Thursday, 10 September 2026

Cairns August 2026 VI

Michaelmas Cay is one of the biggest seabird colonies in Australia and even in August, a so-called winter month, this little sandy island was packed with them.






The number of the boats and people, which can get to the cay, is restricted per day and you can land only in a small patch marked by a rope and signs.


Once on land, the birds are so close! 


Brown booby


a precious egg!









Sooty terns


Sooty terns and Crested terns




The black bodies with white speckles are young sooty terns, the black body with a white head in the middle is an adult Common noddy.



a young Sooty tern


Sooty tern & Common noddy




a Great frigatebird (I think)


Silver gull, Pied oystercatcher and Crested terns


a lot of Silver gulls

An unattended egg can become an easy snack for gulls.




During the peak season, there will be 20,000 pairs of breeding birds on this cay! Can you imagine that!

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