Hi Folks,
Members of BA-North Queensland Group conducted a wader count on the Cairns
Esplanade on 13th Nov. Report follows:
Again a good number of species and individuals were counted on an outgoing
tide. Noticeable by their absence was the Great Knot, which was present in
numbers on the previous nights incoming tide. The most numerous wader
species present was the Red-necked Stint (397), followed by the Sharp-tailed
Sandpiper (232), whose numbers had built up in the previous two weeks. Then
followed the Curlew Sandpiper (79), Bar-tailed Godwit (67) and Black-tailed
Godwit (41). The rest of the species were generally in numbers of less than
30, apart from 513 Silver Gull.
Of interest was a pair of Pied Oystercatcher who flew in with one of their
young, (their other young was foraging near the swimming lagoon) and stood
on the mud for a few minutes. The adult birds then took to the skies and put
on a spectacular aerial display flying in unison, swooping down low over the
water then back up into the sky before dropping down again, they did this
several times. They also performed a couple of full 360° loops before they
were joined by their youngster, who chased after them, and then came back
down onto the foreshore and resumed feeding. Shortly afterwards a juvenile
White-bellied Sea-Eagle soared over and later an adult glided by at 50m,
with a White-bellied Woodswallow attacking it for almost the full length of
the Esplanade, repeatedly crashing into the Sea-Eagle. I've not seen the
Asian Dowitcher this week during several searches and today was no
exception. At least 3 Broad-billed Sandpipers have been seen over the last
few weeks but again not located in this count.
In all 29 species and 1601 individuals were recorded and as usual there was
plenty of action along the foreshore, impressing some visiting birders who
were also grateful for the local advice we could give them.
Cheers,
Keith Fisher.
Keith & Lindsay Fisher
Cairns, QLD
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