OCT 2011 - Recently sighted by one of our local Star Birdwatchers, Trevor Ford were the following:   about 85 Australasian Darters which only 4 have ever been seen on Bribie in the past.  Buckley's Hole had 16 Australasian Darters - again the most seen there.    14 Nankeen Night Herons were spotted - all in one tree, 4 white necked Herons, a Latham's Snipe, 2 Comb-crested Jacanas, 9 Wandering Whistling Ducks.  5-10 individual Little, Intermediate and Great Egrets have often been seen next to each other affording great comparison opportunities.  Plenty of Shorebirds roosting at Kakadu Beach which has 28 Red Knots, with several in breeding plumage as are several of the 100+ Great Knots.  1500+ Bar-tailed Godwits with about 10 of these looking to be immature Godwits which is an early date for these young to be seen.  Full sighting and updates can be seen on http://www.sunbittern.com/  

SEPT 2011 - A nice general range of birds being regularly sighted.  Jabiru spotted this week and he was fishing (holding & gently flapping his wings out in the shallows and 'herding' fish into a spot where he can grab them with his beak) and Brolgas seen recently up at Lime Pocket.  Migratory birds now starting to be seen as well as juvenile white bellied sea eagles, osprey's nesting and brahminy kites in pairs.

APRIL 2011 - On our recent 6 hr Explorer Cruise to Lighthouse Reach (up near Caloundra) the following birds were sighted and the approximate number seen is in brackets ( ).  This cruise can only be done on a KING tide so there were no exposed feeding banks during this cruise  hence no opportunity to see the many migratory birds that come to this wonderful waterway.  Also, being April, many of the Migratory birds from the Northern Hemisphere have already left to travel north.  This bird list was compiled by a very well-renowned local 'Birder' who was onboard with us for the day.

Birds sighted:   Bar tailed Godwit (160), Whimbrel (214), Eastern Curlew (108), Common Greenshank (24), Terek Sandpiper (1), Grey-tailed tattler (180), Australian Pied Oystercatcher (8), Black-winged stilt (7), Red-capped plover (1), Masked Lapwing (29), Pied Cormorant (10), Little Pied Cormorant (1), Australian Pelican (8) Black Swan (40), Wood Duck (8), White-faced Heron (30), Little Egret (4), Intermediate Egret (3), Eastern Great Egret (2), Striated Heron, (1), Australian White Ibis (12), Royal Spoonbill (4), Black-necked Stork / Jabiru (1), Eastern Osprey (8), Whistling Kite (17), Brahminy Kite (5), White-bellied Sea Eagle (8), Wedge-tailed Eagle (1), Brown Goshawk (2), Peregrine (1), Silver Gull (82), Caspian Tern (7), Crested Tern (4), Little Tern (6) PLUS another 20 or so bird species on land (passerines) including the Mangrove Honeyeaters and the Mangrove Gerygone and Collared Kingfisher were heard.   (Also sighted were some Eastern Grey Kangaroos and 100's of Black Flying Foxes.)

August 2010 - Starting to see the migratory birds coming back  - a bit earlier than normal.  Have seen our resident male jabiru up in the 'junkers' as well so he is around - hopefully getting ready to nest although we have not seen a mate around as yet.

June - Aug 2010:   We have a lone gannet currently residing in the Passage and the type is not of usual occurrance here but must be a bit of food for him to be hanging around.   Are seeing some lovely White Bellied Sea Eagles at present with a couple of juveniles of these now out looking for food over the Passage.

We have seen our Jabiru a couple of times only but because there are no really large trees close to the passge now, for them to nest in, sightings of them have become fewer in the last 12 months as their nesting tree was destroyed in some weather in  May 2009.  We assume they may be nesting elsewhere but we hope they are still nesting somewhere close.

Migratory birds will start to be seen from mid- to late September onwards for the summer here and they will head back North  in March/April next year.   If you are looking for birds specifically, please let us know as we would suggest a cruise that is cruising at half tide or lower so you can see the birds down on the exposed intertidal banks feeding during the cruise.

Jan-Jun 2010:  Although the migratory birds left at their usual time, we are still seeing a nice range of birds as well as quite a few raptors with some in pairs so they are starting to breed again ready for spring.

Nov - Jan 10:   Have seen a good array of birds throughout the holidays with some nice large flocks of the migratory birds.  Saw the beautiful jabiru flying along the Passage during one of our wedding charters - Magic!! 

Sept-Nov 09:  Migratory Birds are now returning and we are seeing a good range on our cruises where the Inter-tidal feeding banks are exposed. 

July 09:  Seeing alot of Spoonbill flocks in the Passage feeding, plus quite a few Brahminy kite pairs getting ready to breen and building nests.  the mail jabiru is also out and about, however have not seen the female in recent weeks - we'll be keeping an eye out, and once she is spotted, hopefully there will be chicks to follow!!

May/June 2009:   Throughout the last few months a good range of birds have been sighted even though the migratory birds have left for the northern hemisphere.  the jabiru were seen regularly and looked to be nesting for a second time this season, however.......

Due to the recent heavy rains in May, the iconic JABIRU NEST that could be clearly seen at Lime Pocket was lost with half the tree it was in.  it looks that over time, the weight of the nest and the heavy rains finally took their toll.  We are unsure as to what has happened to the chicks as we believe there were some in the nest after seeing the adults feeding them in the weeks prior. 

Nov/Dec 2008

The general range of birds have been sighted recently, with the local jabiru being seen regularly, although fantastic weather with lots of boat traffic have kept sightings to a minimum.   The list of other birds that have been sighted in one day by a bird watching group included:

{B) breeding}  Australian Brush Turkey, Black Swan, Chestnut Teal, Brown Booby, Darter, Little Pied Cormorant, Pied Cormorant, Little Black Cormorant, Australian Pelican,  White-faced Heron, Little Egret, Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Striated Heron, Australian White Ibis, Straw-necked Ibis, Royal Spoonbill, Osprey, Whistling Kite, Brahminy Kite, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Whimbrel, Eastern Curlew, Common Greenshank, Grey-tailed Tattler, Great Knot, Red-necked Stint, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Pied Oystercatcher, Black-winged Stilt, Red-capped Plover, Masked Lapwing, Silver Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Crested Tern, Crested Pigeon, Rainbow Lorikeet,  Pale-headed Rosella, Tawny Frogmouth (B), Laughing Kookaburra, Sacred Kingfisher, Collared Kingfisher, Dollarbird, White-throated Treecreeper, Variegated Fairy-wren, White-browed Scrubwren, Mangrove Gerygone, Striped Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Lewin's Honeyeater, Mangrove Honeyeater, Brown  Honeyeater, Eastern Yellow Robin, Eastern Whipbird, Golden Whistler, Rufous Whistler, Leaden Flycatcher, Magpie-lark, Rufous Fantail, Grey Fantail, Willie Wagtail, Olive-backed Oriole, Pied Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Torresian Crow and Silvereye.

Aug/Sept/Oct 2008:

The local jabiru (black neck stork) parents have been teaching their baby to feed so we have seen them regularly out on the tidal banks.

Lots of birds of prey, and now seeing a good range of migratory birds if the tide is low when we cruise.

June/July 2008:

We recently sighted a flock of spoonbills feeding just north of Donnybrook plus heaps of Osprey, White Bellied Sea Eagles, Whistlers, and Brahminy Kites flying around.  A couple of these were ripping their fresh caught fish apart and feeding on the exposed sand banks as we cruised past.

The Jabiru/Black Necked stork pair are also nesting up at Lime Pocket with 1 adult always on the nest with the other out feeding.  Their chicks have hatched and we have watched them being fed.  Wow!

We also have spotted a pair of Brolgas recently which was a real treat.  They were not overly concerned with us and wandered the exposed banks as we cruised past.  Their beautiful red heads were clearly visible.

May 08

Black necked Stork recently sighted at Donnybrook as well as Whistling Kites, Ospreys and White Bellied Sea Eagles