A Wrybill or two (thousand)

After yesterday morning photographing Gannets at the Muriwai Gannet Colony, I spent this morning at the Miranda Shorebird Centre. Most of the Arctic migratory waders had gone but the real target species for the trip was to photograph Wrybill - small endemic New Zealand plovers with a uniquely sideways bending beak (allegedly always to the right). I had never managed to see these birds before so was looking forward to an encounter. I checked the tides and was happy to see that high tide was early afternoon, which would give me enough to time get to Miranda (about an hour's drive south of Auckland on the Thames estuary), visit the Miranda visitor centre and after the compulsory t-shirt purchase, check out the hides overlooking the tidal mudflats. So far, all was going to plan. What I did not check, though, was the tidal height. It was a neap tide (the lowest high tides in the tidal cycle) so even at its highest point, the water did not cover the mudflats in front of the hide so all the birds remained hundreds of metres away. However, you make the best of what you find so I settled in and scanned the mudflats to see if I could at least find a few Wrybill among the small wading birds pottering around the mudflats.

As I was about to give up, a flock of waders wheeled over the distant sand bar towards the hide

Wrybill, Miranda Shorebird Centre, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1600

Wrybill, Miranda Shorebird Centre, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1600

and settled along the small channel in the centre of the mudflats, about 250 metres away.

Wrybill, Miranda Shorebird Centre, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/4, 1/2500

Closer inspection confirmed them to be Wrybill - it is just possible to see the characteristic black 'necklace' on some birds and, if you use your imagination, a few appear to have curved bills. So, mission accomplished, I have now seen and photographed this species, albeit at a distance. The flock apparently numbers about 2600 birds - I didn't count them myself, but feel free to have a try in the photograph below :-)

Wrybill, Miranda Shorebird Centre, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/6400 (stitched panorama)

There were also lots of birds flying past and overhead but the only half decent shot I got was this pair of Pied Stilts aka (in Australia) as Black-winged Stilt,

Pied Stilt (Black-winged Stilt), Miranda Shorebird Centre, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (+ 1.4x adaptor), ISO 800, f/8 1/1000

which could also be seen more closely, feeding in the ponds alongside the road (this one was photographed through a fence from the car window).

Pied Stilt (Black-winged Stilt), Miranda Shorebird Centre, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (+ 1.4x adaptor), ISO 800, f/8 1/1600

Now, to plan a trip back to Auckland in summer and at a good high tide...

A Morning on the Gold Coast - Part 1: Mangroves and Mudflats

After a bird free morning yesterday on the Sunshine Coast, I was out early this morning on the Gold Coast to see if I could find a few birds.

First stop was the mud flats on the estuary at the end of Colman Road in Coomera. There were a few gulls and an egret a long distance away but only this Black-winged Stilt close enough to be worth photographing.

Black-winged Stilt, Coomera, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/800

It seemed to be approaching me slowly so I had hopes it getting close enough for some portrait shots but a low-flying pair of gulls scared it off. I did manage to get this Crested Pigeon in the car park as I was heading back to the car so the spot was not a total dead loss,

Crested Pigeon, Coomera, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/500

although I did get some funny looks lying down in the dirt on the edge of the car park to get the pigeon.

Next stop was the Mangrove Walkway at Coombabah Lake. In hindsight, I would have been better coming here first as, by the time I got here, the tide had receded a long way leaving extensive mudflats and the bird life was all a long distance off, with only this Eastern Curlew close enough to photograph.

Eastern Curlew, Coombabah Lakes, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/640

Gull-billed Terns flew by providing a new focus. Photographing birds in flight is always fun but even more challenging from inside a bird hide with restricted viewing. With such a narrow angle of view out of the hide and between mangrove trees, you cannot track the birds as they fly past, waiting for the best angle to start shooting. I just had to keep the camera pointed near the edge of the tree, wait for a bird to appear and hope I could frame and focus before it disappeared on the other side.

Gull-billed Tern, Coombabah Lakes, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/500

Gull-billed Tern, Coombabah Lakes, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/800

I spotted a blue and white flash come out of the mangroves to my left and caught it just as it was landing, albeit a long way away (this shot is heavily cropped).

Sacred Kingfisher, Coombabah Lakes, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/800

As I walked back along the boardwalk through the mangroves, a cacophony of calls could be heard in the eucalyptus woodlands. It was not hard to find the culprits - a large flock of (probably more than 50) Noisy Friarbirds feeding on flowers in the treetops. This is an almost impossible scenario to photograph, moving birds, silhouetted high in trees with mottled light behind them. This is the best I could get of one bird that sat still long enough for me to focus and adjust the exposure to account for the bright backlighting.

Noisy Friarbird, Coombabah Lakes, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/800

Reflections on the Onkaparinga River

I spent Friday and Saturday at a seminar in Adelaide and took the opportunity of doing some sightseeing and birding on a slight detour via the Fleurieu Peninsula on the way home. 

The Onkaparinga River drains into St Vincent's Gulf at Port Noarlunga about 30 km south of Adelaide so it was not too early a start to get there as the sun was breaking over the hills that run down the spine of the peninsula.

Mouth of the Onkaparinga River, South Australia

There are several places along River Road, Commercial Road and the Esplanade that provide easy access to the estuary (see map).

The combination of the early morning sunlight and still air made for some great reflections of many of the birds feeding in the shallow side stream of the estuary.

Black-winged Stilt, Onkaparinga River, SA

Eastern Great Egret, Onkaparinga River, SA

Little Egret, Onkaparinga River, SA

Royal Spoonbill, Onkaparinga River, SA

Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Onkaparinga River, SA

along with a couple of close fly-bys

Australian Pelican, Onkaparinga River, SA

Royal Spoonbill, Onkaparinga River, SA

Part 2: On the beach

Birds of the Thousandth Day

Today marks 1000 days since I started this blog so I was keen to add something special. Fortunately, the day had already been booked for a trip to the Western Treatment Plant with the Melbourne Photography Group from BirdLife Australia, always a great bunch of people with whom to spend a day in the field.

The weather forecast was for a cool and windy day with a light showers, which turned out to be accurate, but this didn't deter our intrepid bunch. We started at Paradise Road ponds as there have been recent reports of a Northern Shoveler sighted here. The Northern Shoveler is a northern hemisphere bird that migrates to Africa, India and SE Asia during the northern winter. Occasionally a few birds seem to miss the off ramp and end up in southern Australia. With no sign of the Northern Shoveler, we moved to Walsh's Lagoon. There were plenty of birds present including several species of raptor, large flocks of Australian Pelican, Pink-eared Duck, Red-necked Avocet, two species of stilts and a lot of Australian Shovelers but no Northern Shoveler so we drove on to the Borrow Pits for lunch. This proved fruitful for photographing avocets and stilts that were close to shore and seemed unperturbed by the many photographers pointing lenses at them. I was happy to be able to capture all three species in one image:

Red-necked Avocet, Banded Stilt, Black-winged Stilt, Western Treatment Plant

as well as a solo Banded Stilt in flight

Banded Stilt, Western Treatment Plant

and I finally managed to photograph a Spotted Harrier! I have been chasing this species at the WTP for a long time now and never managed to catch one close enough for a photograph. This one is not the greatest but happy to finally record it on camera.

Spotted Harrier, Western Treatment Plant

Just as we were settling in for a longer shoot here, we got the call that the Northern Shoveler had been spotted back at Paradise Road ponds, so we saddled up and headed back there. As could be expected, the bird was in the middle of the large pond so could only be seen at a long distance but I did manage to get a record shot (albeit a very tight crop at long distance) for a positive ID on this male bird.

Northern Shoveler (male) with Australian Shoveler (male), Western Treatment Plant

While back at Paradise Road, I also managed to get a shot of a small flock of Pink-eared Ducks (which were in greater numbers at the plant than I've seen before).

Pink-eared Duck, Western Treatment Plant

While there, a large bird of prey flew overhead disturbing the flock of Red-necked Avocets and Banded Stilts:

Red-necked Avocet, Banded Stilt, Western Treatment Plant

Last stop was the Lake Borrie outlet where the incoming tide made it easy to capture the Red-necked Stints feeding on the mudflats.

Red-necked Stint, Western Treatment Plant

Other birds were also making the most of the feeding opportunities in the outlet creek

Hoary-headed Grebe, Western Treatment Plant

Australian Spotted Crake, Western Treatment Plant

So, very happy to celebrate the 1000th day with a lifetime tick with the Northern Shoveler and add Spotted Harrier as the 200th Australian bird species on this blog :-)

New Year Day 1

First day of 2013 and I found some time late this afternoon to visit Lake Lorne in Drysdale to see if I could photograph the Freckled Ducks that had been there for the last few weeks. Despite it being a warm and sunny day, the strong southerly winds meant that most of the Freckled Ducks were sheltering under the trees around the islands in the middle of the lake so they could be seen at a distance but not great for photography. There were, however, a few more common birds to be seen on and near the water's edge:

Australian Magpie (juvenile), Lake Lorne

Australian Wood Duck, Lake Lorne 

Black-winged Stilt, Lake Lorne

Crested Pigeon, Lake Lorne

Grey Teal, Lake Lorne

Australian Pelican, Lake Lorne

Waterbirds Galore

I have driven past Lake Connewarre on the Barwon Heads Road 20 or 30 times in the last month, noting the large mixed flocks of waterbirds congregating on the lake and meaning to come back and investigate further but until today had not managed to find the time. Mid afternoon, backlit and a lot of heat haze so not the best conditions for photography but sometimes you have to take what you find...

Most of the birds are Eurasian Coot, thousands of them, with a few intermingled ducks and grebes.

Eurasian Coot, Lake Connewarre

There are also flocks of ducks--mostly Grey Teal--along with Black-winged Stilts. This flock was spooked by a Swamp Harrier flying low over the lake.

Black Swan and Grey Teal, Lake Connewarre

Grey Teal and Black-winged Stilt, Lake Connewarre

I also drove past the Breamlea Flora and Fauna Reserve. The shallow, ephemeral lakes along on Blackgate Road are usually good for ducks, herons, egrets, ibis and spoonbills but today I found a flock of hundreds of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Red-necked Stints. I have seen the occasional small flocks of stints here before as well as the odd Red-capped Plover but this is the first time I have seen migratory waders in these numbers and the first time for Sharp-tailed Sandpipers.

Red-necked Stint and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Breamlea Flora and Fauna Reserve

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Breamlea Flora and Fauna Reserve

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Breamlea Flora and Fauna Reserve

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Breamlea Flora and Fauna Reserve

Red-necked Stint, Breamlea Flora and Fauna Reserve