Broome 2017 _ Wave The Waders Goodbye _ Day 03

The third day at Broome started with an early morning, rising-tide Mangrove Walk at Little Crab Creek towards the southern end of Roebuck Bay. The walk into the mangroves ends at a "lookout" facing mudflats giving relatively close views of the usual suspects and the few birds of Australia's only known Common Redshanks colony. We didn't see them but on our way back to the vehicle, we saw that the entire bird population of the bay appeared to disappear or be in a total panic. Had to be a raptor somewhere. We scanned the skies for about a minute until a Peregrine Falcon was spotted crossing the bay about a kilometre offshore. I happened to get some images that were in-focus and it was later identified as one of the two migratory northern hemisphere forms of the Peregrine Falcon; Falco peregrinus japonensis. The other is calidus. That was exciting.

The usual afternoon wader watch at some of the roosts near the BBO showed Sooty Oystercatchers. These are the northern race Haematopus fuliginosus ophthalmicus which has a bright yellow ring around the eye.

Day 03

Nankeen Night Heron Nycticorax caledonians juvenile. Probably the same bird as Day 1

White-breasted Woodswallow Artamus leucorynchus

Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus calidus

Sooty Oystercatcher Haematopus fuliginosus ophthalmicus

and friends...
Australian Pied Oystercatcher Haematopus longirostris
Bar-Tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica both in breeding and non-breeding plumage
Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris
Silver Gull Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae

Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
Yellow JX was a pretty interesting bird. We discovered it whilst wader watching and soon were aware it was not behaving normally; just standing on the rocks doing ... well, nothing really, unlike every other Whimbrel in the bay. A few photos soon showed it had a radio transmitter on it. Later we found out that Chris Hassell's team had caught the bird the previous evening and placed a transmitter on it, a sort of backpack arrangement. I guess the bird found it uncomfortable or was just recovering from the capture  or both. Anyway, the bird remained there for several hours into dark but was gone the next morning and the transmitter was found on it's way to the northern hemisphere within a short time. This shows that us amateurs can contribute to projects by being observant, noting when things aren't right and telling the people in charge. Fortunately, all involved had tea together that evening!!

Going South -- 05 -- Chuckles

In mid-July 2016, Bruce Robertson, a Pacific Gull tragic who has been banding PG chicks for more than 25 years, visited/stayed in the caravan park at Venus Bay in South Australia [not Victoria]. He reported a Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla and the twitching fraternity across Australia was instantly motivated. Why, you ask?

Laughing Gulls breed on the east coast of North America and California and migrate to northeastern Brazil and south along the Pacific coast to northern Chile Pizzey & Knight. Here was a non-breeding plumage LG who "should have turned right at Alberquerque" Walt Disney. P&K write about birds following ships across the Pacific and report two at the Esplanade in Cairns [2003, 2013] and one on Lord Howe Island [2010]. Morcombe describes birds in Tasmania and the Eyre Bird Observatory in WA. Slater says, "a rare visitor from North America likely on any beach or mudflat"! So we don't see them too often here in Australia.

The bird in breeding plumage is unmistakable.

Image from Google Images.

Images were placed on the Australian Twitchers Facebook page and it became obvious that the bird was staying put as plenty of people kept reporting him both on FB and eBird and he received a name bestowed on him by the staff of the caravan park as he was staying put in the park. Chuckles. Laughing Gull. He was still there in September as I headed south so a visit was in order. I rang ahead, booked a cabin and the twitch was on.

I arrived at about 4.30pm. I went into reception and booked in and heard the full story. Chuckles had been responsible, as at late September, for at least an additional 80 bookings of sites and cabins in the park as well as many more people who parked outside the park and came in to twitch him. Most of those people bought something from the park shop. The staff realised the full significance of Chuckles from early on [thanks probably to Bruce]. This is a great example of the usually unappreciated significance of a vagrant/rare bird on a local economy. Chuckles had settled on site 51 as his "home", possibly because there were semi-permanent residents in the van on that site who kept a water bowl clean and full for his personal use. Site 51 is also right next to the fish cleaning station. Evidently Chuckles was in full charge of his territory and boss of the Silver Gulls and Pelicans! I was given Cabin 4, right opposite site 51! I parked up, hopped out of the car, walked 20 metres with bins and camera and there he was. How easy is that!

Home of Chuckles

Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla

Also in the caravan park were the usual seaside, fish station scavengers. An Australian Pelican Pelicanus conspicullatus flew in and landed with twenty of his mates but he had a fish on board which had not been swallowed and the tail was hanging out of the side of his mouth. A chase started.

Everyone for themselves here!

Other park inhabitants included Pacific Gull Larus pacificus

This is a juvenile Pacific Gull

Silver Gull Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae Big name.
The genus part means "stained-head". Perhaps not that relevant to our gull.
They used to be in the genus Larus meaning ravenous. A good description
of their behaviour!

Go North 04 -- The Tip

Bamaga to The Tip is just 40kms or so. There were plenty of people about but we managed the stock shot.

After the walk out to the tip and back, we had lunch. The tide went out while we were there revealing the usual mudflats/sandbanks so a bit of lightweight birding was indulged in.

Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus

Grey-tailed Tattler Heteroscelus brevipes

Greater Sand Plover Charadrius lechenaultii

Red-capped Plover Charadrius ruficapillus

Eastern Reef Egret Ardea sacra dark morph
stand-off with a Silver Gull Larus novaehollandiae

Eastern Reef Egret Ardea sacra dark morph