There were oystercatchers, cormorants and three White-Faced Heron prowling over Scottish Rocks in Jervis Bay. The small waves were slowly washing my kayak and I closer to where the birds were and the animals were still going about their normal behaviour. A clear blue sky lit this scene of seabirds on the rocks while I decided to focus on a single heron that was towards the back of this gathering. It was making its way over the rocks, probably looking into rock pools while it moved across the uneven surface. I was happy in that moment of warm weather, sllghtly rocking water and a wild bird acting naturally in front of me. My day trip to Jervis Bay was definitely worth it and I hope that you enjoy the photographs below.
This was another one of my day trips from Canberra to the south coast of New South Wales. Once again, I departed before dawn from Canberra this time with the intent to get to Hyams Beach in Jervis Bay early because I knew that it would be a popular destination over that Easter Long Weekend. After a pleasant drive I arrived and parked beside the small park that sat above where Hyams Beach had a small boat ramp. The plan for the excursion on the water was very simple. I would paddle from Hyams Beach straight across the bay to Bowen Island, then turn southwards and follow the bay’s shore back around to Hyams Beach. I felt that it was going to be a good day because while I was surveying the beach before launching I could see an undulating dolphin swimming slowly in the blue water just off the beach.
I quickly prepared my trusty blue kayak and launched soon after arriving at Hyams Beach. There was a bit of a swell running from the heads opposite so I had some small waves when I launched from the beach. I could see the slightly hazy Bowen Island to my front. The island was just under 7 km away from where I launched but the paddle was harder than I expected because a stiff wind was blowing from the south making choppy, rolling waves that wanted to hit me from the side while I rode over the metre-high swell coming from the front. The choppy water made it hard for me to keep the kayak tracking but despite the disturbed conditions it was nice to be out in the middle of a body of water paddling.
After almost an hour I made it to Bowen Island but being a nature reserve visitors are not allowed to land without permission so I continued my trip to the southern side of the bay. Fortunately, the thick tree cover along the southern shore created a lee from the wind and the curve of the bay reduced the effects of the swell so I had a relaxing paddle while I headed to Hole in the Wall. It was easy to see how this weathered sandstone rock formation got its name with an obvious hole showing the trees beyond.
Bowen Island, about 7 km from where I was at Hyams Beach, my launch site
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 100, 135mm, f/9.0 and 1/500 SEC])
Hole in the Wall, south side of Jervis Bay
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 100, 100mm, f/9.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Southern side of the bay
(Apple iPhone 8 [ISO 20, 3.99mm, f/1.8 and 1/850 SEC])
A number of creeks flow into the bay along the southern side and their water appeared to be a yellowy brown. While it may look strange this was perfectly natural. This tannin stained water actually reflected a natural process at play. Dead plant matter and detritus was breaking down and the natural tannin was leaking out. This tea-coloured natural chemical mixed with the fresh water of the creeks staining the water a brownish-yellow. In the photo below, in the bottom left corner, you can see some plant matter that was washed down. The incoming waves were rushing up into the creek making standing wavelets in the small mouth. The tannin laced water was blooming out from the creek creating a brownish-red patch that was absorbed into the bay’s water. On the day I was paddling. the water of the bay was slightly yellow, not so much from the tannin but probably more from sand being stirred up by the heavy storms that had lashed the east coast over most of the previous week. One scuba diving couple that I spoke to when I launched told me that the visibility was still bad but much better than it had been.
One of the naturally tannin stained creeks flowing into the bay
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 800, 100mm, f/18 and 1/200 SEC])
Tannin stained water off the beach
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 320, 200mm, f/9.0 and 1/400 SEC])
Paddling westwards along the southern side of the bay I spotted two Little Pied Cormorants (Microcarbo melanoleucos) swimming on the surface not far from the beach. I don’t think that they were fishing but they looked like they were bathing because they would dip their heads underwater and undulate before raising their head up to shake it vigourously. They did this a few times while they were swimming. I think that they noticed that I was looking at them because one of them put its wings up, flapped them and started hopping across the water before getting airborne and away. The second cormorant stayed put for a while but appeared to look at me, slightly bewildered about what to do but eventually it also took off by hopping across the water. It was the second bird that I caught in a photograph when it was taking off. You can see the hopping motion as both webbed feet are used in unison to help carry the bird free of the water surface and into the air. Although the birds tended to stay low and circle around to another nearby spot rather than gain too much altitude. This species is a success story in that it inhabits both salt and fresh water. Its tolerance of different climates is wide because it is happy in the cold winter waters of Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin while also existing easily in the warm summer waters of Jervis Bay.
Little Pied Cormorants washing off in the water
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])
A Little Pied Cormorant not appreciating my presence
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 400, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])
I was then distracted by a small pod of three dolphins, which I am guessing were Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) because they are the most common species in the bay. I had already seen a dolphin even before I launched my kayak and I was really hoping that I would see more while I was paddling. I was not disappointed but I had to wait until I was around near Hole in the Wall. A vacationing couple were out kayaking as well and I heard them call out ‘dolphins’. The couple did the right thing and stayed still to let the dolphins move around them. In fact one dolphin was making a direct line for the male kayaker before the marine creature submerged to swim under the kayak and appear further away. It was amazing watching these large marine mammals swim past us, probably with a younger dolphin because one fin looked smaller than the others. Myself and the other kayakers chatted, wondering if this was some adults teaching a juvenile how to fish. A magical encounter for all of us.
Dolphin swimming in the southern part of the bay
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 320, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])
Turning back towards Scottish Rocks I noticed that a Little Pied Cormorant was on the rocks there but not trying to dry its wings. It may have been still hunting but it was the lone cormorant on the rocks.
Little Pied Cormorant on Scottish Rocks
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 400mm, f/8.0 and 1/500 SEC])
There were three White-faced Herons (Egretta novaehollandiae) on the rocks and they were prowling looking for food, although one of them kept trying to move another one on. Whether it was a parent trying to push a juvenile out into the world by itself or an adult trying to push on a competitor I was'n’t sure. At one stage one of the birds stopped and called it. It only did it once. These birds do not have an impressive call and I don’t often hear them make it but there was no reaction from the other two herons. These were the same birds that I mentioned in the introduction.
These three birds must have really valued that rock because one of the other kayakers who was previously watching the dolphins paddled between the rocks and the shore, scaring the herons into taking off. They flew out towards the open bay but looped around in an graceful circle before alighting carefully back on the same rocks they had just left.
White-faced Heron
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 400mm, f/7.1 and 1/500 SEC])
There was also a pair of Pied Oystercatchers (Haematopus longirostris) on the rocks. They seemed happy just to be in one place. One of them was resting with its leg pulled up and it stayed still even though I was getting closer. The other one thought better of it and moved further along the rocks. Because there was a high tide it was possible that these birds were roosting on these rocks where they were safe from land predators while they waited for the tide to start retreating before they could look for food in the sand.
Pied Oystercatcher
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 200, 400mm, f/7.1 and 1/500 SEC])
After seeing the collection of birds on Scottish Rocks I continued paddling around to where I landed for a break on Iluka Beach. To be honest, my landing did not go well. While the waves were small I misjudged where they were breaking, I thought that I would let a wave pass under me and then follow it in. Unfortunately, I was right where it broke so it picked me up and rolled me in my kayak. I was almost on the shore so I was able to exit the kayak underwater and stand up immediately. While I was soaked, the water was very refreshing and I had been wondering if I would would go for a swim later so at least that decision was made for me.
I intended to land on this beach because I wanted to look at Telegraph Creek, a body of water that at present was not flowing into the bay because the sand had naturally blocked it. I wrote above about the brown stained creeks around Jervis Bay and this was another one.
Telegraph Creek
(Apple iPhone 8 [ISO 20, 3.99mm, f/1.8 and 1/1500 SEC])
Reflections and colours in Telegraph Creek
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 100mm, f/11 and 1/160 SEC])
There was life in this water, what I think were Freshwater Mullet (Trachystoma petardi). These fish will need to get to the sea to spawn at some stage but it is possible that the bay’s waters will reach the creek again and allow that to happen.
Juvenile mullet swimming in the cut-off waters of Telegraph Creek
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 250, 400mm, f/11 and 1/160 SEC])
After wondering along Iluka Beach for a little while and having a snack I launched again for the final paddle back to Hyams Beach. It had been a beautiful morning that I did not want to end. This stretch was also a bit interesting because I picked up the wind created chop again and the swell through the heads was now coming almost side on to me. However, paddling was still easier than the first leg across the bay. I made a landing on shore back at Hyams Beach without any mishap this time, which was probably good because I would have had a few witnesses if I had made another rookie error in that beach landing.
I packed up the kayak and after a bit of a feed at the local cafe I was on the road back to Canberra.
While driving through Sassafras, I noticed that some trees in a flooded paddock had a number of white objects in them. I wasn’t sure what those objects were so I had to pull over to investigate. Using my camera I saw that it was a flock of egrets that were roosting there. I could not tell what species they were but I figured they had a good food supply so had come together in this little habitat beside this country road.
Egrets in trees standing in a flooded field
(Canon EOS 6D Mk II with a Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM [ISO 500, 400mm, f/11 and 1/400 SEC])
It had been another wonderful coastal excursion and a wonderful experience paddling on Jervis Bay. I was tired when I finally made it home but it was a good tiredness that came from having a really enjoyable day. I had seen dolphins from my kayak and had another wonder time photographing the various birds along the shore. Jervis Bay was a lovely part of the world and I hoped that I would be able to visit it again soon enough. Until then, I had plenty of wonderful memories.
Thanks for reading this post and thanks also for looking at my photos. I hope you come back again to read more about some of the wonderful natural things that the south coast of New South Wales has on offer. All the best until the next post.