This is the beginning of the walk along to the bird roost at Mullens. When I came here 12 years ago it was possible to drive quite a bit further along the shoreline. Then "someone" - "officials" - "council" - or whoever! - decided that it would be better to block off the last couple of hundred meters of the track and let the vegetation regenerate. Accordingly bollards were placed over the track - AND - were pulled out! The ground after all is mainly sand! This happened more than once until some clever person decided to put big old pieces of logs between the bollards. These could not be removed easily - and so the bollards have stayed and the vegetation has regenerated! Since then another couple of hundred meters of track have been taken back and all vehicles must now tuck themselves tidily into the much smaller parking area!
As I walked along the shoreline I noticed quite a few trees have fallen down onto the sand and into the water at high tide. I walked right along to the shorebird roost but it was not a very high tide and I did not see any shorebirds along there. This Pied Oystercatcher was close to the beginning of the walk. It is unusual to see a single bird by itself although there are times when there are quite large groups together. I wonder if this bird is a new one into the area or if it is one of a pair that has recently lost its mate. I was almost back to the car park when I saw this bird flying down onto the ground and then fluttering up again. I edged up closer to see what it was doing and realized that it was "anting". This is when birds rub their feathers with ants in an effort to rid themselves of other smaller and annoying insects. This time the bird was more interested in what it was doing than in watching me so I got a series of photos of its actions. The bird is a Mangrove Honeyeater sometimes called a Varied Honeyeater (Lichenostomus veriscolor).
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