Barton Park has been a good place to see a wide range of birds recently, and this visit was no exception, despite a fair bit of rain. I travelled down with some of the Greenway Birdos – Michael and Lennis, and we later met up with Georgy and Simin.
Here are some of the birds we saw on our visit –
Red-browed Finch
Striated Heron
Grey Goshawk
Red-rumped Parrots
The Grey Goshawk made another brief appearance –
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Red Wattlebird
White-plumed Honeyeater
New Holland Honeyeater
The Landing Lights Wetland have bene very quiet recently. This time there was one White-faced Heron, a few Teals and a pair of Pied Stilts. Here is one –
We saw a lot more Red-browed Finches –
Back at the Spring Street Canal, the Striated Heron was still hunting –
Along the cycleway, we saw a White-browed Scrubwren –
And a Superb Fairy-wren was calling loudly –
I had been telling the others about the Buff-banded Rail, and we had looked at the location I had seen it several times. Now it appeared!
Further along, we saw a Great Egret and Royal Spoonbill –
And here is one of several Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes –
We had looked for raptors several times in the old sporting fields. Now we were successful. We saw a distant Swamp Harrier –
A pair of Chestnut Teal flew past –
And the Grey Goshawk appeared once again –
A White-faced Heron was feeding in the canal –
And to finish, a pair of Laughing Kookaburras –
Despite a fair bit of rain, this had been a good visit. Thanks to Michael for a lift down and back.
What a great collection of birds! Your photos are amazing too.
My 10yr old son has taken to birdwatching and I am planning on taking him to Barton Park. Do you have any suggestions on where to start please?
Its a big park and it can take a few visits to work out the best spots to look for the birds. Go past the Covid testing centre on Spring St. I would go to the Landing Lights Wetland first – go across a concrete bridge over the Spring St Canal.Then walk along the wooden boardwalk and look in the pond to see what birds are around. At the back, near the building its a big wet at present. The end of the canal – near Muddy Creek is good. Look along the canal for birds and along Muddy Creek. The cycleway bridge can be a good spot and the area nearby. From near there you can go up a short steep track to the top area near the old stadium. Look on the lights for birds, and on the grass and in the lantana. It can be worth walking right around that area – but at present it is soggy.
Hi David
I’m loving your posts!
I’d never even heard of Barton Park before, but the potential of photographing some red-rumped parrot will get me out there tomorrow (Sun 31 July).
Hopefully you get this message before then & would be prepared to offer some tips on most likely location in the park for them (& time of day… I need to get there from Mosman)?
Thanks!
Vic
You can often see Red-rumped Parrots at Barton Park – but you cannot guarantee to see them. They are fairly common in the local parklands – feeding on the grass. I have seen them along the Cooks River parklands, Tempe Reserve and along the Greenway. They can be hard to spot when they are feeding as they blend in with the grass. On 23 July – a wet day, we saw them inside the old St George Stadium (and we had to climb in through holes in the fence). They are usually outside the stadium – feeding on the grass to the east and south – in the large sporting field. There are at present lots of other nice birds in the greater precinct – as you can see from my posts. But you need to wander around quietly and look for them. Most visitors park in Spring St – either near the Covid testing centre, or further along in an old carpark on the left – slightly higher, near some more old sporting fields. Another parking area – is close to the old stadium, from Bestic St – turn off just west of Muddy Creek.