Stockton Spit

After more great middle of the day sessions of workshops, we set off late this afternoon for the wetland and mangrove estuary along Stockton Spit - in particular the area immediately under the road bridge across the North Arm of the Hunter River.

Similar to Wednesday evening at Stockton Breakwater, there were thunder storms approaching from the south so we did not have much time out on the mudflats and wetlands but did manage to see a lot of wading birds that were cycling closer to the shore as the tide rose, covering the mudflats on which they had been feeding and roosting during low tide. Most conspicuous among the smaller birds (mostly Curlew Sandpipers) were the larger Bar-tailed Godwits (some of which were approaching breeding plumage with much redder head, neck and breast colouration) and Eastern Curlew.

Eastern Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew Sandpiper, Stockton Spit NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 800, f/13 1/250

Eastern Curlew + waders, Stockton Spit NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 800, f/22 1/160

Eastern Curlew + Bar-tailed Godwit, Stockton Spit NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 800, f/8 1/1000

With a group of 12 of us it was difficult to get close to the birds without spooking them so I opted to have a crack at stalking a small flock of raggedy-looking Caspian Terns that had settled along the muddy bank of a pool behind the main beach area.

Stalking Caspian Terns
Photograph courtesy of Joanne Smissen

As I got close enough for something half reasonable (after crawling through the sand, grass, saltmarsh and mud for about 25 metres) an approaching storm blocked out the sun so I bumped the ISO to 1600 but even with aperture wide-open (f/5.6 on my 300mm with 2x adaptor) the shutter speed (1/250-1/500) was only just fast enough to freeze the birds as they were constantly shuffling about (trying to get some shelter I expect).

Caspian Tern, Stockton Spit NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 1600, f/5.6 1/500

I got a little closer and managed another shot of a different arrangement of the same birds as it was getting even darker.

Caspian Tern, Stockton Spit NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 1600, f/5.6 1/250

Before I got close enough for some portraits of individual birds, the bank of low, dark storm clouds came across making it very dark. Fortunately I had the flash and Better Beamer mounted in anticipation of bad light so rather than bump the ISO even higher, I turned on the flash and made a somewhat feeble attempt at getting a few shots in light rain

Caspian Tern, Stockton Spit NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 1600, f/9 1/180 (Manual Flash 1/8 power)

before retreating for the car, safely parked under the bridge. The rain was going to be less of a problem (I always carry a poncho or garbage bag with me) than the lightning - it's not terribly sensible to be standing or sitting out in the open holding onto a three-legged lightning rod...

Cairns Foreshore...again

We spent most of today being tourists but managed to carve out the late afternoon for more birding along The Esplanade and found even more waders:

Great Knot, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

Curlew Sandpiper, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

Bar-tailed Godwit, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

Black-fronted Dotterel, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

including a few of last night's favourites

Eastern Curlew, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

Greater Sand Plover, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

Grey-tailed Tattler, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

Pied Imperial Pigeons were among the many birds looking for roosting sites in the palms along the Esplanade

Pied Imperial Pigeon, Cairns Esplanade,Qld

but the most interesting interaction was between these two:

Helmeted Friarbird + Varied Honeyeater, Cairns Esplanade,Qld

The two birds sat on this palm frond for a few minutes eyeing each other but did not otherwise seem to mind the presence of the other.

Cairns Foreshore

We drove from Ingham to Cairns today with a few stops for walks but it was so hot in the middle of the day that the birds were sensibly nowhere to be seen. Apparently only mad dogs, Englishmen and Victorian tourists go out in the north Qld midday sun :-)

I have never been to Cairns before so I was really looking forward to a combination of being a tourist and doing some FNQ birding on the side. The legendary Cairns foreshore was beckoning as soon as we arrived. The scene from the apartment balcony teased us with a view of the late afternoon outgoing tide; perfect for the close-up views of waders I'd heard so much about.

Apartment view, The Esplanade, Cairns Qld

I am a frequent visitor to the Western Treatment Plant in Werribee Victoria, one of the great wader locations in Australia; I have been to Roebuck Bay in Broome where the waders number in tens to hundreds of thousands and I have been to several of the prime wader watching sites in North America but the Cairns foreshore experience blew me away. As the tide recedes, you can stand on the boardwalk viewing hundreds of wading birds that are seemingly oblivious of the masses of humanity carrying on their recreational activities just metres away.

As the light levels dropped quickly (one of the disadvantages of being so far north is the lack of twilight and the mountain range behind Cairns means the sun 'sets' earlier), I tried out the flash for some of the shots. I still need to work on the settings to make the look more natural but I am enjoying this new challenge and the flash does provide  a "white light" view of the coloration and plumage detail that is often difficult to render under natural light in low light conditions.

Highlights were several species that are either rare or difficult to find/photograph in Victoria so special treats for a southerner:

Species such as Greater Sand Plover are not rare in Victoria but take some finding and are often in out of the way locations so I was thrilled to have this as the first bird I saw right in front of the seawall.

Greater Sand Plover, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

Similarly, Eastern Curlew and Whimbrel are not rare in Victoria but they are usually a long way away and I've never been able to get within 30 metres of them due to a combination of their lengthy flight distance and my lack of willingness to wade/crawl through mud. Here they were as close as 8 metres.

 

Eastern Curlew, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

Their feeding behavious could be observed close-up, including going face-deep in the mud.

Eastern Curlew, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

Whimbrel, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

I like this shot because it displays the distinctive dark brown crown with the pale central dividing line

Whimbrel, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

I could go for years without seeing either of these species in Victoria:

Grey-tailed Tattler, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

Terek Sandpiper, Cairns Esplanade, Qld

and, for something completely different, not your usual mudflat species:

White-breasted Woodswallow, Esplanade, Cairns Qld

Lucinda beach and bush birds

Day 2 of the Digital Photography in the Bush weekend started with a trip to Lucinda. At the southern entrance to the Hinchinbrook Channel (see map) and famous for being the home of the longest jetty in Australia, Lucinda also has a long sand spit that is frequented at low tide by thousands of waders, gulls and terns.

Sand spit at Lucinda Qld

 
Several of the larger birds were close enough for a half reasonable photograph.

Eastern Curlew + Bar-tailed Godwit, Lucinda Qld

However, with a large group of us, we decided not to venture too close to the spit so not to disturb the birds.

We were entertained by several pairs of Red-capped Plovers nesting or with young chicks on the beach. This male was patrolling the shore

Red-capped Plover (male), Lucinda Qld

while its mate (note the female's lack of the rufous cap) sat on the "nest".

Red-capped Plover (female), Lucinda Qld

This species is one of several small dotterels and plovers that make a nest from a shallow scrape in the sand, occasionally lined with a few shell fragments or vegetation. It was impossible not to get close to this nest as it was half way between the dunes and the shore on a narrow part of the beach but we moved on quickly to reduce the disturbance to a minimum.

We had been told that there was a pair of Beach Stone-curlews hanging around behind the dunes and they were easy to find resting under trees, although not so easy to photograph.

Beach Stone-curlew, Lucinda Qld

Once we identifed that there were three of them (and therefore likely to be a young one with them), we left them alone and headed to the picnic ground in the park along Rigby Street where there allegedly were Varied Honeyeaters. We dipped on the honeyeaters but I did manage to photograph some other birds for the first time.

Australasian Figbird (female), Lucinda Qld

Australasian Figbird (male), Lucinda Qld

Helmeted Friarbird, Lucinda Qld

An ice-cream at the General store was served with advice as to what we could do with the "curlews" (i.e., Bush Stone-curlew) that kept the store keeper and his family awake all night. It was amazing to see these birds, rare and elusive in the south, wandering around the streets and gardens throughout the town but, apparently, they are not a popular with the locals as they are with tourists.

Bush Stone-curlew, Lucinda Qld

We found one pair with a nearly full-grown chick, sitting on the roadside, seemingly unbothered by the vehicular and pedestrian traffic only a few metres away, reliant on its cryptic camouflage.

Bush Stone-curlew, Lucinda Qld

As we got back to the car, we spotted a small bird of prey alighting in a tree a few hundred metres away. Closer examination identified it as an Australian Hobby and two of us decided to see if we could get closer for a photograph. A series of bushes and trees provided enough cover to allow us to get within about 50 metres but the view was obscured by the same vegetation we had used for cover.

Australian Hobby

Not a great shot but I was pleased to finally get a photograph of this species. Common enough around home, I had never managed to be in the right place at the right time with a camera in hand until today. The only way to get closer would encroach on where we had previously seen the Beach Stone-curlews so we decided it was enough for the morning and to head for our next destination, Dungeness, where yesterday's group had seen Striated Heron.

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