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To continue the Painted Snipe sightings.
I observed the immature female bird preening and roosting for
over an hour on Wednesday. My late posting comes as a result of visiting
the Melbourne Museum the last few days with year 8 students from
Wesley.
Thank you in particular to Anthea Fleming whose directions to
picking out the bird were nothing less than perfect. For anyone still to
visit please take the opportunity to sit on the white bucket I left in position
for you and follow these directions to viewing the bird :
Quote from Anthea's e-mail ....
There's a dead tree on the (west) bank. Below this on the shore is a
very
healthy green bunch of weed (possibly Oxtongue Thistle). To the right
is
a single Dock plant (duller pointed paired leaves), a small gap and
a
row of other Dock plants. The bird lurks and skulks in this gap
behind
some palish dead bits of bulrush with more behind. The youngish
Late
Black Wattle with a bit of flower is behind, up the bank.
I have only
seen it skulking. Apparently, if there's a sunny break, it
is inclined to
come out for a bit and sun itself on the bank.
Re the Museum :
I noticed several specimens in the Northern Hemisphere showcase that were
incorrectly labelled. Had to nick off and study the bird exhibits while
the kids were having lunch. I notified the museum staff who were very
appreciative. There are also sev eral specimens of White-browed
babbler on display (three to be precise) and I had my doubts about the third
one, that is the bottom one of the three in a column. If anyone else
has a look who has more babbler experience than I can you check
why it is not a chestnut-crowned babbler. I wasn't confident given the
fading that has occurred with the specimen. I was most certain of the
North American species that needed changing.
Cheers for now and happy birding,
Paul
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