Great spots re-visited 5: Myall Lakes mid New South Wales coast.

I stopped in at Myall Lakes on the drive back from far north NSW in late 2018.  I found a spot on top of a sand dune, looking down into a small littoral forest, and just sat (well stood) there for about an hour. It could have been longer because I did get strange looks from people who walked past me going to the beach, and again coming back. But the sun was warm, not hot, and there were plenty of birds to study.

The stars were the Regent Bowerbirds. Certainly, they repaid my patience in just standing still for a long time. We have the male, who looks like he got up on the wrong side of the bed, then a juvenile higher up with a mature female lower, and lastly, a mature female.

Lots of other birds too:

Variegated Fairy Wrens, male breeding, and female, presumably breeded upon.

Welcome Swallow

One of the most attractive birds, both in plumage and call, the Eastern Spinebill.

Eastern Yellow Robin (not really a robin).

Then we had the ubiquitous and noisy Little Wattlebird (better called a no-wattle bird), the Yellow Thornbill, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater (a first sighting for me), White-cheeked Honeyeater, Red browed Finch and the magnificent Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo.

Away from my haunt, the forest was a magnificent example of paper-bark eucalyptus:

There were, being close to shore, some great shorebirds, including the Great Egret (the line under the eye goes back beyond the eye) and the Pacific Black Duck:

And to round off a great spot, some interesting forest birds, including the Bar-shouldered Dove, the here serious Laughing Kookaburra, and the winner of the most aggravating call, the Wonga Pigeon:

So overall, a good spot to visit, and indeed, to re-visit.

Michael Monaghan

May 2020