Birding around Artarmon, Sydney

2007 New South Wales trip report #22

We left the Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens and headed off towards Sydney. We had one small incident on the way in; we missed the entry ramp for the M2 motorway so we needed to do a little meandering around a nearby suburb before getting on to the correct road. It just shows a vast lack of knowledge and inexperience in driving in Sydney.

I navigated while my wife drove. I had very little opportunity to look out for birds along the way. I did see one important one and I’m not sure which family of birds it belongs to. Going past the Richmond RAAF* base we saw Airforce 1 sitting on the tarmac. USA President George W. Bush was in town for the controversial APEC Conference. I guess there are those who think that bird should be extinct. I will refrain from making terrible puns about a bird in the bush.

We arrived safely at the home of our son and daughter-in-law without further incident, albeit about half an hour later than anticipated.

The following afternoon my wife and I decided to take a ten minute walk to the Chatswood shopping centre. We enjoyed looking at the beautiful plants and flowers in people’s front gardens.

Artarmon garden flowers

Along the way I watched out for birds. The bird life around here is not all that prolific. There are plenty of Rainbow Lorikeets everywhere; they are very noisy at dawn in the nearby trees. Pied Currawongs are also plentiful and very bold, being used to people all around. Several times we’ve heard Laughing Kookaburras and seen Noisy Miners.

Pied Currawong

It seems strange to have Australian Ravens and Galahs in the heart of such a large metropolis but there are here. I usually associate these birds with the farming areas in the country. My son said that the Galahs are not all that common around this part of the city.

*Royal Australian Air Force