A Shadow of its Former Self....Orielton Lagoon

Yesterday, I made one of my now rare visits to the northern end of Orielton Lagoon. Back in the '70s and '80s, I plodded the mud here many weekends, especially in the Summer months, looking for migrant waders. This lagoon had a justified iconic status and over the years produced many of the rarer migrant waders, as well as substantial flocks of the more mundane.
Not long after leaving the car, I was beset by the first of many Kelp Gulls (top left), and they and their raucous calls, followed me around for the next hour or so. About 20 years ago, they started nesting here, just a few, mostly along the banks of Orielton Creek, but today there are probably over a hundred pairs and each year their colony grows ever larger. Presently, they mostly have 'runners', like those pictured, and as a you near them, not surprisingly, the adults get ever more agitated, taking it in turns to dive bomb. Like the Fairy Terns, mentioned in the last article, they also defecate as they dive. Fortunately, they're nowhere near as accurate, but near misses can be disconcerting!
The notice describes the area as "a wetland of international importance", but the presence of the burgeoning Kelp Gull colony is having an ever more negative effect on the area. Some of the smaller waders like the Red-necked Stint, can still be seen in some numbers, about 400 or more were present yesterday, but I didn't see a single Red-capped Plover, a once common breeding resident here. I walked towards a mixed flock of Curlew (42), Bar-tailed Godwit (2) and a lone Whimbrel, and although I was still a distant 6 or 7 hundred metres away, they took flight, passing me (pictured) and briefly alighted in the bay to the West. It wasn't long before they were harassed by the Kelp Gulls, and had to move on. I beat as quick a retreat as I could in the clinging mud, to allow them to resume their prefered roost site, which they did. To me, this was a classic example of why, if this area is to remain an area of importance to waders, that some action needs to be taken to limit the growth of the gull colony.
Other sightings included a flock of about 30 Pacific Golden Plover, roosting at their prefered site alongside the golf course, and a solitary European Hare.