Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Double Island Point

My recent holidays with my son who was visiting from Seattle included a trip down through the Great Sandy National Park to Double Island Point. This is only possible with a 4 wheel drive vehicle and I am very grateful to my friends Sarah and Graham for taking us. I posted about my first trip down that way with these friends back in May and June (here and here and here!) We went down this time by the same track and saw many of the same things but this time I will only write about Double Island Point. This time we took the Leisha Track to the north side of the Point. Leisha Track is a short cut between Teewah and Rainbow Beaches. We came out onto the beach where there is a large lagoon. This is the result of a wash-out by the sea some years ago and movement of the sand and water since then.
Looking east along the Point.

Looking north along Rainbow Beach. The colored sands in the cliffs are what gave Rainbow Beach its name.

These kite surfers were making good use of the wind and the calmer conditions on the lagoon.

Then it was back across the track to the south side of the point and the waves were perfect for a swim in the surf - which we all enjoyed!

After that the others took off up that very steep path to visit the lighthouse on the top of the Point. I had made the effort to get up there last time and decided this time that I would much rather stay at the bottom and enjoy the surf again. However, there was a bird! So I raced up to the car and got my camera and took photos instead!
This is an Eastern Reef Egret (Ardea sacra). They can be either white or slate grey. I have only once seen one inside the bay area as that is not their preferred habitat. This one had apparently become used to people as it was not at all worried about me slowly getting closer and pointing a camera at it! Eventually I saw it snatch something out of the water but I was not quick enough to get good photos of its catch.



Soon after the Egret had made its catch this Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) came swimming over to investigate. The Egret was not at all sure that it welcomed this intruder and it quickly moved out of reach. However, it soon appeared that the Cormorant simply wanted to stand and dry off so they both settled down quite close together.




Next week I'll be back to posting about the birds closer to home! You can't have holidays all the time!!
For more scenery from around the world visit Our World Tuesday
and for more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday.

26 comments:

  1. What a beautiful beach and I love the last photo of the two birds.

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  2. Oh, yes, I love your beach captures, too! Such a lovely place! Your birds are always a delight and these two do seem to be having a wonderful day!! Thanks for sharing, Mick, sounds as though you've had a great trip!

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  3. Birds and beach ~ very beautiful photography ~ and what an exciting visit ~ thanks, carol ^_^

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  4. What a wonderful trip! The beach scenery is gorgeous. I like watching the kite surfers. Awesome shots of the Egret and the Cormorant. Great post, have a happy week!

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  5. Wow - an egret AND a cormorant. Fabulous shots.

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  6. Superb shots of the egret Mick. I saw Western Reef Heron in Egypt and it sure looked exactly like yours so i guess the two are very closely related. Love that name of Rainbow Beach.

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  7. Excellent....both the surf/seaside beaches...AND the birds. I especially enjoyed the close up of the cormorant's blue eye!!

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  8. I just want to jump into the photo for a swim!! I like the cormorant in the water shot, maybe because I was thinking about the swimming...

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  9. interesting place and fine birds. I saw the egret in Sweden for the first time this week. It is rare but there are a few each year.

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  10. Holidays all the time sound good to me!

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  11. Nice photos. I love the pair together doing their own thing.

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  12. Great photos...it is always special to see two different species in the same space like this...Lovely photos, what a gorgeous beach!

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  13. A beautiful beach and a lovely series of images! Pays to always have that camera close.
    I do hope your son enjoyed his visit.

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  14. Terrific captures! Love the Cormorant wing spread!

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  15. a nice journey Mick and I loved seeing your waders out there; you got great photos of them too

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  16. Sounded like a fun trip. On our local lake in Florida, the egrets follow the cormorants around the edge of the lake to take some of the fish that are frightened towards shore.

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  17. Looks like a wonderful time! The egret and the cormorant are a cute pair.

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  18. You can't have holidays ALL the time? No fair!!

    Lucky you to have found an egret not afraid of people. Excellent photos.

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  19. Both birds in one shot - cool! Rainbow Beach is really beautiful.

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  20. That's a beautiful beach, Mick! Wonderful photographs of the Reef Egret and Cormorant. Have a safe trip home.

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  21. Beautifull beach and birds,
    .
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    Have a nice day Greeting from Belgium
    Blog seniorennet.Be Louisette Blog

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  22. Great set of pictures - the eye colour of the cormorant is wonderful.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne.

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