The forecast didn't look promising - 30-40km/h westerly winds - but I kept a sense of optimism as we cruised up the freeway, arriving in blustery Soldiers Point around 10:30am. First, a quick refresher - I had previously (in May) attempted to see BSC at this site with Grant Brosie in quite similar conditions. The result of that search was a resounding failure and as the dashboard clock ticked over, sitting in the car, scanning Dowadee Island today, I was beginning to anticipate a repeat performance.
There was a fairly good array of birds sheltering in the lee of the island, protected from the howling westerly. Over the course of the morning I saw the following species: Little Egret, Royal Spoonbill, three species of cormorant, Caspian and Crested Terns, a pair of Osprey, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Pied Oycs, White-headed Pigeon and Topknot Pigeons.
The day wore on and my optimism started to return with the receeding tide. Lunch passed, alternative searches at spots down the peninsula and on the eastern side turned up blanks and yet again we found ourselves sitting in the car watching the mudflats appear and occasionally stirring for fly-by White-faced Herons.
I headed out into the gale-force winds one more time and finally spotted a pair of Beach Stone-Curlew as they walked out from behind a grounded tinnie! Obligatory fist-pump and a few minutes study before I headed back to the car to pick up the camera.
Of course, as all good birders know, a camera will automatically make birds fly away and BSC's, as I discovered, are no exception to this rule.
Nonetheless, a successful trip was had and as we drove home, I flipped through Pizzey to find my next target, the big one, number 500 - Rufous Scrub-Bird.
The scene of the crime - Soldiers Point mudflats
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