I dream of being there that wonderful dawn
at Farm Cove in “New Sydney Town”
The Kookaburras calling where the “Toaster” now stands,
the Rockwarblers “kissing” among boulders further down (more…)

Filed under:
Conservation, idle chit chat by Ricki

SOME HAVE BILLS for probing and gleaning, whilst others are designed for hooking, tearing and prising. However their bills come, it appears that the Australian birds which make bark foraging their speciality have one thing in common: “Intraspecific Resource Partitioning”. (more…)

Filed under:
Ornithology, physiology by Ricki

THERE REALLY is no end to the fascination that can grip you once you start to examine the lives of birds. Of course not one single organism lives in a vacuum, everything is pressured in so many ways by the behaviour and activities of other species and all must find ways to respond to threats and opportunities or else face a significantly decreased life span and fewer opportunities to breed. It’s always been like this and so this unfathomably complex biosphere which we find ourselves in is constantly changing. The change brings one constant . . . more change. The changes begin not at the species level, not at the population level, but at the individual level: for its the individual that carries the agents of change – the genes which carry the blueprint for the character traits which help to shape the behaviour and morphology which will ensure success or failure. (more…)

Filed under:
Birding, Conservation, Evolution by Ricki

The East Asian-Australasian Flyway. © 2007 Ricki Coughlan.

From September to November each year millions of migratory shorebirds are making their way south to Australia from their breeding grounds in North Asia, Japan, Siberia and Alaska. Their flight path is the East Asian-Australasian Flyway: a massive aerial highway marked by prevailing winds and driven by a wonderful behavioural trait known as “site fidelity”.

(more…)

Filed under:
Cool sightings, Shorebirds by Ricki

Reports of increased diversity and abundance of shorebirds in northern Australia in recent weeks has prompted me to be on the lookout for shorebirds at all the key locations which I frequent from week to week. A few days ago, my regular shorebird survey at Boat Harbour revealed a rise in numbers and diversity at that site but today’s survey of Long Reef indicated that things are now definitely in full swing.

We’ve gone from around 20 Red-necked Stints and a couple of Ruddy Turnstones, to almost 100 stints, 20 Ruddy Turnstones, several Pacific Golden Plover, 2 Grey-tailed Tattler and a Red Knot. Numbers can be expected to grow considerably in coming weeks. (more…)

Filed under:
Birding, Shorebirds by Ricki

For many of us, little brown birds can be exasperating fellows. They’re small, they never stand still, they either all look the same or look like nothing you’ve ever seen. The generally don’t look like anything in the field guide too. Then there’s the Brown Thornbill/Striated Thornbill thing if you live around Sydney. The “thing” is what seems to be their great similarity when viewed through binoculars, despite the vast differences which are portrayed in the field guide!

Brown Thornbill. © 2006 Nevil Lazarus.

(more…)

Filed under:
Birding by Ricki

I LOVE Crested Terns. Their sleek, clean black, white and silver plumage, teamed up with bright yellow bills makes for a beautiful sight, especially when they’re in a tight roost. Their courtship antics are fascinating and highly engaging, including: wing drooping and circumambulation; offering captured fish and; aerial duetting. These are unforgettable sights for anyone lucky enough to enjoy hanging about around our beautiful coastlines.

Crested Terns are gorgeous on the wing, with powerful flight and brilliant soaring ability: true masters of flight. When they dive on their prey in the water, their wings-back plunges are eye-rivetting. Five races of Crested Tern are found across the Indo-Pacific region. The race we have in Australia are Thalasseus bergii cristata and, numbering up to 500,000 birds, it is the most numerous.

A dapper pair prepare for display at Boat Harbour. © 2009 Ricki Coughlan

(more…)

Filed under:
Birding, Cool sightings by Ricki

Note the rufous plumage around the neck of the stint on the left. This becomes extremely vibrant when the sun hits it directly. Press image to enlarge. © 2009 Ricki Coughlan.

The second year Red-necked Stint with more than a little adult plumage has successfully survived all that a Sydney winter can throw at a rocky headland (which is a bit like being flogged with a wet lettuce leaf – you’ll know what I mean if you’ve lived in Sydney this winter!). To read more about this bird visit the June 29 post.

However, I find this interesting enough to at least publish another image of this bird which offers a nice comparison with another juvenile Red-necked Stint which is more in line with the norms for this species.

This bird will soon be lost in the masses of stints returning from the northern hemisphere in coming weeks.

Filed under:
Shorebirds by Ricki

LONG REEF is the best place on Sydney’s Northern Beaches for a migratory shorebird encounter. It’s a brilliantly fascinating and vibrant intertidal, ecological hotspot: a real nature lover magnet! So it’s not unusual to find me stalking about the reef with scope and bins and magnifying glass, as I was yesterday, during a brief break in our welcome wet weather. (more…)

Filed under:
Birding, Ruddy Turnstone study, Shorebirds by Ricki

YOU’D HAVE TO BE out of town to not be aware that there has now been two events at the Manly Little Penguin rookery this week where dogs have attacked and killed penguins. The death toll is now seven.

A Little Penguin on Long Reef. © 2006 Ricki Coughlan.

This is seven Little Penguins too many. These events highlight a convergence of problems that we have on the Northern Beaches, and across Sydney generally: a failure of  some dog owners to recognise their responsibilities and a failure on the part of Local Government to enforce the NSW Companion Animals Act and local By-Laws of their own making. In between these two problems are the environment and the dogs.

The relevant parts of the Act are:

1. Dogs must be under the control of their owner at all times
2. Dogs must be on a leash in a public place
3. Dogs are only permitted off leash in their owner’s properties or where signs specify “off leash” areas
4. Dogs are not permitted on beaches such as we have around Sydney, on or off the leash
5. Properties where dogs are housed must be secure enough that the dogs cannot escape.

(more…)

Filed under:
Conservation, Shorebirds by Ricki

THERE’S STACKS of bird books on the market these days. Some highly technical, some basically informative and some are just good old fashioned coffee table celebrations. Every now and again one shows up which combines all of these elements and when it is full of images taken by one of the world’s great avian photographers and penned by some of the best minds on the planet in this field, then I figure that it’s something we might get at least a little excited about. If that’s not enough for you, consider that the book is written in Korean, Chinese and English: making the goal of migratory shorebird conservation on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) its central theme and raison d’être. A copy of the book “Invisible Connections”, was recently given to me by Ken Gosbell, Chair of the Australasian Wader Study Group, so what follows is a brief review . . .

(more…)

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Conservation, Shorebirds by Ricki

SOMETIMES, when I raise the point that I’m a huge Sea Shepherd Conservation Society supporter, I get accused of supporting terrorists (generally by people who are rigid ideologues or somehow connected with whaling and occasionally Japanese people who are diehard nationalists – sadly, it’s the whales that “die hard”.). I then get the tired old line trotted out that Japan is doing nothing illegal. So without further ado here, in the words of Paul Watson, is a list of illegal activities that the whalers are performing on video: (more…)

Filed under:
Conservation by Ricki