Victoria Visits: Ethan 01

My grandson Ethan is visiting this week and it is 100% birding. Yesterday, Friday, we spent the first three hours at the Heart Morass where Ethan scored 3 ticks - Brown-headed Honeyeater, Yellow Thornbill and White-winged Black Tern. We saw a respectable 51 species. Ethan is a pretty keen photographer so all the images are his.

The Heart Morass is drying fast with many hectares of mudflat happily growing grass and other assorted vegetation. We saw a few Red-necked Stints, some Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and a small flock of Common Greenshank. There were quite a few hundred terns mostly Whiskered but the occasional White-winged Black (Ethan lifer) in non-breeding plumage with the "ear muffs". I ALWAYS find terns hard to photograph so full marks to Ethan.

Australian Hobby

Brown-headed Honeyeater

White-winged Black Tern

White-winged Black Tern

 We chanced upon a flock of mixed species giving some flowering bushes and trees a bit of stick. As well as Yellow (Ethan lifer) and Brown Thornbills there were Brown-headed (Ethan lifer) and White-naped Honeyeaters.

Yellow Thornbill

Yellow Thornbill

Next stop was the Macalister Wetlands Reserve at Maffra. Star of a relatively sparse showing was a Spotless Crake (Ethan lifer). The wetlands has just one pool with a reasonable amount of water in it. The growth of vegetation is prolific.

Spotless Crake

Stop 3 was Bullock Island at Lakes Entrance where Black-faced Cormorants did not fail us (Ethan lifer).

Black-faced Cormorants

Last stop for the day was Lake Tyers Beach where we expected to see Hooded Plovers. It did not let us down. The lake is very low. At the moment you can walk across to the first island behind the bar between the lake and the sea. We were ambling along and a Hoodie was spotted (Ethan lifer). Great. We approached a lit bit then sat down as it was walking towards us doing its own thing on the water's edge darting here and there but getting closer. Eventually it was about 10 metres away, Ethan taking photos, when we heard a bunch of Australian Pied Oystercatchers making a noise. We looked up and right in front of us was an Osprey that was loaded down with a fish in its talons being chased by the APOs!

Magic. f8 and be there!!

Ethan is a Queenslander where every power pole has an osprey nest on it so not a life tick but you don't often see them with a takeaway meal!

PS We also saw some breeding plumage Fairy Terns.

Hooded Plover

Hooded Plover

Eastern Osprey

Fairy Tern

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

Go North -- 11 -- Daintree

Eventually the birding adventure had to finish but there was a last hurrah for Ethan and me. We did an early morning birding cruise on the Daintree River with Sauce Worcester. Highly recommended. It was fantastic. His knowledge of birds is terrific as is his knowledge of all things local be it floral or faunal.

We saw ....

Great-billed Heron Ardea sumatrana

This bird is a known resident to Sauce. We pulled up near a creek junction,
Sauce played the call once and he appeared out of the bush letting us know
in no uncertain terms that THIS was HIS territory. An impressive bird.

Striated Heron Butorides striatus

Little Bronze-cuckoo Chalcites minutillus

Azure Kingfisher Ceyx azurea

Mistletoebird Dicaeum hirundinaceum

Rainbow Bee-eaters Merops ornatus

Shining Flycatcher, female Myiagra alecto

Mr S Flycatcher

On our way back to Mossman we observed a whole heap of sticks atop an electricity pole.

Heap of sticks

The Resident, an Eastern Osprey Pandion cristatus

The final bird of the trip to Cape York
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin Lonhcura castaneothorax

So, the number of birds for the 21-day trip was 190.

Magic. f8 and be there!

Go North 02 -- Weipa

Ethan and I caught up with the others just as we got to Weipa to hear the news that the 60-series had a touch of overheating! A job for the next day. One workshop had a three day waiting list just to be seen so we checked out another who dealt with the problem. However, the following day the problem recurred and it became a radiator and water pump transplant requiring the vehicle's presence in Weipa for a week whilst parts were sourced from Cairns.

Thus, while that was being sorted, Ethan and I were able to bird a bit of Weipa. We stayed in the caravan park [there is only one] which was pretty good. It has a westerly-facing beach which had plenty of activity and was close to various lakes around town.

Green Pygmy-Goose Nettapus pulchellus

Black-necked Stork Ephipiorhynchus asiaticus

Black Kite Milvus migrants trying to outpace a jet!

Osprey Pandion haliaetus

 Almost the entire time we were walking in the shallows and mud of low tide, a pair of Ospreys were hunting and diving into the water, sometimes quite close, say 50 metres. We saw two fish captured.

Three Red-necked Stints Calidris ruficollis on the left
and one Red-capped Plover Charadrius ruficapillus

Lesser Crested Tern Sterna bengalensis with the orange beaks
Crested Tern Sterna berg with the yellow beaks

Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybridus in the foreground
Darter, female Anhingas melanogaster to the right
Terns in the background

Whiskered Tern  

Gull-billed Tern Sterna nilotica with snack

Little Egret Ardea garzetta

Finally, the stars of the day. Weipa beach is renowned for the presence in the evening of significant numbers of Frigatebirds, both Great and Lesser, "surfing" the on-shore breeze as they gather to communally roost. It is a pretty impressive sight to see about eighty of these birds wheeling across the sky without one wingbeat by any of them.

Great Frigatebird, male Fregata minor

Great Frigatebird, female

Lesser Frigatebird, female

Lesser Frigatebird, male Fregata ariel

Magic. t1,250 and be there.