Sunset at Black Rocks

I was driving home from Geelong along the back roads just before sunset this evening and decided to drop past the Black Rocks end of 13th Beach. There are often several species of small waders here but none to be seen tonight. A bit early in the Spring for Stints and Double-banded Plovers maybe but not even the resident Red-capped or Hooded Plovers could be found. I did manage to find a few birds in flight to keep me entertained for a while though...

Pacific Gull, Black Rocks 13th Beach

Silver Gull, Black Rocks 13th Beach

Straw-necked Ibis, Black Rocks 13th Beach

Black Rocks Shorebirds

I spent the early morning at Black Rocks end of 13th Beach searching for shorebirds, in particular Hooded Plovers and Pacific Golden Plovers. The usual suspects were on the beach directly in front of the access track

Double-banded Plover, 13th Beach

Red-necked Stint, 13th Beach

Red-capped Plover, 13th Beach

along with some others commonly found on the beach but not usually classified as 'shorebirds'

White-fronted Chat, 13th Beach

Welcome Swallow, 13th Beach

I dipped on the Hooded Plovers but did find the Pacific Golden Plovers among the rocks on the point.

Pacific Golden Plover, 13th Beach

I found a location as close as I dared to go and sat waiting for the tide to come in and (I hoped) bring the birds closer to me. This technique works for a lot of shorebirds but PGPs seem to be easily spooked. It only took one wave to break over the rocks and startling two birds for the whole flock to take off and fly away to the west. I did manage to count them -- 46 -- the most I have seen at this location.

On the walk back to the road, a Singing Honeyeater was doing it's thing and allowed me to get very close.

Singing Honeyeater, 13th Beach

Wading Birds

A late afternoon trip into Geelong was extended a little with stops at 13th Beach and Pt Impossible to look for waders (in particular Double-banded Plovers in full breeding plumage and Hooded Plovers) and I was not disappointed.

Double-banded Plover, 13th Beach/Black Rocks

Sometimes, you think they are not taking much notice of you until they look straight down the barrel at you...

Double-banded Plover, 13th Beach/Black Rocks

There were two Hooded Plovers at Pt Impossible just at the river mouth. After wading the river (smart enough to leave the shoes in the car) I got close enough for one reasonable shot. Both appeared to be juveniles, with this one just coming into adult plumage.

Hooded Plover, Pt Impossible

Before I could get a good shot of the second bird, a Pacific Gull landed close-by and both Hoodies and the 20 or so Double-banded and Red-capped Plovers flew off over the river and around the point. The Pacific Gull did pose for a profile shot though.

Pacific Gull, Pt Impossible

Back over the river and heading for the car, one male Red-capped Plover remained on the sand flats among the kelp and seagrass.

Red-capped Plover, Pt Impossible

13th Beach and Lake Connewarre

A quick walk along 13th Beach at Black Rocks end late this afternoon. A few plovers: 4 Red-capped Plover, 6 Double-banded Plover and 1 Hooded Plover but only one co-operated with my stalking

Double-banded Plover,  Black Rocks, 13th Beach

Driving home past Lake Connewarre (just east of the Barwon Heads Airport) as the sun was setting. Lots of swans and ducks on the lake feeding.

Black Swans, Lake Connewarre

Breamlea

Another dull and windy day but thought I would go in search of the Pacific Golden Plovers at Black Rocks. I had seen them there 6 weeks ago when a few were starting to get breeding plumage but reports from earlier this week suggested they were still there and some were in full plumage. The wind was howling off Bass Strait such that even the gulls were taking shelter

Silver Gull, Black Rocks

There was a small flock of Red-necked Stint and Double-banded Plover further down 13th Beach but no PGPs so I opted to practice some more hand-held flight shots

Great Cormorant, Black Rocks

There was not much else on the beach at Black Rocks so I headed into Breamlea where a flock of Common Starlings was flying around the saltmarsh on the Nature Conservation Reserve. This is one of the hardest shots to get with a moving flock of small birds at long distance and a detailed background - not the most exotic of birds but happy with this shot.

Common Starling, Breamlea Nature Conservation Reserve

Past Breamlea onto Pt Impossible Road, there were 5 White-faced Herons feeding along the edge of the creek. A bonus of shooting in dull light is the low contrast allows the subtle colours of the saltmarsh to show. The colour gets washed out in bright sunshine.

White-faced Heron, Thompson Creek, Pt Impossible Road

Not much in the way of birds at Pt Impossible but a Nankeen Kestrel did cooperate for a couple of flight shots and even a bit of blue sky :-)

Nankeen Kestrel, Pt Impossible

Black Rock Shorebirds

Had an early evening trip to 13th Beach and Black Rocks (View Map) and was rewarded with gulls, terns and several small waders. The light wasn't great for photography with a grey overcast prematurely darkening the sky but here are a few...

Several Crested Terns fishing offshore behind the breaking surf were too far out for photographs but a lone Caspian Tern cruised back and forth along the shore.

Caspian Tern, 13th Beach

There were hundreds of Silver Gulls resting above the high tide mark, along with three Ruddy Turnstones, but this bird stood alone near the water's edge.

Silver Gull, 13th Beach

As I walked west towards Black Rock, several Red-capped Plovers and Red-necked Stints were busily feeding along the water's edge. Closer to the rocks at the end of the beach, a female Red-capped Plover spent 2-3 minutes attracting me up the beach quickly running away from me then back towards me interspersed with 'broken wing' performances

Red-capped Plover, Black Rock

At the end of the beach, 30+ Pacific Golden Plovers were sheltering among the rocks. This is the first time I have seen this species here.

Pacific Golden Plover, Black Rock

Several (at least 3) showed partial breeding plumage:

Pacific Golden Plover, Black Rock