At Low Isles the first returning PIP was sighted on 14 August by the island’s Caretakers. There were still only small numbers of PIPs to be seen by the end of the month.
On 28 August the first PIPwatch report of the season came from Graham (thanks Graham!) who heard and then spotted a single PIP at the top of a tree in the Cairns suburb of Mooroobool.
North of Cairns there were a few earlier sightings recorded on Eremaea, not posted to PIPwatch. In most cases people saw only single birds. No one reported any large flocks.
The first PIPwatch report south of Cairns was on 30 August when Julia spotted two PIPs feeding high in palm trees on the Strand, Townsville.