Thursday, September 21, 2017

Port Wakefield

Yesterday I headed north to check out Bald Hill Beach for migrant waders. Unfortunately, the armaments testing range was active so the road was closed.  Plan B was to visit the boat ramp and seasonal wetland at nearby Port Wakefield.

The tide was just ebbing as I got there, and I soon found a Common Sandpiper fossiking along the exposed mangrove margins.  There was also a single Black-tailed Nativehen there - not something I expected - they usually prefer fresh water. There was a Spotted Dove perched on the railing, and as I was leaving I heard the strident call of a Sacred Kingfisher perched in the mangroves. In the town were plenty of White Ibis, and a single Masked Lapwing.






At first glance, the wetlands was fairly quiet, so I settled myself down in the samphire and waited.  Soon, an immature then an adult Red-necked Avocet came within range, followed by White-headed Stilt and Red-kneed Dotterel.




Then some smaller waders appeared from the other direction, a migrant Red-necked Stint, and a pair of resident Red-capped Plovers, first the bright male, and then the female.



I headed back through the backroads of the Adelaide Plains, stopping for a couple of Brown Falcons, an older lighter bird, and then a darker bird that I thought might have been a Black Falcon.  At another stop I heard and soon tracked down a Brown Treecreeper.



I also spotted my first Bearded Dragon of the summer, warming on a concrete fence post.

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