Random wader shots

A trip to Cable beach was worth it to retrap the Red capped plover chick we banded some 4 km south of where we now found it and to see the Pacific golden plover which has apparently wintered there for several years now...assuming its the same bird !

Of course the ones paying attention will notice that the firts bird is in fact an Oriental plover, one of 213 which have been feeding on the over grazed area of the paddock behind the observatory...well they do like short grass to feed in !






Two shots of the Pacific golden plover above and below showing the long legs an dthe delicate shape of the bird.



and here is the long distance runner ! the Red capped plover chick orginally ringed about 4 km down the beach taken all the way up the beach by its parents who were still buzzing us several 100 meters away.




You all thought i was going to call this an adult Red capped plover didn't you??!! In fact its a Greater sand plover, one of several hundred running around on teh beach at high tide.

Another visit to the Mangroves !! this time for Brahminy Kite

A trip to the mangroves for Striated heron

Marine animals on the Coconut Wells reef

Whale watching off Cable Beach

Hump backed whales come to the Kimberley coast to calve and is now know to be one of the largest nursery areas in the world.

Boat trips out into the bay go almost daily in the season April to October but peak time is around June to August when adult males are cavorting and females are about to calf.

We didn't really get much play action, no breaching etc but the animals did come quite close at one point. The set of photos below are random from the afternoon out.

An exciting unexpected bonus was up to 6 Wilson's storm petrel close-ish to the boat but going so fast i never had a chance to get photo ;O((

I have thrown the photos of a Blue tongue lizard in at the end just to add to the aminla collection !

Me ringing lesser crested terns as part of the wader banding at Roebuck bay. We caught 30 plus a couple of gull billed terns.



A female Mangrove golden whistler in the mangroves at One tree was a nice find.

the young Broad billed flycatchers move out into the wider countryside as do many other mangrove species.

Grey crowned babbler is an uncommon catch at the shadehouse, despite there being serveral around the area.

Little friarbirds are common around the campsite but are rarely caught so this was a nice surprise.

Part of the local ringing team, Wendy, David and Adrian.

Again given how many are around the camp site we really catch Paperbark flycatchers

Mornington and surrounding area

Well here's a sight you don't see every day at Slapton Ley, in South Devon !! A Fresh water croc lurking just under the surface of the creek! Although they generally wont go for umans, when the water is low its not unknown for freshies to have a go if they cannot get out of the way fast enough !!

Now this was taken at Windjana Gorge, which is pre empting some of these photos !


Some views out over the bush from the foot hills around Windjana Gorge with Baobs scattered thoroughout.

This is Kopak tree which has several properties. The leaves can be eaten and high in vitamin C and the roost of young trees roasted and eaten or pounded to make a medicine for sores. The trees loose thier levaes just before flowering so the hillside is covered by yellow flowers making a beautiful site.

A spider on the rocks but no idea what type!

A female Leaden flycatcher, identifiable from Broad billed flycatcher mainly by the narrow bill.

A bad photo of a Sandstone thrush shrike which was difficult to photograph as it stayed in deepish cover and kept moving !

White bellied cuckoo shrike relatively common around the gorge.

An unexpected find but apparently quite common, Archer fish !!!! i always want to see one and there they were swimming around ! Didn't see any archery but noce to see none the less.

Back to Kopak, and the seed pods which where apparently sown into life savers in World War I

Some fantastic Baob trees are in the Kimberly region

The Devonian Limestone reef of Windjana

The Kimberly Rose, not really a rose but bright red

Australian bustards are fairly common up in the NW region especially where the savanna has been managed appropriately by fire.

Inside the gorge the water flows quietly and provides good habitat for Little pied cormorant and Azure kingfisher......too quick for me to photograph !

A bit of a surprise was the Black fruit bats roosting in the river side trees making a bit of noise scrapping and scratching and fighting !

Another Australian bustard...they are everywhere !

A close up of the rose of the Kimberly

more savahnna views again from the foot hills of the King Leopold range which we had to travel over to reach Mornington Station, owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.

This croc must have been in a fight as the front end of its upper jaw has been ripped off....wonder how big the croc it was fighting was??!!

In a cave in the gorge we came across some bats hanging in the crack of the roof space.

Also cave dwelling dragonflies, not sure if they are there all the time or whether they were just seeking out shade from the sun.

Whilst exploring the cave system we spooked a couple of juvenile Boobook owls.

Another freshie in the gorge river

A nice adult Boobook owl seen on the main trail entrance through the gorge.

A hillside of Kopak and termite hills

Now this fella with the crazy hair do is a Spinifex pigeon ! so photogenic i have hundreds of them ! Very common at Mornington but also seen from the road through the King Leopold ranges

In Annie's gorge the North Fantail is common and poses quite well...better that the Purple crowned fairy wrens that i didn't photograph !

White browed robin is another specialist of the area found in the riparian habiat that follows the creeks.

yes, more Spinifex pigeons !

Sir Johns gorge, where the government wanted to dam up but due to environmental pressure groups the plans didn't go ahead.