To birding-aussers,
Below is a forwarded rundown of a survey we conducted last week in the
Noosa estuary. Yesterday my skilled field volunteers and I ran a field
identification session for council workers and community volunteers in
the same estuary. Unlike last week, the weather was superb, and this
may explain why more shorebirds were visible yesterday, compared with
last week. The Noosa estuary is normally good for a fair range of
shorebird species, as well as all six tern species, but the shorebird
numbers are merely moderate.
See below.
16/2/02 Hi All,
Our Noosa surveys went ahead in rain last Tuesday, Feb 16, as there was
no room
to move with tides. Numbers are below. It was one of the most
uncomfortable days we have had, and as I looked at my drenched,
bedraggled team, I wondered how I came to be so lucky as to have such a
faithful band of colleagues.
The surprise of the day was an Eastern Reef Egret on Site 5 near the
Beach Stone-Curlews. This species normally frequents rocky shorelines.
And a group of 10 frigatebirds (possibly Great, yet to be identified if
possible from pics) which the storms blew
south to us from the GBReef. We found our first Double-banded Plover of
the season, with no sign of breeding plumage. The best feature of the
day was that the weather kept the public at home, and we saw very
little disturbance. One incident which we observed was quite
deliberate, and I include the sequence of photos (reduced) in case they
have a use for publications down the track. (not included for
birding-aus) There was a flock of about
5000 terns, and three people set up a disturbance so that they could
photograph it. A girl ran into the flock and click went their camera -
and so did mine.
Migratory shorebird numbers were very low, adding to our concern about
loss of shorebirds in the flyway. On the previous day I did a series of
Pumicestone Passage high tide roost surveys, and had a similar poor
result. However, I should also add that we rushed the afternoon low
tide surveys in Noosa because of approaching storm fronts and weather
bureau warnings, so perhaps we missed birds. I don't really think so.
The evening tern survey was a shemozzle with birds coming and going all
over the place. Goodness knows how many times we restarted the counts.
The number we arrived at is inaccurate, but the best we could manage,
given the conditions. Whilst we were there a dark dingo promenaded
along the north spit for some time (pic attached). The storm held off
until we had finished counting, and then down it came, with heavy rain
all the way home.
Clive, Jan, please let me know of any errors.
Cheers,
Jill
| Survey_Date |
Tide_Position |
Species_Id |
Common_Name |
Sum Of Number_Seen |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
1 |
Caspian Tern |
3 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
3 |
Crested Tern |
637 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
5 |
Little Tern |
1 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
8 |
Silver Gull |
5 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
9 |
Terns migratory |
3600 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
10 |
Eastern Curlew |
6 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
11 |
Whimbrel |
15 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
12 |
Bar-tailed Godwit |
36 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
21 |
Red-necked Stint |
7 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
27 |
Red-capped Plover |
21 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
28 |
Double-banded Plover |
1 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
36 |
Australian Pelican |
1 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
38 |
Pied Cormorant |
2 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
40 |
Little Black Cormorant |
1 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
44 |
Egret spp (10 Little 1 Eastern)
|
11 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
50 |
Osprey |
1 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
51 |
White-bellied Sea-Eagle |
1 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
56 |
Greater Frigatebird (I think)
|
10 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
57 |
Pacific Black Duck |
3 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
1 |
58 |
Beach Stone-Curlew |
2 |
4364 |
High |
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
2 |
CommonTern |
4 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
3 |
Crested Tern |
335 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
5 |
Little Tern |
1 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
8 |
Silver Gull |
63 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
9 |
Terns migratory |
5300 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
10 |
Eastern Curlew |
4 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
11 |
Whimbrel |
25 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
12 |
Bar-tailed Godwit |
2 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
29 |
Pacific Golden Plover |
5 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
31 |
Pied Oystercatcher |
2 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
36 |
Australian Pelican |
2 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
38 |
Pied Cormorant |
1 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
40 |
Little Black Cormorant |
53 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
43 |
White-faced Heron |
3 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
44 |
Egret spp (Little)
|
1 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
45 |
Ibis spp (White)
|
1 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
48 |
Whistling Kite |
1 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
50 |
Osprey |
1 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
51 |
White-bellied Sea-Eagle |
2 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
3 |
56 |
Greater Frigatebird (think)
|
7 |
5813 |
Low |
| 16-Feb-10 |
5 |
3 |
Crested Tern |
637 |
|
|
| 16-Feb-10 |
5 |
9 |
Terns migratory |
6330 |
6967 |
Evening |
--
Jill Dening
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
26° 51' 41"S 152° 56' 00"E
|
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
