Gantheaume Level after an enormous tide – 10,000 Birds

Final Sunday, April ninth, the tide in Broome was one of many highest of the yr and peaked at 9.99m at 12.20pm. Once we get these very large tides we don’t go to the coast till the ocean begins to recede after which the shorebirds are extra relaxed. As the large tides push up the shorebirds should maintain transferring and they’re unsettled, however as soon as the tide turns they’re extra relaxed. The header picture exhibits the bay in between the lighthouse at Gantheaume Level and Cable Beach. The ocean had been proper as much as the underside of the cliffs and was receding quickly.

Gantheaume Level an hour after excessive tide

You possibly can’t simply entry a lot of Gantheaume Point when the tide is in and even the birds battle to seek out someplace to roost. There are at all times a variety of shorebirds to be noticed, however on the largest tides they battle to discover a place to roost at Gantheaume Level. There are a pair of Pied Oystercatchers that reside at Gantheaume Level all year long and so they final successfully bred in 2020.

Our first view of the small seaside after we wandered by the rocks was of quite a few shorebirds roosting. They have been relaxed and ready for the tide to fall sufficient for them to have the ability to feed as soon as once more. You possibly can virtually see how briskly the tide was dropping from this sequence of photographs. There have been 15 Sooty Oystercatchers and it’s a good location to watch them. The entire Grey-tailed Tattlers are actually in good breeding plumage as they get able to migrate to the Northern hemisphere and breed. The Whimbrel have been relaxed after the excessive tide too. One stand out bigger shorebird amongst the flock on the seaside was the lone Beach Stone-curlew.

Shorebirds after excessive tide

There have been additionally a number of Reef Egrets within the space and one was notably relaxed after excessive tide.

Reef Egret roosting

As you’ll be able to see there’s some fairly massive pure particles dumped onto the rocks and seaside. We’ve had some stormy climate over the previous few months, however it is going to quickly subside. The vast majority of the migratory shorebirds will head north and our native shorebirds will begin to breed domestically as soon as once more.