Richard Hall Photography

We headed down to the south coast for some birding again today. First stop was Waitpinga Beach where the only notable birds were a large flock of Crested Terns, with many juveniles begging for food from their parents.

Nestled in amongst the Crested Tern was a lone, juvenile Pacific Gull. At first glance through the lens it appeared to be a piece of driftwood on the sand. It took off as we approached but circled back around landing in the lagoon behind the dunes. Fortunately I was able to wade in deep to get into position with the sun behind me for some photos. I think they look fantastic with their plumage at this stage!

I hadn’t noticed at the time, but the poor thing seemed to be in some discomfort with its right leg and was unable to put any weight on it.

We left Waitpinga and headed back towards Victor Harbour, but decided to stop off at the bluff to see if anything was about. There were once again plenty of Crested Terns resting on the rocks but little else. We were about to leave when I spotted a Black-faced Cormorant on the rocks. It’s only the second time I’ve seen this species and I didn’t yet have an image of them in my collection, so I set about clambering down the rocks to get a photo! The midday sun was terribly harsh and played havoc with exposure on a bird that’s black and white, but I’m pleased to get a photo of this bird finally.

Granite Island was our next stop, though we found little of interest on the island except for the resident Singing Honeyeaters. They’re quite unafraid of people as they’re used to the vast number of tourists that flock to the island everyday. We watched a trio of them chase each other incessantly only pausing briefly on the top of a shrub before setting off again on their ‘game’.

One new sighting for the trip was a pair of Terek Sandpiper. These were seen on Hindmarsh Island near the boat ramp off of Sugars Avenue. They were incredibly timid and would not allow a close approach.

Finally we headed to Encounter Bay to see what would be on the small reef there that’s exposed at low tide. It was now very late in the afternoon and the sun was being lost into some clouds on the horizon so I hastily made off after a few birds to capture what I could whilst the light remained.