|
Welcome to Heron Island |
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Heron Island sunrise |
Our
arrival on Heron Island on October 18 till 23, coincided with the nesting season of the White Capped
Black Noddy Tern, Anous minutus which arrives to breed on the coral cay
islands from October to January. Normally 30-70 thousand pairs breed on the
island, but have had up to 120 k pairs.
The preferred nesting tree is the Pisonia tree which only grows on coral
cays. Every tree had multiple nests. The Pisonia tree has an unusual relationship
with the terns in that at the end of the nesting season in January its seeds
become very sticky and trap some terns and other birds to the extent that they can
no longer fly and starve to death only to serve as fertiliser for the hungry
trees.
The Noddy
nests are a very rudimentary structure of
dead Pisonia leaves and bird poop,
The males collect leaves and present them to the females for
consideration. She may accept or reject
the leaves by dropping them. Some males
have found that dipping the leaves in sea water makes them more acceptable. The
Noddys generally raise 2 chicks one after the other. If the first chick dies the female divorces
the male and finds another mate for the second attempt.
|
Noddys Anous minutus feeding at nest |
Also nesting on the island at this time is the
Wedged Tailed Shearwater Puffinus
pacificus which nests in burrows about 2m long all over the island. At night you need to watch where you tread as
they tend to lay outside of the burrows and are easily trod on. The vision of the shearwaters is like
polarised sunglasses and this makes them almost blind on land at night. Together with rear positioned legs they are
prone to bump into trees etc when coming in to land at their burrows.
The common nesting Tern is the Bridled Tern Sterna
anaethetus a ground nester.
|
Bridled Tern in flight |
|
Bridled Tern Sterna anaethetus |
Most of the
birds simply ignore you as you pass or hop a meter out of your way.
Less
friendly are the Eastern Reef Egrets Egreeta
sacra who tend to have a wider
comfort zone of 3-5m. Both the light and
dark forms are present in large numbers and are also nesting at this time and
have large hungry chicks. The chicks are
not friendly to each other and generally only one will survive to fledge.
|
Eastern Reef Egret Egreeta sacra |
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Eastern Reef Egret chick on nest |
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Eastern Reef Egret Egreeta sacra dark form |
The
Buff-banded Rail Gallirallus philippensis
is very common on the island and have distinct defended territories in
which they lay up-to 11 eggs, but usually only one or two will survive
predation by the Egrets and gulls. The
mothers are very protective but are unable to deter the hungry Egrets.
|
Buff-banded Rail Gallirallus philippensis |
|
Rail with chicks |
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Capricorn Silver-eye Zosterpos chlorocephala
|
This is a distinct Barrier Reef island form, yellower above, whiter below. It does not interbreed with the more common Zosterpos familiaris which occurs in eastern Australia as far north as Rockhampton. |
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres |
The Ruddy Turnstone were in non-breeding plumage. |
Ruddy Turnstones - in flight |
|
Grey-tailed Tattler Tringa brevipes |
Grey-tailed Tattlers breed in Siberia. When feeding, they dart about bobbing and teetering between runs in their search for crabs, mollusks, sometimes fish. |
Pied Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus |
Pied Oystercatchers mate for life and are unable to survive as a single bird. |
Brown Booby Sula leucogaster |
The Brown Booby is a bird of the tropical oceans and ranges, in Australia, from Brisbane north to Dampier in Western Australia. They prefer to roost on solid objects and nest on the ground. This particular bird had lost its mate. |
Black-naped Tern Sterna sumatrana |
This tern breeds in colonies on rocky islands and headlands. |
Black-naped Tern |
During a walk at dawn on the beaches, you will find
laying Turtles both Green Chelonia midas and Loggerheads Caretta caretta. More often one just finds tracks as
most turtles have returned to the sea by daybreak.
|
Up the beach |
Green Turtle
track up the beach.
|
Nest sites |
Green turtle
nest site along side a protected Loggerhead turtle nest. The
Loggerhead turtle is Critically Endangered so the nests are protected when
found.
|
Job done! |
A female Green Turtle returns to the relative safety of the water.
On the Reef
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Shark Ray Rhina ancylostoma |
|
Eagle Ray Myliobatis australis |
Very common
around the jetty and shallow reefs around the island. |
Manta Ray Manta alfredi |
Manta Rays are classified as Vulnerable, largely due to overfishing. Other threats include climate change, sediment run-off, pollution, rising sea temperatures. |
Epaulette Shark Hemiscyllium ocellatum |
Frequently
seen while one is enjoying walking on the reef. |
Black-tipped Reef Sharks |
Many types of coral can be seen during the glass-bottomed boat cruise. Identification remains elusive.
|
Sea cucumbers |
|
Starfish on reef
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Wreck of HMCS Protector |
On 19 June 1884, HMCS Protector was ready for service. In July 1943, en-route to New Guinea for service with the US Navy and off Gladstone, she was damaged in a collision with a tug and abandoned. The hull was taken to its present place at Heron Island and later sunk for use as a breakwater. |
Sunset over the wreck |
Text & Photographs: Ian Smith
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