Broome 2007 part 7

North side of the Woodside block at BBO.

Information boards outside the office at BBO

Back to BBO

This fine specimen awaited our inspection on return today. It is a Black-headed Python Aspidites melanocephalus. Regrettably, it was dead

26th Meal duty again! Today we plan a catch at Stilt Viewing and then out to Lake Eda for mist netting at night. Should be a hectic day. In to town early at 0730 with Peter Jenkins for a frantic shopping at Coles and for Prue to collect a Chiller van. Back by 0930 and out to sweat under a Bauhinia tree with little shade for an hour before the catch at about 1045. We use a small mesh 3-cannon net. A big one mostly of Bar-tailed Godwit (173/46) and Great Knot (73/15) and a Red Knot. One of the retrapped Bar-tailed Godwits was a bird flagged in Hong Kong. Rushed about trying to keep the party well hydrated and at the same time help with one of the processing teams that was illogically short handed. Again, another frantic rush into town for more supplies and back so late that I was not in a mood to go out to the mist netting despite the last two cars not leaving until a half hour later at about 0630. A small party of Red-tailed Black-cockatoo flew over the BBO to the south just before dusk calling. A Pheasant Coucal has called nearby this morning and again at dusk tonight. I remained in camp and have a quiet evening with David chatting over a couple of beers before Ian Newton and his wife arrived from Perth. We all then talked for a while longer before heading to bed. A party returned from the netting at midnight; the rest stayed over until early morning. Not a happy day and to cap it off I broke my watch strap on the shelving in the chiller van which was the final straw that convinced me to stay back at the BBO for the evening!

Solar panels that follow the sun. Two view - early and late in the day


Room 5

27th Last night at Lake Eda the mist netting catch was hugely successful! Well over 200 birds caught using 13 mist nets. The catch included Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (100/2), Black-winged Stilt (25/1), Black-fronted Dotterel (22/10), Wood Sandpiper (19), Long-toed Stint (16/1), Red-kneed Dotterel (11), Masked Lapwing (8), Australian Pratincole (5), Marsh Sandpiper (4), Common Greenshank (3) Curlew Sandpiper (2) and a Red-necked Stint and Red-capped Dotterel along Whiskered Tern (9) and Gull-billed Tern (3) together with two Green Pygmy-goose about twenty Australian Grebe and about 30 Northern Free-tail Bats! Pity that I miss this session but so be it.
We set a net early in the day at West Quarry Beach at the western end on the rocky platform. Again we use a small mesh 3-cannon net. The camouflage was dried mangrove leaf and it looked good despite two of the three cannons being clustered in rocks to offset for reaction on firing. I do an hour or so of net guarding until about 10AM when Dianne comes to take over until the full team arrives at 1130AM.

Views across to Dampier Creek from near the net site

Hermit Crab and retreat hole

Termite mound




Well camouflaged net and cannons

A natural accumulation of dead mangrove leaves on the beach

With Alison Botha I do a twinkle from the east starting at Campsite beach. There are 5000, or more, grey waders to push west, mostly Bar-tailed Godwit, but including Turnstone, at least 15 Grey Plover, some Terek Sandpiper and a good number of Grey-tailed Tattler. Only a small number of sandplover and about 300 Red-necked Stint. I see about 40 Sooty Oystercatcher, about 10 Pied Oystercatcher, a Pied Cormorant about 15 Little Egret with half a dozen Great Egret and a couple of Eastern Reef Egret. Terns and gulls are not numerous and there are few raptors about; only a Brown Falcon and a Brahminy Kite but later an adult White-bellied Sea-eagle. We make a fantastic catch using a small mesh 3-cannon net! The total was 407 made up of Great Knot (86/40), Grey-tailed Tattler (49/20), Ruddy Turnstone (47/21), Bar-tailed Godwit (36/18), Red Knot (38/8), Greater Sandplover (13/6), Grey Plover (13/1), Curlew Sandpiper (6), Terek Sandpiper (3) and two Gull-billed Tern. One of the Bar-tailed Godwit was a retrap from Hong Kong but it was the same bird we caught two days ago! I process Grey Plover with Roz, Alison and Ian Newton, who discovers how to moult-score a wader! We then finish off with a few Curlew Sandpiper. We wrap up by about 5PM. A hot day and to cap it off there is no flow of water in the showers and shortly afterwards the generator fails such that there is no power in most buildings but critically none at the shadehouse and at the chiller! It doesn’t dampen our pleasure of a good day but for those in the party that worked all last night at the mist netting its has been a hard day today and most of them will have had little sleep during the past 24 hours!