Hi all
A much cooler and more pleasant day for birding
in the Hunter today. Plenty of Whistling-ducks around with young including a
pair of Plumed Whistling-ducks with 3 young at Lenaghans Drive, opposite
Pambalong Nature Reserve, near the end of the freeway from Sydney. I believe
this is the first breeding record for the Hunter area, certainly in recent
times. Also there were 4 pairs of Wandering Whistling-ducks with 10,5,5 and 3
ducklings, I think, hard to keep count!
Also present still at Lenaghans Drive were the
pair of Black-necked Storks previously reported on the weekend.
At Shortland Wetland Centre I saw another 3 pairs
of Wandering Whistling-ducks with young. One pair had 12, perhaps they were
minding some for other pairs!, one pair had 6 and another 5 ducklings.
Altogether around 46 young Wandering Whistling-ducks .
Waders were fairly thin on the ground at Stockton
and Ash Island again. Not a single Sharpie today! No sign of the Buff-breasted
Sandpiper though the water levels were very high when I was there. Still
around 250 Red-necked Avocets on the pond on the other side of the railway
line .
Cheers
Dick Jenkin
DUNGOG NSW
