Hervey Bay-Maryborough, March 2019

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.

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.

Bar-tailed Godwit

Grey Plover & Bar-tailed Godwit

Grey Plover & Bar-tailed Godwit

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.

Great Knot & Bar-tailed Godwit

Black-tailed Godwit (centre) & Bar-tailed Godwit

Red Knot (centre) & Great Knot

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.

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.

Common Sandpiper

Ruddy Turnstone

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.

Lesser Crested Tern & Crested Tern

Lesser Sand-Plover & Ruddy Turnstone

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.

Marsh Sandpiper & Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

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.

Black-necked Stork

Brolga

Water Rat

White-bellied Sea-Eagle