Hi All,
Just forwarding a report on our shorebird surveys yesterday of the
Noosa estuary. Species and numbers are at the bottom, for high tide,
low tide and for the evening tern arrivals. Just skip over the parts
not relevant to your own interests.
Cheers,
Jill
Jill Dening
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
26° 51' 41"S 152° 56' 00"E
Hi Everyone,
Results are below.
It was in splendid weather that a tiny team carried out yesterday's
surveys. The morning low tide survey team was just Jan England and I,
and we were joined for the afternoon high tide and evening tern counts
by Allen Briggs. Allen and his wife, Anne, came to the evening survey
armed with liquid and nibble refreshment. I can't tell you how good it
felt to be sitting overlooking a mirror-glass river reflected against
an almost cloudless sky with barely a breath of wind as thousands of
migratory terns (Little, Common and White-winged Black) wound their way
back and forth in tight streams. The sunset was great. We counted prior
to sunset as terns arrived early and in orderly, easily countable
streams. The stream stopped at 2250 birds. We waited, sipping our wine.
Tourists and locals, as always, approached us and asked us what we were
doing, and, for once we had time to answer. And just as suddenly all
the migrants up and left, in their steady stream, a river of terns. The
estuary was once again empty of migratory terns. More waiting. More
wine sipping. The sun set. A few hundred arrived, then left again.
Another ten minutes passed. And then they came, a continuous river of
migrants, countable, but only just at times, until they came to a
trickle and then a halt by 7pm. It may have been a great thing to
witness, but in fact the numbers are still very, very poor. We are down
by 30,000 on some previous years.
During the day we found the estuary very much changed, so that you can
no longer boat along the western side of the north spit. It is
completely barred by sand now. Council officers please take note that
the vehicle closure of the north spit is now more vital than ever,
because if a vehicle now drives onto the spit, it can continue at low
tide right across to the closed breeding island where the Beach
Stone-Curlews are, and there is so much valuable habitat there which
shouldn't be put at risk by tyre wheels. When Easter comes, there will
be very low tides, and we ask the compliance people to be aware of the
likelihood of vehicles breaking the rules to access the sand island.
Also for council officers, we found two bollards removed from the
barrier. One was in the intertidal zone off the sand island, and the
other was high up on the spit just south of the main signage. Next time
your people are there, would they mind replacing them? We were carrying
too much equipment to take them with us.
On a bright note, we saw 2 Banded Lapwings in the intertidal zone. We
couldn't believe our eyes, but we have photos to prove it. Of all the
White-winged Black Terns, only one showed in overhead flight as having
any of the black armpits of breeding plumage. Chris Barnes had given up
his place in the boat to stay in Bundaberg to show people a rare bird,
and he was missing out on photographing the birds he most wanted to
photograph - White-wings.
Below are the results of the day's work. Jan and Allen, please let me
know of any errors or omissions.
The next survey is on April 3, beginning at 9am. Please put it in your
diary whilst it's on your mind.
Cheers,
Jill
| Tide Position: 1=high; 3=low; 5= evening tern count from
observation point Noosa Woods |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Survey_Date |
Tide_Position |
Species_Id |
Common_Name |
Sum Of
Number_Seen |
Totals |
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
2 |
CommonTern |
26 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
3 |
Crested Tern |
107 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
6 |
White-winged Black Tern |
2 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
8 |
Silver Gull |
77 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
9 |
Terns migratory |
150 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
10 |
Eastern Curlew |
8 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
11 |
Whimbrel |
18 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
12 |
Bar-tailed Godwit |
43 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
18 |
Common Greenshank |
2 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
21 |
Red-necked Stint |
5 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
27 |
Red-capped Plover |
15 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
29 |
Pacific Golden Plover |
28 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
38 |
Pied Cormorant |
4 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
48 |
Whistling Kite |
2 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
49 |
Brahminy Kite |
1 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
55 |
Sacred Kingfisher |
2 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
1 |
64 |
Banded Lapwing |
2 |
492 |
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
2 |
CommonTern |
2700 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
3 |
Crested Tern |
16 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
5 |
Little Tern |
300 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
6 |
White-winged Black Tern |
300 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
8 |
Silver Gull |
8 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
10 |
Eastern Curlew |
7 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
11 |
Whimbrel |
19 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
12 |
Bar-tailed Godwit |
37 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
18 |
Common Greenshank |
1 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
20 |
Terek Sandpiper |
1 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
27 |
Red-capped Plover |
6 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
29 |
Pacific Golden Plover |
29 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
31 |
Pied Oystercatcher |
1 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
38 |
Pied Cormorant |
3 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
43 |
White-faced Heron |
3 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
48 |
Whistling Kite |
2 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
49 |
Brahminy Kite |
1 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
51 |
White-bellied Sea-Eagle |
1 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
58 |
Beach Stone-Curlew |
2 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
63 |
Australian Kestrel |
1 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
3 |
64 |
Banded Lapwing |
2 |
3440 |
| 05-Mar-09 |
5 |
3 |
Crested Tern |
190 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
5 |
8 |
Silver Gull |
31 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
5 |
9 |
Terns migratory |
7400 |
|
| 05-Mar-09 |
5 |
31 |
Pied Oystercatcher |
2 |
7623 |
--
Jill Dening
PO Box 362
10 Piat Place
Beerwah Qld 4519
Australia
26° 51' 41"S 152° 56' 00"E
07 5494 0994
0419 714405
|
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