Hooded Plovers in Western Australia mostly occur on inland
lakes. There are a few on beaches, but they tend to be the
exception. The lakes around Esperance are the stronghold. There was
an exceptional count of 1,500 or so at Lake Gore in the 1990s. The
Yalgorup Lakes system south of Mandurah is another good area for
them. Also the lakes in the Wagin, Katanning, Lake Grace
areas. BirdLife Western Australia has a Hooded Plover Committee led
by Marcus Singor that has done great work. They organise annual counts for WA.
There was a rumour I heard about the possibility that the WA birds
might be worthy of full species recognition, but I don't know if
anyone is looking further into that.
If anyone is visiting WA, then apart from Esperance (golf course and
Lake Warden are usually reliable) they can usually be seen at Camel
Lake NR on Salt River Road at the Stirling Range. They are regular
at Lake Clifton, Lake Preston etc at Yalgorup but these are very
large lakes. They can be found on some of the smaller lakes such as
Martin's Tank. Beaches such as between Augusta and Cape Leeuwin,
Hamelin Bay, Cowaramup Bay (at Gracetown), Bremer Bay and just west
of Hopetoun are good chances also.
The Hooded Plover Committee welcomes incidental sightings. They have
a survey form, but I can't remember if this is located on the
web. It is more than just location and numbers. It asks for
information on adults / juveniles, how far from the edge, other
birds, weather, etc. For regular surveyed sites, the absence of
birds is also useful to report.
_________________________________________________________________
Frank O'Connor Birding WA
http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au
Phone : (08) 9386 5694 Email :
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