STOCKTON & ASH ISLAND
On Saturday 17 December 2005 I led a party of birders from "Follow That Bird
Tours" to the Hunter Region to see what the birding "hotspots" of Stockton
and Ash Island had to offer. We had a perfect summers day, sunny, fine and
the temp about 28 C. The tide was forecasted to be 1.85 m which is a good
height and should ensure that there were plenty of waders at the Spit. We
arrived at the Stockton Sandspit just as the tide was turning and although
the Godwits and some of the Avocets had remained over at the Dykes on the
southern side of the Hunter River, there were were plenty of waterbirds to
see. By far the most numerous were 450+ Red-necked Avocets, c.250 Eastern
Curlews and 120 Curlew Sandpipers. However also present were Red-capped
Plovers, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Black-winged Stilts and Red-necked Stints.
Four Pied Oystercatchers made several passes over the Spit, Superb
Fairy-wrens, Yellow Thornbills and Grey Fantails were active in the wattles,
Silvereyes and Mangrove Gerygones were seen in the mangroves, and Little
Egrets, Great Egret and White-faced Herons were feeding in the saltmarsh.
We had morning tea in the shade of the bridge and then walked around to Fern
Bay where we could only locate 1 Tekek Sandpiper and 2 Grey-tailed Tattlers
on the oyster lease posts. We then moved onto the Stockton wreck and other
that pelicans and Little Black Cormorants, we drew a blank but managed to
find 12 Golden Plovers roosting further along on the rocks. There were
Yellow-rumped Thornbills, plenty of Figbirds, a Koel Cuckoo and a Whipbird
along the River parklands at this point. We moved across to Stockton Beach
for lunch, where from the shade of the pavilion, we were able to watch the
Stockton Cricket team play Belmont on the Cricket Oval, the birds on
Stockton Beach not being very exciting today although Common & Crested Terns
were present. We returned to the Stockton sandspit after lunch, having given
the falling tide, time to exposed the sand flats. First we checked out the
Fern Bay oyster leases and this time we were not disappointed, finding a
group of 19 Terek Sandpipers, 4 Whimbrels and more Tattlers. Back at the
Sandspit, Bar-tailed Godwits & Golden Plovers had come to join the other
waders feeding on the sandflats, while White-breasted Sea-eagles were seen
over the Spit.
The higher than usual tide had meant that the saltmarshes of the Ash Island
ponds were well covered in water and there were plenty of Egrets feeding on
the fish, Great, Intermediate, Little and Cattle Egrets all being present
with most in their breeding plumages so enabling comparisions to be made of
the different colour combinations of legs, beak and the skin around the eye.
Over 35 Greenshanks were present along with a large flock of Black-winged
Stilts which were being harassed by Whistling Kites, Swamp Harriers and a
beautiful adult Peregrine Falcon. The Peregrine gave wonderful views when
perched on the power poles. Alas no Yellow Wagtails to be seen, but Pipits,
Clamorous Reedwarblers and White-fronted Chats showed well. Eastern Curlews,
White Ibis, Swan, Chestnut Teal and White-faced Herons were the main other
waterbirds, while Welcome Swallows, Fairy Martins and White-breasted
Woodswallows were present in large numbers and Kestrel and Black-faced
Cuckoo-shrike were seen in the nearby paddocks.
Our birding at both sites was enhanced because of the work being currently
undertaken by the Hunter Bird Observers Club in carrying out mangrove
seedling removal in the saltmarshes of the Ash Islands Ponds in order to
enhance the wader feeding habitat there, and at Stockton Sandspit, where
under the leadershipo of Tom Clarke, mangrove seedling and Bitou Bush
removal removal works continue so as to improve the bird habitats and keep
the wader feeding grounds clear. Congrats to the HBOC for work well done.
Overall the participants for the day saw over 67 species at these two top
birding spots and had a good time of christmas fun and fellowship. Happy
Christmas everyone! We were ofcourse somewhat disappointed that not one
searched the coach for baseball bats or tried to confiscate our telescopes
deeming them to be weapons that could be used in the beach wars!! Alan
Morris.
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