Broome 2017 _ Wave The Waders Goodbye _ Day 04

Day 04

Birding at dawn anywhere is usually pretty good, especially on a calm morning. The BBO has a couple of paths through the bush to take. This morning I came across a small flock of Red-winged Parrots.

Red-winged Parrot Aprosmictus erythropterus
Male first image, female in other two.

The trip for today was out onto the flooded Roebuck Plains. Flooded enough that we didn't leave the safety of the tarmac of the Northern Highway.

Black-winged Stilt (White-headed Stilt) Himanoptus leucocephalus

Plumed Whistling-duck Dendrocygna eytoni
And one lone Australian Wood Duck Chenonetta jubata on the left.

White-winged Black Tern Chlidonias leucopterus Coming into breeding plumage

Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa

Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus

Brown Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus
Secondaries not bulging beyond trailing edge of wing. Plenty of tail behind feet. Tail rounded as the outer retrices on BG are shorter as they go out from the midline. Juvenile bird.

Little Friarbird Philemon citreogularis

This, and the following two birds, were seen at the Roebuck Bay Roadhouse.

Pied Butcherbird Cracticus nigrogularis

Australian Magpie (Black-backed) Cracticus tibicen eylandtensis
This subspecies of magpie has white trousers and is found on Groote Eylandt in the NT and the Kimberley area.

Roebuck Bay
The view from the observation station [chairs on the cliff top!] towards dusk. The colours are just stunning. There is no way that any of my images do it any sort of justice. The first image is off to the left of our position looking directly down the light whereas the second is looking across the light to the southern end of the bay.

The reason that so many waders are here is the amount of food it produces aided by a variance of up to 10 metres between high and low tide. It is shellfish heaven -- both for birds and humans. These lads were crabbing. 

Here are some images of the main reason we were there. Watching and recording the species and numbers of birds heading off northward on their migration.

Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola

Bar-tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica

Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis

Bird Nerd visits Queensland 01

The Sunshine Coast is a long way away. I volunteered to help Elaine's daughter, Erica, and her family prepare their rental property for the end of the lease. Perhaps not the ideal way to spend Christmas but the upside is always nurturing relationships with those involved especially the grandsons, Ethan [12], Levi [10] and Phoenix [almost 6. I kept calling him 6 and he kept correcting me with the reality of 5 - but soon to be 6]. Ethan has well and truly caught the birding bug. His favourite book is Morcombe and Stewart and his fantastic memory remembers it all, literally. A formidable companion on a birding trip. Ethan is easy to occupy with birds, Levi likes all sorts of things [a highlight was rock climbing at one of those climbing gym places where $17 and some gear hire got him the whole day climbing. We went off, had lunch, watched a movie - The Good Dinosaur - and then went back]. Phoenix likes everything too. He doesn't mind shopping, is happy to go to cafes, and his highight was a day at a Hedge Maze - with more than just a hedge maze - a wooden maze, a rope maze, a Blond maze, a tyre maze, a labyrinth, several puzzles on the ground and a pretty good mini-golf course - plus chocolate milkshakes.

I digress. I drove up through Canberra, Wellington, across to Tamworth then on to Warwick and into Brisbane and up to Buderim. I stopped off in Canberra and dipped on a Powerful Owl then went on to  Bowning just off the Hume Highway and camped the night.

Black-backed Australian Magpies start at Canberra. I always find black and white birds to be smart and clean cut and snappy. Here is a close up of a Pied Currawong and a Little Corella by itself playing with a clump of dried grass. Not often like that and strangely quiet!

Pied Currawong Strepera graculina

Little Corella Cacatua sanguinea

Australian Magpie (Black-backed) Gymnorhina tibicen tibicen

This one above was photographed in Canberra. The next image was at Bowning the next morning and demonstrates the black back very well.

Australian Magpie (Black-backed) Gymnorhina tibicen tibicen

The last images are from a family group in the backyard at Buderim. It is amazing how many insects live in the rough [well relatively rough compared to the lawns of Victoria] grass of the lawn. The first image shows just how many insects can fit in a beak and the second shows the whole lot going down in one big mouthful.

Cheers. More later.