Bird by bird
There are many beautiful and fascinating birding blogs getting around these days. I cannot hope to keep up with them all.
Every now and then I come across one with a difference, a blog that is an unusual take on a common theme. Bird by Bird: sketching a bird a day, one at a time is one such blog. The author doesn’t take photos of birds like so many other bird bloggers. Instead, the birds are sketched, and the artwork is shown on the blog pages.
Beautiful.
Well worth a visit.
Duesbury Beach, Dalmeny, NSW south coast
Duesbury Beach, Dalmeny, south coast of NSW
After leaving Bateman’s Bay on our holiday last month we travelled down along the south coast of New South Wales. I navigated us along the coast rather than following the main highway south. I was hoping to get some good views of the coast and also find some useful birding spots.
Duesbury Beach, Dalmeny, south coast of NSW
After only a short drive we came to a lovely beach called Duesbury Beach at the small town of Dalmeny. There were a few people swimming and surfing or walking on the beach, but very few birds.
Duesbury Beach, Dalmeny, south coast of NSW
In fact, we were there for only a few minutes and I made only a short lists of birds: Black Swans and Masked Lapwing on or near a lagoon in the town, several Silver Gulls patrolling the beach, several Australian Magpies in gardens and some Welcome Swallows in several parts of the locality. Not an impressive list, but made up for by the beautiful spot. We then drove on along the coast line.
Click on the photos to enlarge the image.
Duesbury Beach, Dalmeny, south coast of NSW
Duesbury Beach, Dalmeny, south coast of NSW
Apologies
Apologies to my regular readers.
I have been a little slow at responding to comments over the last week or so. This is because I was on a road trip with my family and had limited (or no) internet access on some days. Over the next day or so I should catch up with all comments.
We travelled from home in Murray Bridge in South Australia for two days so that we could be in Sydney for Christmas with family. After New Year we travelled to Canberra and then along the south coast of NSW and Victoria, staying with friends for a few days just north of Melbourne. Over the coming weeks I will share my birding experiences while on this trip. You can also read about non-birding experiences on Trevor’s Travels.
Late last week we also had a problem with this blog, with no posts since April 2008 showing. Sorry if this confused you. My son Simon maintains my blogs and was doing an upgrade and inadvertently configured this blog to point to an older database. That’s why you couldn’t read all those recent posts for a few hours.
Sorry if this caused you any inconvenience. All is now fixed, thanks to my son.
Birding on Sydney Harbour
Sydney Harbour
When we were in Sydney last month visiting family for Christmas, one of the things I wanted to do was to take a ferry trip on Sydney Harbour. Last time we were here we didn’t get to go on the harbour. The main objective of the ferry ride was to see the beautiful harbour and the magnificent scenery around it. Birding was secondary.
Silver Gull
We took the ferry to Manly where we alighted for a walk to the beach. We also indulged in a delicious icecream before heading home again. I was more intent in getting some good photos of the harbour rather than watching birds. I definitely saw plenty of Silver Gulls. They seem to be plentiful here. I also saw several terns but without my binoculars it was hard to tell the species. Several cormorants were seen at a distance too great to positively ID and I’m sure I missed many others on the journey.
Sydney Harbour
On a visit in 2000 I was walking along the foreshore near Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair and was surprised – and delighted – to observe a Fairy Penguin (Little Penguin) swimming in the shallow water. Later I found out that they are a breeding species in the harbour. No penguins on this trip however.
While birding from one of the ferries that ply these waters daily could be done with some success, my experience on this occasion was disappointing. Of more value, I suspect, would be to visit a series of key spots around the harbour. A static position may be far more effective rather than a moving platform. Just a thought.
Birds in the Sydney CBD
The Rocks area, Sydney
While on our recent holiday in Sydney we went into the CBD on several occasions. One of those occasions was to visit the markets in The Rocks area.
My prime reason for going there was as a tourist, not as a birder. Not matter where I go I have to see what birds are around. That’s just me. I simply cannot ignore the birds. (I’ve even been known to keep a tally of birds seen through the windows at church! Go figure.)
The Rocks area is in the heart of the Sydney CBD, an area rich in history with most buildings being of some historic value. It attracts hoards of tourists and local visitors on a daily basis. Despite the numbers of humans, the bird population flourishes.
Rock Doves (Feral Pigeons) are everywhere. They thrive on food scraps from careless people dropping parts of their lunch in the many eateries in the area. I noticed that some are reluctant to even get out of the way as I walked along.
Silver Gulls likewise are in great numbers and also thrive on human food. Circular Quay with its hundreds of thousands of travellers daily on the ferries on Sydney Harbour is only a few steps away.
Pied Currawongs are also present in the treed areas within The Rocks. This is a species that has adapted to an urban environment and also feeds on human throwaways.
The introduced Common Myna (see photo below) is another species that has become a pest in urban zones and can be found in large numbers throughout Sydney.
Common Myna