Highfields Falls: On a
windy, but clear, morning, we parked on the “James Byrne” side of the Reserve and
were pleased to walk into the forest to beat the wind. Once at the Falls side,
we were totally out of the winds. Most of our sightings occurred on this Falls
side, where, of course, the birds had access to the trickling stream.
Our
bird list for the Highfields Falls Reserve morning: Lorikeet (most likely Scaly-breasted);
Red-browed Finch; Grey Fantail; White-naped Honeyeater; Rufous Fantail; Grey Shrike
thrush; Eastern Yellow Robin; White-browed Scrubwren; Lewin’s Honeyeater; Variegated
Fairy-wren; Golden Whistler; Leaden Flycatcher; Crested Shrike-tit; Galah; Eastern
Whipbird; Straw-necked Ibis (flying overhead at the carpark).
Williams Park (middle of the day) list:
(at
the Park) Scaly-breasted Lorikeet; Noisy Miner; Crow; Currawong; Magpie; Galah;
Tawny Frogmouth; and Jim Ball’s late-arriving King Parrot. (on the creek-side
walk) Grey and Rufous Fantails; Common Bronzewing pigeon; Brown Cuckoo-dove (Mike
Ford’s sighting); Superb Fairy-wren; Sulphur-crested Cockatoo; heard a whistler
(probably golden).
The bird of
the day, and it was my sighting, was the Crested Shrike-tit (Falcunculus frontatus). I have only ever
seen it a few times, and never here, although Jean photographed it here two
years ago, in the creek, a little further above the Falls. There are three
races, with our “frontatus” being the most widespread. I was watching the Leaden
Flycatcher on a branch over the path when it was “buzzed” by the shrike-tit,
which then gave me 15 seconds of excellent viewing. It is a beautiful bird,
with strong yellow body markings below, olive on the back and vent, and
otherwise grey. The black head and throat patch are most distinctive, with two
white stripes across the face, separated by a narrower black stripe through the
eye. The crest is, I think, always partly or fully erect – giving it an
over-sized “boof-headed” or Mohawk appearance. “Simpson and Day” tells me that
“they feed mostly in the upper branches, prising invertebrates from the bark
with their robust bills. They give distinctive chuckling calls or drawn-out
plaintive whistles.”
I was thrilled with (and Jan
Veacock was jealous of) my sighting. Enough said.
(Report by Ben Gundry)
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