Merimbula Weekend with people of "the Atlas of Life in the Coastal Wilderness"

I spend last Thursday, Friday and Saturday (13, 14, 15 December) with the organisers of the Atlas of Life in the Coastal Wilderness.

I refrained from taking photos of the gathering, because I was a guest, not a local. But we went on an outing to Mogareeka and these are some of the birds we saw.

I felt sorry for this Great Cormorant which
obviously has been snagged with fishing line
and some Sea Weed dragging behind it.
Not only does it interfere with its flying,
but it will also drag when the  Cormorant is diving to catch fish.

Fairy Tern are distinguishable in breeding plumage by their entirely yellow beaks (Higgins & Davies 1996) and the black patch at the eye which does not extend to a point at the bill (Cox & Close 1977). For more information please visit this site> http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=82950

This is a Fairy Tern (a rare breeder in NSW).
Note the chick hiding under the driftwood at left.
White patch in front of eyes, bill yellow.
(no black tip to bill when breeding)
(click on image to see detail)

For good information on the Little Tern recovery plan please visit this link: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/recoveryPlanFinalLittleTern.pdf

The endangered Little Tern in breeding plumage.
Note the black line in front of eyes, going to the base of beak,
and black tip of the bill (click on image to see detail)

I love this image.
With the prospect of wash-outs of nests on the recent King Tides
the local team of human volunteers built sand-bag "castles"
and lifted the eggs and surrounding shells, etc
onto these raised nests.
The birds have taken to these "castles" very successfully, as you can see,
This Little Tern is being very watchful.
It is looking out for marauding Gulls and Ravens.

This "runner" (recently hatched Tern chick) is running for its life.
It had been grabbed by the wing by one Silver Gull,
Then suddenly four Gulls were having a go at it.
Human intervention chased the Gulls away, and the "runner"
was scampering back to the main colony.
An adult Tern came to sit beside it shortly after I took this "action shot".
Hopefully it has learn its lesson.

A Little Tern flying in with a fish for its partner.
They are such elegant fliers.

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PLEASE CONSIDER SIGNING THIS PETITION; it aims to reaffirm, maintain and where possible enhance support for the Shorebird Recovery Program and the legal, scientific and policy framework that underpins it.

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White-throated Needletails used be called Spine-tailed Swifts.
They are some of the fastest fliers known.
See this link for more images:
http://photogallery.canberrabirds.org.au/Species%20HTML/white-throated_needletail.html

Talking about elegant fliers
Compare the wing shape of this White-throated Needletail
and the Little Tern.
If anything, the Tern's wing shape is even more tapered
than that of the Needletail.
Sorry about the poor quality of both images
but its the best I can do with a hand-held "Still" camera.

Apologies to my regular readers for my unscheduled absence from Blogging.
Hopefully I will be able to continue with regular blogging again.

I am house-sitting for some friends at present, and I am "learning" to use an Apple Lap-top, with limited USB ports. At present I am restricted to up-loading images from home and then blogging from the alternative address.
Dapto, Edie and Possum are all well.