Hi.
This is on the outskirts of South-West Sydney. Harrier flying overhead. Spotted or Swamp? Sorry for the poor photographs.
Also saw a pipit I think? Never seen one before, but think it matches the book for Richards pipit?
Just so you don't think that I take such horrible photographs, the last one is a Spotted Quail-Thrush I saw today. Usually very shy, but this one was so very tame. Thought it was a bit unusual.
Cheers for your help
Dave
+1 for the last two,I have no idea about the harrier tho
Firstly, well done on the Quail-thrush photo... an awesome bird to see (I've only seen them once). You are right on the pipit, it is nice that you have a new bird. Now for the raptor... it is either Little Eagle or Spotted Harrier. You can see that the buff colour doesn't extend to the whole underside as in SH whereas LE (light morph) has a faint wash of buff on the throat. Both have a barred tail, but your bird's tail is too short for a harrier although the bird could be moulting. It would also be unusual, or even rare, for a harrier to be that high. The wings of both species are almost identical, but one feature of Little Eagle (all morphs) will separate the two; a white trailing edge of the wing. It is hard to see such detail in the photos, but there doesn't seem to be a white edge. I can't be certain... I'm going with Spotted Harrier.
Brandon (aka ihewman)
Spotted Harrier, note the long leg hanging down in first photo. Definitely not Little Eagle, they have more & finer barring on the tail, & darker secondaries, etc. The Pipit is Australasian Pipit, which was split (as a separate species) from Richard's Pipit some years ago. Richard's Pipit not in Australia.
SteveM, I didn't know that Richard's Pipit had been split into the Australasian Pipit & Richard's Pipit, the latter not being in Australia, so thanks for that. I'm now up with the times.
I checked my trusty Morcombe & I note he's listed the Pipit as Australian Pipit. It's actually written Australian (Richard's) Pipit, presumably to indicate that the Australian Pipit was known as Richard's Pipit.
Hey Dave, are you able to tell me where the Quail thrush photo was taken, I live on the outskirts on South Western Sydney . Donna
Hey Donna
Sure thing! Always happy to help. The Spotted Quail-Thrush likes undisturbed open Eucalypt woodland with lots of logs and leaf-litter. As tame as this guy was, they're ELUSIVE to spot!!!! I've only seen them 3 times - all in the extended "Blue Mountains" where habitat is undisturbed. Twice (including on Wednesday) at Burragorang Lookout (at the very end of Burragorang road). It's a really exposed spot, so avoid windy days and only go on a clear, still, sunny day and you will have more luck. Look through all the tables and picnic areas, especially to the right of the lookout towards the swings etc.
Other birds you can see here in winter are the Rock Warbler, Superb Lyrebird (especially early morning - along the track between the lookout and toilets), Gang-Gangs, White Throated Tree-Creeper and lots of other little birds like thorbills, yellow robins etc.
Also, if you haven't seen a Common Bronzewing, the little settlement of Nattai on the way into the lookout, for some reason is the most reliable spot I have found for them. Look in the front yards, on the roofs of houses or on the road outside the houses (see photo below). The people there are very private, so be careful with that camera!
Below are some pics - all taken at the lookout. They aren't the best of the bunch, but they show that the lyrebirds are next to the track, with the littles ones hopping around the picnic tables etc.
Sometimes you can go there and see nothing. I mean absolutely nothing. Other days you may see lots. It may take some patience and a lot of luck! That's how it goes with birds.
Dave, Sydney.
Thank you very much for that Dave. I will go and check it out. Appreciate you sharing so much information to me as I am relatively new to the wonderful world of birds.
Regards Donna
If you wanted some fairly tame ducks and moorhens in south western Sydney, you could check out the Nepean River reserve in Camden. If you start walking at the head of the track near the softball fields (labelled as Rotary Cowpasture Reserve on Google Maps), you walk past some neglected swamps which have a pretty permanent population of ducks and waterhens (there are two bird hides, but you can't get to one, and don't see much from the other) that survive on bread from the locals. If you keep going through the remnant of Cumberland Plains bush further along the track you reach fork in the path that leads to a footbridge across the Nepean that is close due to damage in floods. There are also ducks here that are fairly friendly, but they are harder to photograph, as the bank of the river is steep.
If you live further in to Sydney near somewhere like Liverpool, you will probably have a more convenient population of duck and moorhens to photograph, but I reckon this is one of the more reliable sites for them in the Macarthur region- they're very tame, as the Bike Track is quite heavily used. There a also a lot of other bush-birds in the forest in the reserve- things like Silvereyes, Wrens, Whipbirds and a finches (there are a lot of weeds (privet and african olives) in the reserve, which the birds are attracted to).
Thanks very much for the info Lachlan, I live just south of Campbelltown, so those sites are nearby I will check them out. I have also been spending a lot of time at Mount Annan Botanical Gardens and finding this is a great place to see lots of birds.
Regards
Donna
I saw your comment about the grebes in the botanical gardens- I had (dodgy) pictures of them too and was also wondering if they were Hoary headed Grebes, so you saved me from having to beg another identification from the nice people on this forum. The annoying thing wouldn't stay close enough to the edge of the lake for me to get a good photo; if I walked up one end of the lake, they all swam up the other end. So very frustrating!
Here are some links to some other useful stuff in the region (most of it is a bit of a drive though):
http://www.iboc.org.au/html/Birds_of_the_Illawarra.html
http://www.iboc.org.au/html/Bird_Walks.html
http://www.birdlife.org.au/images/uploads/branches/documents/SHL-shbpdfbirdguide.pdf
Oh, and Birdline NSW is alway good- heaps of stuff on it for the Hawkesbury lowlands...
Looking at the internet you would think that south western Sydney is utterly devoid of birds, but if you drive an hour in any direction you would find heaps of sites!
Thanks very much for this info Lachlan. I don't mind a bit of a drive to see birds.
Donna
Thanks Lachlan
Good to know there are some other great spots around. I didn't know about some of them and they sound really good. Now just to find the time to get to some of them! Think I may wait until maybe it's a bit warmer.
Yeh I saw the Hoary Headed Grebes in at Mt Annan a few weeks ago. You can try to stay in your car on the far side of the lake to get near them. You'll have to pull over to the side, just don't block the road! Also saw this gorgeous Rose Robin in the main gardens, so always worth a look! Mt Annan has been one of my favourite spots in this part of Sydney too!
Dave, Sydney.
Wow! Now I am really jealous... It wasn't enough just to taunt me about a Rose Robin, but you had to add pictures too?
I really want to see one of them... All I keep getting are Eastern Yellow Robins. Pretty, but I want to see one of the red/pink ones!
Hi, wouldn't the 5 primary feather fingers mark this as a Harrier straight away as opposed to the 6 primary fingers on eagles/kites?
Raptor is a Spotted Harrier. Distinct tail barring and black primary tips. Both indicative immediately to me.