I've just returned from a week on Heron Island and what a magnificent part of the world. I'm not 100% sure at this stage but I think there were about eleven species of bird I had not seen before
First up is the Black Noddy Tern. Between 70,000 and 120,000 Black Noddy Terns arrive between September to October to breed every year.
They hold a very special relationship with the Pisonia Grandis tree which are all over the island. The birds will nest in any tree but make their nests from the leaves of the Pisonia but in turn sometimes get caught up in the tree's sticky seed pod. Many birds perish but provide the nutrients the seeds require to germinate. Visitors are told not to intervene if they come across a bird in difficulty.
One in flight just for Rick (very hard to photograph).
Second bird is the Capricorn Silver Eye. A sub-species of the mainland Silvereyes. These birds are known to be more aggressive, have a strong-er heart and live longer. No photos of birds in flight for this one.
Great shots. I love those White-eyes. I haven't seen those birds so they're a treet to see, thanks!
Lovely shots Reflex. Great shades of colouring and feather detail in the Noddys.
Must be the week for Silvereyes as I found some yesterday of another sub-species.
Thanks for sharing these.
Great trip reflex and great photos.
Fantastic portraits of the noddy terns.
Very crisp work on the silvereye, really like that third silvereye with his attitude perched on that leaf.
Beautiful photos! It looks like it was a great trip. What were the other new birds for you? The bands on the silvereye's leg look interesting, do you know why they have them?
Great photos!
Thanks WD. Always chasing that "AnnieJ clarity" as I call it these days.
Buff Banded Land Rail.
Naturally a shy bird but these birds have really adapted to people being on the island and have become very cheeky. No cats or dogs on the island but there is fishing line to look out for and saw two instances where fishing line could have been a real problem if someone hadn't been there to remove it.
Samford Valley Qld.
Bar Shouldered Dove.
A shy bird that takes a bit of sneaking up on. It occurred to me when I was trying to get closer that it must be terrible to be so nervous all the time.
Samford Valley Qld.
Thanks Elsie, I asked the same question.There had just been a team of scientists out from Brisbane (I think that's where they were from) to trap and try to count the Silver Eyes living on the island and a lot of the birds I photographed were wearing several leg bands.
I counted 17 new species for me and three that I haven't identified yet, (one of which I managed to photograph). Still a lot of photgraphs to down load at the moment.
There were other firsts for me as well besides the birds. These Black tipped reef sharks are about 5' feet long and always appeared just before the fishing trip boat returns each day and clean their catch.
Fancy a swim Elsie?
Samford Valley Qld.
Black Naped Tern.One of the easier Terns to identify and always seemed to be among other terns..
Samford Valley Qld.
Someone told me the best way to distinguish between a Crested Tern and a Lesser Crested Tern is very simple. A Crested Tern has a yellow bill and a Lesser Crested Tern has an orange bill. Sounds easy until you add a Caspian Tern in amongst them. Pretty sure this is a Lesser Crested Tern.
As for the two in the foreground I'm not 100% sure but I'm torn between a Wandering Tattler or a Grey-tailed Tattler?
Samford Valley Qld.
Easern Reef Egret. Known to be the birds Heron Island was named after. Unfortunately since then, the birds have been reclassified as Egrets not Herons. Two different colour morphs exist.
Dark Morph.
White Morph.
Samford Valley Qld.
One of the three birds I haven't identified but think it is a White-winged Triller?
Samford Valley Qld.
One of the top predators on the island often observed eating the baby turtles as they try to make it from the nest to the ocean. The Silver Gull isn't everyone's favourite bird!
Heron island was actually the home for a Turtle soup canning factory in the 1920's until it folded after two years because there wasn't enough turtles left. Man can be really dumb sometimes.
Samford Valley Qld.
Plenty of Casuarina's on the island or "She Oaks" as they were sometimes called. A regular haunt for one of the island's Sacred Kingfishers. Not an easy bird to get close to at all.
Samford Valley Qld.
Another first for me the Eastern Golden Plover or Pacific Golden Plover. I could hardly believe this bird has travelled from Alaska or Siberia to escape the northern hemisheres winter.
Samford Valley Qld.
Pied Oystercatcher. What a good looking bird but he/she wasn't all that keen on me being too close. And those eyes are so hard to get perfectly in focus with out a tripod and lying in on a hard coral beach. Once that second leg came down it was only a few seconds before it was off!
Samford Valley Qld.
Still more photographs to go through and sort out but that's it for now. Heron Island is a "must do before you die" it's up there with all the great places in the world to visit as far as I'm concerned and I will go again to see the baby turtles hatching. Some shots of this magnificent island......
The edge of a bait school just taken from the jetty.
The view from the jetty as we waited for the ferry to take us back to Gladstone.
H.M.S.C. Protector at the entrance to the harbour. Some of the best diving in the world is just a snorkel away from the jetty.
Sunset on Heron Island.
Samford Valley Qld.
Magnificent set of photos from heron island, thanks for sharing them. Looks a wonderful place for a holiday.
Those ones of the buff banded rail are outstanding. What a brilliant red eye it has. Interesting that they are less shy and secretive on the island.
Thats a beautiful photo of the plover on the rocks, and well done with the oyster catcher too.
Not only can humans be dumb sometimes but they often seem to lack the capacity to learn from their mistakes. E.g., in SA the fishing industry wants to roll back the declaration of marine sanctuaries. Perhaps the industry hasn't heard of the over- exploitation of the turtle industry on Heron Island nor the over-exploitation of tuna & other fish species.
More wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing these, I hope that one-day I can go to Heron Island. Great shot of the shark (and no, I don't fancy a swim
) I love the shots of the white-winged triller! It almost looks like it has blue pen on it's front!?
What a fascinating relationship between the Black Noddy Tern & the Pisonia grandis tree. It's great that the authorities respect this relationship by asking people not to interfere if they see a Black Noddy Tern in strife.
Yes it is good but I'm pleased that I didn't see it happening so I wasn't put to the test.
It's a bit the same with the turtle hatchlings. Visitors who see the gulls scooping them up want to stop the gulls from feeding on them as they make there way to the sea from the beach but we were told not to intervene and that this has been going on for thousands of years and is one of the reasons so many eggs are laid. I was suprised to hear that some turtles can lay over a hunderd eggs in just one sitting.
Samford Valley Qld.
In addition, if the gulls weren't predating the turtle hatchlings imagine the eventual huge population of turltes swamping everything else. Evolution is oh, so marvellous & we interfere at our peril.
lovely shots of the Black Noddy Tern. ive never seen one. loos like a brilliant place to photograph
mike
Reflex - a week on Heron Island - wow that would have been great
that Bar-shouldered Dove appears to be darker, even considering that it is a bit wet, than the mainland ones
I agree with Lesser Crested Tern as that is an orange bill, I like your inclusion of the Caspian Tern to further confuse the ID
The other birds in that pic look good for Tattlers however I would need a closer pic to attempt an ID between Wandering and Grey-tailed, however google Tattler and you will find a lot of info, I will send you a link to a very good website (when I remember the chap's name - he lives at Sandstone Point near Bribie Island) with good pics; if there were more than 2 they are most likely Grey-tailed as Wandering are generally solitary.
Elsie confirmed the White-winged Triller; for future you could remember that the Varied has the cinnamon lower abdomen and undertail and if adult bird the Varied has the white eyebrow
I worked on Heron between high school and college back in the mid-70s and it was great then although I did not regard myself as a birder then
Peter
Plenty of Black Noddy's on the island at this time of the year. These (just two of many) were taken from our balcony one afternoon.
The webbed feet look a bit out of place for a bird that chooses to nest in a tree.
Samford Valley Qld.
Some better photographs here Pacman:
Samford Valley Qld.