North Sydney birding - Monday

Whilst in Narrabeen, I took the opportunity to bird in the Warriewood Wetlands, the Scheyville National Park and the Pitt Town Nature Reserve.

The Warriewood Wetlands has plenty of birds but also a fair amount of passing/exercising foot traffic not particularly aware of birds. I hopped out of the car, put on the bins and hat and slung the camera over the shoulder. I could hear whipbirds about and hadn't walked 10 metres when one appeared on a branch just a few metres in front of me. AWESOME. Only the third I had ever seen, closely following the second seen at the Ollerton Avenue Reserve in Moe just the other week. Well, I wasn't at all prepared and organised so only got a couple of very underexposed raw files [lesson: check camera settings before moving off] which Mr Adobe has improved.

Further along the track I quietly approached two birders intensely viewing and photographing a Brush Turkey working on a nest about three metres from the boardwalk and level with it. We talked and snapped for quite a while. Marie told me about Birding Pals, an organisation that places would-be birders visiting an area [usually on business and with a small window of time to indulge their passion] with similarly minded people willing to show them their patch or even chase specific birds for little to no charge. Whilst we were chatting many people passed and no-one saw the Brush Turkey or said anything more erudite than "hello".

I then travelled to the Scheyville National Park to the east of Pitt Town, an area of dry scherophyll forest with a dogwood and black wattle-style understorey. It was Bell Miner central with fair competition from Noisy Friarbirds. I spotted a Variegated Fairy-wren pair too.

Last port of call was the Nature Reserve [= reclaimed swamp with loads of water -- a good facility] just off the main street. It has a bird hide and evidence of a lot of time and effort put in by the Cumberland Bird Observers Club. The usual lake suspects were just a bit too far away but a Red-rumped Parrot in a tree on the short walk back to the car said, "Photograph me". So I did.

Just magic. f8 and be there.