Hi Nikolas
Also went on the 11.30 trip and thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of the
NPWS. Concur with you that the Jaeger was one or the other. My photos (also
bad) favours Arctic but I'm probably biased by field guides that state
Arctics are more often found inshore in bays and Poms are mostly offshore.
Also went to Penrhyn on the way back home and caught up with the missing
Godwits (about 15) but the place is a shambles with all the construction
work.
Chris Gregory
2008/11/16 Nikolas Haass <>
> Hi Tom,
>
> A couple of friends, Raja and I went on the 11:30 trip. We had similar
> stuff, but could not find any Tereks on the barge although we looked for
> them.
> We saw the following:
>
> 2 White-bellied Sea-Eagles
> 2 Whistling Kites
> 10 Pied Oystercatchers
> 1 Pacific Golden Plover (on the barge)
> 2 Masked Lapwings
> 50 Eastern Curlew (could not find any Whimbrels or Bar-tailed Godwits;
> maybe someone else on the boat saw them?)
> 30 or 31 GT Tattlers (on the barge)
> 4 Ruddy Turnstones (on the barge)
> 2 Red-necked Stints (on the barge)
> 1 Curlew Sandpiper (on the barge)
> 1 Jaeger, which we ID'd as a Pom, but the (bad) pics we took show field
> marks speaking in part for Pom, in part for Arctic... (these guys are so
> much easier in the Northern hemisphere...)
> 20+ Little Terns
> 2 Caspian Terns
> a few Crested Terns
>
> Cheers,
>
> Nikolas
>
> ----------------
> Nikolas Haass
>
> Sydney, NSW
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Tom and Mandy Wilson <>
> To: birding-aus <>
> Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 6:39:08 PM
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Eastlakes & Botany Bay, Sydney 16 November
>
> Hi all
> I went on a boat tour that visited a number of shorebird sites on Botany
> Bay, organised by NSW NPWS and Dept of Conservation today. The tour focused
> on the shorebirds that inhabit Towra Point and Woolooware Bay .
>
> On my way to Botany for a 9am start, I dropped in at Eastlakes GC from
> 6:30-7:50, going in at Cowper St. Best bird there was a Whiskered Tern in
> breeding plumage, which was seen over the pond near Cowper St and the larger
> lake near Wentworth Ave. There was a pair of White Winged Trillers in trees
> near Wentworth Ave, trilling away. I saw (flushed) 6 Lathams Snipe, got
> good views of several Greenfinches and watched a very aggressive Willie
> Wagtail chasing the golfers. There was also a family of Black Faced Cuckoo
> Shrikes, with the two younger birds showing the narrow mask that made me
> look twice to make sure that they weren't Little Cuckoo Shrikes. There was
> a Little Grassbird calling, the Reed Warblers and Golden Headed Cisticolas
> were very active and loud and there were several Australasian Grebe dust-ups
> happening out on the water. There were 2 Black Fronted Dotterel on the dam
> wall that separates the big main lake from the Cowper St wetland.
>
> The Botany Bay shorebird tour organised by the NSW NPWS left from Sans
> Souci wharf. First we cruised into Woolooware Bay and checked out some old
> wharves and barges that the shorebirds use as high tide roosts. On one set
> of old barges there were 1 or possibly 2 Terek Sandpipers mixed in with a
> load of Grey Tailed Tattlers (about 25). The birds stood as we approached,
> but only a few of us got a sight of the orange legs and upturned bills and
> then all the birds settled down again and tucked their heads under their
> wings and that was it. The barge also held some Turnstones and 1 Red Necked
> Stint.
>
> We looked at a couple of sites that held many Eastern Curlew (standing on
> old pilings for oyster leases with the water lapping at their toes) and then
> cruised to Towra Spit Island. The boat did not get that close, partly to
> avoid disturbing the birds but I think we also had depth issues, as we were
> on quite a large whale watching vessel. On the island we could see the
> Little Terns, plus many fishing out over the bay. (With the development
> work at Penryhn Road, this is their last nesting site in Botany Bay
> apparently) There were plenty of Curlew, Bar Tailed Godwit and a few
> Whimbrel that could be distinguished and several Pied Oystercatchers. It
> looked to me as though there were some smaller waders in with them too (Knot
> possibly - they use the island apparently), but we were too far away for any
> meaningful ID. A Caspian Tern flew up off the island and headed upriver as
> well.
>
> We got back at about 11:20. There was a 2nd shift on the boat that left
> Sans Souci at 11:30, so I'd be interested to hear if they saw anything
> different as I think that may have had slightly more water to work with.
> Cheers
> Tom Wilson
>
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