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Hi Everyone,
I have just returned from Lady Elliot Island after
a weekend there with 24 members of Birds Qld. We have been going there in
late November since 1993. Late November is when most of the birds are
breeding including the Red-tailed Tropicbird. As usual the birding was fantastic
and the weather perfect apart from one light shower.
There are currently two Red-tailed Tropic
bird chicks and a couple of other pairs of adults thinking about nesting.
The chicks are 4 weeks and 8 weeks old and can be photographed within a distance
of two feet as they are right beside the path.The most exciting
birding was the the large number of Roseate Terns which had advanced
chicks. These birds are not always present and did not breed there last
year. To see such a successful hatching was a highlight for me as over the
years I have watched them predated severly by gulls or not be present at
all. Other terns nesting were Crested, Bridled, Black-naped as well as
Common and Black Noddies.
Another highlight was the Oriental Plover on the
airstrip. It was there over the whole weekend and everyone had great
views. Also on the rocky foreshore was at least one Wandering
Tattler. We got to within 30 feet of one and could even see the
lengthened nasal groove (with the help of a telescope) distingushing it from the
Grey-tailed (as well as its overall darker colouring).
Birds seen over the weekend were:
White-bellied Sea-eagle
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Red-tailed
Tropicbird
Brown Booby
Great Frigatebird
Lesser
Frigatebird Eastern
Reef Egret (white & grey)
Buff-banded
Rail Bar-tailed
Godwit
Eastern
Curlew Whimbrel
Grey-tailed
Tattler Wandering
Tattler
Ruddy
Turnstone Pied
Oystercatcher
Sooty
Oystercatcher Common
Sandpiper
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Pacific Golden Plover
Oriental Plover
Greater Sand
Plover
Lesser Sand
Plover Silver
Gull
Crested
Tern Roseate
Tern
Black-naped Tern
Bridled Tern
White-winged Black Tern Common
Noddy
Black Noddy House
Sparrow
Tawny
Grassbird Silvereye
Other birds seen over the years include Lesser
Crested Tern, Little Tern, Red-necked Stint, Grey Plover, Scarlet Honeyeater and
Golden-headed Cistocola.
Definitely a place worth visiting during the
breeding season.
Jan England
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