Birding on a hot day.

Sunday turned out to be fine and very hot, even the birds were feeling the heat of the day. Inskip Point is always a good place for Waders, Gulls and Terns.

Crested Tern (Sterna bergii)

Crested Tern (Sterna bergii) Right front

Little Tern (Sterna albifrons) Left front

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) Rear

Crested Tern 1st and 4th

Silver Gull (Larus novaehollandiae) 3rd and 5th

Little Tern 2nd

Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles) Rear

Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus) Front

Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea) Rear

As you walk along the track to the Point, there are a great variety of bush birds to be seen and heard. Some of them on this day were Variegated Fairy-wren, Varied Triller, Black-breasted Button-quail, Brush Turkey, Eastern Yellow Robin, and Little Wattlebird, as well as this White-cheeked Honeyeater.

White-cheeked Honeyeater (Phylidonyris nigra)

Very early on Sunday morning at Mullens' as we were waiting for the tide to come in so we could launch the kayak and check out some of the wader sites, there were lots of birds flying about the area. Some of these were Galah, Azure Kingfisher, Brown Honeyeater, Leaden Flycatcher, Rufous Whistler and Grey Shrike-thrush.

Rufous Whistler (Immature Male) (Pachycephala rufiventris)

Grey Shrike-thrush (Colluricincla harmonica)

Mullens' early morning with tide coming in.

Summer Wader Count

As we were unable to count last month due to being flooded in, it was good to be able to do the Summer Count this month, even though the weather was not quite perfect with a couple of light showers. Not enough to get wet in, but enough to be annoying. What was interesting was that there were no Terns or Raptors sighted during the day.

1,693 birds of 13 Species were recorded for the count.

Species recorded - Silver Gull, Bar-tailed Godwit, Australian Pelican, Striated Heron, Masked Lapwing, White-faced Heron, Lesser Sand Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Eastern Curlew, Great Knot, Red-capped Plover, Red-necked Stint, Pied Oystercatcher.

Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)

Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)

Striated Heron (Butorides striatus)

What may have been silt from the recent flooding was seen in a few patches on the wader flats.