I decided to take a bit of a detour to the coast for a change of scenery. It made me think about how far I have travelled. I didn't quite make it to the tip of Cape York and the northernmost part of Australia but I wasn't far off. Now I am on the coast of South Australia. It is a nice, very small settlement with a rocky beach and long pier. As I arrived I was met by the ever delicious warble of the Grey Butcherbird right next to me. I am always interested in how they seem to squat and be all fluffy and fat.
I wandered down to the pier and immediately saw Great Crested and Caspian Tern sitting on the beach. It was really lovely to see water birds again after all that desert.
Welcome Swallows buzzed around the pier, obviously nesting underneath. A fledgling sat nervously while the others seemingly encouraged it to join them swooping around the water.
My interest was taken by a dark, larger bird down the beach and as I spotted it was a dark morph Eastern Reef Heron it jumped onto rocks in the shallow water and came towards me. I sat on the pier and photographed it for a while. I don't know why but I always love seeing these herons, maybe because they are so rare in New Zealand. In 15 years there, I had only photographed them twice.
I went back to the jetty later in the afternoon and found a juvenile and adult Pacific Gull. Most gulls don't have a big place in people's hearts but you have to admit, this bird is magnificent. That bill is enormous.
I also saw a Pied Oystercatcher which let me get relatively close to photograph it.
We were interrupted by a commotion on the pier. Men were running around shouting. I found out later that several fishermen were casting for squid from the pier. The noise was from a very excited young guy who had hooked something a little bigger. He had to get down to the beach to try and land it. Once he had done that he had to manoeuvre it around a moored boat and bring it in. Using a squid rod. It took some time and usually I don't like to watch people torturing animals but you couldn't not watch! Eventually he landed an enormous kingfish. He howled with delight. A great story for the pub that night I'm sure.
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