Check my birding map for specific location.
Belvidere Campsite is on the opposite side of the inlet from Point Douro. There is access to the ocean side beach too but I stayed at the campground and watched the water and shore from there. The site was quiet with lots of huge trees but a bit more space than the forests inland. The bird noise was loud with lots of parrots screeching from the canopy. I found a nesting kookaburra as soon as I arrived and it was lovely to hear the chirruping from inside the tree. As I walked down to the water, fairywrens, scrubwen and thornbills were buzzing around in the shorter scrub.
The tide was going out as I got to the shore and there were lots of heron feeding in the shallows. Great and Little Egret and White-faced Heron were working the mud. Pelican and sea eagle circled overhead and dozens of Little Cormorant sat on the remnants of the jetty posts. It was just beautiful.
Little Pied Cormorant (Microcarbo melanoleucos)
In the bright sunlight, Australian White Ibis circled overhead and I tried to shoot them against the light. White birds that are backlit are often spectacular with the light showing up their bones.
Australia White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca)
Behind my pitch in the mornings kangaroo roamed, feeding on the grass. They were watchful of me but not concerned enough to get up and move.
Western Grey Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus)
The 28 Ringneck Parrot were abundant at the site and as common as they are here, I love them. Their cheery parrot ping reverberated around the trees and even their squabbling was entertaining.
28 Ringneck Parrot (Barnardius zonarius)
Back home in New Zealand, a Little Egret visited the estuary I lived at each year. A rare visitor to NZ, I spent a lot of time watching and photographing it. I spent and hour doing the same here and it brought back very happy birding memories. Unlike other, more sedate herons, it dashes about when hunting and is never boring. I also loved that its plumes stuck up in the wind.
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
Early in the morning I watched a pair of White-bellied Sea Eagle soaring in the warm air. They moved slowly and with such grace that it was easy to forget that they are predators.
White-bellied Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster)
Another graceful raptor was the Nankeen Kestrel. It hovered close to me, unusually unconcerned. I left so it could hunt in peace.
Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides)
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