SYDNEY HARBOUR - BOTANICAL GARDENS - MANLY BEACH
At last we finally arrived at Sydney after what seemed like a week on a plane! The only saving grace was a 2 hour break in Dubai where we listed Collared Dove and Common Myna.....both species were inside the airport terminal building.
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| Opera House |
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| Sydney Skyline |
We arrived at 05:15 at Sydney Airport and we passed through customs in no time, so by 6pm we were in!. It was just getting light and a beautiful clear morning heralded our arrival, we took a cab to our friends house in the suburbs noting Silver Gull, Kelp Gull, Australian White Ibis and lots of Rainbow Lorikeets along the way.
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| Masked Lapwing |
The taxi dropped us off at 6:30am in a lovely tree lined street, strange bird calls came from all directions, we sat at a cafe watching the local birds whilst eating toast with coffee. Spotted Turtle Dove, Common Myna, Noisy Miner, Pied Currawong, Australian Magpie, Common Starling and again lots of Rainbow Lorikeets were all buzzing about in the trees.
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Sulphur-crested Cockatoo -this one has a numbered
wing-tag (a local project monitoring their movements, roost sites etc) |
After walking round to our friend Sarah's house we settled in and not long after we drove to Sydney Harbour where we spent the rest of the day. What a fantastic experience the whole area is beautiful, the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and 'Manhattan Style' skyline looked every bit as good as the brochure. Lots of green space and lovely walks are found along the harbour shoreline.
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| Botanical Gardens showing our friends Rob, Sarah and Sylvia |
We met with a birding friend of Sarah's, a guy called Robert, he took us straight into the Botanical Gardens to show us a large owl roosting high up in a tree. A Powerful Owl sat looking down at us in superb surroundings. Many trees and flowers were in full bloom, it was lovely warm spring morning and many birds were feeding on the flowering plants and trees. Sulphur-crested Cockatoos joined the hoards of Rainbow Lorikeets, we also saw many other species. Magpie Lark, Dusky Moorhen, the Masked Lapwing is a real beauty, Australian White Ibis, Pacific Black Duck, Grey Teal and Australian Wood Duck was also a little beauty.
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| Magpie Lark |
Over one of the ponds a number of Little Pied Cormorants were nesting, this 'grebe-like' bird is a real stunner, many sat on eggs but one or two had chicks, a Little Black Cormorant sat with them.
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| the very common Silver Gull |
Later we were left to our own devices so we decided to take a boat trip to Manly Beach, the view of the sights around Sydney were superb from the boat and Manley Beach was very crowded but had some beautiful spots. We added Darter, Pied Cormorant and Intermediate Egret to our first day list of the tour.
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| Harbour Bridge from the Quay |
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a view from Manly Island back towards Sydney Harbour]
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At 4pm we were zonked out so we returned to Sarah's after a return boat trip and a bus ride from the city. It was a fabulous first day, I know I am going to really enjoy this trip, but for now it was a very early night and lots of sleep.
SPECIES LIST SO FAR
1. Silver Gull
2. Kelp Gull
3. Australian White Ibis
4. Rainbow Lorikeet
5. Common Myna
6. Noisy Miner
7. Spotted Turtle Dove
8. Pied Currawong
9. Powerful Owl
10. Australian Magpie
11. Australian Raven
12. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
13. Intermediate Egret
14. Little Black Cormorant
15. Little Pied Cormorant
16. Pied Cormorant
17. Darter
18. Welcome Swallow
19. Fairy Martin
20. Magpie Lark
21. Pacific Black Duck
22. Grey Teal
23. Australian Wood Duck
24. Dusky Moorhen
25. Masked Lapwing
26. Common Starling
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