The waders have returned!!! Yes, it's that time of year again when Burnett Heads becomes my happy place and where I will be spending most of my spare time. This month, Gengers Rd is still producing the goods, I take a visit down to Elliott Heads, I add a new bird to my Baldwin Swamp list and the port bird survey had some nice... you guessed it, waders!
On another visit to Moore Park, I easily spent half a day in the track on Gengers Rd. It was a marvellous morning with the morning temperatures starting to warm up a bit lately. There was still plenty of fruit available as Rose-crowned Fruit-Doves and the odd Topknot Pigeon fluttered between branches as I walked underneath them. By the causeway I had picked up some nice species of this habitat, such as Fairy Gerygone, Golden Whistler, Little Bronze-cuckoo, Azure Kingfisher, Royal Spoonbill, Branminy Kite and Spectacled Monarch. Further on, fresh-ish platelets at the buttonquails' most popular feeding area, but no birds present. Other good birds which showed well include Rufous Fantail, Mangrove Gerygone, Shining Flycatcher and White-eared Monarch. There were also a number of raptors out this morning; between home and Moore Park I saw Nankeen Kestrel, Black-shouldered Kite, Black Kite, Eastern Osprey, Whistling Kite, Collared Sparrowhawk, White-bellied Sea-Eagle and Little Eagle. What a great day...
Earlier in the month Mum joined me at Elliott Heads, but first we stopped at a small creek that I knew of for some light birding. This neat little place just produced some relatively common species including Little Shrike-thrush, Brown Honeyeater, Scarlet Myzomela, White-throated Honeyeater and Grey Fantail. We then headed to Elliott Heads where I could look for the bird I came to see, and after about 20 minutes walking about the vast sandbars of the Elliott River, a Beach Stone-Curlew just minding it's own business. Other waders that we saw on the sandbars include Grey-tailed Tattler, Red-necked Stint, Lesser Sand-Plover, Double-banded Plover, Bar-tailed Godwits and Eastern Curlew.
Speaking of waders, there was certainly a lot of wader activity at the port survey. There was everything from Sharp-tailed and Curlew Sandpipers to Bar-tailed Godwits and even an Asian Dowitcher all feeding like crazy. Before the survey, I spent the first hour of the morning parked beside Hermans Rd, and from the car I had good views of Buff-banded Rail, Latham's Snipe and Spotless Crake.
One afternoon I was riding through Baldwin Swamp when I swear I heard Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos... pretty unusual for this habitat, so I went to the source of the sound and sure enough half a dozen or so were mucking around in the casuarinas. This is a new bird for my Baldwin list so I was very happy and on that note, I'm out.
Brandon
