About 10 regent honeyeaters have been spotted in south-west Lake Macquarie bush in a significant sighting of the critically endangered species.
Birder James Bennett photographed the birds in flowering Eucalyptus robusta trees.
It was the largest winter flock spotted anywhere in three years and the largest in Lake Macquarie since 2011.
Mr Bennett, who is also a musician, spends his spare time "wandering off in the bush and going birding".
He's also a "pretty serious lister", which refers to listing records of his bird sightings on the popular eBird app.
Mr Bennett said there's a "healthy rivalry" among other birders on the Lake Macquarie section of the app.
"Lake Macquarie is my home LGA [local government area]. I like to scour Google Earth and look for good habitat zones that might be interesting. I stumbled upon this massive patch of bushland," he said.
He noticed on the app that there were records of regent honeyeaters being spotted in the area about 12 years ago.
He visited the site every fortnight since mid-April and then heard the regent honeyeater's call on his most recent visit.
"My heart dropped. Sure enough, they were right there," he said.
"It's next to impossible to find a regent honeyeater on your own, let alone within my home LGA of Lake Macquarie.
"It was pretty emotional. I'll remember it for the rest of my life."
Fewer than 350 regent honeyeaters are estimated to remain in the wild, but efforts are ongoing to help the species survive.
