Beach Stone-curlews

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

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!

Pairs wait to be Photographed

I very seldom find birds resting in a position that is good for photographs! However, these Beach Stone-curlews (Esacus magnirostris) were standing right out at the end of the bush track at Inskip Point overlooking the water. The large trees behind them have been under-cut by high tides last season and it is possible that the trees still standing will go in the next lot of high tides and high winds. When I finished taking photos I backed off slowly and the birds walked towards me until they reached a very thick piece of undegrowth and then they disappeared very quickly.
Out at the water's edge I saw a Whistling Kite (Milvus sphenurus) wheeling overhead. I was following it with the camera when I realized that there were two birds in the frame. Unfortunately I wasn't quite fast enough to change the focus and the bird on the right is slightly out of focus. However, I did get some good photos of one bird right overhead where I could see the beautiful patterns on the under wings.
For more bird photographs visit the Bird Photography Weekly.

Who was it that said "...To err is human..." ? Denis pointed out that I had made a major error in naming a Whistling Kite an Osprey. I have now corrected the blog above to name the bird correctly. Thanks Denis! In future I will double check!

Beach Stone-Curlew

The other day while I was out at Inskip Point the resident pair of Beach Stone-Curlew (Esacus neglectus) walked out of the bush and out onto the sand. Although I go out to Inskip quite often it is some time since I have seen these birds. They are listed as 'vulnerable' in Queensland and 'threatened' in New South Wales. Since they are said to occur on undisturbed beaches it always amazes me that this pair stays at Inskip which is certainly neither quiet nor undisturbed. The Queensland Government web site says that they "...are threatened by loss of habitat and pollution due to residential and industrial development. Feral cats, dogs and pigs are also a threat due to predation of adults, chicks and eggs. Boats, off-road vehicles and beach-combing can also severely impact on the natural behaviour of beach stone-curlews." There is not a lot of habitat at Inskip for them, dogs are allowed at Inskip if kept on leashes, and there are certainly any number of vehicles driving all over the beach - yet this pair has lived there for a number of years and a couple of years ago even raised a young one.
The birds were some distance away when I first saw them walk out on the sand.I walked along the side of the beach and they let me approach quite closely without being disturbed. They are quite large birds (56cm). A little Willie Wagtail flew out onto the sand beside them and although I was not quick enough to get a full photo of it this clipped photo gives an idea of the size difference.For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography Weekly.

Beach Stone-curlews

I went out to Inskip Point yesterday and walked through the bush track out to the end of the point. There were the usual interesting numbers of birds there - including a good view of 3 or 4 Black-breasted Button-quail. Like all quail they are great at hiding in even the smallest clump of grass and I was not fast enough with the camera to get any good photos.
When I came out to the sand area at the end of the track I could hear a bird calling from somewhere out ahead of me. It took me a few minutes to spot 3 Beach Stone-curlews taking cover underneath a large tree stump that has come in on the recent high tides. I had seen photos taken a few weeks ago of a juvenile with the resident pair. I was not sure until I got home and put the photos up on the computer if the plumage would still identify the juvenile, but it is still clearly evident. I can't find any reference in my books telling me how long the juveniles retain this distinctive plumage.
I took the photos I wanted and moved back without disturbing the birds too far from the tree stump. I walked around out there for a little while and when I went back towards the bush the birds had still not moved from the tree stump although they were still calling. When I looked up into the trees at the edge of the sand this White-breasted Sea-Eagle was sitting and watching. It was not at all worried about me walking around underneath and let me get right under the tree to take photos. Was this why the curlews were sheltering under the tree stump out on the sand? I would have thought they would be too large for the eagle to touch but I know that lots of shorebirds will disturb as soon as the shadow of a raptor passes over them - regardless of what the raptor may be.

Noosa River Birding – July

Yesterday, I went down to the Noosa River to join the group doing the survey of the birds on the sandbanks at the mouth of the river (see the June 8 post). It was a bright sunny day but the breeze was a bit cold. We saw numbers of Crested Terns, plus over-wintering migratory waders in smaller numbers. Double-banded Plovers from New Zealand are showing some breeding plumage – but it will be darker before they fly back to New Zealand in a month or two.

However, the best sighting of the day was the Beach Stone-curlews. Last year at this time none of these birds had been seen on the Noosa River for some time. This bird is listed as ‘vulnerable’ under the Nature Conservation Act in Queensland, and 'threatened' in NSW. It was about three months after the Noosa Council closed access to one of the larger sand banks for the summer months that we first saw the birds sheltering on this sand bank under some she-oaks. This photo was taken at that time.

Since then we have seen these birds every time we have done a survey on this part of the river. They seem to be using this larger sand bank and also a much smaller one that has a small dense growth of trees and low growing vegetation where they can hide. We are hopeful that the birds will be here permanently and that they may even breed during the summer. The rest of the river is still being used by all the many people who enjoy the Noosa area. This was the photo I took yesterday with the birds sheltering in the shade of some trees.

Birds in the Bush and on the Beach

Yesterday, I joined 22 enthusiastic birders for a most enjoyable day of bird watching at three different places in my local area. First stop was the Seary's Creek Picnic Area on the Rainbow Beach Road, then on to Bullock Point boat launch just across from Inskip Point, and finally we spent most of the time at Inskip Point.

We had a great day and saw a total of 56 species of birds.

The best thing about the day was the large number of honeyeaters we saw around the winter flowering trees. The most frustrating thing was the speed at which these little birds moved! I took so many photos of “blurs” in the tops of the trees! However, I got a couple of photos of birds that have eluded me until now – a Little Shrike-thrush (the rufous form) and a Red-backed Wren. This latter photo is still not showing the head and front of the bird but considering the number of times I have only managed blurred images in the long grass I am quite pleased with this one.

Little Shrike-thrush

Red-backed Wren

At the end of the day, when we were all sitting around in our picnic chairs and enjoying a final “cuppa” (cup of tea or coffee for those not familiar with the Aussie habit of shortening words and phrases!) and having a talk about what we had seen, two Beach Stone-curlews walked out of the grass right next to us. I have seen these birds before around the Inskip area and it always amazes me that these rather shy birds have taken residence here. This time I got photos of the birds showing how close they are to the fishermen in their 4 wheel drive vehicles.

Inskip Point and Beach Stone-curlew

Of course we looked for Black-breasted Button-quail which are known to be in this area but all we saw were the scrapes (platelets) they had left. Possibly our lack of success was because of the size of our group and all our excited talking about the birds we were seeing!