As I left Cape Hillsborough, I realized I had been blanked the entire trip on small shorebirds. The next two nights would be at coastal campsites and would most likely be my last chance to leave Australia with shorebird images. Both Tannum Sands and Toorbul had good possibilities and I hoped for the best. On the way to Tannum Sands I stopped for an hour of photography at Mackay Regional Botanical Gardens. This proved to be a great stop as not only were the birds accustomed to human traffic, but it was more open and as a result I took a lot of pictures. Most of the birds were species I had images of already except Wandering Whistling-Duck and Grey Teal.
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| Boardwalks provided easy access to the not-so-flighty birds |
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| Grey Teal is common throughout Australia |
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| Wandering Whistling-Duck is similar to Plumed Whistling-Duck but has a darker head, black bill and smaller plumes |
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| Compare this Plumed Whistling-Duck to the Wandering Whistling-Duck above. Notice patchy bill, lighter head, and upswept plumes |
We arrived in Tannum Sands mid afternoon and registered at the Tannum Sands Discovery Caravan Park located just across from the beach. The town is primarily a tourist town with a population slightly over 5,000. It is said the town received its name when a group of children returned from a Sunday school picnic quite sunburned. A comment, "We can really tan'um over there" was heard by a Queensland Land Department official who decided to register the name. In the 1950's they added "sands" to the name.
After finding our campsite Edie and I crossed the road to explore the beach area. The tide was out, the weekend crowd was beginning to clear, and not a shorebird was to be seen. We explored their esplanade and walked into town to eat at KFC.
Early the next morning I shouldered my equipment and walked down the trail to the beach with two friendly fishermen from the camp who joked about my lens. It didn't take too long to realize that they were going to have more luck fishing than I was photographing shorebirds since the beaches were barren of birds. I turned my attention to the mangroves, shrubs, and trees between the beach and the street. The morning sun was beautiful and the birds were plentiful. Another great morning.
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| Mangrove Honeyeater. There are 69 species named "honeyeater" in my Australian field guide. North America has none. These birds are varied, but most have a brush tipped tongue to aid in collecting nectar from the many flowers available to them. |
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| Double-barred Finches have cuteness written all over them. |
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| The common Nutmeg Mannikin was introduced to Australia by aviary escapes near Brisbane. |
After breakfast, we set out for Toorbul, which would put us across from Bribie Island and a very short drive to Brisbane. Toorbul was also said to have some mud flats which were well-known for shorebirds. The campground, Toorbul Caravan Park, was small but very nice and located on the northern end of the town. We walked the waterfront a half mile in each direction as the tide went farther and farther out. All I noticed was some large waders and a few ducks although with the low tide the shorebirds could be very spread out. I did notice mobs of Kangaroos however, even in the residential areas.
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| Nothing like a relaxing day around the barbie. |
Before I ran out of light I did photograph a Chestnut Teal, a new species, out on the mud flats
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| Chestnut Teal |
As I walked back to camp, a man crossed the street and asked if I was photographing birds. When I told him "yes" he told me there was a retired gentleman around the corner who is an avid bird photographer and goes out every day to photograph shorebirds, This sounded too good to be true but I thought I better check it out. I soon was talking to John, a retired fisherman turned bird photographer, who told me I had to go south of where I was to get to the best spot and that the morning would be excellent since high tide was going to be about 11 am. That seemed to be a little bit late, especially on a sunny day, but I was not going to express any negatives to what was my best lead so far. The next morning I was there before 6 am, watching a beautiful sunrise. Kangaroos came out and ran along the beach where I hoped the rising tide would push shorebirds to me.
I knew I was in the right place since an information sign had been placed there by the authorities.
Since I would have to wait a while, I started photographing birds in the area who were in great light.
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| A Noisy Miner |
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| Australian Wood Duck. |
The male and female Magpie-Lark look similar at first glance but a close look at the head area shows the differences. A mated pair perform a complicated duet in which each bird produces one note a second but about a half second apart so that it sounds like one bird singing. All this is accomplished with theatrical posturing and wing flaps.
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| The female Magpie-Lark has a white throat |
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| The male Magpie-Lark has a black throat. |
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| Galah |
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| The Spangled Drongo is the only Australian bird with a "fish tail". |
My new friend John showed up an hour and a half later and it became apparent he was quite protective and possessive of his mud flat. He told me I should move my van because the birds would not come in if they saw it. Next, my hat was also wrong and would scare the birds, not to mention that the spot I had chosen on the far end would not work. I meekly went along with all his requests. When he found out I was only going to be here one morning, never to return, he began to warm up to me. I was soon regaled with many stories of thoughtless people and thoughtless dogs who had ruined his photography on his birds at this very spot. I commiserated with him but failed to tell him of an alternative method I have used involving lying quietly in the feeding area while birds work their way closer and closer. I didn't think John would appreciate that input. John soon invited me to shoot in his location.
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| My new Australian photography pal standing by my lens and watching the approaching tide and birds |
High tide was a couple of hours away yet, but I could see shore birds in the distance. My only thought was that the lighting would be very harsh by the time they got close enough to photograph. As the birds came closer it became apparent that they were moving towards the south end where I had originally intended to set up. John noticed this to and admitted he might have guessed wrong this time. If I had been by myself I would have moved carefully and try to salvage the day but I knew John would probably be quite upset if I did.
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| So close and yet so far. This is the closest the birds came to us. |
When the tide began to recede again, it became apparent we were done for the morning. Admitting defeat I thanked John, and left at 11 am. Edie was definitely ready to go as we left Toorbul and headed for the rainforest and a three night stay at O'Reillys.
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