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Beach Stone-Curlew at The Gables |
A fair haul of birds from a
five-day visit to the Hervey-Bay Maryborough area on the Fraser Coast
included Lesser Crested Tern, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Grey
Plover, Wandering Tattler, Beach Stone-Curlew, Black-necked Stork,
Brolga, Brown Songlark, Square-tailed Kite and Shining
Flycatcher.
On what has become
something of an annual pilgrimage to the Fraser Coast, we camped for
two nights in Maryborough and three nights at Hervey Bay.
Maryborough is a good base from which to check out the shorebird
roosts at Boonooroo and Maaroom, which can both be done comfortably
around high tide. The first bird I saw upon arrival at Boonooroo was
a Beach Stone-Curlew.
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Beach Stone-Curlew at Boonooroo |
Tides in south-east Queensland have been very
high of late and so it was during this visit. Many of the large
number of Bar-tailed Godwits were in full or partial breeding
plumage. This is a reliable site for Grey Plover and about 40 birds
were mixed in with the godwits and Great Knots.
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Bar-tailed Godwit |
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Grey Plover & Bar-tailed Godwit |
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Grey Plover & Bar-tailed Godwit |
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Great Knot & Bar-tailed Godwit |
At Maaroom, Bar-tailed
Godwit and Great Knot were again easily the most numerous shorebirds.
Among them were relatively good numbers of Curlew-Sandpipers and a
few Red Knots and Black-tailed Godwits. A male Shining Flycatcher was
seen in the mangroves.
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Great Knot & Bar-tailed Godwit |
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Black-tailed Godwit (centre) & Bar-tailed Godwit |
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Red Knot (centre) & Great Knot |
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Curlew-Sandpiper |
|
Shining Flycatcher |
I checked out the
grasslands along Dimond Road, Beaver Rocks, where a few Brown
Songlarks were present. A Square-tailed Kite was quartering the
woodland in George Furber Park, Maryborough.
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Brown Songlark |
At Hervey Bay, a couple of
high tide roosts around Point Vernon along Charlton Esplanade –
particularly around and just south of The Gables, but also the
northern end of Gatakers Bay – are always work a look. I saw a
Common Sandpiper at Gatakers in the same spot where I have seen one
during previous visits. Wandering Tattler and Grey-tailed Tattler
were together on the rocks at The Gables, where Ruddy Turnstone was
in good numbers.
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Common Sandpiper |
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Ruddy Turnstone |
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Wandering Tattler & Ruddy Turnstone |
A Lesser Crested Tern among
Crested Terns at The Gables was unexpected, especially at this time
of year. Lesser Sand-Plovers were colouring up well and a few Greater
Sand-Plovers were there, albeit in much smaller numbers than during
previous visits. The second Beach Stone-Curlew for the trip was also
seen here.
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Lesser Crested Tern & Crested Tern |
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Lesser Sand-Plover & Ruddy Turnstone |
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Greater Sand-Plover |
I visited Garnett's Lagoon
with John Knight, another favourite hotspot. Water levels were low
due to a prolonged dry spell over the Fraser Coast. Reasonable
numbers of Curlew-Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Red-necked
Stint were about along with a few Marsh Sandpipers. Best of the
shorebirds was a single Wood Sandpiper, seen here during previous
visits.
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Marsh Sandpiper & Sharp-tailed Sandpiper |
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Wood Sandpiper |
Two Black-necked Storks
were feeding in different parts of the wetland – one immature and
the second almost in adult plumage. Two pairs of Brolga were in the
area, along with a couple of White-bellied Sea-Eagles displaying
nicely. A bedraggled young Water Rat was foraging along the lagoon
edge. More Brown Songlarks were seen and heard in the paddocks.
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Black-necked Stork |
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Brolga |
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Water Rat |
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White-bellied Sea-Eagle |
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