Queensland Visits: Ethan 02

Here are some images of shorebirds and birds that frequent the shore around Gladstone (and most of the rest of Australia for that matter).

Bar-Tailed Godwit colouring up

Bar-Tailed Godwit colouring up

Eastern Curlew

Eastern Curlews

Shorebirds en masse

Great Knot

mostly Lesser Sandplovers

Grey-tailed Tattler

Lesser Sandplover

Red-necked Stint

Terek Sandpiper

White-bellied Sea-eagle

Broome 2017 _ Wave The Waders Goodbye _ Day 06

Day 06

This was the last day of the course. Our excursion today was to visit the sites and sights around Broome itself. Birds seen included Red-headed Honeyeater, Little Curlew, Striated Pardalote at the Water Treatment Plant but no Semi-palmated Plover, Ruddy Turnstones and Pacific Golden Plovers within sight of nesting Ospreys on the docks and the obligatory Tawny Frogmouth in a tree in the Woolworth’s car park. It was in the same tree as in November last year at Ashmore Reef Pelagic time.

Eastern Osprey  Pandion cristatus

Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres

Striated Pardalote Pardalotus striatus substriatus

Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides

Back at base it was Wader Watch time. I went down to the cliff top a bit earlier. Whimbrel, Ruddy Turnstones, Marsh Sandpiper featured for me. The others arrived and we concentrated on watching waders looking to see if they were lining up on the mud, listening to the calls. Sometimes there would be false take offs where birds would lift off, sometimes quite high [5-700 metres] and in good numbers [50-100] and you would reckon, “That’s it. They’re off”, but, no, suddenly they would all come back down. It was as if no one individual bird felt competent or ready enough to lead off heading north with the setting sun on its left shoulder. Another day done.

Here are views of the bay at low tide. The guys in the boat just had to wait for the incoming tide. It was a ten metre difference between low and high tide!

The birds are well spread out at low tide. Just a few Eastern Curlew in view. These would have been 500 metres away.

We wondered if an Eurasian Curlew may have been present. At these distances, the only distinguishing mark would be  a clean white rump for the Eurasian so plenty of flight shots were taken. No Eurasian Curlew detected.

Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis

But some birds do come closer.

Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis

These need to be differentiated from Common Greenshank. The Marsh is quite a bit smaller and has a white rump and wedge up the back (see image 3). Q. What are the two birds at the back?

Brown Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus

Broome Roadtrip 04

The following day was pedal to the metal and I drove through to Northam about 100km east of Perth and stayed the night. Target bird there was the Mute Swan. An introduced species from the United Kingdom and really not self-sustaining [more info see here] as fresh blood has been introduced and the birds have a special protected area near the Tourist Information building for shelter at night and breeding. Well, they used to have a special protected area. It was all change. The protected area had become a worksite with lots of concreting going on [it looked like it was going to be a skate park] and not a swan to be seen at 6am! Eventually I talked to a local who was able to tell me that the swans had "relocated" themselves upstream and that there was a path that could take me there and return me on the opposite side of the Avon River. [early English explorers had no imagination]. Eventually I found one [1] and discovered there were about 8. So good pics after a longish chase.

Mute Swan

Other birds seen were ...

Laughing Turtle-Dove, another introduced species

Australian Ringneck
Port Lincoln Parrot, no red mark above bill

Australian Ringneck
definitely Twenty-Eight Parrot
red mark above bill

So finishing up at about 8am, I headed off into Perth and decided to check out Lake Joondalup to see if the Oriental Honey Buzzards had arrived for the summer, which they hadn't. I met Judy there. She had been on the Ashmore Reef pelagic and had the same idea as me. After that I headed south to Bunbury and successfully twitched the Eurasian Curlew which had been resident at Samphire Inlet in the Leschenault Inlet for some time. A bit of a traipse with the bins, camera and scope/tripod for a kay or so out onto a sand spit and there it was. In the company of an {australian} Eastern Curlew alongside for comparison. The Eurasian is slightly smaller and lighter in the plumage department. Tick.

Eurasian Curlew

Eastern Curlew

"Go South, old codger"

There I was in Cairns with just a trip home on the program but with no time constraints although I had booked a bed at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy property, "Bowra", just out of Cunnamulla, for a week before Easter. Today was 13 March so, what to do. First job was to deliver vehicle to a 4WD place in Cairns for a service. Robert and Heath had put on 12.000kms in 7 weeks. They rang me during the afternoon to tell me they had discovered some important work that needed to be done based on some intel I had given them so it was there for 2 days. I walked over to the Esplanade in Cairns to arrive about 4 o'clock at the Seat of Learning under the Tree of Knowledge where a group of local, retired and very knowledgable and enthusiastic birders meet every day. When I had introduced myself, I was informed that my progress up the coast had been noted via eBird lists I had been submitting. In a good way, that was the best introduction you could have. My bona fides were already established. On that basis, one of the dudes offered me a day of birding up in the hinterland whilst the car was out of action. Guided by a local? You bet.

Starting at 6.30, we had seen 36 species by our return at lunchtime. Two lifers: Grey-headed Robin and Spotted Catbird. Good picture of a Pale-yellow Robin. On the way back we diverted to a block of land in an industrial estate subject to tidal vagaries and saw a family of Beach Stone-curlews.

Metallic Starling Aplornis metallica

Beach Stone-curlew Esacus magnirostris

Pale-yellow Robin Tregellasia capito

Later that day I did the Mangrove Boardwalk near the airport [mozzies were amazing] and had another session with the old dudes/seat/tree on the Esplanade.

Olive-backed Sunbird, male Nectarinia jugularis

Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva

Eastern Curlew Numinous madagasariensis

with dinner