The Covid-19 pandemic extinguished 2020 travel plans for Africa and Europe. We had local birding for entertainment, however, as well as an excellent winter trip to Cape York and the Atherton Tableland. I set myself the goal of beating my 2018 total of 310 bird species photographed in a calendar year in the greater Sunshine Coast region. This is an annual competition run by BirdLife Australia Sunshine Coast. Photographs in Spring reported previously included Red-backed Buttonquail, Lewin’s Rail and Barn Swallow, while Eastern Ground Parrots showed brilliantly at Cooloola. As November was drawing to a close, I was short of catching my 2018 total of 310. A Short-tailed Shearwater on a Mooloolaba pelagic trip was a belated addition, though nothing else was added out wide and a hoped for December trip was cancelled due to bad weather.
Photographing a Masked Owl in Bellthorpe National Park was a welcome break as I’d heard them several times during the year without even a glimpse.
Nutmeg Mannikin was another I’d searched far and wide for before finally nailing a few in long grass near Bli Bli, while I managed poor but identifiable images of King Quail at Finland Road.
I had better luck photographing a female Red-backed Buttonquail at Finland Road in flight – extraordinary to capture a bird I’d never photographed before, twice within a few weeks.
A trip to Double Island Point was adventurous because I got bogged (and rescued) twice in the soft beach sand, but I did manage to snap a fine Lesser Frigatebird soaring over the light house - Number 310 for the year, equalling 2018. (This species I saw but failed to photograph on a pelagic earlier in the year.)
I did a trip out to Kilcoy, and was pleased to find a Black Falcon at the town abattoir, though I’d photographed one earlier in the year (a species I missed in 2018). A fine pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles put in an appearance nearby.
So the hunt was on in the final days of 2020 to exceed the 2018 total. Success came in the form of two rarities on the same morning. I photographed an adult male Black Bittern along Cranks Creek in Tewantin. I’d seen the species there several times in the past but never managed an image, and I’d looked without success from my kayak at Tin Can Bay, where I photographed one in 2018.
Later that morning I found a Pectoral Sandpiper at Yandina Creek Wetland. This is always an excellent shorebird to encounter and just the third record for our region, so it was a fitting end to the 2020 Big Year, with a total of 312 species. The bird in the following images is in the company of Red-kneed Dotterels and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. (In 2020 I also photographed Brush Bronzewing at Cooloola, Bridled Tern on a pelagic trip and Red-chested Buttonquail near Nanango - but the images didn’t pass muster.) I regard these indulgences as a personal challenge – the setting of fun goals to achieve – rather than a competition. I won’t be partaking this year and would be very happy for this tally to be overtaken.
Congratulations and well done to pass your extremely impressive 310.
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