Philip A. Veerman wrote:
>
> Sorry to bore people with this old issue.
> As I've said before, and I'm happy for others to disagree, I'd far
> rather see a Secretary-bird on the plains of Africa than walking the
> streets of Canberra. (No pun intended.) Likewise, viewing a Northern
> Shoveler in Europe or an American Green Heron in North America (if I
> ever went there), would be a lot more relevant to me than finding a
> Northern Shoveler at Werribee, though I'm happy for those who are
> excited about that too. I just think that finding e.g. Letter-winged
> Kites or Orange-bellied Parrots at Werribee is nice and potentially
> contributes to some useful knowledge. It is all to do with seeing
> fauna in the context of their environment.
> Also to John Harris, yes I have read and suitably giggled at Bill
> Oddie's book. Notice though that much of the book is satirical.
> Philip
>
Come now Philip, if someone makes the effort to get to your part of the
world, the least you can do is pay it the courtesy of the time of day.
The key issue is whether the vagrant has made it under its own steam,
rather than hitching a ride on tones' caravan. Its a bit like the
penguins and other pelagic birds that show up on our shores after a bit
of a blow. When the shovelers and pintails show up on a semi-regular
basis, then there is a bit of a pattern emerging.
On the subject of secretary birds, I saw a small group of cattle eating
from a feeder bin. Nothing unusual about that, but there was a much
larger crowd of cattle egrets waiting impatiently for the cows to get
back onto the pasture.
Laurie.
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