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

Hunter Wetlands Centre

The Birdlife Photography workshop was held at the Hunter Wetlands Centre. Jo and I visited this centre 30 years ago, a few months after it had opened, and it was fantastic to see the vision become a reality.

After some great workshops in the middle of the day, we opted to take some time in the afternoon for a walk around the wetlands and managed to capture some great birds in the Azolla-covered pond right in front of the visitor centre.

Australasian Grebe, Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/11 1/400

Intermediate Egret, Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6 1/500

Little Black Cormorant, Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/11 1/500

Magpie Goose, Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/11 1/640

Plumed Whistling Duck, Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6 1/500

Dusky Moorhen, Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/11 1/160

More birds were spotted a little further afield

Australian White Ibis, Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6 1/6400

Wandering Whistling-Duck + Grey Teal, Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6 1/6400

but the highlight was when we returned to the main pond and an Intermediate Egret landed in the Casuarina tree close by.

Intermediate Egret, Hunter Wetlands Centre, Newcastle NSW
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6 1/1000

Mungalla Station (Part 1)

After a brilliant morning at Tyto Wetlands (see Part 1 and Part 2) and some great afternoon workshops, we gathered at Mungalla Station for some early evening birding and BBQ dinner.

Mungalla Station is a cattle property located approx. 12 km east of Ingham. The property is owned by the Nywaigi Aboriginal Land Corporation and managed by the Mungalla Aboriginal Business Corporation. Their mandate to "...improve the economic and social position of our people..." is being achieved through property management and cultural and eco-tourism.

The wetland on the property is a treasure being brought back to life by careful environmental management.

Mungalla Wetlands

In the 90 minutes we had exploring the wetland, we found a variety of wading birds including Masked Lapwing, Red-necked Stint, Red-kneed and Black-fronted Dotterel, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper and Latham Snipe. All were too far away for any good photography so I concentrated on the many birds flying overhead.

Brolga, Mungalla Wetlands

Magpie Goose, Mungalla Wetlands

Several small terns were fishing right in front of a group of photographers

but their quick movement and the poor light made it difficult to identify them with any certainty. These are the best photographs I could manage.

Whiskered Tern, Mungalla Station

I am not 100% convinced but the best identification I can come up with is Whiskered Tern. The only alternative is that they are White-winged Black Tern. WWBTs are northern hemisphere summer breeders that migrate to Australia in our spring. Early arrivals may retain some breeding colouration. I am not familiar enough with the changes of these birds as they move into and out of their breeding colouration. These birds have retained the red legs and bill there is no evidence of black plumage so I think it unlikely they are WWBTs.

As the sun was setting we walked back to the designated pick up spot where a flock of Nankeen Night-Herons were roosting.

Nankeen Night-Heron, Mungalla Station

Mungalla Station