Yesterday morning I went for an early morning walk along the side of the bay. I saw very few shorebirds as the tide was so far out on the flats. However, there were trees flowering in the bush and there were honeyeaters calling all along the shoreline.
Although I heard plenty of birds in the trees and low shrubs it was not until I got well along the bay side that I saw any. As I rounded a corner there was a Brahminy Kite sitting in the top of a dead tree. It looked most spectacular against the very blue sky. This is the same tree where I usually see White-breasted Woodswallows and they were not at all pleased with such a visitor. They were swooping and diving and doing their best to get rid of the kite. I don’t know if it was their efforts or my arrival that made the kite decide to leave.
Not too far away a whole group of Mangrove Honeyeaters (Lichenostomus versicolor) were very vocal. Whenever I kayak in among the mangroves or close to the shore I hear and see these birds. This group were chattering among themselves and flying between several groups of mangroves along the shore. Single birds also flew down close to where I was standing but kept hidden in among the leaves of the lower mangroves. Then they flew up to higher bare branches and I had good views of them. Was I watching them or were they watching me?
