Waders ready to leave.

Almost time to wave our waders goodbye as they head off to their breeding grounds. The Pacific Golden Plover were showing off their beautiful colours.

Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva)

Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus)

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)

For more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday.

Kayak Mullens

What a great day to be on the water, with a friend to share the time with. And the birds were pretty good too, at least 1800.

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)

Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii)

Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus)

Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus)

For more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday.

Wader Time Again.

I think this is the first time I have come across a Buff-banded Rail in a tree, every other time they have been on the ground heading for cover.

Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis)

Mangrove Honeyeater (Lichenostomus fasciogularis)

It was a very hot day, and the Mangrove Honeyeaters found some water under one of the picnic tables to drink and have a bath to cool down.

Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus)

 & Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii)

 

 Lesser Sand Plover & Little Tern (Sternula albifrons)

Interesting to see the size difference between the different species.

 Lesser Sand Plover & Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis)

Lesser Sand Plover

Little Tern

Mixed Waders

Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus)

For more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday.

More than just Waders.

We woke to a heavy fog with the weather forecast for showers, so were not quite sure what to expect for our wader count. As we got closer to the coast, the weather did not look like it was going to rain anytime soon though. Not long after we arrived at Norman Point to start the count this Black-necked Stork flew overhead. There were not many birds here this day as there was a person fishing where the birds would normally be resting.

 Black-necked Stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus)

Bush Stone-curlew (Burhinus grallarius)

The Bush Stone-curlew are often seen on the Golf Course at Tin Can Bay. We counted six on this day.

 

 

 Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus)

There was some good breeding colour on the Lesser Sand Plover at the Mullen's roost site.

 Mixed Waders 

 Rufous Whistler (Pachycephala rufiventris)(Male)

 On the walk up to the Mullen's roost site the bush birds were very active.

 Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus)

White-breasted Woodswallow (Artamus leucorynchus)

at Norman Point, as well as fishermen.

One of the reasons there were no waders or other seabirds at this site, not one Silver Gull to be seen even with his bait bucket all alone.

 Should have taken the kayak with us, the water was so calm and the reflections were amazing.

 For more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday

Osprey & Waders

In the right place at the right time to see this Osprey catch a fish and then take off with it, while we were with a group of birdwatchers showing them the waders before they head off to the Northern Hemisphere to breed.

Click on photos to enlarge.

 

Eastern Osprey (Pandion cristatus)

Some of the waders we saw were Great Knot & Bar-tailed Godwit, all showing beautiful colour.

 Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris) 

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)

Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis)

Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus)

Gull-billed Tern (Sterna nilotica)

Also showing lots of colour were the Lesser Sand Plover & the Red-necked Stint.

Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus)

 For more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday.

Lesser Sand Plover

The Lesser Sand Plover are getting ready to leave our shores for their northern migration and are showing lots of beautiful colour. So when we next count this site the numbers of birds and species should be well down. Overall count for this day was 15 species 1650 birds.

Click on photos to enlarge

Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus) Little tern (Sterna albifrons)

Lesser Sand Plover & Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)

Lesser Sand Plover, Little Tern & Grey-tailed Tattler (Heteroscelus brevipes)

Decided not to kayak this time due to strong winds. With plenty of runoff from the creeks because of the heavy rain we have had the water was coloured tannin instead of clear as it normally is. Usually there is at least a metre of sand on the walk up to the wader site, but with the weather the way it was strong winds were pushing the waves up to the edge.

The Samphire looks a lot healthier now that we have had lots of rain.