Bymien Picnic Area

Last week I took visitors from New Zealand out to the Bymien Picnic Area. This place is about 3 kms down the Freshwater Road which is reached from the road to Rainbow Beach. There is a magnificent area of rainforest here with trails through the forest and signage at intervals along the trails naming and describing many of the rainforest species.

This is tropical rainforest so there are many beautiful palms through the forest.

All plants struggle to reach the light above the highest trees. The Strangler Fig starts as an epiphyte high in a host tree. The roots then start downwards and eventually completely cover and surround the host tree until it is dead and the Strangler Fig stands by itself.

I heard quite a number of birds in the forest but they were high in the canopy and impossible to photograph. As we sat eating our picnic lunch this Brush-turkey came and checked us out.

I thought it was being very obliging to sit down in the sun where I could get a good photo. I should have known better!

We were sitting and eating beside the picnic table. The bird first came and tried for crumbs in front of us - then it went away! The next thing I knew, it had flown onto the table where the rest of the food was sitting and picked up a pack of sandwiches. I chased after it but there was no way that bird was going to let me get near. I didn't want the sandwiches after the bird had taken them - but I didn't like the idea of the plastic wrapping being taken away!

For more scenery from around the world visit Our World Tuesday

and for more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday.

Inskip Point - 2

This post follows on from last week. I decided I couldn't adequately describe tiny birds of about 150mm (6 inches) - such as Stints -  and birds at least 10 times their size - Pelicans.
As I walked out onto the sand at the point I saw a group of pelicans and Terns right out on the end.

I looked over towards the sand island to see if there were large numbers of birds over there but again I saw mainly Pelicans at one end.

A little later I looked over again and there was another large group of Pelicans. From this view I could also see brown lines beside the Pelicans - shorebirds which were too far away for ID. (Click on photos to enlarge to see details.)

The Terns out at the end of the point were mainly Crested Terns looking rather scruffy in their non-breeding plumage. In this photo there is one Gull-billed Tern on the left and a Silver Gull in the rear at the right.

As well as the Crested Terns this photo has a Caspian Tern in the center (with the red bill) some Pied Cormorants, and more Silver Gulls. The Gull on the left next to the Cormorant is a juvenile still showing brown flecks on the plumage.

Suddenly all the Terns took flight - then slowly settled down again. At first I thought they had been frightened by the sail boat  which was beginning to move from where it had anchored over-night.

However, when I looked further to the left I saw that the Pelicans had been disturbed by the rising tide.

They had decided to move out to the little sand island where the Terns had been roosting. A bird of this size coming in to share your space means you must move!

Eventually the pelicans occupied all of one end of the little island.

For more scenery from around the world visit Our World Tuesday

and for more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday.

Inskip Point

Thanks to all who sent me good wishes on my last post. I appreciated all your kind thoughts!

Yesterday morning was beautiful and it was even more beautiful out at Inskip Point. The hint of frost on the dry grass in my yard was nowhere to be found out on the sea coast. It was sunny and very still - and because I was out early there were not too many people around to frighten off the birds.
As usual there were lots of boats around. This one looked as if it had been anchored on the other side of the sand island all night.

The Coast Guard boat was going out along the channel at quite a speed.

The barge to Fraser Island had already made one trip over to the island.

There was very still water over at Bullock Point and the barge and other boats anchored over there seemed to almost float on air.

As I walked out along the sand I only saw some pelicans and terns roosting right out at the end. However, a 4 wheel drive vehicle was going out towards the barge and it disturbed some little shorebirds that I had not even seen until they flew up. I watched carefully to see where they landed - it is a very big expanse of sand and these little birds have a habit of hiding down in car wheel marks.
At first the only ones I saw were Double Banded Plovers that are getting ready to migrate back to New Zealand at the end of our winter. Some were already showing quite a lot of breeding plumage.

A second vehicle going towards the barge made an even bigger flock of little shorebirds fly up and along the sand at the edge of the water. At this time of the year a flock like this will usually include Red-capped Plovers and Red-necked Stints as well as the Double-banded Plovers. They all seem to flock quite happily together and I have to look carefully to ID them all. Red-capped Plovers are year round residents in Australia. Red-necked Stints migrate to Siberia and northern Asia to breed in the northern summer. The ones here now will be juveniles not yet old enough to migrate.

The birds in the front of this photo are all Double-banded Plovers. There are 3 Red-necked Stints out of focus in the middle back.

 Two Double-banded Plovers in the front of this photo and two Red-necked Stints behind them.

Another two Double-banded Plovers and two Red-capped plovers with them - a male and a female.

Walking back to the car park it was not quite 8:30am and the sun was still low enough to wash the sea with silver and to turn the fisherman at the edge of the channel into a silhouette.

For more scenery from around the world visit Our World Tuesday

and for more birds visit Wild Bird Wednesday