BAYBOCA (Bayside Branch of the Bird Observers Club of Australia) had an outing
to Mud Islands in southern Port Phillip Bay, Victoria on Saturday 18 February.
Thirty-seven interpid adventurers were picked up from the Portsea pier by the
Kyena from Queenscliff, with skipper Ivan and marine biologists Harry and Ben.
Due to favourable tides, we first headed out to Pope's Eye and Wedge Light to
see nesting Australasian Gannets as well as Black-faced Cormorants, Crested
Terns, Silver Gulls and one or two Ruddy Turnstone. On the way a few people
saw a Little Penguin and several hundred Short-tailed Shearwaters came past the
boat with a single Sooty Shearwater amongst them. After the gannets, the boat
headed straight for Mud Islands and a single Fluttering Shearwater was seen by
a couple of people. A distant Arctic Jaeger had everyone up on their feet for
some time. On arrival at the islands we were startled to see a young male
Southern Elephant Seal hauled out on a sandbar - the same one on which we were
to have come ashore. Harry was very nervous as Elephant Seals have been known
to attack boats and we were going to be ferried ashore a few at a time in a
smaller boat. Harry and Ben ferried us ashore away from the Elephant Seal but
we kept a wary eye out. Once ashore it was up with the scopes to see Great
Knot, Common Greenshank, Red-necked Stint, Lesser Sand Plover, Grey Plover,
Bar-tailed Godwit and Fairy Terns. Some of the group went off with Harry and
Ben to discover more about the ecology of the area whilst the hard-core birders
stayed glued to their scopes. After exhausting the variety of birds along the
shoreline, we headed into the central lagoon. There were fewer birds there
than in previous years, presumably due to the visit coinciding with low tide in
the late morning. However, a partially coloured Double-banded Plover made up
for the lack of variety as well as a Little Egret dashing around madly. At the
far end of the lagoon was a large group of Australian Pelicans including
several young of various sizes and many Black Swans. A couple of very
confiding Little Grassbirds gave us excellent views once they had been whistled
out of the bushes, even perching on some dead branches. We made our way back
out to the beach to find the tide had turned and was rapidly covering the mud
and sand and very few waders were visible. After a quick late lunch we went
back to the central lagoon and found the most stunning Red-necked Stint in full
breeding plumage - bright red. We then walked back to the meeting area to meet
the other group and waded out to the still exposed sandbank as far away from
the still recumbent Elephant Seal as possible. The water had risen so that he
had to keep lifting his nose out of the water to breathe. He closely watched
as the small boat ferried people back out to the Kyena, even turning 180
degrees around to watch more closely, causing quite a few nervous moments. As
the last boatload headed out (with me on board) he slithered into the deeper
water and disappeared. On the way back to Portsea we stopped at the new
Chinaman's Hat to see the colony of Australian Fur-seals - very much smaller
than the Elephant Seal. It was a very successful day, with a total of 41 bird
species recorded (listed below).
Regards,
Tania
Black Swan
Little Penguin
Sooty Shearwater
Short-tailed Shearwater
Fluttering Shearwater
Australasian Gannet
Little Pied Cormorant
Black-faced Cormorant
Pied Cormorant
Little Black Cormorant
Australian Pelican
White-faced Heron
Little Egret
Australian White Ibis
Straw-necked Ibis
Royal Spoonbill
Swamp Harrier
Buff-banded Rail
Bar-tailed Godwit
Common Greenshank
Ruddy Turnstone
Great Knot
Red Knot
Red-necked Stint
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Pied Oystercatcher
Sooty Oystercatcher
Grey Plover
Red-capped Plover
Double-banded Plover
Lesser Sand Plover
Arctic Jaeger
Pacific Gull
Silver Gull
Crested Tern
Common Tern
Fairy Tern
Welcome Swallow
Little Grassbird
Golden-headed Cisticola
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