It's been a great chance to learn about a new sphere of birding, having done 99% of my birding in the bush, the scoping bug has bitten hard! From mid-December I have added a bunch of new species to my 'life list' and in retrospect (see earlier digiscoping post....) the purchase of a good quality scope and digiscoping attachment has really allowed me to enjoy the experience on a very different level. For me, being able to review the images at home and getting to see the birds and their ever-changing plumages in detail without wind or rain or burning sun to compete with has become very 'absorbing'.
So, I have decided to make the most of the tail end of the wading season. In the last 5 days I have managed to add Greater Sand Plover, Lesser Sand Plover and Double-banded Plover to my 'life list' and in making the effort to get out into the water at first light to scope birds, despite an ambient temperature of around 14 degrees, I was also rewarded with great views of Fairy Tern and (perhaps most surprisingly???) two Cape Barren Geese in flight.
Fairy Tern Sternula nereis
I had things set-up early on Saturday morning to digiscope both Lesser and Greater Sand Plover, the scope was 'on them' but I had left the digiscoping frame in the car. As I was heading back to the car, two local (more senior) birdo's walked past muttering, "G'day" and proceeded to park themselves about 15 metres past my scope and lined themselves up for some primo shots. I was only gone a minute but by the time I had gotten back to line things up, I saw that they had pushed the 4 birds too far and had scattered them.
Damn, double dirty shit and phooey!
I was pretty annoyed. Also adding to the sting, was the fact that the two Lesser Sand Plovers were in gorgeous breeding plumage and sitting flanking the other two Greater's in a nice little bunch. Argh! The light was terrible, which was little consolation. So, burning with rage (haha!) I moved on to the claypan/saltpans found at the Northern edge of the housing and Esplanade. As I trudged out onto the perimeter of the pans I saw very little in the way of wader action. A few Curlew Sandpipers and a few Red-necked Stint further east. As I panned across the Stint's I saw a larger bird dart across the field of view - Double Banded Plover!Yes, a nice pair of them darting in and out of the Stint's and keeping to the dead, grey Samphire cover found in the salty margins of the pans. A triumph! It certainly took the 'edge' off of my mood.
The day ended with a friendly chat with the couple who had earlier flushed the Plovers. I was glad they made the effort to have a chat, being mostly a 'loner' birder I tend to lean towards being a misanthropic git when little things like the 'Plover' episode happen. We talked a little about birding on the coasts and in the arid interior and then they asked me if I had seen the lone Black-tailed Godwit among the 100+ Bart's further along the coast.
Grip!
Triple damn and shitty dirty shit and more phooey!
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica
Oh well, that's the way it often is when you spend your spare time trying to pin-down 'free' creatures for your own viewing pleasure. All in all, it wasn't a wasted day...the light was terrible and hence, no photos.
Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris
The photos featured I took earlier this morning (Sunday 27/3) in poor light again but the real highlight was a low fly-by from two Cape Barren Geese. Big, fat and grey and pumping their broad, slightly arched wings along just 15 or 20 metres above the beach, heading due North. I was gobsmacked, as these birds are reported semi-regularly way south of Adelaide and down into the South-East and beyond. A new 'tick' and a great thrill - I momentarily fumbled with scope, camera and bin's trying to work out what to do. In a few seconds they were beyond photographing range so I followed them until they disappeared from view with the bin's. I was hoping they'd land, preparing for a foot-race along the coast to get a better view. No luck.
You'd have to be a real hardened curmudgeon to groan about a day like that, and to think that it started with another surprise, catching a view of two Peregrine Falcons apparently nesting in a radio control tower on Shingleback Road just a few kilometres from Dublin and Thompson Beach!
Alas, I returned home feeling pretty good, despite the frozen and wet feet. I got home, made a hot cuppa and was startled back into 'twitching' action upon hearing a very close call coming from a Grey Shrike-thrush. Close....it was sitting at our front door, checking an old nest we have on sitting atop our porch light.
Grey Shrike-thrush Colluricincla harmonica
Here's hoping they decide to call it home for a while!
Wati Tjulpu
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