Fraser Island

The other day I had a trip over to Fraser Island. (For the benefit of overseas readers Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and is World Heritage listed.) I frequently go to Inskip Point and look across the channel at Fraser Island but had never been across there before.
A number of times while observing and photographing the shorebirds at Inskip I have seen flocks of birds, which have been disturbed by boats, or people, heading north-east across the channel to Fraser Island. I had been told that birds roosted at Hook Point and I wondered if this was where the shorebirds went when disturbed at Inskip Point.
I wouldn't have managed any part of this trip without the help and advice of DERM (Department of Environment and Resource Management) and QPWS (Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service) personnel. Moyra is involved in the management strategy for shorebirds in the Sandy Strait and she arranged for Ivan - who has an enormous amount of knowledge about the island and its wildlife - to meet us over there. Thanks to both!
We took the barge from Inskip Point to the island. This photo looks back to Inskip Point where I usually stand and watch the barges!
Although we still had about 2 hours to go until high tide it was impossible to drive north on the beach. There just wasn't enough beach left out of the water! (btw I was very glad that I didn't have to do the driving as I have no experience with 4 wheel drives - and I am now not at all sure that I want it! Most of it was fun but some of it was a bit "dicey"! Moyra did a great job at all this!) The inland route is well graveled but extremely corrugated. These two photos were taken through the front window of the vehicle.
Ivan advised us how to access part of the beach north of Hook Point where there was a good wide stretch of beach well above the high tide mark for the day.
He also suggested that we drive north to where he had frequently seen birds roosting along the edge of the beach. The first birds that we came to were a small (100-200) flock of terns and a smaller flock of shorebirds. We parked well away so we didn't disturb them and then I went closer with binoculars and camera to get a better look. The shorebirds were Grey Plovers - just over 50 of them. I have never seen flocks of these birds on any roosts in the Strait. These ones were standing just out of reach of the breaking waves and just over a lip of sand which made them hard to see and photograph. Some of the birds still had dark patches of breeding plumage visible on their white fronts.
We drove north again but apart from flocks of thousands of terns we saw no more shorebirds. Then we headed south right down to Hook Point and again all we saw were terns - and one or two Whimbrels.
Part of a flock of terns- looking across the channel to the Inskip Point camp ground.
Looking south to the colored sand cliffs south of Rainbow Beach and Double Island Point in the distance.

So I am left with more questions than answers. Where do the shorebirds go when I have seen them flying off from Inskip Point? Do they only roost in the Hook Point area when there is absolutely nowhere else for them to go? It is very open and not the kind of place where shorebirds prefer to roost.
Of course Fraser Island is also known for being home to numbers of dingoes. I was so intent on looking for birds that I didn't even try to see a dingo. We had stopped both vehicles and were having a final consultation when a dingo walked out of the bush right beside us! Then it strolled across the road and sat down in the bush just across from us and watched us. Where's my camera? Grab it! Quick take a photo even though it's not the right lens. Do I have enough time to put the long lens on the camera again? The dingo stayed put and I got my photo!
For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography Weekly.

Returning Migrants

When I went out to Inskip Point last Thursday morning there were still no large flocks of returning migrant shorebirds. However, there were small numbers of shorebirds that would definitely be interesting to photograph. The birds were having a hard time. First there were fishermen very close in to the sand island and all the birds flew up in alarm from there. Some of them came in and roosted on the end of the point where the traffic drives out to take the car ferry to Fraser island. However, once again they were sent flying by a tourist vehicle that decided it wanted to stop right in among the roosting birds! This was the result! All photos enlarge when clicked on. Some of the birds eventually settled down again on the sand. Most were Crested Terns but sheltering in behind them was a small flock of mixed shorebirds that I decided would definitely be interesting to photograph.I first sorted out which were Bar-tailed Godwits and tried to see if there were any still showing signs of breeding plumage - which would definitely indicate they were returning migrants. Even the Godwits present some challenges for ID when there is often a huge difference in size between the large females and the much smaller males. The females also have a much longer bill than the males.The next birds that caught my eye were Plovers still in almost full breeding plumage. I focused in on them and tried to get good photos for ID. At first I thought I was looking at Pacific Golden Plovers - which are the most common of the Plovers around here. However, these ones did not have any hint of gold about the plumage and the edges of the feathers were white tipped instead of cream/buff. Also they looked considerably bigger standing next to the Godwits. I realized these were Grey Plovers (Pluvialis squatarola). We never see Grey Plovers further up the bay.
There were still smaller birds to ID and these looked like Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris). However, looking closer I also saw a Red Knot (Calidris canutus). This bird is easy to ID when it has some of the red breeding color still showing! Also it is a slightly smaller bird and its bill is shorter. One of the Great Knot had flags on its right leg and a metal band on its left. I have sent off details of this bird and hope to hear back eventually just where it was flagged and banded.For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography Weekly.