Hi Tom,
A couple of friends, Raja and I went on the 11:30 trip. We had similar stuff,
but could not find any Tereks on the barge although we looked for them.
We saw the following:
2 White-bellied Sea-Eagles
2 Whistling Kites
10 Pied Oystercatchers
1 Pacific Golden Plover (on the barge)
2 Masked Lapwings
50 Eastern Curlew (could not find any Whimbrels or Bar-tailed Godwits; maybe
someone else on the boat saw them?)
30 or 31 GT Tattlers (on the barge)
4 Ruddy Turnstones (on the barge)
2 Red-necked Stints (on the barge)
1 Curlew Sandpiper (on the barge)
1 Jaeger, which we ID'd as a Pom, but the (bad) pics we took show field marks
speaking in part for Pom, in part for Arctic... (these guys are so much easier
in the Northern hemisphere...)
20+ Little Terns
2 Caspian Terns
a few Crested Terns
Cheers,
Nikolas
----------------
Nikolas Haass
Sydney, NSW
----- Original Message ----
From: Tom and Mandy Wilson <>
To: birding-aus <>
Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 6:39:08 PM
Subject: [Birding-Aus] Eastlakes & Botany Bay, Sydney 16 November
Hi all
I went on a boat tour that visited a number of shorebird sites on Botany Bay,
organised by NSW NPWS and Dept of Conservation today. The tour focused on the
shorebirds that inhabit Towra Point and Woolooware Bay .
On my way to Botany for a 9am start, I dropped in at Eastlakes GC from
6:30-7:50, going in at Cowper St. Best bird there was a Whiskered Tern in
breeding plumage, which was seen over the pond near Cowper St and the larger
lake near Wentworth Ave. There was a pair of White Winged Trillers in trees
near Wentworth Ave, trilling away. I saw (flushed) 6 Lathams Snipe, got good
views of several Greenfinches and watched a very aggressive Willie Wagtail
chasing the golfers. There was also a family of Black Faced Cuckoo Shrikes,
with the two younger birds showing the narrow mask that made me look twice to
make sure that they weren't Little Cuckoo Shrikes. There was a Little
Grassbird calling, the Reed Warblers and Golden Headed Cisticolas were very
active and loud and there were several Australasian Grebe dust-ups happening
out on the water. There were 2 Black Fronted Dotterel on the dam wall that
separates the big main lake from the Cowper St wetland.
The Botany Bay shorebird tour organised by the NSW NPWS left from Sans Souci
wharf. First we cruised into Woolooware Bay and checked out some old wharves
and barges that the shorebirds use as high tide roosts. On one set of old
barges there were 1 or possibly 2 Terek Sandpipers mixed in with a load of Grey
Tailed Tattlers (about 25). The birds stood as we approached, but only a few
of us got a sight of the orange legs and upturned bills and then all the birds
settled down again and tucked their heads under their wings and that was it.
The barge also held some Turnstones and 1 Red Necked Stint.
We looked at a couple of sites that held many Eastern Curlew (standing on old
pilings for oyster leases with the water lapping at their toes) and then
cruised to Towra Spit Island. The boat did not get that close, partly to avoid
disturbing the birds but I think we also had depth issues, as we were on quite
a large whale watching vessel. On the island we could see the Little Terns,
plus many fishing out over the bay. (With the development work at Penryhn
Road, this is their last nesting site in Botany Bay apparently) There were
plenty of Curlew, Bar Tailed Godwit and a few Whimbrel that could be
distinguished and several Pied Oystercatchers. It looked to me as though there
were some smaller waders in with them too (Knot possibly - they use the island
apparently), but we were too far away for any meaningful ID. A Caspian Tern
flew up off the island and headed upriver as well.
We got back at about 11:20. There was a 2nd shift on the boat that left Sans
Souci at 11:30, so I'd be interested to hear if they saw anything different as
I think that may have had slightly more water to work with.
Cheers
Tom Wilson
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