Family day – no birding today. I’ve been birding almost all days since the year began, and wanted to take advantage of having seen all the rarities so far that had shown up. I kept an eye on the Brisbane eBird alert of course, but Glossy Ibis and Varied Triller were the only two birds seen today that would be year ticks. No need for an unseemly chase for them.

There are sustained easterly winds forecast for most of next week, strengthening by Saturday, when there is projected to be some storms as well. This seems like great conditions for a seawatch off Cape Moreton next weekend. The only problem is it’s a very tricky place to get to – I’m considering the ferry from Redcliffe to Bulwer on Friday, walking the 15km to Cape Moreton birding along the way, seawatching late afternoon, evening and morning, then getting a 4WD taxi back to Tangalooma Saturday lunchtime to catch an afternoon ferry back to Cleveland. Something of a mission, but seabirds will be crucial to amassing a decent year list. If anyone has a 4WD, is happy to drive on Moreton Island, and wants to obsessively seawatch next weekend, do get in touch!

More immediately, I’m going for a spring low tide walk onto the tidal flats tomorrow morning at dawn at Lota foreshore. I was inspired by Michael Daley’s walk on 2 Jan, and thought it would be a bit of fun to see what’s down there. Migratory shorebirds and terns are the main targets. Of the former, the key species are Terek Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Grey Plover and Greater Sand Plover. Of the latter, Common Tern and White-winged Black Tern are the most likely species, but both are quite rare in Brisbane. Other possible targets include Eastern Reef Egret and Sooty Oystercatcher.

With no year ticks today, my year list at the end of the day remained on 198 species. I spent 0 minutes birding, walked 0 km and drove 0 km.