What a difference...

...a day makes! Yesterday was overcast and light rain kept falling. When I went for a walk to the Mullens bird roost it was difficult to even see the birds. There was quite a large flock of Godwits in the distance but the photos I took were almost gray - like the day! This photo looked better in 'grayscale' rather than in a washed-out color. (All photos enlarge when clicked on.)
Today was bright and sunny, which was lucky as it was the day for the QWSG shorebird count and I have to kayak over to the site I count.
I saw two Little Egrets roosting in mangrove trees. They prefer mangroves with open branches low down so they can sit and watch for whatever might be coming. This one let me kayak quite close without moving at all.
There were quite large flocks of Eastern Curlew, Whimbrel, and Godwits on the sandbank that the birds use on tide heights like this morning. There is a lot of vegetation on the sandbank so the birds are not easy to see. When I focused in on the Godwits I also saw a flock of smaller birds - Great Knot. I have not seen flocks of Great Knots on this roost before so I am wondering if this is just a flock passing through on their way to somewhere south of here. It will be interesting to see if they are there next time I go over to the roost in a couple of weeks time.
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Shorebirds at Mullens

It was an absolutely perfect morning with quite a high tide so I decided to kayak around to the Mullens shorebirds roost. The birds were standing at the edge of the water in several places around the bay but none of them settled for long. I could not get close to any of them although I could not see what was making them fly off. When I first got there they were spread out at the northern end of the site which is not the place they usually prefer. Then they flew off to the southern end and then came back again later. None of these photos show any detail on the birds but rather show the kind of habitat they prefer in this area. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Part of the flock at the northern end of the bay.
Mainly Gull-billed Terns and Eastern Curlews in silhouette against the light.
Part of the flock of Gull-billed Terns - quite a large number since breeding inland earlier this year.
Pacific Golden Plover - very difficult to see among the saltmarsh plants. These and the other smaller waders just disappear among the plants when disturbed.
Flying Past.
Spread out on the south-west of the bay.