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| Great Frigatebird: a typical view of this bird - from below. |
This report provides some general information about Michaelmas Cay on the Great Barrier Reef. It also provides a summary of the birds seen on a recent trip to the Cay.
Michaelmas Cay is a small vegetated coral cay which is a protected seabird sanctuary. Michaelmas Cay is a major seabird nesting island in the northern Great Barrier Reef. An amazing 30,000 seabirds have been recorded on the cay at one time. 1.5 ha in area and 3.5 m high, it lies 43 km north-east of Cairns (16 36S 145 58E). The cay sits on the western tip of Michaelmas Reef; a mid-shelf reef formed by living coral animals, polyps which secret a limestone skeleton.
On on recent trip I recorded the following species at Michaelmas Cay:
- Brown Booby: several birds seen at sea.
- Great Frigatebird: four birds seen, high in the sky.
- Lesser Frigatebird: two birds seen, high in the sky.
- Silver Gull: three birds seen.
- Common Noddy: literally thousands seen.
- Gull-billed Tern: several on the way out to the Cay.
- Lesser Crested Tern: only a few birds seen.
- Crested Tern: common.
- Sooty Tern: thousands.
- Caspian Tern: several birds seen.
- Black-naped Tern: a dozens seen near highest point of Cay.
- Ruddy Turnstone: three birds seen.
- Little Tern: several birds seen fishing at sea.
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| Sooty Tern |
Overall 38 species of birds have been recorded on Michaelmas Cay (3 woodland species and 35 seabirds). The main breeding species are Sooty Tern, Crested Tern, Common Noddy and Lesser Crested Tern. Occasional breeders include Silver Gull, Black-naped Tern, Bridled Terns, Black Noddy, Roseate Tern and Ruddy Turnstone.
Other birds recorded include Southern Giant-Petrel, White-tailed Tropicbird, Masked Booby, Curlew Sandpiper, Pomarine Jaeger, Long-tailed Jaeger and there have been a number of recent sightings of Red-footed Booby. In 2005 a group of Fairy Tern were also recorded, possibly a new race for Australia.
Common plant species on Michaelmas Cay include Hairy Spinifex (Spinifex hirsutus), Stalky Grass (Lepturus repens), Sea Purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum).
Also don't forget that Michaelmas Cay is surrounded by some magnificent coral reefs! I can highly recommend that when you travel at Michaelmas Cay to do some birding that you also take time to go snorkeling. Nearly two million years old and World Heritage listed in 1981, the Great Barrier Reef has has an amazing 1,500 species of fish. For example, on a diving trip to the nearby Hastings Reef I saw a number of different species of Clown Anemonefish ("Nemo") within a couple of minutes of diving.
When I traveled to the Michaelmas Cay I went on the Sea Star 2, a great service because it was cheap. Unfortunately this service finished in 2007. The cheapest option now is to catch the Passions of Paradise (run by the same people), which costs about AUS$130pp. Contact Seastar Cruises, http://www.seastarcruises.com.au/. Alternatively you can catch the Ocean Spirit for AUS$189pp, kids $94pp, see http://www.oceanspirit.com.au/
Michaelmas Cay
| Description: | Small sandy Cay with some low veg. Accessed by 2-3 diveboats daily from Cairns. |
| Region: | Australia: Queensland |
| Season: | January to December |
| Period: | 1/1/1900 to 4/8/2011 |
| Lists: | 22 |
| Species: | 24 |
| Best Day List: | 13 species, Tim Dolby 9/24/2007. |
| Prepared: | 4/8/2011 |
| Common Names | |
Shearwaters and Petrels | |||||
| Southern Giant-Petrel | 5% | Short-tailed Shearwater | 5% | ||
| White-tailed Tropicbird | 5% | ||||
Frigatebirds | |||||
| Great Frigatebird | 36% | Lesser Frigatebird | 32% | ||
Boobies and Gannets | |||||
| Masked Booby | 14% | Brown Booby | 55% | Red-footed Booby | 18% |
Sandpipers and Allies | |||||
| Ruddy Turnstone | 32% | Curlew Sandpiper | 5% | ||
Gulls, Terns and Skimmers | |||||
| Silver Gull | 32% | Bridled Tern | 27% | Roseate Tern | 9% |
| Common Noddy | 55% | Little Tern | 18% | Black-naped Tern | 50% |
| Black Noddy | 23% | Gull-billed Tern | 9% | Crested Tern | 36% |
| Sooty Tern | 59% | Caspian Tern | 9% | Lesser Crested Tern | 36% |
Skuas and Jaegers | |||||
| Pomarine Jaeger | 5% | Long-tailed Jaeger | 5% | ||
