TRIP REPORT Jono

On Saturday the 23rd of July a brave and keen group of photographers gathered at the Ashley River mouth despite the gloomy forecast and cloudy weather. We arrived at high tide, a perfect time to sneak up on groups of roosting birds.

We all took a stroll down the sand spit towards the mouth of the estuary in search of the endangered black-fronted terns. On the walk down the estuary we spotted a group of Royal spoonbills and a few small banded dotterels which scurried busily around at the water’s edge in search of a feed (right).

At the end of the spit we were greeted by a group of roosting white-fronted and blackfronted terns. It was great to see that some of the white-fronted terns had begun courtship displays and some of us were able to capture the males delivering a fish held crossways in their bills.

A large group of spotted shags also offered us some good photographic opportunities as they flew past us. The sand spit almost looked like a scene from Gallipoli when a large group of us crawled up the beach armed with our large lenses aimed towards a quite obliging group of roosting black-fronted terns. After photographing the shags and terns we drove over to the other side of the estuary to see what other birds we could photograph. Some of us were able to spot kingfishers, oystercatchers, black-billed gulls and white-faced herons, although the resident black stilt remained elusive. A nice coffee at Woodend topped off the morning on the river mouth and even though the lighting had been a little flat, the good company and a good dose of fresh air made for a very enjoyable trip!

Title photo: Sue Blair
Spotted shags & Banded Dotterel: Jonathan Harrod