Heart Morass _ various

The Heart Morass extends from just east of Sale, at Flooding Creek, to Lake Wellington on the northern side of the Thomson River to the Swing Bridge (opens 3pm on Sundays) then the Latrobe River to the lake. It is best described as a shallow lake with fringing reed beds, mud flats and grasslands. It is 1-2 km wide and about 11 km long. The Field and Game Association own/manage it and are doing a top job of continual improvement with revegetation (from old farm paddocks) and weed control.

Here are images of birds I saw during an unsuccessful search for reported Plumed Whistling-Ducks.

Australian Pipit Anthus australis

Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia

 

Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus

Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cracatua galerita

White-fronted Chat Ephpthianura albifrons

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 Nerds in Queensland 11

Once Ethan was back, we hit the birding with a vengeance. Ethan suggested that we needed to be at Lake Macdonald at dawn i.e. 5am non-daylight-saving-Queensland time. "That is fine by me", I replied, "But that means getting up at 4.20am". Was that alright by him? "Fine", was the reply. So at 4.20am I was quietly knocking on his door to awaken him but not the other two. He duly appeared just a few minutes later raring for the off. We took breakfast with us and away we went. As we turned off the Bruce Highway, we spotted a bird on top of a lighting pole. It was a Peregrine Falcon!! What a great start to the day. Next was Lake Macdonald and, as we were pulling up, the first birds we saw were a Willie Wagtail having a stoush with a Restless Flycatcher Myiagra inquieta.

The next birds we saw were Australian White Ibis, Straw-necked Ibis and, yes, one Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus. Life tick for both of us. It was a fair way away so just a confirmatory ID image.

We weren't in the bird hide more than a few minutes when a Latham's Snipe Gallinago hardwickii wandered past right in front of the hide. Doesn't get much better Avithera. Aren't they just a great bird.

Then the usual parade of Comb-crested Jacana Irediparra gallinacea with both an adult in breeding plumage [first image] and a pair of immatures [second image]. The non-breeding CCJ has no comb, a rufous cap and a black stripe running down the back of each side of the neck joining as a band on the chest. Quite similar to the immatures in the second image.

After breakfast we tootled off to Wappa Dam. Here Ethan ticked a Mistletoebird Dicaeum hirudinaceum, we both ticked a Cicadabird Coracina tenuirostris, and a totally unexpected Barred Cuckoo-shrike Coracina lineata. The Barred Cuckoo-shrike was pretty special indeed. Ethan has learnt very quickly that when he sees a bird he doesn't know, he takes quick note of its salient features. Recourse to the guides in the car plus the backup of the camera soon gave us the ID.

female Cicadabird

What a great day. Magic. f5.6, t1250 and be there!