Birds on Lady Musgrave Reef - Dec 2016

On Christmas Eve, which is when us Swedes celebrate christmas, we had booked a trip to the Great Barrier Reef - Lady Musgrave Reef. Here are some photos from that trip. As you can see, there are no photos from the boat ride... It was a bisarre experience, to say the least. About two thirds of the passanger threw up during the course from Bundaberg (or rather Burnett heads) to the reef. I managed to keep the bile down but it was not a pleasant boat ride. Though, if I had the chance I would definitely do it again. 

The reef is surely a paradise and well worth a visit. The guides weren't very good at the birds but if you've done your homework it doesn't matter. There aren't that many species around. Though I guess one might be more lucky than I was.

Some photos of the birds of the reef:

Black Noddy (svart noddy, Anous minutus)

Wedge-tailed Shearwater (kilstjärtslira, Puffinus pacificus)

Buff-banded Rail (rostbandad rall, Gallirallus philippensis)

Bridled Tern (tygeltärna, Onychoprion anaethetus)

Black-naped Tern (svartnackad tärna, Sterna sumatrana)

Apart from the flock of Black-naped Terns there are at least four other species in this photo, though some are really hard to see. The Pacific Reef Heron and the Sooty Oystercatcher are easy, the two Ruddy turnstones are more difficult and the two Pacific Golden Plovers almost require a magnifying glass... 😏

Sooty Oystercatcher (sotstrandskata, Haematopus fuliginosus)

Unknown Tattler in the center of the photo

Pacific Reef Heron (korallhäger, Egretta sacra), dark morph.

I think my book said "Eastern Reef Egret" but it should be the same species anyway... The name is taken from the official Swedish list of bird names.

Pacific Reef Heron (korallhäger, Egretta sacra), white and
dark morph together

Greater Crested Tern (tofstärna, Thalasseus bergii) and
Lesser Crested Tern (iltärna, Thalasseus bengalensis)

I was quite happy with this photo, which shows the difference between the two crested terns quite clearly. You have the difference in size, the colour difference of the bill and also the difference in wing tone. Though the Lesser Crested to the right shows a darker tone than normally, in this photo probably due to the angle.

Black-naped Tern (svartnackad tärna, Sterna sumatrana)

Bridled Tern (tygeltärna, Onychoprion anaethetus)

Brown Booby (brun sula, Sula leucogaster)

List of birds seen on Lady Musgrave Reef and during the jurney to and from the reef (new lifers marked with *):

Black Noddy (svart noddy, Anous minutus) *

Wedge-tailed Shearwater (kilstjärtslira, Puffinus pacificus) *
Brown Booby (brun sula, Sula leucogaster)
Silver Gull (silvermås, Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae)
Buff-banded Rail (rostbandad rall, Gallirallus philippensis) *
Ruddy Turnstone (roskarl, Arenaria interpres)
Sooty Oystercatcher (sotstrandskata, Haematopus fuliginosus) *
Greater Crested Tern (tofstärna, Thalasseus bergii)
Lesser Crested Tern (iltärna, Thalasseus bengalensis)
Black-naped Tern (svartnackad tärna, Sterna sumatrana) *
Pacific Reef Heron (korallhäger, Egretta sacra) *
Common Greenshank (gluttsnäppa, Tringa nebularia)
Bridled Tern (tygeltärna, Onychoprion anaethetus)

In addition to these species, I also saw a Tattler - probably Grey-tailed but I didn't hear the call so virtually impossible to tell. While checking the photos afterwards, I found at least two Pacific Golden Plovers in the photo above with the flying Black-naped. I did see quite a few both of the Tattler and the Golden Plovers a few days later. That'll be another blogpost...