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Hi everyone
Here's the latest from Broome Bird
Observatory:
Yesterday afternoon I had a small
tour group (2 regular birders and 2 newbies) . We began with a visit
to our observation platform which is located adjacent to the
Observatory.
A good little mixed flock
had formed right in front of us, consisting of:
Red-necked Stint 500+
Red-capped Plover 1000+
Greater Sand Plover 50+
Lesser Sand Plover 3
Ruddy Turnstone 5
Great Knot 3
Whimbrel 1
Terek Sandpiper 3
Curlew Sandpiper 5+
Grey Plover 2
Broad-billed Sandpiper
17
The best sighting, of course,
was the Broad-bills. After carefully pointing out the diagnostic features
of these birds we were all, even our beginners, soon engaged in a
competition to spot the Broad-bill - great fun in a flock of 500 or more
Red-necked Stints!
A quick journey around the bay and we
got into some serious numbers. Nearby, we located some good roosts of several
thousand birds, but on the distant mudflats we were able to observe many tens of
thousands of waders foraging - a truly humbling and majestic sight. Now and
again, huge flocks would take to the wing and perform breathtaking "school of
fish" or "mexican wave" style patterns in the air, leaving us all grasping
for superlatives. Unfortunately they were a little distant to identify
individuals and this is understandable, given that the mudflats are twice
the size of Sydney Harbour! Here's the list of what we could make out before
us:
Great Knot 1000+
Bar-tailed Godwit 1500+
Grey Plover 300+
Ruddy Turnstone 8
Red Knot 20+
Common Sandpiper 1
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
20+
Pacific Golden Plover 1
Oriental Plover 5
Greater Sand Plover 50+
Red-capped Plover 500+
Red-necked Stint 100+
Striated Heron 2
Green Shank 20+
Black-winged Stilt 30+
Black-necked Stork 3
Caspian Tern2
Gull-billed Tern (macrotarsus)
20+
Whiskered Tern 20+
Crested Tern 11
Silver Gull 20+
Lesser Frigatebird 1
Brahminy Kite 2
White-bellied Sea-Eagle
3
Collared Sparrowhawk 2
Great Egret 2
Little Egret 1
Eastern Reef Egret (grey morph)
2
This was actually a slow day, as
there are usually people wandering about on the bay on Sundays and the birds
tend to find roosting sites elsewhere when this occurs. The magnificence of the
bay and its avian inhabitants totally stole the hearts of our "punters" who
declared themselves converts to birding. They especially loved the White-bellied
Sea-Eagles which repeatedly soared and hovered just over our heads at a viewing
site called "One Tree" (visitors will know this site is great for Sea-Eagles).
Whilst marvelling at the display of aerial control as he remained
"geostationary" in the breeze about 8 metres from us, we could
also make out every detail of his beautiful eagle face, talons and
plumage, - a really lovely and unforgettable sight.
When the tour was wrapped up, I went
for a private birding session in the Observatory grounds, I had the
following sightings:
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
4
Red-winged Parrot 4
Red-backed Fairy-wren 3
Variagated Fairy-wren 4
White-throated Gerygone
5
Northern Fantail 1
Willie Wagtail 3
Restless Flycatcher 2
Singing Honeyeater 10+
Red-throated Honeyeater
6
Brown Honeyeater 11
Mistletoe Bird 7
Peaceful Dove 20+
Bar-shouldered Dove 30+
Crested Pigeon 8
Double-barred Finch 8
Long-tailed Finch 20+
Great Bowerbird 10+
Torresian Crow 3
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
6
Magpie-lark 2
Black-faced Woodswallow
1
Yellow White-eye 30+
Rainbow Bee eater 7
Grey-crowned Babbler 6
Grey Shrike-thrush 2
Rufous Whislter 1
Tree Martin 20+
Barn Swallow 10+
Brown Goshawk 3
Tawney Frogmouth 2
(nesting)
Just another wonderful day at
Broome.
Happy Birding
Ricki
Broome WA
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