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g'day all,
I forgot to finalise my earlier postings re a mysterious
Plover at Lake Moondarra on 29th Sept and later.
I have no doubt now that it was a Pacific
Golden Plover...a rare bird for this area.
The frozen digital video shots alone gave me this confidence.
When flushed it did not rise above my eye height. On the 3rd day one frozen
video frame showed no black armpits which would indicate a Grey
Plover...just off white underparts with a grey edge along the front of the
wing.
It had very patchy black belly and a rufous/buff patch behind
the ears.
I have been reading up Hayman/Marchant/Prater
and on page 101 the illustration 82 is almost identical
to the bird...except the belly markings were more patchy.
Hanzab skips moulting plumage illustration ....
and...my eyes glazed over when I scanned thru
Birds Australia Rarities Committee (BARC)
For some stupid reason I overlooked Morcombe's moulting bird illustration
on page 133 which is almost spot on....and the more I use his "Field Guide
to Australian Birds" the more I appreciate it.
As a matter of interest a paper "The Birds of Mount
Isa", Horton,Sunbird V6,No 3,1967 says.....
Eastern Golden Plover P.dominica one in eclipse plumage on
2,10, 12 Oct 1954
( And in those days P.fulva was considered a race of
P.dominica)
Regards, Bob Forsyth, Mount Isa, NW Qld.
(Earlier this year I said now that I have got a grip of the
easier "land" birds in this area I would get stuck into the waders. But why such
a hard one so soon ?)
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