At Jawbone reserve I saw lots of Little Pied Cormorants and in the distance a group of Pied Cormorants. I also found another new spotting which I believe is a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. By this stage I was seeing so many birds that I stopped putting my camera away into my back pack and continued riding with it hung around my neck!
 |
| Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Calidris acuminata |
 |
Common Starling (immature), Sturnus vulgaris
|
 |
| Black-winged Stilt (in flight), Himantopus himantopus |
As I was riding past some ovals I disturbed a flock of tiny birds foraging on the ground. All I saw was a flash of brown & yellow fly past me. By the time I stopped my bike a few birds had settled back onto the grass and I was able to get a better look at them and ID the Yellow-rumped Thornbills.
 |
| Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Acanthiza chrysorrhoa |
Riding along the Kororoit creek, I just missed a great photo-op of this Pied Cormorant swallowing a fish!
I was still getting off my bike and trying to focus the camera when it swallowed it.
 |
| Pied Cormorant, Phalacrocorax varius |
New spot #3 was this beautiful Great Crested Grebe. This is the largest of the Grebes and I have now photgraphed all 3 Australian Grebes.
 |
| Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus |
 |
| Airborne Sparrow |
This next new spotting I believe is a Common Sandpiper. It was sitting alone, on a rock in the middle of the Kororoit creek.
 |
| Common Sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos |
 |
| White-face Herons, Egretta novaehollandiae |
Spoonbill yoga!
 |
| Royal Spoonbill, Platalea regia |
One of the main reasons for exploring Altona was to visit Cherry Lake, however I was disappointed after riding a full lap and only being able to view the lake from one side. Most of the lake was obscured by thick, tall reeds and the one good gap showed lots of birds but they were too far away to see properly.
So after that disappointment I headed back to the foreshore where I stopped for some lunch in Altona before getting blown away by strong winds riding along the esplanade. Perfect conditions for the masses of kite surfers in the bay that day but not so fun on a bike.
The mouth of the Laverton Creek was sheltered from the wind but I was blown away by the number of shorebirds - there were hundreds. Mostly Silver Gulls but there were also Great Crested Terns, Pied Oyster Catchers, Ducks, Black-winged Stilts, and hundreds of little shorebirds that I'm still trying to identify.
 |
| Silver Gull, Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae |
 |
| Red-necked Stint, Calidris ruficollis |
The Red-necked Stint was another new spot and there were hundreds of these little birds along the shoreline. I had taken way too many photos of the Stints and was about to stop when I noticed that a few of the birds were slightly larger and had slightly different facial markings. It was only when I got home that I realised they were more Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. Both these species have migrated from their breeding grounds in Siberia and Alaska.
I took a few more shots of these slightly larger birds and it wasn't until I got home that I discovered a 3rd bird in the mix (far right of next photo) - a Curlew Sandpiper. These Curlews have also migrated all the way from Siberia and Alaska to enjoy the Australian summer.
Looking in my bird book at the Waders/Shorebird section is very confusing. There are so many different species that all look exactly the same. I guess I'll have to be a lot more observant next time because I've surely missed other species that blended in around the ones I documented.
I'm also now not sure if I am looking at Pectoral Sandpipers or Short-tailed Sandpipers so if anyone can help confirm, that would be wonderful!
 |
| Curlew Sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea |
 |
| Little Egret (with 2 White-faced Heron bodyguards!) |
A little further up the river I found another group of small shorebirds. Once again I thought these were the same as what I'd previously photographed. I started telling myself off for taking so many photos - knowing that it would just make it harder for me to choose one or two good shots out of the 20+ shots I'd already taken at the mouth of the river. Anyway once I'd seen them on my computer I again discovered that this was a different species from any previous ones and another new spot!
Now I'm fairly certain these are Common Greenshanks - please correct me if I'm wrong!
 |
| Common Greenshank, Tringa nebularia |
By 2pm I was starting to get a bit tired and I was battling a headwind on the bike. I decided to finish the ride at Aircraft train station which would still take me past Cheetham Wetlands and Skeleton Creek.
 |
| Little Egret (in breeding plumage), Egretta garzetta |
My tiredness momentarily disappeared when I came across these beautiful Red-necked Avocets. These birds are endemic to Australia.
 |
| Red-necked Avocet, Recurvirostra novaehollandiae |
I also found a Red-kneed Dotterel in the same area to add to my new spottings list.
 |
| Red-kneed Dotterel, Erythrogonys cinctus |
 |
| Black-winged Stilt, Himantopus himantopus |
Heading up the river with a tailwind behind me I could see flocks of Whiskered Terns hovering, diving and slowly moving their way downstream into the headwind. Then they would let the wind carry them quickly back upstream before starting the whole process over and over again. It was quite interesting to watch and I took so many blurred photos before I managed to get a few in focus.
 |
| Whiskered Tern, Chlidonias hybrida |
I boarded a train at 3pm to make my way home - I was exhausted! I had managed to photograph a record 10 new species so I was very happy with my outing. Riding the bike worked well. I was able to cover a greater distance and see a variety of habitats in the one day. And if I came across something of interest I could lean the bike against a tree and explore more on foot.
I'm still not 100% with the species ID's so please comment if you have any thoughts. I've found shorebirds to be a very tricky group to distinguish between species. I'm hoping this will get easier over time with more sightings!
