Shorebirds Report
May 2006
Perfect day and perfect bird watching! Only rarely do the two things happen together! A few weeks ago I went kayaking out on the bay to count the number of birds migrating northwards. The tide was high very early in the morning. It was a beautiful cloudless morning with no wind.
I paddled in among the mangroves to get to a spotwhere I knew the roosting birds would be visible, and then let the kayak drift out into the open and sat still to watch. There were still big numbers of Eastern Curlews and Bar-tailed Godwits so I knew not all these birds had left.
There were white Egrets standing very still a little way out in the water and making a perfect reflection until they jumped at small fish. Further around the bay I could see the area where I knew the Lesser Sand-Plovers usually roosted. As I watched, a flock of these small birds flew up from their roosting spot, wheeled over the bay and then flew directly over where I was sitting. They were so close overhead that I felt like ducking my head to get out of the way. Then the whole flock wheeled east and I was left watching nothing!
The upper feathers of these birds are dark and against the bright eastern sky I could not see them. I knew they were still close as I could quite clearly hear their soft flight calls. Then, just before they wheeled back again I looked down at the bay waters and saw a perfect reflection while the flock were still invisible in the air. Perfect bird watching!
Lesser Sand-Plover
(Charadrius mongolus)
These are some of the smaller (19-20 cm.) migratory birds that we commonly see on the bay. They used to be known as Mongolian sand plovers, or Mongolian Dotterels as their breeding grounds are in Mongolia and Siberia.In breeding plumage these birds have a broad breast band with chestnut colour extending to the flanks. They also have a prominent black mask with a white patch on the forehead. However, for most of their time in Australia they are a rather plain grey-brown above and white below with grey-brown sides extending on to the breast. Their bill is short and dark.
The Greater Sand-Plover
(Charadius leschenaultii)
is very similar in colouring to the Lesser Sand-Plover. It is a little larger (20-23cm) and its beak is longer. The breast band usually joins at the centre with a narrow line. In flight both birds have a white wingbar, although it is more obvious on the Greater Sand-Plover than on the Lesser. In breeding plumage the chestnut coloured breast band is more narrow than that on the Lesser.
This month on our monthly bird count we counted a total of 549 birds and 32 species.