is more washed out in colours. A bird to watch out for!