It’s a typical birder story–caught in a metropolis in your method to one other metropolis with time to fowl however little preparation on the place to fowl. I used to be on this scenario two years in the past, sitting in an airport resort in Sydney, Australia, on my method early the following morning to Darwin. I used to be in Australia and wished badly to see birds NOW, regardless of the jetlag, regardless of the pouring rain. A fast perusal of eBird confirmed that there was a park, Centennial Park, a few 20 minutes drive away and that there have been birds there, so I put my digicam collectively and grabbed my bins and known as an Uber. The primary query was the place to inform the Uber driver to go and I had no concept. Centennial is a really massive park and the eBird experiences didn’t specify a selected place (in contrast to Central Park in NYC, the place each few steps is a distinct hotspot). I spied some ponds within the southwest of the park and directed the driving force there.
This turned out to be a good selection. There are a variety of ponds, notably the Duck Pond, the place yow will discover geese (Pacific Black Geese, Hardhead, Chestnut Teal, Australian Wooden Duck often known as Maned Duck), cormorants (Little Pied Comorant, just like the one above, Little Black, typically even Pied Cormorant), and plenty of different water birds (Black Swan, Australian Pelican, Australasian Grebe, Australasian Swamphen, Australasian Darter, Dusky Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, and, in case you’re luck, a rail). The rain had let up a bit, and I used to be capable of take some images, although in case you look carefully you’ll be able to see some drops, like with the Silver Gull beneath. I hoped that the images would assist me establish the birds as a result of, being me, I had not accomplished as a lot learning as I ought to have and what I had accomplished didn’t stick.
It was quick getting darkish and the rain was gearing up once more to pouring standing and I had no concept how I might get again to my resort (for some purpose, Uber was telling me the park was exterior its jurisdiction), however I couldn’t depart the park as a result of the white noisy birds had been descending quick–Sulpher-crested Cockatoos and Corellas, Lengthy-billed and Little–and I needed to see them. My images obtained grainer and murkier, however I used to be in heaven. (And, with the assistance of my resort, I did finally depart safely.)
Two years later, simply final month, I traveled to Sydney for an extended go to. I used to be capable of take pleasure in Centennial Park within the solar and uncover extra of its avian pleasures. I found with the assistance of Andrew Patrick, an area fowl information, Lachlan Swamp, simply north of the Duck Pond. How did I miss this on my first go to? Lachlan Swamp is understood for 2 issues: Flying Foxes and Tawny Frogmouths.
The flying fox colony was surprisingly energetic after I visited early one morning. It’s made up of each Grey-Headed Flying Foxes (nearly all of residents, numbering 5,000 to 45,000 in accordance with the Centennial Parklands web site) and Black Flying Foxes, a extra tropical species (lower than 1,000). The colony has been there since 2010, in accordance with the web site, and is signed and guarded by park workers. It’s common to see flying fox colonies in Australian parks, however to my North American eyes, this was magic. Leaving the park after nightfall on one other day (my AirBnb was shut by, so no Uber worries), I noticed the sky stuffed with their massive silhouettes as they flew out from the swamp.
The second treasure in Lachlan Swamp was a nesting Tawny Frogmouth. That’s the nest, with a mother or father and pretty grown chick, on the quilt picture. I went to see the Frogmouths a number of occasions throughout my go to, and every time they had been in a distinct place, seen from the roped off entry method to the wooded part of the swamp, however seemingly not bothered by their admirers (which included a college group one afternoon). One early night, the nest appeared empty, however from the skin path I noticed a candy Frogmouth nestled within the criminal of a department, in all probability ready for full darkness so it might hunt. Frogmouths had been one among my most wished Australian species, and although I noticed a number of on my 2022 journey, I used to be thrilled to see them once more.
Frogmouths are members of the Podargidae household, comprised of 16 species present in Australasia and Asia. (They had been previously grouped with nightjars and potoos, which appears proper, and I imagine these are nonetheless thought-about their closest kin. Let me know if this has modified, please!) Tawny Frogmouth is one among three members of the genus Podargus, present in Australia and New Guinea; the opposite two are Marbled Frogmouth and Papuan Frogmouth (I noticed the latter later in my Australia journey, due to Vent chief Scott Baker and Daintree River guru Murray Hunt). I used to be stunned at what number of Tawny Frogmouths I noticed throughout each of my Australia journeys, they apparently haven’t any drawback nesting in public locations accessible to everybody, the trick is to see them. Hooray for cryptic coloring!
However wait! There’s extra. A neighborhood birder warned me in opposition to viewing the Tawny Frogmouth nest, telling me there was a Grey Butcherbird nesting close by that was attacking him. I discovered the nest simply by watching the Butcherbird fly to it, however the fowl didn’t appear bothered in any respect by my presence. The truth is, he properly posed for me later. Regardless of their highly effective payments, topped off with a hook like our Shrikes, Grey Butcherbirds have apparently adopted to city and suburban areas .Once I bumped into this native birder once more and advised him the fowl was fairly pleasant, he concluded that the assault was private.
Being the center of October, spring, there have been many nesting birds within the park. Here’s a Magpie-lark on a beautiful bowl nest in a tree overlooking one of many smaller ponds. Not a Magpie and never a Lark, Magpie-Larks are thought-about a part of the monarch flycatcher household, however they’ve an insouciance all their very own. I typically noticed them in different parks looking for meals scraps on the meals bars, reminding me of the warblers in New York Metropolis’s Bryant Park. This nesting pair periodically switched off incubation obligation and although they’re recognized, like their namesakes, for attacking individuals close to their nest, they stunning a lot ignored me and my native birder good friend (I assume it’s solely the Butcherbird that assaults him).
Different birds had been engaged on the nesting. My good friend identified an Australasian Grebe couple I had noticed collectively on the tip of a small piece of land jutting into the pond close to the Magpie-larks. He thought their nest had failed. I wasn’t fairly certain, they appeared to be doing one thing at that tip of land. Birdlife Australia says that Australasian Grebes might elevate as much as three broods in a season; their nests are floating mounds of vegetation anchored to a submerged department. So perhaps there’s hope.
There have been two birds I had seen on eBird lists that I used to be anxious to see–Latham’s Snipe and Buff-banded Rail. Each could be life birds and funky birds to look at even when I had already seen them. A younger, enthusiastic fowl photographer named Nik gave me necessary location info, whereas displaying me his wonderful pictures of the rail, which, he advised me, he had initially discovered. And whereas my statement of the snipe needed to wait for one more location and day, Nik’s instructions allowed me to look at one of many two grownup Rails, and perhaps a child–not likely certain, it was there after which it wasn’t–that morning and later once more within the late afternoon, after I obtained this {photograph}. What an attractive rail! Like others of its household, it’s recognized for its skulky, secretive marsh fowl conduct, however there are sufficient eBird entries and pictures on social media that I feel seeing it’s doable with slightly effort (and inside information if you will get it, which shouldn’t be arduous, Aussie birders are very pleasant).
Centennial Park is a part of the Centennial Parklands complicated and although the parks are full of individuals with bicycles, canines, kids, and different distractions (virtually 31 million individuals a yr, the web site says), it’s additionally good birding. Technically, the park is in a suburb of Sydney (these it’s near the enterprise district and the airport); in case you’re on the lookout for eBird experiences, search for Centennial Park in Randwick, New South Wales. My expertise is that the nice birding is on the south finish, across the ponds. The park is surrounded by very busy streets, so search for buses that cease throughout the highway from one of many south entrances and depart time to cross Darley Highway. If you happen to’re driving, there’s parking within the park; the Centennial Parklands web site offers info on that and different logistics.
So, in case you’re on layover or passing by Sydney, I like to recommend a morning or afternoon birding at Centennial Park. Some for the Tawny Frogmouths, say howdy to the Excellent Fairywrens!
