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White-breasted Whistler |
After leaving Broome
(see last post) and the Kimberley, we headed south through the East Pilbara for
a two-night stay at Cape Keraudren, a coastal reserve at the southern end of
Eighty-Mile Beach where a beachside camping ground is run by the local council. Leaving this region we farewelled the small, red-bellied race of Grey-crowned Babbler, which was numerous in the north.
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Grey-crowned Babbler |
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Cape Keraudren, looking north |
From
our camper van, we had sweeping views north across reef flats to a sandy beach stretching
to the distant horizon.
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Cape Keraudren, looking south |
To the south was a rugged, jagged coastline of ancient coral and limestone. The overall effect was quite stunning. This is an extraordinary spot with great beauty.
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Campsite Cape Keraudren |
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White-breasted Whistler |
In the mangroves, White-breasted Whistler and Mangrove
Golden Whistler appeared to be quite numerous, along with Yellow White-eye and
Mangrove Fantail. The mangrove birds were seen on occasion to leave the mangroves to forage in more open habitat. Horsfield’s Bushlark
was common in the grassland, where a Swamp Harrier was also seen.
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Mangrove Golden Whistler |
On the coral cliffs was a mixed nesting colony of Lesser
Crested Terns and Crested Terns, with both species appearing to have recently
fledged young.
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Crested Tern at rookery |
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Lesser Crested Tern at rookery |
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Lesser Crested & Crested Tern |
The two tern species were often at roost together. Plenty of waders were about, including resident Beach
Stone-Curlew and Sooty and Pied Oystercatchers.
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Beach Stone-Curlew |
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Sooty Oystercatcher |
Other birds included both phases of Eastern Reef-Egret,and
Striated Herons that appeared to be unusually orange in colour.
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Striated Heron |
Migratory waders included Large Sand Plover, Lesser Sand
Plover, Red-necked Stint, Grey-tailed Tattler, Ruddy Turnstone and Whimbrel.
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Large Sand-Plover |
Long term residents of the camping ground and built nesting
boxes for the Zebra Finches.
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Zebra Finch at next-box |
Extensive areas of mudflats were exposed at low tide. We watched a couple of Black-necked Storks try their luck at fishing.
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Black-necked Stork |
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Euro |
There were a couple of macropods about that turned out to be a red-coloured subspecies of Euro.
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