Hooded Plover and other birds about Esperance

Hooded Plovers in Western Australia mostly occur on inland lakes. There are a few on beaches, but they tend to be the exception. The lakes around Esperance are the stronghold. There was an exceptional count of 1,500 or so at Lake Gore in the 1990s. The Yalgorup Lakes system south of Mandurah is another good area for them. Also the lakes in the Wagin, Katanning, Lake Grace areas. BirdLife Western Australia has a Hooded Plover Committee led by Marcus Singor that has done great work. They organise annual counts for WA. There was a rumour I heard about the possibility that the WA birds might be worthy of full species recognition, but I don’t know if anyone is looking further into that. If anyone is visiting WA, then apart from Esperance (golf course and Lake Warden are usually reliable) they can usually be seen at Camel Lake NR on Salt River Road at the Stirling Range. They are regular at Lake Clifton, Lake Preston etc at Yalgorup but these are very large lakes. They can be found on some of the smaller lakes such as Martin’s Tank. Beaches such as between Augusta and Cape Leeuwin, Hamelin Bay, Cowaramup Bay (at Gracetown), Bremer Bay and just west of Hopetoun are good chances also. The Hooded Plover Committee welcomes incidental sightings. They have a survey form, but I can’t remember if this is located on the web. It is more than just location and numbers. It asks for information on adults / juveniles, how far from the edge, other birds, weather, etc. For regular surveyed sites, the absence of birds is also useful to report. _________________________________________________________________ Frank O’Connor Birding WA http://birdingwa.iinet.net.au Phone : (08) 9386 5694 Email : foconnor@iinet.net.au