Dear All, On Thursday 3 May I stopped briefly at the south-east corner of
Hazelwood Pondage near Churchill in Gippsland, and was amazed to see an adult
Banded Stilt feeding in the shallows alongside Switchback Road. It was by
itself, and the only other waders nearby were Black-fronted Dotterels
(indicating fresh water) and Masked Lapwings. Banded Stilts are rare in
Gippsland, and the Atlas of Victorian Birds shows only one record east of
Western Port (at Lake Reeve, where I saw two with ducks on saline water some
years ago). It is also unusual to see this species by itself and on fresh water.
There was no sign of it when I looked briefly again on 5 May (misty morning),
but there is plenty of shore-line where it could disappear, so it may still be
around. Cheers, Richard Loyn.
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