Inskip Point

All set to go kayaking. Good tide early morning, only one problem, the wind was blowing a gale. Plan B, go for a drive instead to Inskip Point to see what birds were around.

Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)

Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii)

Little Tern (Sternula albifrons)

 Not very often you get a clear photo showing different species nicely lined up, in this case four terns.

 Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) 

Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae)

Great Knot

Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris)

 A large flock of Pelicans and Godwits were on the little sand island out from the point.

Australian Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longiristris)

Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus)

Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis)

For more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday

Waders at Inskip Point

After all the wet weather we have been having recently, it was good to have clearer skies. This gave us an opportunity to get out and catch up with Mick again at Inskip Point to see the waders before they leave us on their Northern migration. We were not to be disappointed. Many were well into the early stages of their breeding plumage.  

 Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)

 Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris)

 

 Bar-tailed Godwit  - Great Knot 

Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)

The Bar-tailed Godwit above and Beach Stone-curlew below were taken the following weekend during an outing to Inskip with some Birds Queensland members. One member really wanted to see  a Beach Stone-curlew. 

 Beach Stone-curlew (Esacus neglectus)

 Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis)

Bar-tailed Godwit

 It is amazing just how long the bill is on the Eastern Curlew.

Part of the mixed flock.

Two of the four Dolphins we saw.

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.

Wader Count Time Again

After having a month of not counting waders it was hard to get back into the swing of things. Because it is Winter, we were not expecting many birds, but were surprised to see so many at Norman Point with 10 species for a total of 330 birds. We have only ever recorded Great Knot at Norman Point once before in June 1998. When we went to our second site at Mullen's we only got 11 species for a total of 131 birds.

Some of the 280 Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)

Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia) 

Gull-billed Tern (Sterna nilotica) Bar-tailed Godwit & Great Knot

Can you find the Great Knot among the Bar-tailed Godwit ?   

It was interesting to see just how many Bar-tailed Godwit and Great Knot still have breeding colour on them.

Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris) & Bar-tailed Godwit.

Waders at Inskip Part 2

As you can see by these photos, there were a lot of Waders showing breeding colour. What surprises me is the number of Curlew Sandpiper with varying stages of colour on them. At the time we thought maybe only a couple had colour, but after going through all the photos taken on the day there were a lot more than we thought. The smallest waders are the Curlew Sandpiper in amongst the Great Knot, with Bar-tailed Godwit at the back. The second photo is a cropped version of the first.

Curlew Sandpiper

Great Knot

Bar-tailed Godwit

The Red-necked Stint and other small waders like to use the tracks left by 4WD vehicles going over to Fraser Island as a wind break.

Red-necked Stint

As it was very early in the morning we were the only one's around, and the vehicle traffic had not started yet, so we were able to get quite close to the birds without disturbing them.

4WD Track

Knee Shuffle Track

How to get nearer to the birds without disturbing them is to get closer to the ground, the lower you are the better. One way is to hop onto your knees and shuffle along very slowly.

Sit and Shuffle Track

Or if in my case if you are a bit taller and may frighten the birds, to sit and shuffle along. After a while we were able to stand up and the birds did not seem to mind our presence as they did not fly away.

Waders at Inskip

After receiving a phone call from Mick to tell us about all the waders at Inskip Point on Wednesday afternoon, it was decided that Thursday's high tide at 6 in the morning would be a good time to meet up and check what was out there. Most were in various stages of breeding plumage.

Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis)

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)

Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris)

Bar-tailed Godwit

Great Knot

Bar-tailed Godwit

Great Knot

Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)

The deciding factor for our early morning start, leaving in the dark, was Mick's report of a Curlew Sandpiper in breeding plumage. But trying to find such a small bird in a flock of over 4000 mixed waders was easier said than done. After much waiting and patience it finally paid off, and we managed to get quite a few Curlew Sandpiper in different stages of breeding plumage. We even managed to see the red starting to show on the front of the Red-necked Stint.

Bar-tailed Godwit

Great Knot

Curlew Sandpiper (Front)

Little Tern (Sterna albifrons)

Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus)

Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis)

Thanks Mick for the great morning out, without you we would not have been able to have a chance of seeing a Curlew Sandpiper with breeding plumage.