Birds at Nepean Weir – 20 November 2019

I had not visited Nepean Weir before, and thought that since it seems a good birding site, it would be worth a visit. Also – recently, a Painted Honeyeater, a rare visitor to Sydney, had been seen there by other bird watchers.

It was a short, easy walk from Penrith Station to the Reserve. I arrived not long after 8:30 am and followed the path from the picnic area down to the weir and then downstream along the river. At the weir where a few birds – a Great Egret and a few teals and coots.

The track passed through a thicket of forest and then climbs up along a bank. Nearby is a marker than indicates the 11 m level of the 1867 floods. This is a good spot to observe birds. You can look out from the railing of the boardwalk right across the river. The river is braided here with an island. The island has quite a few trees, including many River Oaks.

Before settling at the spot, I walked along the track a little further to where it joins a road. Many visits enter from that end of the track. At this spot is large grassy woodland area, and it is possible to continue along the river on an unformed path. I would go that way later in the afternoon.

I went back to the flood marker and started looking for birds. Already on the walk in, I had heard a Sacred Kingfisher  and many Bell Miners. And I had seen many Superb Fairy-wrens and Dusky Woodswallows. Also, some more bird watchers arrived. During the day there would have been around ten in total.

I soon spotted some White-winged Trillers. These are birds I have not seen before.

The Dusky Woodswallows were in abundance. One pair had a nest nearby – less than two metres from the path, but shielded by the tree it was in. Other pairs had quite well developed young that were constantly demanding food. So they were very active.

A pair of Satin Bowerbirds were also feeding nearby.

And now for the honeyeaters. The most obvious were the Bell Miners –

There were quite a few Lewin’s Honeyeaters –

And some New Holland Honeyeaters –

A few others.

Scarlet Honeyeater

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

One of the other bird watchers did spot a single Painted Honeyeater, perched on the same distant tree as the two honeyeaters above. I saw it through my binoculars, but was not quick enough to get a photo before it flew out of sight. I didn’t make a reappearance while I was there.

Little Wattlebird

Some of the other birds –

Red-browed Finch

Chestnut-breasted Mannikin 

European Goldfinch

Sacred Kingfisher 

Restless Flycatcher

Varied Sittella

Thanks to Johan Olsson for identifying these. I had assumed they were juvenile Dusky Woodswallows.

Some parrots –

Rainbow Lorikeet

Red-rumped Parrot

I mentioned the Superb Fairy-wrens earlier. Here are some photos –

Some Fairy Martins

And a Welcome Swallow –

The only raptor I saw was a Nankeen Kestrel. It had some prey in its talons – a small bird. I hope it wasn’t a Painted Honeyeater.

And a few non-birds –

I think this may be a native Swamp Rat.