A couple of posts back I mentioned we may take a break from our travels, so the decision was made to stay at the little beach town of Horrocks, about 600km north of Perth, WA. We both have some casual work at the caravan park here:
http://www.horrocksbeachcaravanpark.com.au/ , with plenty of time for exploring.
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| Horrocks Beach |
These Osprey nests have been erected at various sites along the coastline for the local population to utilize, and they sure make the most of them.
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| Eastern Osprey |
At nearby Bowes River the pelicans were lining up to feed in the calm waters of the enclosed estuary.
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| Australian Pelican |
A new bird for us was a small group of Sanderlings (the larger two birds below) that were foraging beside the river along with a some Red-necked Stints. It made for an ideal situation to compare these two feisty little shore-bird species.
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| Sanderling and Red-necked Stint |
The variety and movement of terns kept our heads turning and the camera clicking, as I tried to get some decent shots of these efficient fishers.
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Crested Tern
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The worlds largest tern species gave us a fly by.
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| Caspian Tern |
As well as one of the smallest.
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| Fairy Tern |
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| Fairy Tern |
A lone Gull-billed Tern made an appearance, a much less common species in these parts.
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| Gull-billed Tern and Red-capped Plover |
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| Little Bay |
Besides the ubiquitous Silver Gulls, a pair of Pacific Gulls also patrolled the beach at Horrocks, quite often perched atop the piles of sea wrack that comes and goes with the tides and wind.
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| Pacific Gull |
Up the road at Port Gregory various waders were using the salt marsh and ponds near town for feeding and roosting. Besides the birds pictured, there were Red-necked Avocets and Black-winged Stilts making the most of the ideal conditions.
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| Wood Sandpiper |
A very distant shot of four different waders.
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| L to R: Common Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Curlew Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper |
The salt granules, in the Pink Lakes near Port Gregory, trap a type of bacteria that give them their colourful hue.
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| Pink Lake |
Cheers and Happy Birding
