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.