Hi Folks,
A good number of waders and visitors have been appearing on the Cairns
esplanade over the last month. There has been about 30-50 Black-tailed
Godwits hanging around with the Bar-tails, one Red Knot was mixed in
with the hundreds of Great Knot this week and 4 Broad-billed Sandpipers
have been regulars. Other birds in good numbers include Sharp-tailed and
Curlew Sandpipers, Eastern Curlew (up to 60), Whimbrel and Red-necked
Stints. Pacific Golden Plover have been slow appearing with a peak of 14
birds this week, there are a few Common Greenshank, Grey-tailed Tattler,
Terek Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Sandplovers, and intermittently a
pair of Beach Stone-curlew. Last week a pair of Little Curlew surprised
everyone by making an appearance on the mudflats, only seen one once
before here. 4 Avocets put down for a day before turning up north of
Port Douglas at a rubbish tip! There were between 60-100 Little Black
Cormorants fishing offshore which is also unusual, they usually hang
around the Southern Treatment Works at Kate Street south of the city. Up
to 6 Darters have also been fishing here. Little Tern numbers have
steadily been building up with 16 present this week, 2 Common Terns were
also reported as was a Lesser Crested Tern on two occasions. Lesser
Cresteds are more often seen on the off shore islands of the reef.
Several Crested Terns have been hanging around with the gulls and one
had a begging juvenile with it this week. The usual egrets, spoonbills,
pelicans and ever increasing numbers of Silver Gulls are ever present.
The numbers of birdwatchers has also been high over the last few weeks
with several tour parties coming through along with visitors from all
parts of the world. Never a dull moment on the Esplanade!
Cheers,
Keith & Lindsay Fisher
Cairns, Far North Queensland
Australia
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