Old farm house now almost surrounded by lakesWith the Mountain bikes in need of a service, we chose to drop them off at the bike shop and head out to the Penrith lakes to do some bird watching.
The Penrith Lake system is a series of man made lakes, that were the centre of rowing for the 2000 Olympics. My memories were of it being a sand quarry and my guess is- it has been developed for flood mitigation and storm water control.
I have seen the development of the lake system and an increase in bird activity, so time to take a look.
Some of the quieter sections of the lakesDave and I spotted- Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, White-faced Heron, Masked Lapwing, Tree Sparrow, Indian Miner, Common Starling, Black Swan, Willy Wagtail, Red-rumped Parrot, Welcome Swallow, Tree Martin, Brush Wattle bird, Black faced Cuckoo-shrike, Little Cormorant, Dusky Moorhen, Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Little Pied Cormorant, Australian Darter, Pacific Black Duck, Black-shouldered Kite, Nankeen Kestrel, Australian Wood Duck, Australian Hobby, Sacred Kingfisher,Yellow-faced Honey Eater.
Black-shouldered Kite. Photo courtesy of Wettropics.gov.auA reasonable list, and a great way of spending a couple of hours.
I think you are a bit modest calling that a reasonable list. I think it is an excellent list, mate!
ReplyDeleteThanks mate! There is a real element of spring activity with nest building etc etc too!
ReplyDeleteI am confused with the Falcon as I heard its often confused with a Hobby.....
Did it hover?
ReplyDeleteNo. It certainly is the same bird as the one we saw on our bike ride a few weeks ago. However the book show the pereguine a little lighter on the underparts. They are not a big bird, similar to the black shouldered kite in size. A quite disctincitve bird.
ReplyDeletei quite enjoy just the names of them. and i agree, thats an impressive list.
ReplyDeleteand i like the red guy on your side bar.
cheers
~laura
thanks Laura- ye sthey have some very interesting names :o)
ReplyDeleteLove the shack!! and that is some angry looking bird..
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday 13th .. Julie
hi Julie- the Hawkesbury and surrounds have some really wonerful old buildings and barns.
ReplyDeleteThe Kite is a beautiful bird and can hover very well.
I think it is most impressive. Maalie certainly has impressive sharp eyes too and could spot birds from a considerable distance when we canoed together this week. No alligators, thankfully. If you had red ears, that's because your name was mentioned a couple of times. :)
ReplyDeleteWow what a beauty!
ReplyDeleteEllee- I heard all about it! :o)
ReplyDeleteLilah! g'day Hope you are fine