Three winners have been announced from a high standard of 18 entries in the annual Central Coast Bird Group Photographic Competition 2022.
There were three categories – common birds, uncommon birds and vagrants – and all photographs were taken during 2022 in the Central Coast local government area.
Ken Janson of Umina Beach took out the common bird category with a superb photo of an Eastern Whipbird.
The male bird “whip” call, followed by the “crack” of the answering female, is a constant feature of the Coast’s bushland, however, seeing this bird is more challenging as it skulks in the undergrowth.
“This makes Ken’s photo even more amazing as he has captured it calling,” the competition judge Dick Jenkin said.
Winner of the uncommon bird category was Daniel McKeon of Killarney Vale with a lovely shot of a Noisy Pitta.
The Noisy Pitta were only Autumn visitors in the not-so-distant past but now they are resident in several rainforest areas around the Coast where the “walk to work” call is frequently heard.
“Again, this is not an easy bird to photograph and Daniel has done a great job to capture it in its environment,” Jenkin said.
The winner of the vagrant bird category was Tricia Sweet of Tascott with a nice action shot of a Beach Stone-curlew which were present for a couple of weeks at Bateau Bay in April 2020.
This was only the fourth record for this bird on the Central Coast.
Birdwatchers say that Beach Stone-curlews become more common further north and they seem to be breeding more successfully lately.
This bird was most likely a juvenile bird exploring for a new territory.
The Central Coast Group of Birding NSW meets at 7.30pm on the fourth Tuesday of the month in the Progress Hall in Anzac Rd, Tuggerah.
On February 21 the topic will be Getting to know Rufous Scrubbirds with guest speaker Alan Stuart and at the March 21 meeting guest speaker Kay Pointer will talk about bushfires around Mangrove Mountain.
For more information about the group email Allan Benson at aejsbenson@bigpond.com
Source:
Central Coast Group of Birding NSW