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Tony rang me in England at 7am probably to check my keenness and he arranged to pick us up from our Sydney hotel at 7am on Wednesday 28th February 2001. He would look like a ‘bird-watcher’. Needless to say he was the only man with binoculars around his neck in the hotel foyer at 7am that morning. I am not certain whether or not it was a totally legal manoeuvre by Tony but we did manage to get onto the northbound carriageway over the famous Harbour Bridge. Tony assumed that we had seen Silver Gulls. They were everywhere in the harbour but were the only species of gull. Then it was time for our first new species – whoopee! A Galah, just like showing a native Aussie his first Blue Tit. Our first port of call was the Cumberland State Forest and a conservation problem, what to do about the Bell Miners in this area of forest. The Bell Miners are an ‘aggressive’ honeyeater, which means that they chase away the smaller insect-eating species. With no birds to eat the insects, the insects ravage the trees, which in due course suffer from dieback. This problem would not occur in a large area of forest, but the Cumberland State Forest is an isolated pocket of forest in the city and therefore the Bell Miners do not roam far and wide. Injecting the trees to kill the insects has not worked, so the conservationists are looking for other ways of reducing the influence of the Bell Miners. However the birds did sound good. Tony had arranged for two birds to pose in the trees for us but unfortunately the Tawny Frogmouth disobeyed instructions and was not to be found – its camouflage defeated us. However the Southern Boobook was doing as it had been told and was obligingly roosting amongst some palm fronds – a Boobook is a type of owl. Could Tony arrange for the rest of the expected species to be in the right place at the right time? Before we left the forest we did find some Scaly-breasted Lorikeets and a Fan-tailed Cuckoo. Our next port of call was at Pitt Town to connect with Tony’s ears, Keith and a photo-call! CBOC had arranged for a box to be erected on a post adjacent to Pitt Town lagoon in which a book would be kept for observers to record sightings. Paul the local Forest Ranger was also there and eventually a young lady from the local press turned up to record the event for posterity. Her press article would include a report of strange bird-watchers from England turning up especially for the event. With the formalities over we did manage to see some birds including an obliging Sacred Kingfisher and a flighty White-plumed Honeyeater. I persuaded Tony and Keith that it would be a good idea to look for some Latham’s Snipe and were rewarded with a fine view of one, just slightly bigger than our own Common Snipe. In the undergrowth by the lagoon Clamorous Reed Warblers, Little Grassbirds and Golden-headed Cisticolas performed for us. The last of these is related to the European Fan-tailed Warbler. The rest of the day was taken up in the Hawkesbury area starting with a very civilised stop for morning tea on a small jetty over-looking the Hawkesbury River in the Cattai National Park watching the Darters on the far bank. A sudden flash of bright blue turned out to be an Azure Kingfisher. After locating a pre-arranged Nankeen Night Heron in its regular roost, in the ensuing woodland Keith was able to demonstrate his ability to identify an amazing range of species by call. I managed to learn Rufous Whistler, Eastern Yellow Robin and Magpie Lark by the end of the day. Then of course we had the varied passerines, which responded to the noise made by Keith sucking through his fingers. In one site this would have been very successful if it had not been populated by Varied Sitellas which insisted on fluttering around our heads just about every time he tried it. One of the rarer birds seen here was a Shining Bronze-cuckoo. At this site I enquired about CBOC’s emblem which turned out to be a Mistletoebird. Could Keith and Tony find one for me? I had to make do with a small bird flitting away from the top of a tree which Keith assured me was a Mistletoebird. Pat saw one well while I was looking the other way, as also she managed to see our CBC emblem bird that day when I was looking the other way. We moved on to Mitchell Park, with Wonga Pigeons and Olive-backed Orioles. At our refreshment stop Keith heard an Australian Owlet-nightjar but we could not locate it. It was here that I realised how confiding Kookaburras can be. It seemed odd to be able to walk past a member of the Kingfisher family sitting only a couple of feet away! >From here we searched in vain for a reported Powerful Owl, but were rewarded by a good bird at the opposite end of the size spectrum, a Large-billed Scrubwren. At last we were able to get a view of a Whipbird whose calls had been tantalising us all day and had singularly failed to respond to Keith’s mimicry. Before we left this area of forest Keith managed to locate a group of Australian King Parrots. Scheyville (pronounced Skyville) National Park was our next stop for a different range of Honeyeaters. Leaden Flycatchers and a Striated Pardelote distracted us initially but we were able to locate the expected Scarlet and Fuscous Honeyeaters. At this site we heard one of the most difficult Doves to locate, a Peaceful Dove. Following a good selection of Aussie woodland species it was time for a change – Pitt Town Ferry Road lagoon followed by Grono Farm Road lagoon, both at Wilberforce. The first site gave us a chance to compare Great Egrets with Intermediate Egrets – apart from the difference in body size, the gape on the Great Egret extends further back than that on the Intermediate Egret. Hardheads – ducks, not plant members of the thistle family – were on this first lagoon and by the far shore eagle-eyed Keith picked out a Black-fronted Dotterel. This species is basically akin to our Ringed Plovers. The Grono lagoon held a different range of ducks including Australasian Shovelers, Grey Teal and best of all Pink-eared Ducks with their peculiar bills. Back to the woods in Stanix Park to be welcomed by a typical NSW thunderstorm. Before it struck we were able to find gloriously-coloured Rainbow Bee-eaters and Restless Flycatchers. At this point we had to say goodbye to Keith, indulge in our own photo-call and hand over one or two goodies from CBC. We had a check through our day list at this point and realised that with perhaps a short detour we could clock up 100 species for the day; Tony knew the ideal spot. En route we picked up our first Nankeen Kestrel and Long-billed Corellas. The hoped-for Cattle Egrets showed up at Red Gables Vineyard, but little did Tony know that two cracking bonuses were to be added, a White-bellied Sea-eagle and an Australian Hobby, the latter posing perfectly for the telescope. After a thoroughly enjoyable day we adjourned to Tony’s house to meet his wife Josie and admire his garden birds – nothing smaller than Indian Mynahs. We were entertained at a nearby Italian restaurant and on the way recorded our final species for the day – a Crimson Rosella. At the end of the day we had seen or heard a total of 105 different species. I would never have known that I had heard a Brown Cuckoo-Dove or a Stubble Quail or a Brown Quail nor for that matter identify some of the species we had seen without expert assistance. Pat and I were extremely grateful for Tony and Keith expending the time and energy showing ‘novice’ birdwatchers some typical Australian species. A special thanks from Pat for making the day entertaining even for a non-birdwatcher. Would we recommend Australia for a Birding visit? – by all means. You won’t find any Woodpeckers or Titmice, you will find that some of the Warblers are called Gerygones (pronounced Jeryggonies) and the Swans could use some Persil. However you will find an amazing array of Honeyeaters, Parrots and other unusual species, and I am assured that there is a good array of sea-birds – at least 20 species – on pelagic trips. During our day I never once heard either Tony or Keith refer to a bird as “Sheila”. Richard
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