Shorebirds at Barren Grounds? – surely not (or is that shorely knot!).
A dozen COGites spent a pleasant, if windy, weekend checking out some of the Illawarra’s shorebird hotspots from our base at Barren Grounds Nature Reserve. There wasn’t a lot about – either in terms of species or numbers, but most folk managed to see a new species or two.
Lake Wollumboola at Culburra had a small colony of threatened Little Terns, as well as a few Crested Terns, Red Knots, Bar-tailed Godwits, Red-capped Plover (including an immature) and Sanderling – with everyone getting good views of these. Our lunch spot at Crookhaven Heads produced about 10 Sooty Oystercatchers on the rocky shelves, Australian Gannet out fishing, as well as Variegated Fairy-wrens. The Ruddy Turnstones we were hoping for at this spot unfortunately didn’t show.
On the mud and sand flats of Comorong Island Nature Reserve we marveled at the long beaks of Eastern Curlew, and convinced ourselves that the skulking plovers in the shrubbery were Pacific Golden Plover (although the hot wind was blowing a gale at this stage and the view through the scopes was anything but clear). The trip over to the island on ther ferry was a very pleasant aspect of the visit to this site.
We rounded day one off by watching dolphins swimming from Black Point at Gerringong. Overall, the most prolific species of the day were Little Black, Little Pied and Great Cormorants.
After an evening back on top of the escarpment listening to calling Pilotbird, Ground Parrots, Sooty and Boobook Owls, and visiting the local glowworms, we were up early again early the next morning to (mostly) wait in vain for glimpses of the very elusive Eastern Bristlebirds – heard but rarely seen at this time of the breeding season.
Back down at the coast we again spotted dolphins, this time swimming with the early bird surfers off Killalee Nature Reserve. A few sites around Lake Illawarra featured Crested and White-fronted Terns, Pied, Little Pied and Little Black Cormorants, more Bar-tailed Godwits and Pelicans at Windang Foreshore Park. Black-winged Stilts and a single Greenshank were seen at another part of Lake Illawarra, until scattered by a low-flying White-bellied Sea-Eagle.
All in all 106 bird species were seen on the weekend, 81 on our bus touring and another 25 at Barren Grounds. Many thanks to BG Warden Brendan Neilly and helpers for introducing us to a number of good wader spots, feeding us royally (as usual at BG) and generally ensuring a memorable weekend.
Julie McGuiness