G'day all
Thanks to the help from birding-aus folk I managed to find my first Little
Bittern on Saturday. The location was Lake Wendouree in Ballarat. I searched
the reeds behind the kiosk and walked around the embankment for about an hour
without luck (Baillon's Crake, Blue-billed Duck, Great Crested Grebe and easy to
see reed-warblers were compensations). Then I walked for a few hundred metres
clockwise (north west?) along the lake edge and scanned any nearby reeds. It
was a fluke but I managed to find a bittern moving in the reeds. It quickly
froze - not upright but low and skulking and was very difficult to pick up.
Every time I moved a few feet to get a better view it took me a minute or so to
find it again. Some kids on bikes came along and it skulked off out of sight.
This must be one of the hardest birds to see. I never realised just how small
they are.
Anyone going to look for them here should start at the kiosk opposite the
botanical gardens and check all the reed-beds in the area. I don't know about
time of day but a time when fewer people are around would probably be best.
Cheers
Steve
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Steve Clark
45 Carmichael Street, Hamilton, Victoria, Australia 3300
ph 0355 719 048
www.ansonic.com.au/clarks/sw_birds.htm
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