Yesterday afternoon I went out to Inskip Point with a couple of friends to do a count of the shorebirds and seabirds. There are always quite large numbers of Terns but if you want a full count of terns you must be there as they fly in at dusk. Even then many of them can still be heard coming in after dark when it is impossible to count numbers any more. We did not count as many as we expected to as there were storms all around and we left early.
I saw the most exciting birds for the evening right at the edge of the road as it goes out on to the sand. There were three Beach Stone-curlews (Esacus neglectus). This bird is listed as vulnerable in Queensland and in many places it is only just surviving. There have been two of these birds at Inskip for quite a few years but it was quite unexpected to see three of them. I have taken better photos of these birds when it was bright and sunny but I was delighted to get any sort of photo last night in poor light - and all three birds in the one photo!
24 comments:
What luck for you to see these vulnerable birds during your count. These Beach Stone-curlews are cool looking. Great sighting and photos.
Beautiful birds and a lovely sunset...
I've seen these birds at 1770 as well. Must have been a great feeling to spot a couple on your afternoon watch. Love the shot of them too...all three together an added bonus.
I can imagine how thrilled you were to see three together. Let's hope they manage to breed and build up the numbers.
glad you got those photos and the birds seem to be increasing. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River.
Seems as though the storms brings in some interesting bird life. Excellent shots and considering the fading light, brilliant!
neat looking birds. :)
Lovely sunset and a great shot of the trio!
Mick, nice capture! Interesting looking birds
Always good to see a scarce bird; better to see three, and get pictures. Nice one Mick. Let's hope their numbers can increase.
Oh how I miss the sea, and your pictures in the previous post make it worse:-)
So lovely.
I'm glad for you that you encountered these birds.
Hi there - nice shots of a great bird - I've only seen them on the the other coast - all the way over in Broome!
Cheers - Stewart M
What a great collection of (very relaxed) stone-curlews. I've only ever seen them from a great distance. Lucky thing!
To capture the three of them together in one photo is wonderful. Great post Mick!
Wonderful to see these birds! And to see more than it was thought there were! I so hope the count keeps increasing; they are beautiful birds. And probably needless to say, one I'd not heard of before. Thank you for sharing your find!
it is moments like that that maked birding so fun. You can be happy for that moment for a long time. I am glad you got some shots so you could share them. :)
What an exciting find! Congratulations.
I was looking to see the curved beak like the curlews of this continent..WOW these birds are very different..how exciting to capture these 3!!
Lovely photos!
What an interesting bird -- I've never heard of it before. It's quite beautiful, and such a large bill. Congrats on the find!
Hi there - thanks for having a look at my other blog - not sure what motivates people to start a blog - lots of different reasons I suppose. But I think you are on the money for at least part of the reason I started mine.
Cheers Stewart M
Excellent sighting Mick.
Sondra, congrats on seeing this group of rare birds, but sad too, that they are pushed to the edge in their survival.
Whoa, great catch!
I am glad there's three of them. Maybe there will be more in the future :)
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