Early Morning on the Bay

Early morning on the bay is a particularly beautiful time of the day. As the sun comes up everything is tinted silver. With the tide half out and the sand flats exposed every little puddle becomes a silver mirror. This is how the bay looked the other morning.

Cooloola Cove end of the Tin Can Bay Inlet - looking north
Cooloola Cove end of the Tin Can Bay Inlet- looking south

This gum tree was hanging down over the sand. It's roots had been partly loosened by storms this last winter which cut soil away from the shoreline. As I watched a group of little birds flew hurriedly out from among the flowers. They sat on another tree a few metres away and chattered noisily for a few minutes then flew back in among the flowers. Then again they all flew quickly off. This time I saw that there was something bigger in the tree which was scaring the smaller birds. I watched and finally saw that a couple of Noisy Friarbirds were also enjoying the flowers but when the little birds – Brown Honeyeaters – came too close they were chasing them off. I had not seen Noisy Friarbirds do this before, but in my garden they are better matched for size and apparently aggression with the Blue-faced Honeyeaters and Rainbow Lorikeets.

Noisy FriarbirdBrown Honeyeater

Crested Terns

I found it a daunting experience when I was first confronted with a flock of several thousand terns. Nearly three years later and it is even more frustrating since I am now aware of how much I still don't know! I am learning! But I wish it could be faster!

I am greatly indebted to Jill Dening from the Sunshine Coast. First she let me join her group which was surveying all shorebirds and seabirds on the Noosa River sandbanks. Then she is a great teacher and extremely patient with questions which have to be asked and answered a number of times. The other members of the group, who are all more experienced than I am, have also been a great help.

This post is just about Crested Terns. It is an attempt to give some idea of the sequence of moult throughout the year. I will not include photos from every month but enough to show the changes in plumage throughout the year.

January: the first bird is in breeding plumage. The next is a juvenile which appears to have been born very late in the previous season.

February: An adult still in breeding plumage with a juvenile and next a juvenile and an adult going out of breeding plumage.
April: A juvenile begging for food from an adult. There are always a few juveniles that continue to beg from an adult (presumably a parent) long after they have come here from the islands where they are born. They are well able to look after themselves and Jill says that she has never seen one actually being fed.
June: First an adult well into non-breeding plumage and next two juveniles from the last breeding season.
August: An adult about to go into breeding plumage.
October: Adults in breeding plumage. The second photo shows the birds strutting around and displaying their plumage.
November: An adult on the left but not in breeding plumage and a juvenile from the previous season.

Down the Pathways of the Sky

Down the 'pathways of the sky' from Alaska to Inskip Point. A newly arrived flock of Bar-tailed Godwits rest on a sandbank at high tide.

On the other end of the sand bank there were also small numbers of Eastern Curlews, Grey-tailed Tattlers and Great Knots with the Godwits.Visit SWF today

A Celebration for the Birds

This is a great time of year. The migratory shorebirds are all returning. I know that I posted about the first ones I saw about a week ago but it seems to me that listing the new birds I see is not enough to celebrate their accomplishment. Each year this bird marathon takes place. They start off from different places in different countries and join in a flight down here to Australia. So here's to you bird athletes! I applaud your abilities and your accomplishments!All winter long the bays and sand banks have been empty but now there are scattered groups and long lines of birds standing together at high tide. Some are so hungry that they continue to hunt for food on the edge of the salt marsh as the tide comes in. Some stand at the edge of the bay, and some stand right out in the water and must retreat with the rising tide. All are a little restless as if they can't quite take in that this is journey's end and they are safe. Later on I will be able to approach quite closely without them doing more than blink a sleepy eye at me but for now I will stay well back and let them learn to relax in the safety of this bay.
All the birds are champions, but for me some merit special attention for their accomplishments. I always look first for the Bar-tailed Godwits. Maybe this is because my father showed me these birds when I was very young. Even he, however, could not have realized how remarkable their migration really was since it was only last year that satelite tracking proved their non-stop flight of approximately 12,000 kms from Alaska to eastern Australia or New Zealand.
The largest – the Eastern Curlew are hard to miss especially since their cries alert all the other birds to the presence of the bird watcher. The small ones such as the Lesser Sand Plover, and the Red-necked Stint settle down among the salt marsh plants and make it very hard to get good photos of them. However, this is becoming a list again so I shall just say: Welcome back shorebirds! You give me pleasure just by being here.

Backyard Visitor

This beautiful Red-winged Parrot (a female or a juvenile - not sure which) came into my yard yesterday afternoon. It really made my day because I have only seen one other like this and that was about a year ago and only brief glimpses then. I don't know how common they are here but for me it was great to get good views and to take a number of photos.

Sun, Sand and Sea

Inskip Point was beautiful today - as it usually is! I was out there at low tide so the bay which is south of the Point was mostly sand flats rather than water.
The extensive sand flats are ideal for shorebirds hunting food at low tide. Terns roost out on the sand flats as far from disturbance as possible. I saw a small flock of Crested Terns there today. Most still look rather 'scruffy' in their non-breeding plumage. It will be a few weeks yet before they display their full breeding plumage.

There is a very narrow neck of land between the top of the bay and the open ocean. From the open ocean side there is a great view south towards Rainbow Beach. The name - Rainbow Beach - was given because of the colored sand in the cliffs south of town which stretch left in the photo.

Visit SWF today.

They're Back!

Yesterday I went out to do the monthly count of the site at Crab Creek for the Queensland Wader Study Group. I was expecting the same small winter count that I have had now for several months – a few Red-capped Plovers and Pied Oystercatchers and not much more. BUT instead the migratory waders are back! I guess I should say that very small numbers of waders were there but it's a promise that the big flocks of summer migrants are on their way. Winter is almost over!

First a little about the site. This site is only accessible by water so I kayak over to it to do the count. Crab Creek is at the southern end of the town of Tin Can Bay. The creek is bordered by mangroves which make an almost solid wall on both sides. On the south side of the creek behind the mangroves the area opens out into a large shallow area of water and then behind this again an area of sandbanks and saltmarsh. During the winter the site is seldom used by migratory waders but in the summer we have counted over a thousand birds here. Right now the saltmarsh plants look dark and dried up. (This is where Red-capped Plover are usually seen.) The only ones showing any color are the Suaeda Australis. (I hope this name is right – this is how it has been identified for me.)

Yesterday the first indication I had that there were waders was the sound of Eastern Curlew. They were well hidden on a sandbank among some small mangroves. I did not want to disturb them so did not go too close but unfortunately one sighted me and then they were all off.

There was a small group of Bar-tailed Godwit which were sleeping and didn't disturb.

Pacific Golden Plover looked at me but stayed where they were. One still had splotchy black patches – the remnants of breeding plumage.

Whimbrel were further back and too far for good photos. I also saw Red-capped Plover, Pied Oystercatchers, Masked Lapwing, White Ibis, Little Pied Cormorant, and a Little Egret. To make a great finish to the day this Osprey was sitting on a dead branch next to a nest. I could not see anything in the nest but I do not think that the gentle noises the bird was making were for my benefit!