Sydney, Australia – Feb 18
I have included the photo links from our previous visits
here:
2013 Sydney https://photos.app.goo.gl/r7uHbEu8me4GXecU6
2013 Blue Mountains https://photos.app.goo.gl/EsranL4NUrXfUT2A6
2013 Kata Tjuta, (The Olgas) Australia https://photos.app.goo.gl/xL78xASpH6y965Fs7
2013 Ayers Rock https://photos.app.goo.gl/siN5swNAhzhA8qfw8
2017 https://photos.app.goo.gl/xu42Pq8PHHasLq1B6
2019 https://photos.app.goo.gl/GjU3s3x9ECfpEEk47
Our sail in this morning was one of the prettiest we have had. Sunrise over the beautiful city and the opera house was spectacular. We have had some rainy sail ins, so this was a treat.
We had another great birding day with Andrew Patrick of Zest for Birds. andrew@zestforbirds.com
He is a superb bird guide and when he gets your “target list”, he puts together the best spots to hopefully find them. Last time we were in Sydney in 2019 we and an excellent day with him scoring many new birds. This time we saw even more! We saw a total of 65 species today. 21 new birds added to our life list bringing our total to 1,630.
Weather was hot, but we were shaded in the forests for the most part, so not bad at all. Andrew is always waiting right outside the port terminal for us and off we go in search of birds. Besides his birding abilities he is just a nice guy to spend the day with. He brought morning tea and biscuits and later we had lunch. Always cold water and juices.
I have included some pretty "bad" photos, but getting the perfect shot with birds is oftentimes just not possible or any shot at all for that matter. Greg amazes me with his quick camera skills.
Cumberland Forest State Park was our first stop. The forest was just full of bird sounds and was just so peaceful.
Fred Caterson Reserve was our second stop.
Cattai National Park - Mitchell Park - tea – trail – lunch - trail
Pitt Town Nature Reserve - a beautiful spot with a bird hide that Andrew had a hand in making happen. We agree with him that it would be great if they made some islands closer to the hide for better bird viewing. We took many photos here, but most were at such a distance that they weren't great. I included a few of the "better" ones. As we walked down to the hide, we startled a couple of Brown Quail. They startled us too!
We dropped our things and headed back out for gelato, dinner, and more gelato. We stopped at a market and bought our Tim Tams. (layered chocolate covered cookies that are delicious and can only be found in Australia, though they do export them to the States, we have never seen them)
We also were eager to start working on the birds that we saw today. Back in the cabin we had our memories out and batteries charging on our cameras. Then, we notice fireworks from our balcony going off over the Opera House. No photos, but it was awesome! (the weather had blown past, and it was nice again) So, we settled back in and had our batteries and memories back in and the fireworks happen again. Just awesome and this time we got photos and video. Just as it was ending, we started to sail away. Just like the sail-in this morning it was the best sail-away we have had here.
Just as an aside, while we were in line to be amongst the first off the ship, we overheard some ladies talking to the organizer of their private tour saying, “we are so glad we listened to you and got here this early”. What a contrast to the couple that couldn’t show up on time for the Moorea tour that we needed to be there extra early due to being a tender port.
We also found a letter from the shore excursion desk saying our tour for Moreton Island was canceled. We jumped online and tried to book something else, but not much was left. Not knowing if we could book directly with the resort on the island, we grabbed the Resort Day pass. We rarely use ship tours, but some places make it almost impossible not to use them. (timing or other issues)
Another time change tonight 1 hour back. Yay!
Tomorrow, we have one sea day before Moreton Island, Australia.
For larger photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8irRUGexKeTPJMke7
65 species
seen today, and out new life list total is
Australasian Darte
Australasian Swamphen
Australian Brushturkey
Australian Ibis
Australian Magpie
Australian Pelican
Australian Raven
Australian Shelduck - New
Bell Miner - New
Black Bittern - New
Black-faced Cuckooshrike
Black-fronted Dotterel
Brown Cuckoo-Dove - New
Brown Gerygone
Brown Quail - New
Brown Thornbill
Chestnut Teal
Common Myna
Crimson Rosella - New
Dollarbird
Dusky Moorhen
Eastern Rosella
Eastern Spinebill - New
Eastern Whipbird - New
Eastern Yellow Robin
Eurasian Coot
European Starling
Fairy Martin
Glossy Black-Cockatoo - New
Golden Whistler - New
Gray Fantail
Gray Goshawk - New
Gray Shrikethrush - New
Gray Teal
Hardhead
Large-billed Scrubwren - New
Laughing Kookaburra
Lewin's Honeyeater
Little Wattlebird - New
Long-billed Corella
Magpie-lark
Maned Duck
Masked Lapwing
Musk Lorikeet - New
Noisy Miner
Olive-backed Oriole - New
Pied Stilt
Pink-eared Duck - New
Rainbow Lorikeet
Red-rumped Parrot - New
Royal Spoonbill
Sacred Kingfisher
Satin Bowerbird
Silvereye
Spotted Dove
Spotted Pardalote - New
Straw-necked Ibis
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Superb Fairywren
Welcome Swallow
White-browed Scrubwren
White-faced Heron
White-throated Treecreeper - New
Willie-wagtail
Yellow-billed Spoonbill - New
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