andrewt@cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor) (02/25/91)
In article <3968.27c7d116@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu> jahayes@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu writes: > And cardinals ... (much of the color is, as we all know, dietary in origin). I've never heard this, please tell more. > Just trying to get some outdoor stuff going, here.... Jim Rising, a rec.birds regular, was in Sydney recently with his wife at the end of an Australian holiday. We visited Royal National Park just south of Sydney, on the morning before they flew out hoping to find some birds they hadn't seen. Before parking we saw a plump Wonga Pigeon waddling accoss the grass of the Audley picnic area. Neither the flocks of shrieking Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos nor the Crimson Rosellas dodging through the trees were exciting after several weeks in Australia. Better was the nearby male Satin Bowerbird's bower, which every Sydney birder must know of, had been knocked around little by recent storms but still had an impressive array of blue plastic litter + parrot feathers. We followed Lady Carrington drive from Audley through wet forest and rainforest fragments. Superb Lyrebirds are always easy to see near Audley but we did better than usual with excellent views of three scratching through the leaf litter. We heard one mimic about 10 birds in succession, which is mediocre by Lyrebird standards. Not a bird, but the highlight of the morining was an Echidna crossing the track. I demonstrated that you can pick up an Echidna up with only minor injuries (to me). It demonstrated a that pissed-of Echidna, doesn't run away, it just digs until it disappears out of sight. After that I didn't so well, late summer combined with me forgetting bird calls made it hard to find birds. Little Wattlebirds, Lewin's Honeyeater and Eastern Spinebills were abundant but I couldn't find two honeyeaters that Jim hadn't seen. A full set of scrubwrens for Sydney were present (White-Browed, Yellow-Throated and Large-Billed). A handsome Variegated Fairy-Wren exhibited male breeding plumage. Black-Faced Monarch were everywhere. One bird was where I expected - at the end of the walk an Azure Kingfisher obligingly called then landed on a dead branch in the river. Every detail down to the tiny orange feet in clear view. No snakes to see but a few skinks and a male Eastern Water Dragon sat to be photographed with his red tummy showing. A 10km drive to a coastal heath location failed to bring the Emu-Wrens I was sure would be there but numbers of Tawny-Crowned Honeyeaters and some flowering Banksia were a consolation. We missed a few birds I hoped to find but still an interesting morning in the 2nd oldest national park in the world. Andrew Taylor