Four magical days on Heron Island enjoying snorkeling, birdwatching, reef walks and walks along the beaches looking for turtles nesting as well as the emergence of hatchlings.
The Heron Islander waiting to take guests on board for the trip to the island..
Noddy terns in the trees frame the view over the reef shallows.
Pool reflections
Sunset from the resort boardwalk
Sundowners befor dinner.
A Buff-banded Rail
A Green Turtle swims leisurely beside the resort.
Blacktip Reef Shark
North beach looking to resort and historic gantry.
Low tide exposes the historic gantry once used to offload supplies onto the island.
Noddy tern
Staff only (memories for Tracy)
A Pacific Reef Heron with a tracking device.
Native hawkmoth catepillars have stripped the foalige from the Pisonia trees on the island.1
Pisonia trees stripped of foliage provides scarce protection for the Noddy's nests and their chicks. (This is a natural occurrence once every 7 or 8 years)
Only one Pisonia tree with full foaliage, the rangers couldn't explain why it escaped the catepillars.
Heron Island (unidentified bird)
A Green Turtle hatchling makes tracks to the ocean.
White-fronted Tern
Starfish
Pacific Reef Heron
Pacific Reef Heron (Dark morph)
A Giant Clam being stalked by a Sea Cucumber
Sandy Sea Cucumber
Storm clouds to the south highlighted by the setting sun.
Sunset over Research Beach
A Brown Booby perches on the historic gantry.
Brown Booby
Common Sandpiper
Ruddy Turnstones
Pacific Golden Plover
This Green Turtle hatchling encounters an immovable object on its journey towards the ocean.
A Bar-tailed Godwit
A Bar-tailed Godwit takes flight
Shark Bay - dozens of Shovel-nose Rays feeding in the crystal clear shallow water.
Shovel-nose rays of all sizes congregate along the water's edge.
Shovel-nose ray up close.
Sunset over the harbour entrance.
The rusting remains of HMAS Protector silhouetted against the dark clouds.
HMAS Protector an ideal roost for seabirds.
Pink and grey hues light the horizon as the last golden rays sink into the ocean.
Heron boat harbour at sunset.
Opposites - Pacific Reef Herons White and Dark Morph.
A juvenile Gull emerges from the shrubbery.
The wreck just visible above early morning high tide.
Rusting remnants of HMAS Protector - "The Wreck"
Dark shapes of Rays as they cruise around the boat harbour and jetty.
A Whiptail Ray beside the jetty.
Crossing paths, an Eagle Ray swims over a Whiptail Ray.
Low tide at the jetty
The Heron Islander with the wreck of HMAS Protector in the background.
