Lady Elliot Island - Part II (Birds other than Terns)

Red-tailed Tropicbird

Apart from the impressive populations and variety of terns on Lady Elliot Island (next post - see here) there are plenty of other avian attractions, chief among them the Red-tailed Tropicbird. Two pairs of tropicbirds were nesting during our stay - one at the end of the airstrip and one in front of a tourist cabin. Both nests contained a single well-fledged youngster. Like most other island birds, the tropicbirds were unconcerned by the presence of humans.

Red-tailed Tropicbird

Great Frigatebird - male

Frigatebirds were frequently seen flying about the island, although none were spotted landing or roosting during our stay. A good proportion of birds were young, presenting identification challenges at times, but I estimated that 70-80 per cent of the 100-120 frigatebirds I saw over five days were Great Frigatebirds.  The remainder were Lesser Frigatebirds; often the two species were in the air together. Small numbers of Brown Booby were among other seabirds seen offshore.

Great Frigatebird - female

Lesser Frigatebird - female

Buff-banded Rail

Buff-banded Rails were extremely common on the island, with 200-300 birds present. They could be a nuisance at the dinner table, being quick to raid an unattended plate. The rails are secretive in their well-vegetated habitat on the mainland but on the island they are fearless and forage openly, even at night.

Buff-banded Rail

Eastern Reef-Egret

 Eastern Reef-Egrets were fairly common; about 70 per cent were white phase, the remainder grey phase.

Lesser Sand-Plover

 About 10 Lesser Sand-Plovers were on the island.

Pied Oystercatcher

One pair each of Pied Oystercatcher and Sooty Oystercatcher was present, sharing similar habitat. Note the large eye-ring of the northern race of Sooty Oystercatcher opthalmicus here.

Sooty Oystercatcher

Grey-tailed Tattler

Both species of tattler were in good numbers and it was interesting to see them sharing similar habitat (like the oystercatchers). A total of 22 Grey-tailed Tattlers and 9 Wandering Tattlers were counted. Sometimes they roosted loosely together at high tide on the reefs.

Wandering Tattler

 I was surprised to find a Wandering Tattler in breeding plumage roosting in a tree.

Wandering Tattler

Pacific Golden Plover & Ruddy Turnstone

Good numbers of Ruddy Turnstone and Pacific Golden Plover were on the island along with a few Red-necked Stints.

Red-necked Stint

Sanderling

An unexpected find was a Sanderling which fed on the airstrip or along an adjacent beach, sometimes keeping company with the stints.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

Wedge-tailed Shearwaters were nesting commonly about the resort, including a pair behind our cabin. They flew in after dusk and were quite vocal throughout the evening, which is why the resort supplies free earplugs to guests. I also found several beachwashed Short-tailed Shearwaters on the island - they would not normally be expected here but it was not surprising given the extent of the huge wreck of this species being experienced this spring throughout south-eastern Australia.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

Silvereye

A few Silvereyes of the distinctive Great Barrier Reef race chlorocephala were about, though not as commonly as I expected. Other land birds included a couple of Tawny Grassbirds, several Sacred Kingfishers and Channel-billed Cuckoo heard. The only raptor seen was a single White-bellied Sea-Eagle.

Lady Elliot Island Resort

A general shot of the resort (above) and the island's historic lighthouse. The service and food at the resort was excellent and this ecotourism destination can be highly recommended. A separate post will follow on turtles and fish seen.