Arctic Dip

Max and I disregarded all school-work for the weekend and headed up to Newcastle for an attempt at Arctic Tern, one of which had been hanging around at Newcastle Baths all week. We stopped by at Max's relatives' place to watch the newly restored Catalina fly in for the annual Catalina Festival.

Catalina Flying

Catalina Landing

Headed up to the baths, hopes were high, but as we rounded the corner, we realised that the combination of high tide and large swell meant that a large portion of the rocks had been inundated. A few terns were sitting there though, so we checked them out, and were happy enough with two Common Terns, a lifer for me, though it was hardly the 200 tern flock that had been reported on Thursday. We resolved to return later.

Common Terns

Next was Stockton Sandspit, the premier NSW wader-watching spot, which I had somehow managed to avoid completely until today. As we drove over the bridge, we could see a huge flock of birds on the dykes, but it looked like they weren't going anywhere soon. At the sandspit, there was a small flock of Avocets, Bar-tailed Godwits, Pied Oystercatcher, Red-capped Plover, Little Egret, a few Eastern Curlew and a huge number of flies... A pair of Mangrove Gerygone were pished in, but other than that, it was quiet. However, as we were getting ready to leave, we noticed movement across the bay. Something had spooked the birds at the dykes, and a huge swarm of birds was heading our way! By hiding behind a bush, we were in a prime position to watch the waders fly in. A few Black-tailed Godwits were picked out, but unfortunately we couldn't find the single Banded Stilt in amongst the few thousand Avocets this time. Many Red Knots, a few Curlew and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers were spotted, and also a single Great Knot mixed in with them - a NSW tick for both Max and me!

Mangrove Gerygone

Max and Flies

Assorted Waders - no Banded Stilt

Great Knot

Feeling better, we headed back to Newcastle Baths for Arctic Tern. When we arrived however, the conditions had hardly changed, and there were no longer 20 terns sitting around like that morning, but only 10. After careful scrutinisation, we came to the conclusion that the Arctic Tern was definitely not one of the 3 "Commic Terns" sitting there. We drove back over to the bay and checked the terns sitting on the buoys, however they were too far away to ID any possible Arctic Tern which may have been amongst them. A last check at the baths was in vain, and we headed home - a dip it was to be...