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| Oriental Plover |
I finally got around to getting down to the Kakadu wader roost on the western shore of Bribie Island where birding friend Tom Tarrant found an Oriental Plover last week.
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| Oriental Plover |
The bird at high tide was about half-way between the two hides. It was not immediately obvious as it was initially sitting in longish grass.
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| Oriental Plover & Mongolian Plover |
Because the tide was very high (2m+) there were quite a few waders roosting here. Waders generally prefer Toorbul across the Pumicestone Passage to Kakadu, but very high tides will see fair numbers using Kakadu. The plover was generally by itself but occasionally mixed loosely with a flock of Mongolian Plovers and Red-necked Stints.
Oriental Plover is a very rare summer visitor to south-east Queensland, usually occurring on short-grassed flats further inland.
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| Mongolian Plover |
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| Red-necked Stint |
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| Beach Stone-Curlew & Pied Oystercatcher |
The resident pair of Beach Stone-Curlew was showing nicely.
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| Black-tailed Godwit |
Before going to Kakadu I called in to the above-mentioned Toorbul wader roost, looking in vain for an Asian Dowitcher seen there recently. Some of the other waders here - above and below.
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| Great Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel |
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| Grey-tailed Tattler |
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| Black-necked Stork |
I also visited Buckley's Hole on Bribie Island. A Black-necked Stork seen there recently was still about. This is the second adult male of this species I've seen in two days (the other was yesterday at
Lake Macdonald).
a wonderful variety of waterbirds; great photos. I especially loved to see the Beach Stone Curlew
ReplyDeleteI wish I saw most of these birds when I was there. I went at the wrong time of day though. Great close up shots of most of the birds. What lense are you using or who did you have to speak to, to gain access to the protected area to get the shots? I might need to upgrade again. My 400mm with 1 1/2 focal length couldn't make out anything out from the boundary fence in the grass area.
ReplyDeleteAshley, I'm using my normal Sony Cyber-Shot. I did not cross the fence but waded through thigh-deep water at high tide, and could approach the birds that way quite closely without disturbing them. You can see from the Toorbul pics that most places are easier to deal with than the Kakadu roost.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that. I'll have to give that a try myself. I have never been over to Toorbul either. Sounds like that might be an easier option to get better shots. At Kakadu, the hides and the path are such a long way from the birds on the beach. Still worth checking out though.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to get good shots at Toorbul, high tide in the afternoon to avoid photographing into the sun, go to the far southern end of the esplanade
ReplyDelete