Seabirds in flight at Point Impossible

On the way home from the Western Treatment Plant, I stopped at Point Impossible to see if there were any waders at the mouth of Thompson Creek.

There was a plethora of people walking, fishing, playing with dogs and engaged in soccer and frisbee so there was very little in the way of birds on the beach other than the usual Silver Gulls and Pacific Gulls dodging soccer balls and dogs but generally undisturbed by the human activity. There were, though, several birds flying and fishing around the mouth of the creek.

Pacific Gull, Point Impossible

Caspian Tern, Point Impossible

Australasian Gannet, Point Impossible

I didn't quite manage to get the point of contact with the water but did get a couple of shots of the start of a dive.

Australasian Gannet, Point Impossible

Wading Birds

A late afternoon trip into Geelong was extended a little with stops at 13th Beach and Pt Impossible to look for waders (in particular Double-banded Plovers in full breeding plumage and Hooded Plovers) and I was not disappointed.

Double-banded Plover, 13th Beach/Black Rocks

Sometimes, you think they are not taking much notice of you until they look straight down the barrel at you...

Double-banded Plover, 13th Beach/Black Rocks

There were two Hooded Plovers at Pt Impossible just at the river mouth. After wading the river (smart enough to leave the shoes in the car) I got close enough for one reasonable shot. Both appeared to be juveniles, with this one just coming into adult plumage.

Hooded Plover, Pt Impossible

Before I could get a good shot of the second bird, a Pacific Gull landed close-by and both Hoodies and the 20 or so Double-banded and Red-capped Plovers flew off over the river and around the point. The Pacific Gull did pose for a profile shot though.

Pacific Gull, Pt Impossible

Back over the river and heading for the car, one male Red-capped Plover remained on the sand flats among the kelp and seagrass.

Red-capped Plover, Pt Impossible

Breamlea

Another dull and windy day but thought I would go in search of the Pacific Golden Plovers at Black Rocks. I had seen them there 6 weeks ago when a few were starting to get breeding plumage but reports from earlier this week suggested they were still there and some were in full plumage. The wind was howling off Bass Strait such that even the gulls were taking shelter

Silver Gull, Black Rocks

There was a small flock of Red-necked Stint and Double-banded Plover further down 13th Beach but no PGPs so I opted to practice some more hand-held flight shots

Great Cormorant, Black Rocks

There was not much else on the beach at Black Rocks so I headed into Breamlea where a flock of Common Starlings was flying around the saltmarsh on the Nature Conservation Reserve. This is one of the hardest shots to get with a moving flock of small birds at long distance and a detailed background - not the most exotic of birds but happy with this shot.

Common Starling, Breamlea Nature Conservation Reserve

Past Breamlea onto Pt Impossible Road, there were 5 White-faced Herons feeding along the edge of the creek. A bonus of shooting in dull light is the low contrast allows the subtle colours of the saltmarsh to show. The colour gets washed out in bright sunshine.

White-faced Heron, Thompson Creek, Pt Impossible Road

Not much in the way of birds at Pt Impossible but a Nankeen Kestrel did cooperate for a couple of flight shots and even a bit of blue sky :-)

Nankeen Kestrel, Pt Impossible

Low Tide at Point Impossible

Had another attempt at wading birds at Point Impossible (view map) this morning and was not disappointed. There were several flocks of small waders feeding on the exposed sand flats around the mouth of Thompson Creek and sheltering among the weed higher on the beach.

Mostly Red-necked Stint

Red-necked Stint, Pt Impossible

but a few Red-capped Plover and a single Double-banded Plover in intermediate plumage.

Double-banded Plover, Pt Impossible

Double-banded Plover, Pt Impossible

There were lots of Pacific Gull, Silver Gull and Crested Tern flying around and resting on rocks and sand flats but this immature Pacific Gull seemed intrigued by my presence, walking in a large circle around me while I knelt in the shallow water photographing the stints and plovers.

Pacific Gull (immature, year 2), Pt Impossible

My main interest here was in finding Hooded Plover. Another birdo and I thought we spotted one on the other side of the creek so waded across for a closer look but no luck finding it. With increasing canine and human activity on the beach at the creek mouth, I decided to try my luck around the point and walked west towards Torquay. Just at the "Nude Beach" sign (fortunately no nudists today - it can be awkward walking along here with a camera and binoculars!) I spotted one Hoody at the bottom of the dunes.

Hooded Plover, Pt Impossible

 For anyone interested, it was banded and tagged:

The weather was turning for the worse with rain approaching from the west but I couldn't resist trying for the Great Cormorant sitting on the reef about 200 metres offshore. Getting close enough meant either walking out along the reef, which would have scared away the bird (I find this species to be the most flighty of the cormorants and usually struggle to get closer than 30-40 metres) or wading directly out towards the reef. So, footwear removed, off I went into the water and managed to get close enough for this shot just after a second bird landed immediately behind the one I was stalking. 

Great Cormorant, Pt Impossible

The light was gone and drizzly rain started so I made my way back to shore, found my sandals (now covered in damp sand blown down the beach) and hiked it back to the car, wet from above and below but thrilled with two hours well spent at one of my favourite wader spots :-)