WHAT IS THIS BIRD?

This photo was taken by Jon and Janet Coleman on a Southport pelagic on Saturday, 21 March 2026. No one is sure of the bird's identity. Initially, it was called as a Fluttering Shearwater, but questions were soon asked about that. Some thought it might be a Manx Shearwater; others opted for Newell's Shearwater. Here's another photo, this one taken by Jacob Crisp.

I travelled to Southport for this pelagic in the hope of seeing a New Caledonian Storm Petrel. I did not see one. What's worse, I didn't even see the unidentified shearwater in the photos above. So, for me, I did not achieve my objective. Others on the boat were brimming with excitement. I flew to the Gold Coast on Friday afternoon, and the taxi charged me $200 to take me to my Southport hotel. I've done this trip three times before, and each time the taxi fare has been just under $100. I wasn't happy. Some large triathalon was being held on the Gold Coast this weekend. My taxi driver hadn't heard about it and the hotel assured me, when asked, that it would not interfere with my getting to the boat the next morning. They were wrong. The boat was scheduled to leave at 5.30. When my taxi hadn't arrived at 5.10, I began to get anxious. To give him credit, the taxi driver rang to say the road closures were holding him up. I rang Craig, Captain of the Grinner, to explain I'd be late. The taxi eventually came and drove me, by a very circuitous route, to the marina. I was only a little late, but when I arrived, everyone was on the boat waiting to go. I felt awful. What a way to start the day! The weather was warm and we had just a few tiny sprinkles of rain during the day, but the seas were calm and you'd have to say they were ideal conditions for a pelagic. The trouble is, when you have your heart set on just one bird, you are very easily disappointed. One of the other participants was extremely excited at the end of the day. Here's a taste of his email: 'What an absolutely epic day out on the water! I am still buzzing from the sheer number of highlights. Seeing the Tahiti and Kermadec Petrels, the Lesser Frigatebirds, the Masked Booby, the White Tern, the Pomarine Jaeger, and that spectacular White-tailed Tropicbird all in one day was beyond my wildest expectations.' Clearly he went home ecstatic. I, on the other hand, did not see the storm petrel which was the object of my journey, dipped on the intriguing unidentified shearwater, was annoyed with all taxi drivers everywhere, and went home very stressed. Such is life.

INDIAN POND HERON

I've just returned from a whirlwind trip to Christmas Island. This is what lured me there:

It's an Indian Pond Heron and he's never been seen in Australia before. The photo is by Andy Robinson. Thank you, Andy! Handsome, isn't he? (The bird, not Andy!) I say 'he' but noone's sure what sex this bird is. It arrived at Rocky Point on Christmas Island on 28 February. Sonia Tideman found it. Well done, Sonia! I simply had to see it. Luckily, Qantas had put on extra flights to Christmas - one a month. So I could fly in on a special Saturday flight, and out again on the standard Monday flight, spending just two nights on the island. The plane arrived early, just after 3 on Saturday. Lisa, the travel agent on Christmas who arranged my bookings for me, picked me up and immediately took me to look for the bird. It had been regularly walking around amongst the houses at Rocky Point, so it was on private property. Without trespassing, we satisfied ourselves that the bird just wasn't there. I can't pretend I wasn't disappointed. Had I flown all this way for nothing? I dumped my backpack in my room and walked to the cemetery where a pair of Arctic Warblers had been seen recently. They would be another lifer for me, I hoped. Of course I could neither hear nor see anything resembling a warbler, so I walked back to my accommodation thinking I'd check out Rocky Point on the way. You can imagine my state of mind. Two other people I knew of had twitched this bird. They'd got off the plane, driven to the spot and seen the bird. Was I going to be the first birder to dip on this First For Australia? I was feeling a little sad and sorry for myself as I approached Rocky Point. I stood where we'd looked for the bird, and, before I could even reach for my binoculars, there it was! My first impression was of a beautiful soft grey bird with white plumes on the back of its head, about the size of a cattle egret. I drank him in. He was not nearly as white as the two pond herons I had seen previously: Chinese and Javan. His yellow eye was piercing and his three-coloured bill was interesting - blue at the base, then greenish-yellow with quite a long black tip (I reckon perhaps three centimetres). His back was a pretty maroon and he seemed to be wearing a white tie. I tried to take a photo with my phone. This is the best I could do.

I went back to my room with a spring in my step, disappointed that the pub wasn't open and I couldn't celebrate appropriately. The next morning I was back at the site about 6. Sonia had told me the bird started feeding around then. He roosted in a poinciana tree. And there he was again! Sonia was watching. She told me she'd watched me flush the bird yesterday. I felt very guilty. I had not intended to flush the bird, and I thought I'd been very careful not to upset it. And I hadn't known I was being watched. She told me not to approach the bird and took me into her house where we watched it through the window. This time it reminded me more of a night heron than a cattle egret. It had yellowish-green legs with bright yellow soles. We watched it feeding, until it very slowly, very deliberately, walked out of view. I returned to the cemetery, where I met Andy, and, after a little coy hiding, the Arctic Warblers both put in an appearance.

This is another of Andy Robinson's beautiful photos. So I had two ticks in two days. Not bad, hey! For years Christmas Island gave me more lifers than Cocos, but in recent years Cocos has taken the crown. It seems that Christmas wants its crown back again.