Saturday 16 February 2013

Shore Bird Count

17 / 2 / 2013
  A magnificent morning to walk along Port Fairy coastline. Very low tide and a  gentle breeze off the water.
Not many birds apart from the usual residents
Hooded Plovers have had a successful breeding season to date. The pair that we have been monitoring have apparently fledged their two chicks and are showing signs of wanting to nest again.
A pair further down the beach have 4 chicks several weeks old and look good. Most unusual to have 4.
Another pair may have a nest
Fortunately these beaches are isolated, very rocky and not used by large numbers of visitors.

A highlight for us was finding a female Red-capped Plover and nest. We have not seen these birds on these beaches for 2 years. Once quite common.

Female Red-capped Plover

Male Red-capped Plover

Red-capped Plover nest

2 comments:

  1. Great photos - it must have been so hard to get them to stay still :)
    I've seen how fast they move.
    Beautiful birds, I'm glad they are having some breeding success.

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  2. You did well to find the nest! Lovely photo of the male.

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