Category: Low Isles

Breeding season ends early this year – March 2014

PIP numbers seemed to have dropped sharply at Low lsles and Green Island, according to informal observations. There were formal counts this month.

Already last month (February 2014) it seemed things were not going well for nesting PIPs. At Low Isles nests were seen to be prematurely abandoned, leaving either an unhatched egg or a young chick with no chance of survival.

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There was no local disturbance to account for these sad losses. It was probably a shortage of food that forced PIPs to abandon breeding efforts.

Island-breeding PIPs rely entirely on mainland food resources, predominantly rainforest fruits. This is of course the reason that breeding PIPs fly great distances daily, to seek food in distant forests and return to their nests on the island.

We can only speculate that native trees may have been stressed by the prolonged period of low rainfall experienced in the far North region, and may not have produced their normal abundance of fruit. That would have left PIPs without sufficient ‘fuel’ to complete the breeding cycle.

Low Isles PIP count Feb 2014

The Low Isles count team reported 7,454 incoming PIPs during the afternoon count session on 27th. This count only just made it into the month of February after mid-month target date for counting was missed due to very wet conditions.

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During the month Low Isles received just over 700mm of rain. This was nearly double the average for February and provided a great boost for island vegetation after a prolonged rain-deficit.

Huge thanks to Low Isles Caretakers Wayne and Jenni and many LIPS volunteers for keeping on counting PIPs, plus so much more! An island cleanup – photo below – followed soon after the PIP count.

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Photos courtesy of Wayne and Jenni Fox – extra thanks!!

Low Isles PIP count Jan 2014

On January 25 the count team at Low Isles reported a total of 28,903 incoming PIPs. This count was later in the month than usual, due to bad weather on the originally scheduled date.

Many thanks again to Low Isles Caretakers who do a wonderful job looking after the island, including conducting monthly PIP counts with the help of a great team of volunteers. More thanks to January counters Julie, Julie, Sophie, Jenni and Bella.

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Low Isles PIP count Nov 2013

Low Isles Caretakers Wayne and Jenni conducted their third count of the season with another enthusiastic team of volunteers. They reported a total of 22,942 PIPs flying in to the island on November 12. Many thanks to all.

And yes, 22,942 was the official number. That’s not quite what you see in the photo below because the ‘4’ and the ‘9’ somehow ended up out of sequence when the team lined up in front of the camera ;)

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Low Isles PIP count Oct 2013

The second count of the season for Low Isles took place on 12 October, with the benefit of fine clear weather.

The count team reported a total of 16,119 PIPs flying in to the island.

Many thanks to Low Isles Caretakers Wayne and Jenni for organising the count, and to this month’s count team: Grant, Noela, Val, Doon, Deb, Steve, Danora, Ian, Leanne and Julie.

Low Isles PIP count Sep 2013

The first island count of the season was conducted on 14 September by Low Isles Caretakers and volunteers from Low Isles Preservation Society. Their total count was 2,433. Thanks to Wayne and Jenni, Deb, Julie, Andrew, Sophie and Harrison.

The count was on the low side, leaving us wondering whether many of the usual flock might be a bit late in returning this year?

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For the first time the Low Isles team recorded their data directly onto ipads that Wayne and Jenni had set up for the purpose. Congratulations on a world-first innovation! Of course meaning world-first for PIP counting :)

PIP return (slowly?) late Aug 2013

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.