Birding Down Under

After dropping our stuff off at our house in the charming neighborhood of Paddington, we set off wondering what to do with the rest of our day. After a quick lunch and some grocery shopping, we decided on Centennial Park two blocks from our house. The rest of the family (even my little sister) decided to go on a jog, and I birded the large park. I walked up past the playground and found a few lifers, such as the following:

AUSTRALIAN MAGPIE:

AUSTRALIAN WHITE IBIS, a surprising find here, usually a wetland bird. He is pretty ugly, and could seriously use some Rogaine.

YELLOW THROATED MINER:

Who knew the playground was such a good birding spot? I walked on past the it and spotted my goal bird for Australia, the LAUGHING KOOKABURRA! This brave bird let me get just 3 feet away from him. I think I was more scared than he was, he looked bit like he wanted to stab me with that large bill of his when I got close.

I made my way to Busby's pond, the largest of many ponds in this park. There I found some MANED DUCKS, also known as the Australian Wood Duck. I got a shot of these two adult females.

I was just walking around the corner, when I spotted the best find of the day a ROYAL SPOONBILL! He's funny looking, isn't he?

I spotted this GREY BUTCHERBIRD, a bird that had adapted to city living and is often found near Sydney of Brisbane, and also in the same family as the Australian Magpie.

The next day, we all headed to the Royal Botanic Garden. I kept my eye out for the Powerful Owl, a bird that can sometimes be found in here. We made our way down the trail, and got a great view of the Sydney Opera House, which was why we came here in the first place. Then we walked in the other direction so we could get a snack and some drinks at the bar there, but it was National Greek Day, and apparently there are a lot of Greeks here. That made the opera house extremely crowded. We had to get out of there before we lost our minds. The opera house was not as amazing as we thought.

The next morning, I got lucky and came back to Cenntenial Park! Morning is the best time for birding, so I saw much much much more. In just 2 hours of birding here I saw 37 species! I walked in the park, and one of the first birds I saw was this pretty EASTERN ROSELLA, a good find and a lifer. 

Whoa, look at that bill! This species has the largest bird bill in the world! It has a wingspan that is 7.5 to 8.5 feet, but believe it or not is only medium size for a pelican. It was originally found in New Zealand, so it used to be called the New Zealand Pelican. Now, it is often found in Australia and Tasmania. I believe there are not as many New Zealand records. Therefor, the name was changed to the AUSTRALIAN PELICAN. Life Bird!

I walked a little further, and ran into another birder named Steve, and countiniued birding with him for the rest of the morning. He showed us around, and we first stopped at another pond, where Steve showed my dad and I this HARDHEAD, a type of duck. This one has a white eye, making it a male.

As we were walking beside a wooded area, I heard something...minas. Lots of them, calling. Then I saw a huge bird flying. Birds like miners, crows, jays, etc. often harass raptors, so I figured that those were miners calling, chasing a raptor away. I even said to Steve "hey, I hear a lot of miners calling...Oh there's a raptor!"  But no. You will never guess what I'd seen. Bats! That huge thing flying was a BAT. Steve said that about 32,000 were counted last year! No joke!  My month dropped open. But hey, at least my mom wasn't here for this, because this would be her worst nightmare. 

I also saw these Australian Possums near where the bats were. My dad even saw one out behind the apartment when he was taking out the trash. My dad says they seem almost friendly when they expose their bushy tails. Much cool than the ones with the rat-like tail back at home.

A little while later, we approached another birder who pointed out my life bird YELLOW TAILED BLACK COCKATOO to us! Steve asked her, "have you seen the Powerful Owl?" She said that she had seen it just a few minutes ago! She told us the exact tree she saw it in, right in front of a restaurant in the park. We learned that the owls feed on the bats, which makes sense, but more interestingly, they are picky eaters because they don't eat the legs, so sometimes you just see bat legs on the ground beneath the trees where they are feeding. 

We made our way there scanning the trees when Steve said "There it is!" I excitedly put my binocs up, thinking he must be mistaken, but there it was, Australia's biggest owl.

The next morning we took the bus to Bondi Beach, the most famous beach in all of Australia. We started hiking up the shoreline from Bondi. We stopped for lunch, then jumped in the waves at a nearby smaller beach called Bronte Beach. Next to the beach, there was this saltwater pool, which we played in too.

Bondi Beach:

On our last day in Sydney, my sister wanted to take a tour at the zoo with my dad, which meant I had a free day with my mom. Since my sister picked the zoo, my mom said that I could pick something I wanted to do. I picked Centennial Park, again. We arrived at about 8:45 AM. My mom went on a jog and I birded around Busby's Pond. The birding was again fantastic, and one of the most common birds around the pond was a MAGPIE LARK.

I made my way to the edge of Busby's, and saw my life bird LITTLE BLUE CORMORANT. I'm sure it was fishing around for some tasty carp, his favorite food.

While I was there, I also saw this stunning upside-down RAINBOW LORIKEET.

Here's a PIED CURRAWONG calling, also in the same family as the butcherbird and the magpie.

PACIFIC BLACK DUCKS mother and chicks.

I saw many CRESTED PIGEONS, which are much cooler than the pigeons in Chicago. They have many habitats, and are often found in grasslands, brush and wooded areas, homestead gardens, pastoral areas, etc. 

After my mom ran a few miles, I ran into Steve again in literally the exact same spot as the time before. He told us about a sighting his friend had found, and was heading there now. We tagged along, and walked to the location past the bats (yes, my mom had a freak out). Finally, we arrived at the location where we found the bird the TAWNY FROGMOUTH! This bird is often mistaken for an owl, but isn't.

Then, I was introduced to Bagley, Steve's friend and the one who found the Tawny Frougmouth. We went on a quest for the Nankeen Night Heron, visiting the three spots it was found. In the pond we spotted many Dusky Moorhen. Do any of you know whether this moorhen is different from the Eurasian Moorhen? If you know, please email me or post a comment. As we approached the second spot, Steve pointed out this WILLIE WAGTAIL, which was following me.

Steve and Bagley, led us to the third spot for the heron. Bagley told us that he sees the heron here nine out of ten times, but we got bad luck and the bird was not there. We walked up to a different side of the pond, where Steve pointed out this LONG BILLED CORRELA. They often traveling with the Little Corellas and I did not know there was a difference. Thanks for that, Steve! Lifer! I got a picture and it was maybe one of my favorite shots I have ever taken, because I can see the birds tounge!

I also saw these AUSTRALIAN RAVENS. They were very noisy, and I often heard their ow ow ow calls ringing through the park. They have very weird eyes. The older ones have white irises, young adults have white irises with a blue rim, and the young ones have brown irises until they are 15 months in age. This is a young one, which you can tell by its irises.

We had a great birding day, and it was so nice of Steve and Bagley to let us tag along for a few hours, and also teach me some stuff! I was also nice to have a birding morning with my mom, since my dad usually takes me out. I was incredibly lucky to have a fantastic birding spot two blocks from the house, as well. It was a great day of birding with 36 species that day, 43 in total. Thanks to my mom and dad for birding with me there so often! Then next day we had the long travel day scheduled up to Hong Kong and Macau, where we were to meet up with several family members which we haven't seen in a while. Stay Tuned!

Bird List For Sydney                                                   Life List 475 (27 life birds in Sydney)

Red Wattlebird 1 life bird!                                                             
Little Corrella 5 life bird!
Long Billed Corrella 2 life bird!
Australian Raven 10 life bird!
Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo 2 life bird!
Little Blue Cormorant 12 life bird!
Spur Winged Plover 6
Pied Shag 14
Australian Pelican 4 life bird!
Australian Darter 4 life bird!
Maned Duck 8 life bird!
Rainbow Lorikeet 7 life bird!
Sulpher Crested Cockatoo 10 life bird!
Willie Wagtail 4 life bird!
Magpie Lark 3 life bird!
Common Myna 2
Pied Currawong 5 life bird!
Royal Spoonbill 1 life bird!
Australian White Ibis 15 life bird!
Powerful Owl 2 life bird!
Superb Fairy Wren 3 life bird!
Australian Magpie 4 
Yellow Throated Miner X life bird!
Rock Pigeon X
Silver Gull 5 
Black Swan 4
Hardhead 5 life bird!
Pacific Black Duck 10 life bird!
Eurasian Coot 30 
Purple Swamphen 3
White Faced Heron 1
Intermediate Egret 1 
Laughing Kookaburra 3 life bird!
Australian Grebe 1 life bird!
Spotted Dove 4
Grey Butcherbird 2 life bird!
Welcome Swallow 2 
Tawny Frogmouth 2 life bird!
Eastern Rosella 1 life bird!
Crested Pigeon 7 life bird!
Great Cormorant 2 
European Starling 2
Dusky Moorhen X