Crested Terns.

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

I went out to Inskip Point the other day but stopped first at Bullock Point.  This is south of Inskip and across Pelican Bay.  I was looking almost directly into the sun and Inskip Point was almost indistinguishable from Fraser Island directly behind it.  The only thing which really showed where the Point was were the glints of sunlight from the vehicles and the Barge out at the Point. ( All photos enlarge when clicked on. Then you can see the vehicles !)

There were very few shorebirds or sea-birds around that day.  The most interesting were a small group of Crested Terns (Sterna bergii) roosting at the edge of the water.  Crested Terns stay in this area all year round. The migratory terns have left for the northern hemisphere some time ago. I always think that Crested Terns look really 'scruffy' when they are out of breeding plumage and moulting all their feathers.  Their color is patchy and of course that crest on their heads is mostly gone.

The very white bird behind the Crested Terns is a Silver Gull.

The bird in the center of the photo is a young Tern.  It still has its juvenile plumage and was still making begging noises at one of the adults.

White-cheeked Honeyeaters

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

I stopped at the Seary's creek picnic area the other day.  It was a lovely warm afternoon and there were a couple of people swimming in the creek.  They said that there was a little bird nesting down close to the water on the far side of the creek. It was a great place for photos but none of the ones I took that afternoon were what I had hoped for.  However, it was worth an extra trip there the next day and this time I took my big lens and a good steady tripod.
Seary's Creek comes out of the Great Sandy National Park and eventually flows out into the bay.  The picnic area is about half way between Cooloola Cove and Rainbow Beach and has tables set out under the trees and a well-made board walk along a portion of the creek.  Like all the other streams that come out of this area the water is deeply stained with tannin from the vegetation in and around the creek.  With the sunlight on the water it is a deep red color.  However, with the light behind you it can also reflect the deep blue of the sky.

This photo shows the blue of the water and the bird's nest in the middle of the photo low down between the two trees.  It was well hidden in among the low growing bushes and reeds.

(I need to put a reminder here that I live in SE Queensland, Australia and  right now it is late autumn/early winter.  Night time temperatures have been around 10 degrees Celcius and day time temperatures about 25 degrees C.  This converts to 50 - 77 Fahrenheit.  Since living here I have had to remember that many or most of the bush birds breed and nest at this time of the year and NOT in the heat of spring/summer!)
The birds were White-cheeked Honeyeaters (Phylidonyris nigra).  When we first got there one of the adults was sitting on the nest but after a while it flew off and both adults started bringing in food to the young ones.  In the second photo the young birds show as just a blob of white in the bottom  of the nest.

The sun shining directly on the bird's feathers made the dark colors look more brown than black.  Both birds came in and perched on one of the branches above the nest before hopping quickly down to the nest itself.  At times they had a very good careful look over the creek to where I was standing.  

White-faced Heron

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

The light was beautiful down at the bay the other morning.  This photo was taken very close to where the last photo in the previous post was taken - but in such different light.

I saw a total of 4 Little Egrets...

...but didn't manage to get close to any of them.

I was almost back to the parking place again when I saw another bird standing very still in the water.

It flew off also but perched up in a tree close by and I could see it was a White-faced heron (Ardea novaehollandiae).

 

Light On The Bay

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

I enjoy walking along the bay down from the Mullens picnic area.  It's closer to my home than any other area of the bay and there is also a sandy edge for when the tide is well in.  I take more photos there than anywhere else because when I am there first thing in the morning the light is constantly changing.  Changing light changes one's perceptions of everything else as well.
This Little Egret was walking almost directly between me and the rising sun but only a minute later it had walked around me and looked quite different. 

This group of Pelicans were almost in silhouette when I first saw them. 

When they moved further along the bay their colors became visible. 

They were moving in what looked like a stately line along the bay but they must have been driving fish ahead of them because every now and again there would be splashes and flutters from part of the line as some of the birds competed to catch fish. 

 I think the most magical time on the bay is when rain showers are passing through.  Passing clouds change the sense of distance and objects on the far side of the bay are veiled.  This is the only time when I have not yet taken photos which catch the magic I see.  I keep trying!  These last two photos are the only ones I have done a little post processing on.  

Grey-tailed Tattlers

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

I went out to Inskip Point early on Friday morning to see whatever shorebirds were around.  There are always birds to see out there but if you want to see greater numbers then you have to be out there on a high tide and when there are few people around.  This means either early morning or last thing in the evening.  I was out there early morning before any 4 wheel drive vehicles had driven around on the sand and before any fishermen had walked around.  This photo is taken looking diagonally across the point to the car ferry which takes vehicles across to Fraser Island.  The birds were spread out all along the waterline on the south of the Point.

When I was out there a couple of weeks ago there were huge numbers of Bar-tailed Godwits - many of them in breeding plumage.  This time the Godwits had apparently left on migration because the ones I saw were in non-breeding plumage.  These were possibly young birds that will spend the winter here.  This time there were almost more Grey-tailed Tattlers than Godwits.  Grey-tailed Tattlers around here usually roost in mangrove trees.  This time they were standing on the sand in nearly full breeding plumage and looking very plump.  I had not previously photographed Tattlers with this amount of breeding plumage so I was anxious not to disturb the birds but to get as close as possible.  It takes lots of patience and very slow movements - sometimes standing still for several minutes before again slowly moving forward a few feet.  If you watch the birds closely you can see when they start getting agitated prior to them taking flight.  Then you stop and stand absolutely still!  I started taking photos at one end of the flock and then was able to very slowly move right down to the other end - well almost!  A raptor flew over and put every bird up at one stage but most of them came down again and roosted very close to where I was standing.  You can tell how well I did at not disturbing the birds because most photos had some birds with their eyes closed and/or their beaks tucked back under their wings. 

Three Tattlers and one Great Knot

(Above - I am not finding this new version of blogger easy! It hasn't let me put my photos where I want them!)  Tattlers standing among Godwits - a useful photo for size comparison. 
These two Tattlers were standing a little distance away from the others and I have cropped the photo to show just these two and the colors in the water and some leaves.  The leaves have dropped off mangrove trees.

Two days later some friends went out at a similar time in the morning to also see the Tattlers and they were all gone!  Apparently they had left on their northern migration sometime in those two days. 

I was asked last week about my camera gear.  I am using a Pentax K5 and this particular morning had on my Sigma 150-500 lens.  I have been told by friends (and have also read) that this lens on a Canon Camera is not very sharp when zoomed all the way out.  On my Pentax camera it does a good job and is as sharp as my other smaller lenses.  The lens is heavy!  I find it most convenient to use a monopod when I know I will be photographing for some time.  There is good lighting early in the morning at Inskip when the birds are roosting on the southern side of the point so I have only cropped and re-sized these photos.

Bar-tailed Godwits

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

Holidays are great but it's also great to get home again! My return home was in time to see some of the shorebirds before they took off on their northern migration. This is the time when the birds look their best in bright new breeding colors.
I was out at Inskip Point very early in the morning on a high tide and was able to photograph some of the birds in a very large flock that was roosting there. I could have spent a lot more time photographing the birds but 4 wheel drive vehicles came out and soon the whole flock disturbed and flew off. It is legal for vehicles to drive out there - but - the roosting birds must find it a great nuisance to be disturbed.
As usual Bar-tailed Godwits made up most of the flock.
When I got close enough I could see that there were all shades of color amongst the flock.
Some were without any breeding colors. A bird looking like this will possibly be a young one and won't migrate this season.
This one had good bright color and from this back view you can see just how much fat they put on before migration.
The color was very patchy on some birds.
The birds with the brightest color seemed to want to hide amongst the flock. This bird had the brightest color of all that I photographed.
When the Godwits leave here they fly non-stop to the Yellow Sea area. This is a distance of approx. 10,300 Kms. They rest there for a month to 6 weeks and then make another non-stop flight to Alaska - a further distance of 6,500 Kms. They breed in Alaska and won't return here until September. This is another long flight of 11,700 Kms. and is also non-stop. These amazing flights were first documented in 2007 when birds were satellite tagged by scientists from New Zealand, Australia and the USGS. Details can be found here.

Silvereye/Wax eye

This post is for World Bird Wednesday

This little bird was sitting on a dead stump beside the track going in to the Pancake Rocks (see yesterday's post). I first noticed it because it was singing so loudly. It is known as a Silvereye or Wax-eye and is found in both Australia and New Zealand. It was first noticed in New Zealand in the 1830's and because there is no evidence that anyone deliberately brought it into the country it is classed as a native species. It is slightly smaller than a sparrow. I heard lots more birds on our trip than I saw so it was very nice that this one was easy to see.