Nelson Bay

Our time in Newcastle was coming to a close all too quickly. We had to fly back to Melbourne this afternoon but took a morning drive to Nelson Bay for an early lunch and a wander along the beach before heading to the airport.

I spotted a small flock of Crested Terns resting on the beach and noticed three birds of different ages (with the adult not quite in breeding plumage).

Crested Tern (juvenile), Nelson Bay NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 800, f/11, 1/500

Crested Tern (immature), Nelson Bay NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 800, f/11, 1/500

Crested Tern (adult), Nelson Bay NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 800, f/11, 1/500

Meanwhile, Jo had wandered off down the beach and found some Australian Pelicans preening and resting by the shoreline so I joined in for a few shots.

Australian Pelican, Nelson Bay NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/16, 1/400

Australian Pelican, Nelson Bay NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 800, f/11, 1/800

Australian Pelicans have now taken over (from Red-necked Stints...on the other end of the size spectrum...) as my most photographed species, at least on this blog. It's hard to resist these magnificent birds...and they are usually so cooperative.

A Long Weekend in SW Victoria: Part 2. Sunrise at Bridgewater Bay

We stayed at The Sea View Lodge in Cape Bridgewater, right on Bridgewater Bay (thanks for the great hospitality Dennis!)

Sea View Lodge, Bridgewater Bay

This made it easy for an early morning walk on the beach to catch the sunrise...one of the advantages of winter is that 'early morning' is after 7:00!

Bridgewater Bay and Cape Bridgewater
Photo courtesy of Joanne Smissen

The colour of the early morning light combined with the reflections in the surface water on the rippled sand, made for some great views of Crested Terns and Silver Gulls but the very low light levels and mostly backlighting meant very slow shutter speeds would be required to adequately expose the birds. To avoid this, I decided to use fill flash to capture the birds and retain the colours in the wet sand. The flash also enables the colours of the birds to be captured vividly.

Crested Tern, Bridgewater Bay

Crested Tern (immature), Bridgewater Bay

Silver Gull, Bridgewater Bay

I had turned off the flash when these two started to perform but by then the light had improved a little allowing me to capture this interaction between adult and juvenile Silver Gulls.

Silver Gull, Bridgewater Bay

There were also some non-avian flyers hanging around.

The rest of the weekend:
Part 1. Cape Nelson
Part 3. Lower Glenelg National Park
Part 4. Shore Birds

The Coorong at Goolwa

The Coorong is one my favourite places in South Australia but I'd never visited the Goolwa end until today. So, part tourist and part birder, I drove to Goolwa following a great morning at the mouth of the Onkaparinga River (see previous posts: Reflections on the Onkaparinga River and Hanging at the Beach).

Goolwa is located at the 'armpit' of the Fleurieu Peninsula (see map) and is home to the Barrage and last lock on the Murray River (there is a bird in this shot!)

Murray River Barrage, Goolwa SA

The Coorong is the system of estuarine lakes, islands and the sand dune spits that hold back the Southern Ocean for more than 100 km between Kingston and Goolwa.

Coorong National Park starts downstream of the Murray River Barrage

As I was still an 8 hour drive from home, I didn't have time to search for many birds but did manage to find an interesting collection making the most of the old fence posts at Beacon 19 Boat Ramp. As I drove into the car park at the ramp, a pelican and this Silver Gull were jostling for the roost on the last fence post. I'm not sure how the gull managed to displace the pelican and I wasn't quick enough to get a photograph of the battle but I did capture the smug victor (OK so just a little anthropomorphising...sorry).

Silver Gull, Coorong National Park, Goolwa, SA

This Crested Tern remained, unperturbed, only a few metres away on the next post.

Crested Tern, Coorong NP, Goolwa, SA

The Welcome Swallows were particularly tame, allowing me to get very close. As the light was getting quite dull, I tried fill flash for a few shots.

Welcome Swallow, Coorong National Park, Goolwa, SA

The 'technical' mouth of the Murray River is a break through the dune barrier approximately 10 km east of Goolwa and can only be reached by driving along the beach. As I was by myself and hadn't brought any sand recovery gear, I was reluctant to do the drive this time so opted to take the view of the mouth from Hindmarsh Island.

Mouth of the Murray River, Coorong National Park, Goolwa, SA

By now the weather was turning for the worse with a strong westerly wind and an approaching storm. The birdlife on the beach in front of the lookout was sparse (I suspect the avian locals were more sensible than the tourists) but there were a few Australian Pied Oystercatchers getting buffeted by the wind blowing down the sand banks.

Australian Pied Oystercatcher, Coorong NP, Hindmarsh Island, SA

Portland coast

After camping out at Bailey's Rocks in Dergholm State Park overnight following yesterday's Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo count, I decided to make the most of the trip to the far SW of the state and check out my favourite spots around the Portland coast in the (somewhat vain it turns out) hope that the wild weather over the last few days had brought some seabirds in close to shore.

First stop was Cape Bridgewater where there are good viewing spots of the ocean at the Blowhole and Petrified Forest. There were quite a few birds but they were a long way offshore making it difficult to identify (and fairly pointless photographing) anything but the largest birds, including several Black-browed Albatross

Black-browed Albatross, Cape Bridgewater, Portland

and this solo Giant Petrel. It was too far away to clearly see the colour of the tip of the bill which is the key distinguishing feature between the Southern and Northern species.

Unidentified Giant Petrel, Cape Bridgewater, Portland

I moved on to Bridgewater Bay where a large flock of Crested Terns was found on the beach in front of the cafe and Life Saving Club.

Crested Tern, Bridgewater Bay, Portland

I last visited this location on Anzac Day 2012 and found a solo White-fronted Tern among a large flock of Crested Terns in the same location. A quick check this time and, sure enough, a solo White-fronted Tern! I cannot believe that this is a coincidence but it is equally amazing if this bird has hung around in the same flock of non conspecifics for two years.

Crested Tern + White-fronted Tern, Bridgewater Bay, Portland

White-fronted Tern, Bridgewater Bay, Portland

Cape Nelson was equally poor for offshore birdwatching but it did provide some good sightings of other birds including this Brown Falcon that allowed me to get really close in the car before both of us were spooked by another car whose driver thought it amusing to toot the horn as he drove by. I can't fathom what makes people think that is funny/clever but it did give me a great take-off shot, again confirming that birds of prey take-off on the wing, rather than jump into the air first as many small passerines seem to do.

Brown Falcon, Cape Nelson, Portland

There were many Singing Honeyeaters in the coastal scrub near the lighthouse.

Singing Honeyeater, Cape Nelson, Portland

Last stop was Portland Harbour, where I usually manage to find something going on and today was no exception. Three Musk Ducks were cruising around the harbour: two males with partially grown bill-flaps

Musk Duck (male), Portland Harbour

and a female.

Musk Duck (female), Portland Harbour

I know that Musk Dusks are reported to occur "occasionally in the sea" but this is the first time I have seen it. More exciting, however was when, later in the afternoon, I managed to grab this shot of one of the ducks with a crab - not a great shot as it was very dark (just before sunset with a heavy overcast sky).

Musk Duck, Portland Harbour

The other attraction in the harbour during late afternoon is the returning fishing boats that attract a lot of avian attention when the day's catch is being processed on the pier. It gives a great opportunity for close-ups and flight shots of gulls

Pacific Gull (immature), Portland Harbour

Pacific Gull, Portland Harbour

Pacific Gull (immature), Portland Harbour

Silver Gull (immature), Portland Harbour

under the ever watchful eyes of some non-avians

Australian Fur Seal, Portland Harbour

 who manage to do well catching the occasional cast-offs from the fisherman.

Australian Fur Seal, Portland Harbour

Michaelmas Cay: Boobies and Terns

Continuing our Far North Queensland experience, we took a day trip to the outer reef with Seastar Cruises. We chose this operator because they are a small, local, family-owned business, they operate a small boat (giving a more personal experience), they have two stops: one at Michaelmas Cay and one at Hastings Reef AND they are happy to drop birdwatchers on the island at Michaelmas Cay while others snorkel around the surrounding reef. We had a magnificent day and thoroughly recommend their services.

Michaelmas Cay is a small, coral sand island and the first thing you notice on approaching is the number of birds flying around.

Michaelmas Cay, Qld

Landing is restricted to a small section of the island, leaving the rest of the island to it's avian inhabitants.

Michaelmas Cay, Qld

We were told to look out for Brown Booby that frequently sit on the service boats moored just offshore...it didn't take much looking...

Brown Booby, Michaelmas Cay Qld

Landing on the island and surrounded by birds :-)

As close to paradise as I am going to get... (photo courtesy of Joanne Smissen)

The most abundant birds on the island are Common Noddy and Sooty Tern.

Common Noddy + Sooty Tern, Michaelmas Cay Qld

They have very different behaviours. The Common Noddy seem happy to sit on the beach by the shore

or on the rope barrier and dune front, allowing close approach

Common Noddy, Michaelmas Cay Qld

but are very fast flyers that rarely hover making them more challenging to capture in flight so these are the best I could manage

 

Common Noddy, Michaelmas Cay Qld

Sooty Terns, on the other hand, are glorious flyers, frequently hovering in the breeze,

Sooty Tern, Michaelmas Cay Qld

  

some managing the most extraordinary contortions

Sooty Tern, Michaelmas Cay Qld

and feeding by skimming the water surface

Sooty Tern, Michaelmas Cay Qld

but they roost behind the dunes away from the public access beach so are almost impossible to photograph on the ground,

Sooty Tern, Michaelmas Cay Qld

although this juvenile didn't follow the 'rules'.

Sooty Tern (juvenile), Michaelmas Cay Qld

In addition to lounging around on boats, Brown Booby breed on the island.

Brown Booby, Michaelmas Cay Qld

A few pairs could be seen from the viewing area. This pair was close and had a young chick.

Brown Booby, Michaelmas Cay Qld

They also paid a lot of attention to each other.

Brown Booby, Michaelmas Cay Qld

There are lesser numbers of other species of terns on the island including Crested Tern, Lesser Crested Tern, Bridled Tern and Black-naped Tern but these hang out mostly on the lee-side of the island (that you cannot get to). I did manage to get one shot of a Crested Tern

Crested Tern, Michaelmas Cay Qld

and just as we got back to the boat I managed to scramble a couple of shots of distant Black-naped Terns

Black-naped Tern, Michaelmas Cay Qld

Perhaps the highlight of the day was this frigatebird. It appears to be a female Lesser Frigatebird just coming into adult plumage but the white throat/chest patch is ambiguously part way between Lesser and Great Frigatebird in shape so I am not convinced...happy to take advice from others more familiar with these species.

Lesser(?) Frigatebird, Michaelmas Cay Qld

...and as we departed for Hastings Reef, one last shot of the sand bar at the end of the island with the Cairns coast in the background.

Michaelmas Cay, Qld