Broome 2017 _ Wave The Waders Goodbye _ Day 05

Day 05

We had the early morning “off” so three of us, including Emelia the young BBO assistant, decided to give the Mangrove Walk another try as the tide was right first thing. We were targeting the Common Redshank described in Morecombe as an uncommon, but probably regular, summer visitor most likely the ssp ussuriensis, birds that breed in Mongolia, Mancuria and eastern Russia. The Roebuck Bay population are seen all year and I understood that this is the only population in Australia that is reliably recorded with numbers in single figures (not that they are rare elsewhere). On the way through the mangroves [not far, a hundred metres or so] we had to swat away the droves of White-breasted Whistlers and Broad-billed Flycatchers. Well, one of each.

White-breasted Whistler Pachycephala lanioides  Male

Broad-billed Flycatcher Myiagra ruficollis 

This bird was so close for a good length of time. Lots of pictures taken.

A distinguishing mark that differentiates this species from the almost identical Leaden Flycatcher is that the retrices (tail feathers) of the BB are graduated in length and have white edges. A deal of time was spent photographing the underside of the tail!!

Common Redshank Tringa totanus

These shots are as good as it got. We saw 4 individuals from a couple of hundred metres. Long lenses are a boon.

About 9 we set off for Barred Creek to the north of Broome. Highlights here were a single Beach Stone-curlew and a Grey Plover among a group of Grey-tailed Tattlers.

BEach Stone-curlew Esacus magnirostris

Grey-tailed Tattler Tringa breviceps
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola The bigger background bird

Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel Male

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

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!!