Boonooroo

We recently visited Boonooroo which is located on the shores of the Great Sandy Strait, with views to Fraser Island.  Boonooroo is a great place to see waders, one of the few places where you can drive down the road to the waters edge, hop out of the car, and see all the waders up close.

Click on photos.

 Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Red-kneed Dotterel (Erythrogonys cinctus)

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)

 Australian Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)

and other waders.

 Red-kneed Dotterel

 Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis)

 Black-winged Stilt

 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata)

Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)

Black-winged Stilt

Eastern Curlew

Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva)

 

 Red-kneed Dotterel

Brumbies seen on the way to Boonooroo.

For more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday.

Silver Gull & Black-winged Stilt.

Stradbroke Island again. This time the weather was less than perfect, this Silver Gull must not have much feeling in it's legs as the water was quite cold.

Click on photos to enlarge

Silver Gull (Larus novaehollandiae)

But more like our "Sunny Queensland" the last day was perfect. Near the end of the final beach survey for this trip as we approached the Jumpinpin Bar, we came across this trio of Juvenile Black-winged Stilt. They did not seem to take much notice of the 4wds going past, for as I was taking the photos a couple of vehicles went between us and the birds, but they stayed for more photos.

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Not sure if they were blown off course during the bad weather the day before as we had not seen them over the previous three days.

Koala (Phaskolarctos cinereus)

The couple of time I have been over to Straddie I have seen the signs saying about Koala's in the area but have not had the time to go and look for them, not that this time was any different. As we walked down a track to the beach one of the locals who came down to walk his dog asked us if we saw the Koala in the tree and he pointed it out to us.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus)

I always find it interesting to watch kangaroo's when they are on the beach as I am not used to seeing them there, being more likely to see them in a paddock somewhere. These ones were picking at the seagrass that had been washed up during the high tide.

During one of our trips down the beach we watched this rainbow.

New Roost Site Carlo Island Complex

What a way to spend the morning, checking out a new roost site. As with any new area you don't know what to expect. Take these Black-winged Stilt for example, we have only ever found them before at the local sewage ponds.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Thank you Mick for allowing me to use your photo of these Black-winged Stilt in flight, hope you enjoyed the morning as much as we did.

The smaller birds here allowed us to get very close to them, unlike the Eastern Curlew and Godwits.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata)

Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis)

Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus)

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)

Black-winged Stilt 7, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper 6, Red-necked Stint 300, Red-capped Plover 80, Bar-tailed Godwit 206, Eastern Curlew 350, Little Egret 1, Intermediate Egret 25, Whistling Kite 1, Brahminy Kite 2.

Crab & Whelk
Just to show it is not all about birds.
For views and story about our morning out at this roost site go to Mick's blog

Black-winged Stilt and Royal Spoonbill

A visit to the local sewage ponds is one of the few places where Black-winged Stilt and Royal Spoonbill can be found on a regular basis. During our last bird count at this site we had 11 species of birds - Pacific Black Duck, Grey Teal, Chestnut Teal, Little Black Cormorant, Cattle Egret, Australian White Ibis, Royal Spoonbill, Purple Swamphen, Black-winged Stilt, Black-fronted Dotterel and Masked Lapwing.

Click on photos to enlarge

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Black-winged Stilt and Royal Spoonbill

Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia)

Black-winged Stilt, Royal Spoonbill and Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca)

Coastal Outing

A very busy June long weekend saw us traveling from Beach to Bush in search of birds. (For Saturday, see Cotton Tree Post.)

Click on photos to enlarge

Sunday Norman Point Tin Can Bay
9 Pied Oystercatchers along with 17 Eastern Curlew.

Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)

Then to the local Sewage Works, one of our wader counting sites.
Their redevelopment will see the creation of a series of ponds specifically for wader and wetland birds. Many bush bird species may also be found here.

Forest Kingfisher (Todiramphus macleayii)

Grey Fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa)

Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata)

Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena)

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

After finishing at the Sewage Works, Mick joined us for a visit to Seary's Creek where the Melaleucas were in full flower with plenty of Scarlet Honeyeaters and others feeding on these.

Scarlet Honeyeater (Myzomela sanguinolenta)

Then onto Bullock Point for a quick look around where this Silvereye was part of a large flock passing through. Also at this site were White-eared Monarch, Varied Triller, Eastern Yellow Robin, and Shining Bronze Cuckoo among others.

Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)

Seary's Creek.

(For Monday, see Mixed Birds Post.) Thanks Mick for sharing the afternoon with us.