Birds cooperating at Tallow Creek
Tallow Creek in Byron Bay, New South Wales forms what is known as an Intermittently Closed and Open Lagoon (ICOLL). The creek and lagoon’s connection to the ocean is closed periodically by an accumulation of sand up to fifty metres wide. Every few months, after very heavy rain fills the lagoon, it overflows and washes away sand to form a channel to the sea and then the lagoon quickly empties.
Over the days following this outflow a procession of water birds search the newly exposed banks for food. Ducks, Egrets, Dusky Moorhens, Ibis, Spoonbills and Swamphen. What can be quite frantic feeding sees some bird odd couples seemingly working together.
A regular visitor after the lagoon empties; the Royal Spoonbill systematically works its way up and down the banks of the lagoon feeding on newly exposed prey: fish, insects, invertebrates, crustacean. On this journey photographed it was accompanied by two Little Black Cormorants, no doubt benefiting from food exposed by the energetic searching of the Spoonbill.
Not in the picture here was a Dusky Moorhen which was following along on the bank. At one stage a Water Dragon lizard joined the birds in the water and the whole party made its way together.
The next day it was a Little Pied Cormorant working with the Royal Spoonbill. On a previous emptying of the lagoon, unfortunately also not photographed, an Azure Kingfisher was seen shadowing an Australasian Grebe along the river bank.