Australia, March 2002 - Birds4Africa

Trip to Australia in March 2002

My brother moved to Sydney in December 2000. This was my visit visit to Australia to visit him.

Photo H.D. Oschadleus	The reason many people visit Sydney – the Sydney Opera House and harbour bridge, viewed from a ferry
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	During my stay I was able to do much birding. Here is a small selection of birds I photographed in Sydney and as far as Canberra. Most of the waterbirds shown here were common in the larger parks in Sydney, including Centennial Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Little Pied Cormorant, Centennial Park, Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Australian White Pelican, Centennial Park, Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Black Swan, Centennial Park, Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	I have my ducks in a row – Chestnut Teal, Hunters Valley, N of Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Masked Plover, Botanic Gardens, Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Silver Gull, Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Sydney has large tracts of eucalyptus woodland. This forest is a few minutes walk from the house in Cherrybrook, Sydney. It was strange seeing so many eucalypts in their natural state – at least in Australia they support many birds
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Tawny Frogmouth, Mt Annan Botanic Gardens, Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Male Lyrebird foraging in the Minnamurra forest, S of Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	The house my brother lives in – Cherrybrook, northern suburbs of Sydney. Parrots and a variety of other birds frequent gardens and parks
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Crested Pigeon, Botanic Gardens, Sydney. A common, but pretty, pigeon
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Laughing Kookaburra, Cherrybrook, Sydney – very tame, allowing close approach
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Crimson Rosella, Murrays Beach, Booderee National Park, S of Sydney. The most common parrot in Cherrybrook
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Botanic Gardens, Sydney – very noisy
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Rainbow Lorikeet, Cherrybrook, Sydney – my favourite parrot species
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Orb web spider with dragonfly prey. There were plenty of spiders around Sydney, including the poisonous Redback Spider
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	The Royal Botanic Gardens in central Sydney were a great place for birdwatching. “Please walk on the grass” is a welcome change to the usual sign
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Pied Currawong, Katoomba, Blue Mountains, W of Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Male Magpie-Lark, Botanic Gardens, Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Noisy Miner, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney – drinking water from a tap. I found two nests with chicks; most other species had finished breeding for the summer
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Grey-headed Fruit Bat roosting in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Ringing at Mt Annan Botanic Gardens, Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Adult male Superb Fairy-wren, Mt Annan Botanic Gardens, Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Grey Fantail, Mt Annan Botanic Gardens, Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Immature (red bill) and adult female Mistletoebird, Mt Annan Botanic Gardens, Sydney
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	View of Canberra Parliament House from the War Memorial. We spent two days and a night in Canberra, so that I could visit the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Association
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Murrays Beach, Booderee National Park, about 300 km S of Sydney – tropical paradise
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	Bottlenose Dolphins in Jervis Bay. We had wonderful sightings of these dolphins – a group of about 80 are resident in Jervis Bay
Photo H.D. Oschadleus	View from Katoomba, Blue Mountains, W of Sydney. One of my last trips was to the Blue Mountains

Will I be back? As soon as I have another free month!