Monday 30 January 2017

Whiskered Tern Breeding colony - Lake Omeo, Benambra


This Whiskered Tern breeding colony was discovered by members of the Bairnsdale and District Field Naturalists Club in early December 2016, at Lake Omeo located near Benambra in East Gippsland’s high country, when members visited the lake to check on some rare plants.

For more information about Whiskered Terns please refer to two previous posts:



Lake Omeo is about 700 metres above sea level. At the current knee-deep water depth, the lake is about 5km long and nearly 2km wide at its widest point. The lake has no outlet as the original drainage to Morass Creek was cut off by faulting and block tilting many thousands of years ago. The Lake is normally dry, however after good rains it can have sufficient water depth to support many water birds and breeding events such as the Whiskered Terns now breeding there. In the past, the lake sometimes even had enough water depth to support water sports such as water skiing and sailing, but it only fills to that extent on very rare occasions these days.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

Looking towards the north-eastern end of Lake Omeo – Benambra township is on the right-hand side of the photo. The peaks in the background are The Brothers.

Whiskered Terns are colonial breeders and usually breed in shallow marshes and flooded grassland where aquatic insects are numerous. They are nomadic in Australia and are quick to exploit flooded areas along inland rivers. Lake Omeo lies just north of the Dividing Range at the head of the Murray River catchment.

It is possible the Whiskered Terns travel between the Gippsland Lakes, where they are often found in large numbers during inland droughts, and the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) by flying up the Tambo River, crossing the Divide at a low point near Benambra, and then flying on down the Mitta Mitta River, across Lake Dartmouth and beyond. However, in doing so they seem to have noticed Lake Omeo and taken advantage of the rare water and breeding opportunity there even though the MDB currently has lots of water following good inland rains in 2016.

Looking south from out on the Lake – the peaks in the middle background are The Sisters which are on the Great Divide – water falling on the other side of the Sisters runs into the Tambo River which discharges to the Gippsland Lakes and then Bass Strait.

In early December 2016, 60 to 70 breeding pairs were reported to be on nests with eggs in the middle of the lake and more birds were building nests. When I made my first visit to the Lake on the 4th of January 2017 there were no nests in the middle of the lake. This breeding attempt had clearly failed. However, the birds had made a fresh start in more substantial aquatic vegetation near the NE end of the lake.

Looking south across Lake Omeo and the aquatic vegetation where the Whiskered Tern breeding colony is located.

It is hard to estimate the number of Whiskered Terns present and the number of nests. However my conservative guestimate on the 4th of January was 250 adult birds with 100 breeding pairs on about 100 nests. Of about 30 nests inspected, only two had one just- hatched chick. Given an incubation period of 18 to 20 days, egg laying for the new breeding event must have commenced on about the 12th of December. Hatching is synchronous, that is, incubation starts after the last egg is laid and the chicks all hatch at about the same time.

While Whiskered Terns are colonial breeders each pair defends a small territory around their nest, so nests are spread across a large area. The nests were located in a species of rush and the same plant was used to construct the nests.

Whiskered Tern nest - this one is more substantial and more protected than many of the other nests.

Side view of another nest – some nests are anchored in the surrounding vegetation while others float while being constrained laterally by the rushes.

One of the 30 nests checked on the 4th of January. The egg on the nest has a small hole – the start of another chick working its way out of the egg.


This was the other just hatched chick (4/01/17).


Hoary-headed Grebes apparently often nest in association with Whiskered Tern colonies and this was the case at Lake Omeo.

Hoary-headed Grebe nest – with egg covering vegetation removed for the photo and then carefully replaced.
The Hoary-headed Grebes were very secretive around their nests – I never saw one either on a nest or leaving a nest.

Both Whiskered Tern parents share nest building, incubation and care of the chicks. A hide was used to photograph adult birds on the nest because even though they leave the nest on approach, they soon return once you are concealed in the hide.

Pair on a nest.
 
Adult on a nest.

This bird has just flow in to the nest and is about to settle on the eggs.

Partner birds would stand on the nest beside the incubating bird or rest nearby.

At first I thought this bird was collecting nest material. It tried to lift two reeds.

Then it tried to lift one reed.

In the end it just perched on the floating reeds – I suspect it was the partner to one of the birds on a nest I was photographing.

Adult Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage.


Adult Whiskered Tern in breeding plumage.


Non-breeding Whiskered Tern – most of the Whiskered Terns at Lake Omeo were in breeding plumage.


Flock of Whiskered Terns – I could not work out why they were massing above this point on the Lake – they did not look to be feeding?

There are 49 birds in the photo above and there were probably another 15 birds outside of the frame making 64 birds altogether.

A slightly cropped version of the photo above – the WT’s are all looking down – but what were they so focused on?
Another visit to Lake Omeo was made on the 22nd of January to see how the breeding colony was progressing. What a difference 18 days makes! There were still a few birds on nests with eggs, however most of the eggs seen on the 4th of January had hatched and there were many young birds ranging from recently hatched unfledged young to fully fledged flying young. This was good to see as it meant, unlike the early December breeding attempt that had completely failed, this attempt had successfully produced many young.

On one count, there were at least 50 birds flying this way and that across the SW half of the lake searching for aquatic food. However Whiskered Terns also hunt over dry land for insects and other small prey such as skinks. One bird was spotted with a small skink in its bill flying around the breeding colony looking for its young. Another bird was seen with a fish.

Whiskered Tern with a skink – probably taken in the dryland grazing paddocks beyond the lake.

The colony is a very noisy place as birds come and go with food for young. When they approach with food there is a lot of calling from both parents and young to locate each other for food delivery. The young birds appear to be very mobile both pre-flight swimmers and fledged flyers. Once chicks hatch they are quick to move away from the nest and into the shelter of the rushes – they would be easy standout prey on the nests.

Nesting birds and their young are very vulnerable to predation and nesting in colonies is one way to counter predation. Only one raptor was seen while at the colony, a juvenile Swamp Harrier. Swamp Harriers are very effective hunters in wetland habitats and young water birds are often easy prey. To counter this threat, the Whiskered Terns band together to aggressively mob threatening intruders such as Harriers and birdwatchers.

This juvenile Swamp Harrier was hanging around the Whiskered Tern breeding colony and was no doubt preying on young Terns.

At one point the young Harrier flew across the breeding area and was immediately attacked by 15 or so Whiskered Terns – on this occasion the Harrier was driven out of the area.

The young were very wary. The non- flying birds could swim well and took shelter in the reeds, leaving their nest almost immediately as nests are very visible to predators. The fledged flyers were also wary and took flight early, not allowing close approach for photos. I am sure the parents warn the young birds to hide or fly at our approach.

Chick hiding in the reeds.

Another chick hiding in the reeds.

An older chick with developing wing feathers held up out of the water while swimming strongly.

These three juveniles were probably siblings and all could fly. From hatching these young ones have fledged to the point of being able to fly in about 18 days. They are still showing some down around the head and face.

One juvenile has flown, the second has just taken off and the third bird was not far behind its siblings.

The period from the start of incubation to a fledged flying bird, can be as short as 36 days. For birds that respond opportunistically to flooding events, a short time to raise young is an evolutionary advantage.

It was very interesting to observe a Whiskered Tern breeding colony in East Gippsland as these events are uncommon in our area and certainly are rarely recorded.

Wednesday 18 January 2017

Fairy Tern pair – will they mate, or won’t they?


Both Fairy and Little Terns have been successfully breeding on the Gippsland Lakes over the 2016-17 summer season. I have been fortunate to participate in monitoring of a breeding colony.

The breeding colony is a busy and noisy place with much behavioural activity to observe and photograph when the opportunity presents.

Courting is of course a crucial activity in the reproductive process. The following sequence of photos shows a male Fairy Tern attempting to mate with a female however on this occasion he was unsuccessful. The event as it unfolded is described in the text and photo captions.

The male Fairy Tern approaches a seemingly receptive female.

He is very vocal as he approaches from behind.

She crouches and he is right behind her, calling still.

At this point I am thinking they are going to mate any moment and I am ready to capture them in the act with the camera.

Then suddenly another bird arrives and interrupts the couple.
This bird has come with a fish?

Fairy Tern males often include fish gifts as part of their courtship and mating ritual. The fish is often wiped on the back of the female’s back, neck and head and just before, or at the moment of copulation, the fish is given to the female. However, in this case the amorous male does not have a fish to offer, though the female seemed receptive none the less.

The male’s momentum seems to have been disrupted by the arrival of another bird,
 possibly a male, with a fish. The female walks off – exit stage right?

The bird with the fish departs and the interrupted suiter follows and catches
up with the female. He looks to be trying to take up where he left off.
 
The female has lost interest and he has lost momentum,
the moment has passed and she walks off.
 
I felt sure he was going to mate with the female. He was in position and she seemed receptive. He called a lot and was close behind her for several minutes during which time it looked like he would mount her any second. Then when the other bird arrived the mating opportunity was lost even though there was a brief attempt to resume the encounter after the bird with the fish departed.

Fairy Terns lay between 1 and 3 eggs, usually 1 or 2. I wonder if the females are faithful to one mate or do they have several mates? Both male and female share in incubation and feeding of chicks so it seems they do pair bond. Therefore mating with multiple males is probably unlikely though some promiscuity would not be surprising in the highly charged atmosphere of a breeding colony.

Even cross breeding between Little and Fairy Terns is possible.

Saturday 14 January 2017

This and that from here and there


To start my 2017 blogging year I have gathered a selection of photos that were not used in any other blog posts. The photos include a mix of bird species taken in a range of locations/habitats. Refer to the photo captions for species names and locations. The order of the photos is roughly chronological from mid-November 2016 to early January 2017.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

Azure Kingfisher - Mississippi Creek Colquhoun Regional Park (near Lakes Entrance)

Rufous Fantail - Mississippi Creek Colquhoun Regional Park

Rufous Fantail - Mississippi Creek Colquhoun Regional Park

Red-capped Plover (female), drawing attention away from her nest by pretending to be injured - Crescent Island Gippsland Lakes.

Red-capped Plover (female), drawing attention away from her nest by pretending to be injured.

Flame Robin (juvenile) -  Bentleys Plain (Nunniong Plain area west of Swifts Creek)

Olive Whistler - Bentleys Plain - an elusive species in our area

Blue-winged Parrot - Point Addis near Anglesea

Olive-backed Oriole - Mississippi Creek Colquhoun Regional Park

Olive-backed Oriole - Mississippi Creek Colquhoun Regional Park

Yellow-tufted Honeyeater - Mississippi Creek Colquhoun Regional Park

Yellow-tufted Honeyeater - Mississippi Creek

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (female) Mississippi Creek Colquhoun Regional Park

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (female)

Golden Whistler - Mississippi Creek Colquhoun Regional Park

Willie Wagtails (juveniles) - they have just left their nest in our home garden.

Curlew Sandpipers in flight (back view) - Pelican Island Gippsland Lakes

Curlew Sandpipers in flight (underside view)

White-bellied Sea-Eagle - Nungurner Gippsland Lakes

Black-faced Cormorant (juvenile) with adults and Great Cormorants - rock groin Rigby Island Lakes Entrance.

Common Tern (non-breeding plumage) - Victoria Lagoon Hollands Landing Gippsland Lakes

Common Tern (non-breeding plumage) - Victoria Lagoon

Rufous Fantail - Fairy Dell Scenic Reserve

Rufous Fantail - Fairy Dell Scenic Reserve

Black-faced Monarch - Fairy Dell Scenic Reserve

Pelican Island - Gippsland Lakes 10/01/2017 - Pied Oystercatcher standing on one leg and showing yellow flag XB – this bird was recaptured and flagged off Manns Beach Corner Inlet at age 2 on 30/01/2015.


Note regarding reporting of banded and flagged birds:

Where metal bands have been recovered from banded birds these should be reported to:

Australian Bird & Bat Banding Scheme (ABBBS)
Department of the Environment and Energy
GPO Box 8
CANBERRA  ACT  2601


Where flagged birds have been observed and the flag colour and numbers/letters have been identified these should be reported to:

Australian Wader Study Group

For flagged Pied Oystercatchers please report to:

David Trudgen