May 18, 2005
Oz trip part 10 - Centennial Park
I had a few hours in left in Sydney before heading back to the US, so I decided to check out Centennial Park. This is an excellent site to get acquainted with many of the more common Australian waterbirds including Australasian Grebe...
... Grey Teal...
Darter...
... and Purple Swamphen.
It's also one of the easier places to see Musk Duck, though it took me some time to find this one!
The feeding frenzy attracts a variety of scavengers...
... including Silver Gull.
This Little Pied Cormorant was happy to pose (and preen) for the camera.
The ubiquitous Willie Wagtail.
One of the biggest surprises of the morning was when a large flock of c. 60 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos descended noisily to feed on the pine cones. My Sydney bird book informs me they are 'uncommon nomads frequenting steep timbered country' - is this an unusual sighting for this urban park?
These birds are pretty big - note size comparison with Australian Raven.
The ecological equivalent of a Crossbill?
All in all a fantastic trip. I logged about 220 bird species (most of which were new), some incredible marsupials and wonderful scenery. Will have to save up for the next trip!