Beach birds: waders-a-go-go

On my last afternoon in Cairns, I made one more visit to the foreshore. It turned out to be a good call. The usual suspects were there — bar-tailed godwits, grey-tailed tattlers and red-capped plovers — but they were joined by a striated heron, Caspian and gull-billed terns, whimbrels, knots, terek sandpipers and stints (little or red-necked or both). There were others. All in all, not a bad selection. I'm slowly getting the hang of mottled peas in muddy pods. (But I wish I'd brought my Shorebirds of Australia book with me.)

Bar-tailed godwits, whimbrels, grey-tailed tattlers and gull-billed tern

No terns

Bath time

Striated heron

Caspian terns

Whimbrel

Whimbrel and triffid

Terek sandpiper foraging too far out

Juvenile white-breasted sea eagle