Black Kite in the East

Driving on the Princes Highway after a morning bird watching with the MUD birders group I saw this kite circling up ahead. It landed in an area of bush that had been burnt two years ago, in the huge Currowon bushfire. I pulled down a side road, grabbed the camera, and managed to get some distant shots. Then walked back to the highway and along inside the barricade around a long curve to get close for the picture below.

Expecting a Whistling Kite it was a surprise to see that this bird was a Black Kite, unusual in this area. There were no previous Birdata sightings showing around Lake Conjola for Black Kites and there have been only occasional sightings in the Shoalhaven. Having said that another Black Kite (the same bird?) was spotted some 24 km away at Bherwerre Beach in Booderee NP around the same time as my sighting, a first in that area for the experienced birders involved.

Black Kite photographed at Yatte Yatta near the Lake Conjola turn off on the Princes Highway, South Coast NSW.

MUD Birders visit Conjola Creek

The Milton-Ulladulla Birdwatchers, known locally as the MUD Birders, are an active group making fortnightly trips to local hotspots. Conjola Creek flows into Lake Conjola on the NSW South Coast. It forms winding waterways and lagoons with low lying farmland surrounded by Conjola National Park.

The Eucalypt forests of Conjola National Park surround Conjola Creek farmlands and littoral Casuarinas line the waterways. The picture shows Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and Australian Ravens roosting.

A Laughing Kookaburra. Both waterbirds and bushbirds are seen in this area with 36 species counted at last week’s visit. Highlights included a White-necked Heron, numerous Chestnut Teal, Wood Ducks and Pacific Black Ducks, Cattle Egrets, a White-bellied Sea-Eagle, and Red-browed Finches.

The locals got involved in proceedings as well.

A group of Chestnut Teals. This wonderful swamp and pond is fenced and protected by the land-owner. Unfortunately we did not see the Lewin’s Rail recently reported here.

Superb Fairy-wren. Much of this area was under water in recent floods and the land is still water-logged but looking good and green. Recent months have seen small birds return in numbers, especially large flocks of Red-browed finches which completely vanished after the 2019/2020 bushfires. Groups of Superb Fairy-wrens have also reappeared.

The creek broadens as it get closer to the lake. At the other end the lake sporadically opens to the sea at its mouth.

Bird recovery after the Currowan fire

The Currowan fire of New Year’s Day 2019/2020 reached the shores of Lake Conjola and pressed close against the villages of Cunjurong, Manyana and Bendalong. Only small fragments of bush were untouched. In the burnt out areas the good rains of the past two years have seen good recovery of the undergrowth. In other areas totally dead trees intersperse with those that are gradually recovering their crown foliage.

This area near Lake Conjola entrance was badly burnt in the Currawon fire. Despite good rain and plenty of water around recovery of the bird population has been slow.

A Chestnut Teal duck takes advantage of this pond’s food offerings; a pond that was often dry in previous years.

A young Grey Fantail feeds on insects attracted to the pond.

Conjola National Park – beaches and lagoons

The beaches and lagoons of Conjola National Park are popular holiday destinations, with excellent surfing and swimming. The park includes parts of Conjola Lake and Berringer Lake as well as Swan Lake, Berrara Creek lagoon and Nerrindillah Creek lagoon.

Kingfishers frequent the park’s streams and lagoons. This Sacred Kingfisher patrols a small pond that has formed during recent rains.

The coastal region has four endangered ecological communities: these are the Coastal Saltmarsh, Swamp Sclerophyll Forest, Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest and Bangalay Sand Forest communities. Endangered Hooded Plovers and Pied Oystercatchers nest on the park’s beaches and Little Terns nest at Lake Conjola Entrance.

Pied Oystercatchers are an endangered species in New South Wales. A number of pairs were breeding within the park this year.

Hooded Plovers are closely monitored and nest sites are protected to prevent beach goers inadvertently destroying the nest. Hooded Plovers are highly endangered in New South Wales with the population estimated at only 50 birds in total.

Critically Endangered Eastern Curlew at Lake Conjola

The sight of a single Eastern Curlew at Lake Conjola Entrance on New South Wales’ south coast is a poignant reminder of the perils this species faces. Australia is summer home to most of the world’s Eastern Curlew population but they breed in Russia and north-eastern China. They arrive in Australia from mid-July to September taking up residence along the coast.

 I saw this single bird twice over a week in the same area, foraging in the shallow water for its preferred diet of crabs, shrimps and prawns. Numbers of Eastern Curlews have decreased eighty per cent over the past three decades and they are now listed as critically endangered.

 A big factor in this decrease has been habitat loss: in Australia as mudflats were reclaimed to build airports, marinas and housing, and in Asia as development envelops bird “refueling” spots on the great East Asia Australasia Flyway route to Australia. It is outrageous to hear that Australia’s government is still positively considering the huge development project at Toondah Harbour in Queensland, on an internationally protected (Ramsar) mudflat, a site that supports a large population of Eastern Curlews. Another nail in the coffin for the Eastern Curlew!