Birds at Audley and Taren Point – 19 January 2026

I spent nice day out with Valerie and Sue visiting Royal National Park at Audley, and then on the way home, we stopped off at Taren Point to look for shorebirds.

Royal National Park – Audley

We first visited Wattle Flat.

Oriental Dollarbird

Sulphur-crested Cockatoos

Azure Kingfisher

Rufous Fantail

Eastern Long-necked Turtle

Catbird

Rufous Fantail

Eastern Whipbird

Yellow-throated Scrubwren

Large-billed  Scrubwrens

This is a juvenile –

Eastern Long-necked Turtle

Superb Fairy-wren

We then crossed to the other side of the Hacking River and walked a short way up Lady Carrington Drive.

Rufous Fantail

Eastern Long-necked Turtles

Taren Point 

Eastern Curlew

Bar-tailed Godwit

Pied Oystercatcher

Eastern Curlew

Soldier Crabs – Mictyris longicarpus

A friend Gary, who lives nearby came down to see us, and told us about these “Army Forming” Soldier Crabs, which he had studied at University.

Gary explained “Notice all the mud/sand balls from which crabs filter out organic matter.”

Whimbrel

Whimbrel and Grey-tailed Tattler

A Silver Gull wanted to eat some of the soldier crabs.

Bar-tailed Godwit