HI Guys,
There is another tern hotspot and it's in Australia - Newcastle in fact - who'd
a thunk it!
Recently we had the privilege of having five tern species before us (Crested,
Common, White-fronted, Little and Arctic) on the rock shelf behind Newcastle
Ocean Baths, while just 20 minutes by road (5 km as the tern flies) at Stockton
Sandspit, in the Hunter River estuary, we had a further 4 species (Caspian,
Gull-billed, White-winged Black and Whiskered). A total of nine species easily
viewable within an hour or so.
Furthermore, just recently, we also had Sooty Tern on a pelagic trip off Port
Stephens a little to the north, but we've also had White Tern earlier in the
year and our waters, and the Newcastle rock shelf, is occasionally visited by
Common Noddy.
Late October was certainly an exceptional time for us, likely a function of
birds moving through. Although, it does highlight the importance of east coast
estuarine and rock-shelf habitats as important stopover points for migratory
birds in our flyway.
As many others seem to be voicing on our forums, we are finding our migratory
bird habitats here in the Hunter are under increased pressure from the
community at these sites, more often than not from a lack of information about
their importance.
It has been our challenge here to find solutions that will accommodate the
birds while including the community, and I'm pleased to say that we have a
tireless group here that are working toward doing just that.
Happy terning,
Allan Richardson
Morisset NSW
On 02/12/2012, at 9:00 AM, Steve wrote:
> G'day Richard
>
> I immediately thought of Port Isabel, Texas where I had a great tern day a
> few years ago. I've just checked and I saw only 6 tern species (Gull-billed,
> Caspian Royal, Cabot's, Least and Forster's). Other tern species are to be
> found there so I reckon it is a good candidate for a global tern hotspot.
>
> I went on a boat with Scarlet Colley (http://www.fin2feather.com/) for a
> three hour birding trip and we also saw such birds as Great Northern Loon,
> Northern Crested Caracara, Long-billed Curlew, Willet, Dunlin, Laughing and
> Ring-billed Gulls, Black Skimmer and Mangrove Warbler. Lots of dolphins too.
>
>
> Cheers
> Steve
>
>
>
> On 01/12/2012, at 10:30 PM, "Richard Nowotny" <>
> wrote:
>
>> A big tern day at the Western Treatment Plant (Werribee, Vic) today (with
>> John and Shirley Tongue and family):
>>
>>
>>
>> Caspian, Crested, Common, Whiskered, White-winged Black, Little, Fairy.
>>
>>
>>
>> [I suspect there aren't too many individual sites around the world where one
>> can see 7 tern species in a day.]
>>
>>
>>
>> Other good birds today included Great Knot, Pacific Golden Plover, Lewin's
>> Rail, Banded Stilt, Banded Lapwing, White-necked Heron and that remarkable
>> number of Freckled Duck at Walsh's Lagoon (estimated, on the wing, at well
>> over 50).
>>
>>
>>
>> Richard Nowotny
>>
>>
>>
>> Port Melbourne, Victoria
>>
>> M: 0438 224 456
>>
>>
>>
>> ===============================
>>
>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
>> send the message:
>> unsubscribe
>> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
>> to:
>>
>> http://birding-aus.org
>> ===============================
>
> ===============================
>
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> send the message:
> unsubscribe
> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> to:
>
> http://birding-aus.org
> ===============================
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
===============================
|
