For the first time this year, I didn’t get out of bed at an unearthly hour, although our young son made sure our night’s sleep wasn’t completely peaceful! Spending much of the day at home, I kept an eye on the sky. Luckily we have a reasonably good vista from our house, and something rare flying over is always a possibility, especially in the afternoon when soaring birds seem to drift around, such as two Australian Pelicans yesterday afternoon. Nothing notable today beyond a small group of Straw-necked Ibis, but I’ll keep an eye on the sky whenever I remember.

In the afternoon we took the kids swimming at Manly Pool, and I grabbed 15 minutes to check the tidal flats off Manly Esplanade. It’s usually a good spot for Black-tailed Godwit, and it was nice to see 11 birds on the flats in a loose flock. These, and Grey-tailed Tattler were the only year ticks of the day.

My year list at the end of the day was 147 species. I spent 32 minutes birding, walked 0 km and drove 30 km.