The Neck, Bruny Island

The rain was as short-lived as it was heavy, and we were able to get the cameras out again at the Neck. On the Isthmus Bay side Silver Gulls, Kelp Gulls and Pied Oystercatchers foraged in the shallows. Superb Fairywrens bustled about among the Fairy Penguin burrows, but the adults were out to sea and the young stayed tucked up in the burrows. A Tasmanian Scrubwren scolded us from its bush beside the boardwalk.

Soldier’s Point

Red-necked Stint

Pied Oystercatcher

Pacific Golden Plover

Curlew Sandpiper

Ruddy Turnstone

Over the summer Australia has an influx of around two million waders, which like the backpackers who arrive in similar numbers, are escaping the northern hemisphere winter. Like the backpackers again, they are distributed around the beaches of Australia. The full moon of New Year’s Day provided us with extreme tides, uncovering the intertidal flats at Soldier’s Beach on the central coast, and the sun was almost shining through the clouds so Maureen, Alwyn and I met up to capture some of the visitors. Of course as we arrived at the car-park above the beach it started to rain, so we grabbed coffees and huddled under the little available shelter while Maureen told us about all the great birds that were at this spot the day before.

The rain did stop, the sun even came out for a little while, before a late afternoon thunderstorm. We were able to run interference on holidaymakers determined to wander into the middle of the feeding birds, while gently edging close enough ourselves for some photos. As well as the birds above, the rock shelf held Silver Gulls, Great Crested Terns and Little Black Cormorants. A Terek Sandpiper flew on to the far edge of the platform, but didn’t come close enough for more than an ID shot.

(I’m trying Windows Live Writer for this blog post.)

Hunter River

In recent years Pied Oystercatchers have been reported mating and nesting at this spot, but this is the first time I have seen young here. The two babies were first reported two weeks ago, and seem to be making steady progress towards maturity. They are in a patch of saltmarsh, which offers protection for the young birds. Recent visitors to the site have seen only one of the runners, and it was feared that one was predated, so I was thrilled to see the two of them today. The other parent was just out of the frame to the left (this is a heavily cropped shot taken with a 500mm lens, and I left before the birds became aware of me.)

The Pied Oystercatcher is officially listed as 'threatened' in New South Wales. While they are found all along the coast, they are thinly scattered.

They are primarily found on the intertidal flats of inlets and bays, where they forage at low tide, for molluscs, worms, crabs and small fish. The chisel-like bill is used to pry open or break into shells of oysters and other shellfish.

The Pied Oystercatcher nests mostly on coastal or estuarine beaches although occasionally they use saltmarsh or grassy areas. Nests are shallow scrapes in sand above the high tide mark, often amongst seaweed, shells and small stones, where they lay two to three eggs. The young leave the nest to forage beside the parents after three or four days.

The major threats to the Pied Oystercatcher are disturbances to their preferred areas by recreational vehicles, habitat destruction through development, and predation of eggs and chicks.

Coon Island, Swansea

Pied Oystercatchers

HBOC meeting

At last night's meeting the guest speaker was Dr Mike Newman, sharing elements of his findings in the Australian Pied Oystercatcher Project 1977- 2009. Longitudinal studies are expensive and present logistical difficulties for professional researchers, however amateur ornithologists can make important contributions in enabling these studies.

The research found that adult Australian Pied Oystercatchers show extreme faithfulness to their breeding area despite an increase in recreational disturbance, and in the case of some pairs, continuous breeding failure. These findings have implications for planned developments in Oystercatcher nesting areas.

Mike's presentation featured the photographs of Alan Fletcher.

The Australian Pied Oystercatcher Heamatopus longirostris is restricted to Australia, Southern New Guinea and the Aru Islands. There is no evidence of recent declines in the most important parts of the species’ range in Tasmania or Victoria but the northern New South Wales population is in decline. The main current and potential threats include coastal development, habitat loss, human recreation disturbance, fox predation, clam harvesting, kelp harvesting from sandy shores and rising sea levels with an increased incidence of storm surges associated with global climate change.