South Coast Birds

Birds on New South Wale’s south coast seem to have recovered in some areas after the Currowan bush fire. The birds below were all photographed in a coastal village garden where numbers felt more like pre-fire levels. But a walk up on the escarpment to Mount Bushwalker was a stark reminder ot the devastation wreaked by that fire, with vast areas of dead Banksias and their replacements still only knee-high.

This Southern Boobook was a welcome companion while in the garden directly below.

Eastern Spoonbills are expert a exploiting the nectar from introduced Salvia and a Plumbago in the back garden.

The Satin Bowerbird has moved its bower to another spot, but still frequents the garden.

A visiting Golden Whistler, resting in a Coastal Banksia that has succumbed to too much rain.

Rainbow Lorikeets werer back in force.

This tangle of Banksias on the walk to Mount Bushwalker is a stark reminder of the damage caused by the Currowan bush fire back in January 2000. Many species are still absent especially the honeyeaters. 

South Coast Birds Last Week

Spotted Turtle-Dove

Nankeen Kestrel

Satin Bowerbird

Grey Butcherbird

Seals and their habits

A group of seals is seen regularly around Red Head peninsula on the New South Wales South Coast - most often drifting near the rocks with their fins erect to adjust body temperature. Recently, and for the first time, I saw several seals basking on the rocks, and also some signs that they may have been feeding on seabirds.

The seals at Red Head have previously been identified as Australian Fur Seals.

This is the rock on which the following photographs were taken, all within a few metres of each other at the flat ridge near the top of the rock.

Remains of a seabird, its body largely eaten.

A hollow about 75 cm diameter forming a ‘‘nest” lined with feathers. A nice size for a resting seal?

Deposits - regurgitated or scats? with a high content of feathers.

Another seal resting.

The Cuckoos Arrive

We heard the first Koel calling in our area of Sydney about two weeks ago and since then a number of cuckoos have arrived. At Bendalong on the NSW South Coast there have been several Channel-billed Cuckoos, as well as Common Koels. A first Fan-tailed Cuckoo was sighted nearby. On the Bendalong headland there was a group of around six cuckoos squabbling and calling; from fleeting glimpses, the trilling and chorus of descending calls they were identified as Shining Bronze-Cuckoos. The very poor picture below appeared to confirm this identification.

What appears to be a Shining Bronze-Cuckoo sighted at Bendalong on the NSW South Coast. It was one of a group of six squabbling and calling together.

After the Floods at Shoalhaven Heads

Like many NSW rivers the Shoalhaven on the state’s south coast has been in flood a number of times this year. At Shoalhaven Heads the high water levels have opened this intermittent second channel of the river up to the ocean, reducing the area on which migratory and other water birds can roost. Despite this it was encouraging to see 12 of the endangered Eastern Curlews roosting on a distant sand bar during last week’s visit.

This Superb Fairy-wren was making the most of the prolific insect life amongst the debris washed up from the river during recent floods

While I was watching this large log travelled down the river at considerable speed, then slowed as it met the waters of the incoming tide.

Another of the many Superb Fairy-wrens feeding amongst the washed up logs.

This Red-capped Plover skips quickly away to be safely out of the reach of this photographer. It was feeding on a small sand-bar, shared with a number of fishermen taking advantage of the changed conditions.

Another Red-capped Plover on the sand-bar..

A Little Pied Cormorant dries his wings on another large log washed down the river during the floods.

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.

Colourful South Coast Parrots

As I have indicated previously I only feed the parrots when asked and this has not been often due to a recent abundance of food following the rain. The trees and planting in our garden provide a variety of natural seed sources. But “asking” consists of King Parrots squawking at the back door or Rosellas who will sometimes feed from your hand. The parrots were hungry this week, it was the King Parrots who did the asking but before long it was Galahs who took control of the seed bowl.

King Parrots are not backward when it comes to asking for food and their approach indicates that they are used to being fed around the village.

But is not long before the Galahs arrive.

And Crimson Rosellas, this bird showing a beautiful mix of colours as it gains its adult colouring.

The Galahs take over and the other birds leave!

Another variation on the Crimson Rosella ‘transition to adult” colouring.

More "Bush Birds" in South Coast, NSW township

My garden bird species list in the coastal township of Bendalong is still growing as birds adapt to changes due to the Currowan Bushfire and the heavy rains that have followed.

The Brown Thornbill (10 cm) is the most common of the “Small Brown Birds” that frequent the Shoalhaven area and is currently visiting the garden more often than before.

Figbirds are reasonably common near the coast during summer but this female and her mate were the first I had recorded.

The Eastern Spinebill is a regular visitor but it has been having a tough time recently due to a build up in numbers of Little Wattlebirds, who compete for the nectar from these Salvia flowers.

The Eastern Koel is a regular over the summer. This rather ragged young male is losing the last of his (brown) juvenile colours. Together with the Figbirds the Koels should be making their way north at this time of the year. Koels, being a cuckoo, are often raised by Red Wattlebirds in this area but this is a species that has almost disappeared locally losing out to the Little Wattlebirds after the bushfires.

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike

The Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike is another of the less common visitors to South Coast NSW beach-side towns. The arrival of this family of Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes in a coastal garden allowed for some close up viewing.

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike arrives with family in this South Coast NSW garden.

A juvenile-immature stage Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike.

Bush birds come to town

After the fires two years ago there have been more bush birds in the coastal townships on NSW’s South Coast. In Bendalong last week I recorded my first Grey Shrike-thrush within the township. Other visitors last week were a Brown Cuckoo-Dove, a Dollarbird, a pair of Noisy Friarbirds, and an Olive-backed Oriole. All of these are uncommon visitors to town gardens. There have been a lot more Grey Fantails, Whistlers and Scrubwrens in the town over the past year.

This Grey Shrike-thrush was a visitor to this Pittosporum tree most mornings last week.

The Dollarbird is an infrequent visitor in the town. Here it perches in a tree that was scorched during the Currowan Bushfire two years ago.

The Pittosporum is host to a host of bird species. An Olive-backed Oriole pays a visit.

Bushfire devastation made worse

The need to protect trees remaining after the Currowan bushfire seems obvious. However for some the bushfire has given reason to cut down more trees.

On returning after the NSW lockdown to two survey sites in Conjola National Park I was dismayed at the first to find a large shelterbelt had gone and that the roadside treeline had been cut back a further ten to twenty metres from the road. This occurred some time between June 2021 and October 2021, during the lockdown period - over a year and a half after the fires!

The Bendalong Mountain Road Birdata survey site extends from this point close to the Bendalong Road corner to the far corner 200 metres down the road. On the left hand side of the road a shelterbelt of mature eucalypt trees has been totally removed and replaced by the barbed-wire fence. On the right hand side of the road the treeline has been cut back ten to twenty metres from the power lines.

At the second site on nearby Nerringillah Road the trees had again been cleared a further ten to twenty metres from the road. In addition there has been extensive clearance of trees along the Bendalong road, for approximately two kilometres the bush has been cleared 10 to 20 metres back from the road.

On enquiry it seems that this clearance is legal. There are a number of regulations that might have allowed removal of these trees. Electricity companies have powerful “rights” to clear land where there are above-ground powerlines. Under the Electricity Supply Act 1995 and even the the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, they have an absolute power to remove trees.

Then in August this year the NSW government introduced new rules that allow landowners to clear rural land within 25 metres of their boundary with very few restrictions; the Rural Boundary Clearing Code under the Rural Fires Act 1997. If the land has not been previously protected there is little requirement to consider environmental impact and no need to offset the loss of vegetation.  

The Bendalong Mountain survey site is a standard Birdata two hectare site for conducting 20 minute surveys. This older map of the site was prepared on Google Maps. It shows the shelter belt at the road side and the bush on the left hand side, part of Conjola National Park.

The reason for this clearing is likely to be given as “ bush fire risk management” but it seems highly unlikely that these clearances would have protected anything or in any way changed the course of the devastating Currowan fire last year.

I started monitoring these survey sites after the fires, to get an idea of bird numbers in the central area of Conjola National Park. At that time the park was still closed so road-side sites were the only way you could do this.

There are not a lot of birds in this area, at least this has been the case during the surveys I have done since the fires. The most recent survey, conducted after tree removal, counted eight and seven total birds on the sites respectively in a 20 minute count. It will be difficult to see if the removal of trees has any effect on bird numbers in this small area. Nevertheless clearances like this are part of the insidious decline in habitat, responsible for the decline of bird species generally.

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.

Rainstorm

The eastern states of Australia have seen a succession of thunderstorms, rain and even snow the past week. These pictures capture some of a group of birds utilising a particularly heavy thunder and rainstorm to take a bath. After fluttering and sliding in the rain across the topmost leaves of a large Pittosporum tree they settled down to finish their clean up.

A Rainbow Lorikeet completing it’s toilet.

A young Little Wattlebird (right) gets some tutoring on good hygiene from a parent (on the left).

In addition to this Satin Bowerbird the bathers included Lewin’s Honeyeaters and a Common Koel.

South Coast NSW pictures

South Coast bird photos from a few weeks ago, posted from locked down Sydney town.

Laughing Kookaburra perches on a stump burnt out in the New Year 2019/2020 fires.

Quite a few Galahs around.

And there have been more Spotted Pardalotes around this year, sometimes in flocks of over a dozen.

Rainbow Lorikeet disease

Rainbow Lorikeets may be called rats of the sky by their detractors but no-one could deny that their beautiful colours and cheerful shrieks make them one of the brightest and very welcome visitors to our gardens.

On New South Wales’ South Coast we have seen an unusual number of sick and dead Rainbow Lorikeets over the past two months. The local Wires team report that the sick birds brought to their care have died quickly after arrival – no known treatment and no real diagnosis.

This Rainbow Lorikeet was behaving strangely, staying put as I approached. Sadly I had already found two dead lorikeets on the block where this photo was taken.

It may be a condition that has been seen up in Queensland? Bird expert Darryl Jones at Griffith University says that lorikeet paralysis syndrome (also called clenched-foot syndrome) is prevalent around Brisbane this year. Clenched-foot syndrome prevents birds from perching and flying, resulting in a rapid deterioration of the bird.     

Beach-side survey sites

A bird survey by the sea last week had some unexpected visitors. A group of Australian Fur Seals basking close to the rocks and then Humpback Whales on their trip north.

At first glance it looked like seaweed dancing in the waves - but it was a group of twelve or more seals - close to the rocks on this South Coast NSW beach.

The Australian Museum identified the photos as Australian Fur Seals and said that they were actually cooling off by raising their fins in the air - their fins have blood vessels close to the surface forming useful heat-exchangers.

Two (or more) Humpback Whales pass close to the beach on their way north to warmer waters.

This young Australasian Gannet flew over while I was taking the seal photos.

Birdlife Shoalhaven Bushfire Research Report

Birdlife Shoalhaven is monitoring the after effects of the devastating Currawon bushfire on the New South Wales South Coast. They have just released their 2020 report.

A typical scene as the bush recovers from the fire seventeen months earlier. This White-throated Treecreeper reaches the truncated top of the fire affected tree it has been feeding on.

The long-term aim of the project is to examine changes in bird species richness and abundance in the Shoalhaven in the post-fire period. The report analyses changes at 115 survey sites within the fire footprint and 52 sites outside the fire footprint as a comparison. They use BirdLife’s Birdata 20 minute, 2 hectare survey technique to survey bird species and numbers.

They found that bird numbers and species numbers increased on average during the year across lightly to heavily burnt sites and the recovery in numbers of birds was greater in lightly burnt areas. Outside of the fire footprint the number of species did not change significantly but bird numbers actually decreased through the year, perhaps as birds moved back into recovering burnt areas?

The small peninsular at Dee Beach near Bendalong on the New South Wales south coast was heavily burnt and the soil was barren after the fire. This photo was taken last April 2020, four months after the fire.

The same area in May 2021, another year and one month later. A head high swathe of acacia and eucalypts now forms an impenetrable cover, a happy hunting ground for insect eating birds.

While the detailed picture is very complicated there is no doubt that the heavier rains of the last year have helped the recovery of the birds. And that more research on this critical issue is badly needed. If there had been better baseline data from before the fires this would have provided a better picture of the fires effect. Birdlife Shoalhaven are to be congratulated on undertaking this important project.

The recovery is very different at the Walter Hood Beach survey site. Other than a handful of Banksias at the beach edge, the trees are all dead and the green cover beneath them is less than a metre high. There were no birds on this site when it was last surveyed.

Winter visitors to the New South Wales South Coast

Winter brings big changes to the birds of the New South Wales South Coast. The Cuckoos have long left, in March and April, flying north to as far as Papua New Guinea. The migratory waders have left too, for their long journey to the northern hemisphere breeding grounds. Honeyeaters head north to warmer climes, forming large flocks that can be seen flying over Sydney and swooping through the passes of the Blue Mountains. Other birds arrive; Robins leave the mountains of the great divide and head to the more temperate coast. Other birds migrate north from as far south as Tasmania.

This winter visitor from the mountains, the Rose Robin, was only 10 metres from the beach on the NSW South Coast. It was taking advantage of insects in the acacias and eucalypts now flourishing in some burnt out areas.

Also visiting for the winter, the Tasmanian Silvereye (race Zosterops lateralis lateralis) can be distinguished from the local Silvereye race by its cinnamon flanks and it mid blue-grey back.

Not all the honeyeaters fly north as this Yellow-faced Honeyeater can attest. But this usually very common bird becomes quite scarce as most of its kind have left the south coast during June and July.

One year and one month after the NSW bushfires

It was just over a year ago that the Currawon bushfire raged through Conjola National Park south of Sydney, burning most of the park. At the survey sites I monitor the rains of the last year have meant a faster recovery than expected, but progress varies greatly depending on the terrain. Where the hottest fires struck in tall eucalypt forest there is a mix of trees recovering through epicormic growth and other trees, usually the smaller ones, that appear to be dead at this stage. In coastal scrub there are large areas where all the trees are dead but the undergrowth is renewing.

This Rufous Whistler is feeding in the epicormic growth on medium sized eucalypts, in an area that is recovering well from the fires.

Bird numbers are recovering but still not to the pre-fire levels. The most noticeable absence is the large honeyeaters, especially the Red Wattlebirds.

The shrubs in this coastal scrub are dead. The thick mat of regrowth is now over a metre high and looking very healthy. The weeds that grew earlier have now been overgrown. A few birds hawk for insects in the regrowth.

In this patch of burnt medium sized eucalypts the regrowth is a mixture of acacias and eucalypt. In places it forms a thick mat that is now up to two metres high. The mix of species seems to be encouraging a wider range of birds.