A Morning on the Gold Coast - Part 2: Emerald Lakes

After somewhat sparse experiences at Coomera and Coombabah Lakes Mangroves, I headed for Emerald Lakes in Carrara and was not disappointed. An hour walk around the lake on the corner of Birmingham and Nielsens Roads provided a great array of the usual suspects:

Dusky Moorhen, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/640

Eurasian Coot, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/640

Hardhead, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/640

Intermediate Egret, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/800

Little Egret, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/400 

Pacific Black Duck, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/400

Purple Swamphen, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/250

Royal Spoonbill, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/500

Royal Spoonbill, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/640

Royal Spoonbill, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/500

Willie Wagtail, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/500

...but, for a southerner, who doesn't get to see them very often, this flock of Magpie Geese was the highlight.

Magpie Goose, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/11, 1/160

Magpie Goose, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/11, 1/250

Magpie Goose, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/8, 1/400

Magpie Goose, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/800

Even this Royal Spoonbill seemed to appreciate the show!

Magpie Goose + Royal Spoonbill, Emerald Lakes, Carrara, Queensland
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/11, 1/250

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

Daintree River

A 3:30AM start for the drive from Cairns to Daintree this morning was rewarded with a fantastic birding cruise with Bruce Belcher's Daintree River Cruises. Just my wife and I with Bruce on the boat armed with 3 cameras and 2 pairs of binoculars.

The first bird of the cruise arrived before we left the dock.

Welcome Swallow, Daintree River Qld

 We started by cruising along a side branch of the river

Lots of birds were heard calling from the tree tops and from deep in the foliage but few allowed close-up views until we spotted this Graceful Honeyeater (lifer number 1 for the day).

Graceful Honeyeater, Daintree River Qld

As we entered the mainstream of the river

we came across a large male crocodile basking on a sandbank.

Estuarine Crocodile, Daintree River Qld

along with two species of egret

Little Egret, Daintree River Qld

Eastern Great Egret, Daintree River Qld

We cruised along close to the bank and spotted an Azure Kingfisher alight on a branch just on front of the boat. Bruce cut the engine and we floated close enough to get a great view of this spectacular little bird.

Azure Kingfisher, Daintree River Qld

It even turned around to allow front and rear views. Quite the experienced photographic model :-)

Azure Kingfisher, Daintree River Qld

My wife was itching to see a sunbird as we had seen their nests hanging from branches along the river bank and spotted flashes of yellow in the vegetation. We had just about resigned ourselves to missing clear views of these birds when this female landed on a nest right next to us.

Olive-backed Sunbird (female), Daintree River Qld

The male was around but did not come close enough for a photograph. Other, more bedraggled, hanging nests were also common and, again, we eventually spied one of their owners.

Large-billed Gerygone, Daintree River Qld

With all of the mangroves along the river bank we expected to find Striated Heron and eventually did.

Striated Heron, Daintree River Qld

Just before we arrived back at the dock, a Whistling Kite landed in a tree close to the bank, albeit fairly high above us.

Whistling Kite, Daintree River Qld

In all, 26 species of birds and 6 crocs....what a great morning!

Day 1 of Spring at the WTP

Day 1 of spring and I had not been to the Western Treatment Plant for a while so headed there to see what was about. It was very quiet. Very few waders were present in the usual places, due, I suspect, to a combination of high winds and very full ponds, though I did see several small flocks huddled on the outer sand banks at The Spit.

There was the odd surprise with appearance of solo egrets and herons

Eastern Great Egret, Lake Borrie Coastal Road, Western Treatment Plant

Little Egret, Little River Causeway, Western Treatment Plant 

White-necked Heron, 145WA Lagoon, Western Treatment Plant

The usual pelicans, swans and cormorants that frequent Lake Borrie were missing today but some had opted for the more sheltered shore of Port Phillip Bay

Pied Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Silver Gull, Western Treatment Plant

Australian Pelican, Pied Cormorant, Western Treatment Plant

Black Swan, Western Treatment Plant

Little Black Cormorant, Western Treatment Plant

and some of the pelicans put on a formation flying display

Australian Pelican, Western Treatment Plant

Several White-fronted Chats darted about on the beach and shrubs

White-fronted Chat (male), Western Treatment Plant

The last bit of excitement was the first snake for the year as this Tiger Snake crossed the road just in front of the car but slowly enough for me to get out and snap one shot.

Tiger Snake, Western Treatment Plant