Australia (8/8) Sydney

I liked most places we visited in Australia but my verdict on Sydney, too big, too noisy, and too many people. There were some good bits, the harbour, the ferry service, and I liked the Darling Harbour area although I think I would soon get tired of it. Overall just too much like London. A place to be avoided whenever possible.

We arrived at our hotel close to Darling Harbour mid afternoon and whilst Sue settled in I set off to track down some more birds. I could only see three good birding spots within Sydney itself although there are a lot of good sites within one to two hours drive of the centre. They were the Botanic Gardens, Centennial Park, and the Olympic Park.

With time being limited I settled for the closest, the Botanic Gardens. In retrospect a poor choice. It was about 30 minutes walk through a very busy and built up shopping area and when I got there it was packed with picnickers, children and wedding photographers. There were very few birds and very few picture opportunities. I could have made the Centennial Gardens in less than fifteen minutes by taxi, a much better choice.

 So only two new birds.

Chestnut Teal

Little Black Cormorant

The following day was spent touring Sydney and cruising the harbour. Birding opportunities were limited and even a distant view of a Kookaburra couldn't inspire me to get the camera out. The highlight of the day, paddling my feet on Bondi Beach.

Next day and we were off to the Blue Mountains with the main destination the cable cars and incline railways of the Scenic Skyway at Katoomba. A bit touristy for my liking and a bit scary on the cable cars given that, at times, I could barley stand up in the strong winds but it all proved to be safe.

The incline railway, an old mining railway, with a gradient of 52 degrees is claimed to be the steepest passenger railway in the world. I say claimed as I just did a quick check and Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway in North Devon England has an incline of 58 degrees. I think the Gelmerbahn funicular in Switzerland has a 74 degree incline and if you take it to the extreme a lift in a large tower block has an incline of 180 degrees.

Still, I digress.  The beauty of this railway is that it takes you down into Jamison valley about a thousand feet below and to an extensive boardwalk taking you through the rainforest. The boardwalk is a bit intrusive but it does give you access to a vast area and fortunately the nosier tourist element tend not to venture down that way.

Rose Robin

The light levels under the trees were very low and few of the birds sat still for long so I didn't get many pictures but a few of them are worth posting. This shot of the White-browed Scrubwren was the best of about thirty attempts and was finally captured at ISO 2500 at 1/25 sec.

White-browed Scrubwren

Superb Lyrebird 

Lyrebirds again in poor light. One of the slower moving birds but still difficult to capture a clean photograph of it as it scratches around for insects on the forest floor

Superb Lyrebird - Female

Pied Currawong

So to the last day of the holiday. Sue had met up with an old school friend and I had a day to go birding wherever I wanted. I chose the Olympic Park area, mainly, I think, because of the ferry ride along the Parramatta River to get there.

Just off the ferry and a great find in the trees by the river, an Olive-backed Oriole......

Olive-backed Oriole

......and on the opposite side of the river a White-bellied Eagle.

The Newington Nature Reserve is a no access area but there is a decent screen on the riverside footpath where you can observe part of the wetland area.

White-faced Heron

White-headed Stilt (a split from the Black-winged Stilt)

Purple Swamphen

and on the Louise Sauvage Pathway lots of Superb Fairy-wrens

Superb Fairy-wren

Superb Fairy Wren  -  Female

The ever present Bin Chicken  -  Australian White Ibis

The Badu Mangrove seemed totally devoid of life until I got to the footpaths around the waterbird refuge. With Sydney experiencing its driest September in more than 130 years the water was some way from the hide but I can imagine this giving some excellent views during the wetter months.

Badu Waterbird Refuge

Some interesting birds here.

Red-necked Avocets

In the centre a Red-kneed Dotterel at the front female Chestnut or Grey Teal

Red-browed Finch

and around the lake in the Bicentennial Park

Spotted Dove

Striated Heron

Welcome Swallow

 I have seen a lot, done a lot, photographed a lot of birds and it's been a great holiday. Part of me feels tired and would like a break from rushing around trying to pack so much in. The rest of me wants to go back to the beginning and start all over again. I may have photographed 130 birds but that also means that I failed to photograph at least 750. Will I ever get back to find the rest?

Most people bring a souvenir back from their holiday. Mine is a really well thumbed copy of the Helm Field Guides - Birds of Australia.

Final total on the birds, 133 birds seen, of which 112 are life ticks and I managed to photograph all the birds except the Fairy Martin and the Nankeen Kestrel.