My Nature Blog
One of my obsessions is trying to tell the difference in the ages of immature pacific gulls. Yes, I need a life. Yes, there are more important things to be researching.
I don’t care. Pacific gulls are awesome 🙂 [Read more…] about Third Year Immature Pacific Gull In Apollo Bay
This trip took place in January, 2017.
We were on the beach within the main harbour. My parents and nephew had visited Apollo Bay a couple of times in 2016 and had discovered that the rockpools here were actually pretty awesome. Normally we just went to Marengo so I never even thought to check out here.
Mum had sent me a lot of photos on a previous visit and I was really keen to visit. The photos included a lot of chitons and elephant snails, creatures I usually associated with Blanket Bay, so I was really excited.
Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. There was young crested terns sitting on the rocks, as well as a beautiful pacific gull, so I couldn’t help but be distracted
I watched this tern the whole time it was there. Yes, one of the reasons was that it was a good candidate for the bird poo photography project. Younger birds do tend to go quite frequently. I was unable to get a photo this time so it remains a bogey photo, of sorts.
It didn’t move from the group of rocks the whole time I was there, whereas there were 3 other birds that came and go. It begged quite a bit but none of the nearby birds made any effort to feed it. It was interesting.
I couldn’t identify the above ‘creature’, so I ended up emailing the museum. They said that it was possibly a piece from the introduced ascidian ‘Ciona intestinalis’. That explains why I couldn’t find it in the book! Obviously it’s not a good thing, but one of the researchers at the museum was interested in the location of the sighting. It’s nice for one of my citizen science contributions to be useful 🙂 (Most are generic, common species)
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We also spent some time at rockpools about 3km away in the opposite direction, back towards Geelong, where we found mostly red waratah anenome. It’s so interesting how the rockpools change so much in areas that are such a short distance away. It’s definitely something I’m hoping to look into more, especially as I plan to hike more of the coastline.
Also hoping to get into snorkelling when my health improves. I’m going to try it in the spring, as my anxiety medication is kicking my arse and I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. There is so much potential. I love it.
This trip to Apollo Bay was going to be different to previous trips. This time, my parents decided that we were going to explore the area up to, and beyond, the 12 Apostles.
Awesome! Sethy had expressed an interest in getting the rufous bristlebird, and I had read that they were in multiple places near attractions. Alas, we didn’t have much luck. Someone was a bit hyperactive, which doesn’t always bode well for finding shy birds.
We did have luck at the twelve apostles. We sound two nankeen kestrels
In a nearby cliff face there was a small group of black faced cormorants. It was so phenomenal seeing the cliffs along that coastline. So many people do this section in just one or two days.
No. Take longer and take it all in.
We also saw a swamp rat, which was a lifer for both Seth and I. A lady said she saw a rat and I thought “oooh! That could be a native species.” I joined a mammal watching group on Facebook late last year, which has led to me taking a different approach to animals. I was glad I did, and was even luckier that this was able to be identified. It was taken during the day, which is apparently a giveaway. The small ears and dark colour are also relevant.
These are photos from other parts of the trip that didn’t really fit into the other categories. The emphasis was slightly less on birding this trip. Which sucked, as I wanted to return to Paradise Picnic groud. Oh well, always many more visits 🙂
Two juvenile pacific gulls had fun with the fisherman. It was also fun watching the resident sting rays swim underneath it.
OMG! I was photographing some terns when I noticed some little birds running around. I snuck up slightly closer and realized there was a group of hoodies! I may have completely embarrassed myself when submitting this report because somebody inaccurately thought the red necked stints here were young hoodies.
I didn’t notice though that there was double banded plovers. How awesome! I wish I could have gotten Sethy to see them. I’m thinking we may go to Lake Victoria or elsewhere to get a decent look. 🙂
The red necked stints, getting into breeding plumage.
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I discovered a lot more of the local areas on this trip, much different to previous ones. I really wish I had a car and could show my family some of the cool places I’m discovering. I also enjoyed my own personal emphasis on walking this trip.
On Saturday, Sethy and I went to Swan Bay for a ‘mudflat meander’. It was run as part of the ‘Summer by the sea’ program and meant we got to explore and learn about the mudflats.
It was pretty awesome and we discovered a lot of critters. There were interesting birds on the bay, but I was carrying tiny buckets.
Afterwards, we went to a different Queenscliffe beach with my parents. We watcher the ferry leave and arrive, and watched these two pacific gulls attack dead fish for a while. Dad hadn’t gotten a proper look at them before and marveled at the size difference. I was trying to get shots from various angles for a bird ID site I am working on.
Looking forward to getting back into adventuring properly once the new years rush dies down a bit. Curse you, school holidays!
Yesterday, I shared some images from Limeburners Point. It is a popular place for fishing and has a boat ramp. Naturally, this attracts the birds.
Those fishing will discard parts of fish, or fish that they can’t throw back, nearby. Patient birds can often scavenge a good meal here. Glenn and I had previously photographed an adult pacific gull eating a fish head here.
I’ve seen a young pacific gull floating around the Eastern Beach area lately. I’m now pretty sure that it hangs out here.
This series of photos shows the young pacific gull eating the fish remains. I’m proud of the shots I got, considering all the obstacles in the way and the fact that I gave the bird a lot of space. The others show the silver gull with the fish. In both cases I have no idea what the fish is!
There are also two photographs of both species of bird doing a #2. You can check out my growing collection of photos here. I’d spent way too many hours at Balyang lately trying to get a silver gull pooping. I hadn’t even put pacific gull on the list, thinking it would be too difficult. It was brilliant luck and I’m keen to learn more about this area. It doesn’t change much but it sure is interesting.
