Botany Bay Bike Ride – 4 July 2021

Day 8 of lockdown. My exercise was a ride down to Botany Bay and back via the Cooks River and Botany Bay Cycleways. I carried camera with me and stopped a few times on the way down to photograph any interesting birds I saw.

I was lucky. Near Tempe, I diverted into Waterworth Park and soon spotted a Sacred Kingfisher. Probably the same one I had seen upstream a few days earlier. When I got my camera out, it flew away, but I spotted it again sitting on some oyster covered rocks. Now it had a small crab. I watched it for a while.

It then flew to another rock, ready to catch something else.

I kept on riding and continued to Landing Lights Wetland at Barton Park. The wetlands were surprisingly quiet. No birds in the water – no stilts or ducks. No herons. I could see a few Superb Fairy-wrens in he distance. That was all. I continued on to the higher area of Barton Park and ran into some others exercising while bird watching. They were Scott, Bill and Melissa, people I knew from the Tempe Birdos. I walked with them for a while. A few Fairy Martins were wizzing around –

A few New Holland Honeyeaters were around –

And some Superb Fairy-wrens –

And here is one of a flock of Red-browed Finches –

Then a flock of seven Pied Stilts flew over. Here are some of them. They seemed to be heading to the Wetlands.

I left the others and headed back down to the Wetlands. The Pied Stilts were all there. And a few other birds had turned up.

Chestnut Teals

I stayed to watch the Pied Stilts –

I then continued on my ride to Botany Bay. At the mouth of the Cooks River, I didn’t stay long. There was a cool wind, so I headed back to Barton Park. Once there, I visited the top area. Here is a Welcome Swallow.

Then I heard some small birds in the trees. They were Yellow-rumped Thornbills. One was perched and calling loudly.

It the almost fell off its perch. A second Yellow-rumped Thornbill had turned up.

This Welcome Swallow is just about to grab an insect.

And I think this may be a Tree Martin –

Back at the Wetland, the Pied Stilts were still present.

I then ran into Lenis, a birder I know from the Greenway Bird Surveys. She was also exercising at Barton Park. She had seen a Grey Goshawk there the day before and we had a look for it without any success.

It was time for me to head home, but first I spent a few minutes watching a White-faced Heron catching small worms and crustaceans from the wetland pond.