Bream Creek
Jul. 12th, 2015 08:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranCome with me (and Liem) on a trip to Bream Creek. Make sure you get there early, so you don't miss the sunrise...
Around the creek, there's always lots of wildlife to be seen...
Like this white-faced heron.
Or this pair of little eagles. If you're lucky, you might see them catching rodents. Or battling ravens in mid-air.
And, of course, there are always land animals as well.
Closer to the beach, you'll also see caspian terns. These are the world's largest tern, with a wingspan over a metre.
And if you're very lucky, you might see a pair on locally endangered hooded plovers. Each year, they try to raise chicks in the nearby sand dunes, but without success.
But the real reason we've come here is down at the edge of the surf. At first, the beach will look like it's empty, but then you might spot a tiny movement amongst the seaweed. Then another. Then another. Then, as you wait, you realise the beach is full of tiny birds. Some of them are red-capped plovers or red-necked stints, which live here all year round.
But a handful are also the striking double-banded plover, a seasonal migrant that winters here from New Zealand. They are one of the few local birds that migrate east-west instead of north-south.
That chestnut waistcoat is the male breeding plumage. The longer the winter goes, the more it will fade.
We were very lucky to see them twice on this trip (out of four visits to Bream Creek).
Around the creek, there's always lots of wildlife to be seen...
Like this white-faced heron.
Or this pair of little eagles. If you're lucky, you might see them catching rodents. Or battling ravens in mid-air.
And, of course, there are always land animals as well.
Closer to the beach, you'll also see caspian terns. These are the world's largest tern, with a wingspan over a metre.
And if you're very lucky, you might see a pair on locally endangered hooded plovers. Each year, they try to raise chicks in the nearby sand dunes, but without success.
But the real reason we've come here is down at the edge of the surf. At first, the beach will look like it's empty, but then you might spot a tiny movement amongst the seaweed. Then another. Then another. Then, as you wait, you realise the beach is full of tiny birds. Some of them are red-capped plovers or red-necked stints, which live here all year round.
But a handful are also the striking double-banded plover, a seasonal migrant that winters here from New Zealand. They are one of the few local birds that migrate east-west instead of north-south.
That chestnut waistcoat is the male breeding plumage. The longer the winter goes, the more it will fade.
We were very lucky to see them twice on this trip (out of four visits to Bream Creek).
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no subject
Date: 2015-07-12 02:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-07-12 05:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-07-12 10:55 am (UTC)Interesting that your terns are so much bigger than ours while our gulls are bigger than yours. I wonder if they've swapped ecological niches?
no subject
Date: 2015-07-12 08:18 pm (UTC)The problem for the hooded plovers is that they lay their eggs in the sand and defend them largely by running away from them. This might have worked well once when the beaches weren't so crowded, but now there are so many people on dogs on the beach that the eggs or chicks may die of exposure, even if no-one actually wanted to eat them.
no subject
Date: 2015-07-12 08:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-07-12 08:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-07-13 07:47 am (UTC)There is something very engaging about plovers, the way they scuttle in and out with the waves...
no subject
Date: 2015-07-13 09:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-07-14 08:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-07-14 09:01 pm (UTC)