Seabirds

 As the water level had dropped significantly by 14 May I went to Captain Stevenson's Point to check for White-fronted Tern or Red Knot on any sand bars that had emerged. There were good expanses of sand in Develings Inlet but neither of the target species were evident.

A squad of 10 White-faced Herons, 3 Cattle Egrets and 1 Little Egret were of interest. The most interesting sighting however was 3 Immature Pacific Gulls which allowed themselves to be digiscoped among the ~300 Crested Terns.

Following a strong storm affecting Far East Gippsland (11-12 May, dumping ~80mm of rain at Mallacoota) a beach-washed dead bird was found on Davis Beach -37.5794 149.7481 on 13 May.

Photographs were posted to Mallacoota Birds FB group and the bird identified as a Light-mantled Sooty Albatross. I visited the site on 14 May and photographed the corpse,

I shifted it up to the vegetation line so it didn't get washed out by a high tide. I didn't have a facility to freeze such a large specimen (note size relative to foot!) but following discussion with the National Wildlife Collection retrieved the corpse late that day for deposit in the collection (CSIRO Canberra). It felt quite strange walking along a totally dark beach carrying a bag full of dead bird!

NOTE it is quite legal to collect a specimen for scientific research by an authorised body.