Another lunchtime at the river

As the title suggests, following yesterday's encounter with a grebe, I went back to the Barwon River at lunchtime today. No grebes but did manage a few shots of some other waterbirds.

There is a boardwalk along the Barwon Heads side of the river that gives great access to the mangroves but is obviously restrictive in the views you can get of the birdlife. This Pied Cormorant sat preening on a fence post but the only view possible was almost directly into the sun with a wire fence in the way. This is the best I could do.

Pied Cormorant
Barwon River Estuary, Barwon Heads

I came across this Eastern Great Egret standing on the edge of one of the small jetties.

Eastern Great Egret
Barwon River Estuary, Barwon Heads

It got spooked by an approaching fisherman and took off

Eastern Great Egret
Barwon River Estuary, Barwon Heads

but quickly wheeled back and landed on the path, ironically only a few metres away from another fisherman.

Eastern Great Egret
Barwon River Estuary, Barwon Heads

As I walked back past the jetty, a Little Pied Cormorant had taken up the egret's position.

Little Pied Cormorant,
arwon River Estuary, Barwon Heads

Hoary-headed Grebe on the Barwon River

After a long morning sitting in front of a computer, I got out of the office for a short lunch break by the Barwon River. Fortuitously, a solo Hoary-headed Grebe was fishing close to shore and despite being obviously aware of my presence, hung around while I took a few shots. From a distance, Hoary-headed Grebes are difficult to distinguish from Australasian Grebes in winter or non-breeding plumage (they are quite distinct in breeding plumage). The key distinguishing features if you can get close enough are:

• the Hoary-headed Grebe has a white ring around the pupil in the eye; the Australasian Grebe has a yellow eye
• the line between the darker facial/crown feathers and lighter throat/neck feathers on the Hoary-headed Grebe runs below the eye; on the Australasian Grebe it runs through the eye.

The Australasian Grebe is also less likely to be found in estuarine or salt water, preferring fresh water habitats.

Hoary-headed Grebe, Barwon River Estuary, Barwon Heads

Lunch on the Barwon River

It was too good a day to spend the whole day indoors so I headed for the Barwon River for lunch. Fortunately, I was not alone with an egret and lapwing feeding on the shore just near my usual lunch spot...

Eastern Great Egret, Barwon River, Ocean Grove

Masked Lapwing, Barwon River, Ocean Grove

but the highlight was the Eastern Curlew feeding on the sandbar in the middle of the river.

Eastern Curlew, Barwon River, Ocean Grove

Bar-tailed Godwits back at Ocean Grove

The small flock of overwintering Bar-tailed Godwits that appeared at the Barwon River in Ocean Grove last year (see previous posts from 28 June, 24 March and 10 March 2011) is back.

This afternoon, I counted 45 individuals roosting on the sandspit at the mouth of the Barwon River.

Bar-tailed Godwit, Ocean Grove

Many were banded but I did not get close enough to photograph the bands clearly. There was another photographer approaching the birds and he managed to have them take flight on three occasions :-(

Bar-tailed Godwit, Ocean Grove

They returned twice...

Bar-tailed Godwit, Ocean Grove

...but on the third strike, they took off down the beach.

On the grass

I drove past the Barwon River at lunchtime today and noticed a flock of Bar-tailed Godwits feeding on the edge of the outgoing tide on the mudflats near the boat ramp. By the time I got my camera out they had flown a little further downstream and were too far offshore to get any close-up shots and the sun was behind them from the closest vantage point so I gave up on them but noticed a solo Crested Pigeon and an adult and juvenile Noisy Miner feeding on the mown grass close-by. They allowed me to get reasonably close.

Crested Pigeon, Ocean Grove

Crested Pigeon, Ocean Grove

Noisy Miner, Ocean Grove

Noisy Miner, Ocean Grove

Godwits still at Ocean Grove!

It's been a while since I looked for them but there were still 10 Bar-tailed Godwits on the Barwon River mudflats in Ocean Grove at low tide this afternoon, two in breeding plumage.

Bar-tailed Godwit, Barwon River estuary, Ocean Grove

Godwits still at Barwon River Mouth

A dull and windy afternoon but needed a break from the desk so took a quick trip down to the mouth of the Barwon River to see if the godwits were still there and yes they were!

Bar-tailed Godwit, Barwon River Mouth, Ocean Grove

Several were developing breeding plumage and these all appeared to be males - smaller birds with shorter bills than females.

Godwits at Barwon River Mouth

Driving across the bridge from Barwon Heads to Ocean Grove early this evening and noticed large flocks of shore birds roosting on the spit at the mouth of the Barwon River (View Map) so I pulled over for a closer look.

There were hundreds of Red-necked Stint sheltering from the wind among the seaweed and along with them several Double-banded Plover and Red-capped Plover. Further along the beach was a large flock of Silver Gull with a few Crested Tern and Pacific Gull along with 200+ Bar-tailed Godwits, some developing breeding plumage. Most were resting with heads turned away from the wind so I was able to crawl up relatively close without disturbing them.

Bar-tailed Godwit, mouth of the Barwon River

Barwon River Estuary

The Barwon River forms a broad estuary between Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove. View Map

There are usually gulls, terns, cormorants, ibis, herons, pelicans and ducks on the beaches and mudflats and in the river as well as a range of other birds in the surrounding mangroves, saltmarsh and coastal scrub.

Another quick lunch stop today in one of the turnoffs on the Ocean Grove Spit Riverside camping area (only in use as such over summer) overlooking the estuary and immediately found flock of 24 Royal Spoonbill feeding in the shallows right on the bank approx. 800 metres up river.

Royal Spoonbill, Barwon River Estuary, Ocean Grove

I walked slowly along the riverbank as the spoonbills walked towards me, concentrating on feeding and preening.

Royal Spoonbill, Barwon River Estuary, Ocean Grove

For most birds, it's best to shoot with as close to full front lighting as possible but for white birds like these spoonbills, getting correct exposure is challenging in bright sunny conditions. Back or side lighting can be effective highlighting the subtleties of plumage and, in flight, makes the wings almost translucent. Made no difference here as without wading 200m or more into the river, I was stuck with side lighting anyway. Even backlighting was going to be difficult as the beach is only a few metres wide where the birds were, leaving no room to maneuver.

As I was approaching the flock to try and get some side-lit portraits of individual birds, a walker coming the other way spooked the flock and they flew off, fortunately in my direction, which gave me a few shots of them in flight.

Royal Spoonbill, Barwon River Estuary, Ocean Grove

As usual with wildlife photography, you take what you get, so it was back to the car to finish the sushi lunch (if you're in Ocean Grove make sure to drop in to the Noodle and Sushi Bar across the road from the Post Office) then back home to work.