sunshinecoastbirds: Hervey Bay & Boonooroo

Sunday 10 December 2017

Hervey Bay & Boonooroo – Dec 2017

Pacific Swift

It was time for what has become an annual camp-out in the Hervey Bay area. Waterways and wetlands were full following heavy rains recently. At Arkarra Lagoons, 3 pairs of Magpie-Goose had goslings in tow and another 6-8 pairs were on nests. Other birds included Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove, Fairy Gerygone and Nankeen Night-Heron. Arkarra Lagoons ebird list.

Magpie-Goose

Of interest at Pt Vernon was a flock of 70 Pacific Swifts hawking for insects along the shoreline, with a handful of White-throated Needletails in the mix.

Pacific Swift

A Rainbow Bee-Eater here made short work of a dragonfly.

Rainbow Bee-Eater

Good numbers of Greater Sand-Plover, Lesser Sand-Plover and Pacific Gold Plover were present at the high hide roosts at The Gables and nearby Gatakers Bay.

Greater Sand-Plover, Lesser Sand-Plover, Pacific Golden Plover

A mixed group of Wandering Tattler and Grey-tailed Tattler were together on the rocks at Gatakers Bay. Pt Vernon ebird list.

Wandering Tattler

I visited Garnetts Lagoon with local birder John Knight but high water levels meant not much of interest was about, other than a couple of Brown Songlarks. A large colony of waterbirds was nesting on a lagoon in Ann Street, Urangan, near the Hervey Bay Botanic Gardens. All 4 species of egret were nesting along with a few Little Pied Cormorants and Little Black Cormorants, and large numbers of Australian White Ibis.

Cattle Egret

Intermediate Egret & Cattle Egret

Little Egret

After moving on to Maryborough, Brown Songlarks were present also along Dimond Road, where a pair of Pale-vented Bush-hen were flushed from flooded grassland. Very high king tides (3.6m) made the going tough at the shorebird roosts of Boonooroo and Maaroom. Large numbers of Eastern Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwit were present as usual but there was no sign of the Asian Dowitchers which I found during my last two visits. Boonooroo ebird list.