Stilts, Plovers, Coots and a lot of rain

I was fortunate to spend the day at a Birdlife Australia / Barwon Estuary Project workshop on shorebirds today.

The morning was spent with presentations from Birdlife Australia ornithologists on the life-cycles and environmental challenges faced by both migratory shorebirds (those that breed outside Australia and travel here in their non-breeding season) and indigenous shorebirds (those that breed, feed and generally hang around permanently within Australia - although several species migrate around Australia depending on weather conditions), and sessions on hints to ID shorebirds.

We spent the afternoon (or as much of it as we could bear given the persistent rain) at Lake Victoria in Point Lonsdale.

I arrived a little early so spent a few minutes photographing a pair of Eurasian Coots on the delightfully named 'Emily's Pond' nearby.

Eurasian Coot, Emily's Pond, Point Lonsdale, Victoria
Panasonic Lumix G9 with Lumix-Leica 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 lens @ 400mm
ISO 400, 1/1250 second @ f/6.3

Once everyone had arrived we walked through the salt marsh to a viewpoint across one of the small lakes adjacent to Lake Victoria where we suspected there would be Avocets and Stilts. Despite the gloomy and 'damp' conditions, we were not disappointed as there were several small flocks of Red-necked Avocets in the middle of the shallow lake

Avocet, Lake Victoria, Point Lonsdale, Victoria
Panasonic Lumix G9 with Lumix-Leica 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 lens @ 400mm
ISO 400, 1/1000 second @ f/6.3

and a large flock of Banded Stilts sheltering beside a small island in the lake.

Banded Stilt, Lake Victoria, Point Lonsdale, Victoria
Panasonic Lumix G9 with Lumix-Leica 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 lens @ 137mm
ISO 400, 1/1600 second @ f/4.5

Several smaller groups of Stilts took off giving us fleeting glimpses of them in flight

Banded Stilt, Lake Victoria, Point Lonsdale, Victoria
Panasonic Lumix G9 with Lumix-Leica 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 lens @ 400mm
ISO 400, 1/1600 second @ f/6.3

before landing on the small ponds on the shore of Lake Victoria proper, giving us a closer view of these beautiful birds, many of which were in breeding plumage displaying their brown chest band.

Banded Stilt, Lake Victoria, Point Lonsdale, Victoria
Panasonic Lumix G9 with Lumix-Leica 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 lens @ 400mm
ISO 800, 1/4000 second @ f/6.3

Banded Stilt, Lake Victoria, Point Lonsdale, Victoria
Panasonic Lumix G9 with Lumix-Leica 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 lens @ 400mm
ISO 400, 1/2000 second @ f/6.3

 There were a few (unphotographable) Red-necked Stints doing their sewing-machine impersonations feeding on the sand banks and a flock of Red-capped Plovers sheltering amongst the Bearded Glasswort on one of the small, semi-inundated islands.

Red-capped Plover, Lake Victoria, Point Lonsdale, Victoria
Panasonic Lumix G9 with Lumix-Leica 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 lens @ 400mm
ISO 400, 1/1250 second @ f/6.3

So, not a great day photographically but it's always great to see Avocets and Banded Stilts, both of which migrate around Australia chasing the wet so we don't always get to see them.

A quick trip around the Bellarine Peninsula

This afternoon was my first time out birding for six weeks so I took the opportunity to visit a few of my favourite haunts.

First stop was Swan Bay Jetty, usually a great spot for pelicans and cormorants. It was quite windy today so many of the usual suspects were taking refuge on the shore.

Swan Bay Jetty

This is a common site here

Little Black Cormorant, Little Pied Cormorant, Swan Bay Jetty

with some birds allowing quite close approach if you take your time.

Little Pied Cormorant, Swan Bay Jetty

Next stop was Ripview lookout at Queenscliff, where I found this immature Black-shouldered Kite hovering above the sand dunes.

Black-shouldered Kite, Queenscliff

Lake Victoria in Point Lonsdale usually has several species of small wading birds feeding around the edge of the shore. The lake shore has receded due to the lack of recent rain so the few Red-necked Stint and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers there today were too far away to photograph. There were the resident Red-capped Plovers though and they make great photographic subjects.

Red-capped Plover, Lake Victoria, Point Lonsdale

See last stop at Begola Wetlands

Lake Victoria, Pt Lonsdale

I went for a walk at Lake Victoria in Pt Lonsdale (see map) this evening. Immediately on arrival at the car park I could see a few Banded Stilts feeding close to the shore but once I got through the gate and closer to the lake shore, I was confronted with a flock of 400+ among Silver Gulls and Red-necked Stints.

Silver Gulls and Banded Stilts, Lake Victoria

Red-necked Stints and Banded Stilts, Lake Victoria

They were so intent on feeding that they allowed me to get fairly close.

Banded Stilt, Lake Victoria

Banded Stilt, Lake Victoria

Banded Stilt, Lake Victoria

Banded Stilt, Lake Victoria

Red-necked Stint, Lake Victoria

There were also 3 Common Greenshank nearby but they are usually quite skittish so I didn't try and approach them too closely. Unfortunately, they were almost completely backlit but there was no way of getting around behind them without wading out into the lake and scaring off the Stilts and Stints.

Common Greenshank, Lake Victoria

The highlight of the evening, however, was the smallest plover chick I have seen. This Red-capped Plover can't be much more than a few days old.

Red-capped Plover, Lake Victoria

While I was watching the plover and chick, a flock of Black-winged Stilts flew in over me onto the pond beside the golf course.

Black-winged Stilt, Lake Victoria

Black-winged Stilt, Lake Victoria

About 20 Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos were screeching from the tops of the cypress trees on the golf course and while I was walking back along the track to the car park, they flew past me giving me time for one shot.

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Lake Victoria