birding-aus

King Penguin and Cape Gannet

To: Birding-Aus <>
Subject: King Penguin and Cape Gannet
From: John Reidy <>
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2004 16:18:46 +1100
Hi all,
I have just returned from a very successful twitch from Port McDonnell
and Portland with Margaret and Greville Reidy. The King Penguin was easy
to find and only about 30 Kms from Mt. Gambier. It is in an advanced
state of moult with the lower half of it's back shedding. The penguin
should be there for another week though.

With assistance from Rob Farnes of Portland we saw one Cape Gannet at
the left hand edge of the colony. Its long gular stripe was very
obvious. Its striking pale eyes (iris) and dark mask were also apparent.
While it had a completely black tail, so did a number of Australian
Gannets. While it (and its apparent mate which we didn't see) occupy a
place in the colony, there was no sign of breeding by these birds. The
Australian gannets had white downy young as well as dark plumaged
juveniles. It will be interesting to see whether there is a serious
attempt to breed.

Other birds of note that we saw in the area were Olive Whistlers, Rufous
Bristlebirds (commonly heard), Rock Parrots and a Lewins Rail at the
Fawthrop Lagoon near the centre of Portland.

Happy Birding.
John
--
John Reidy
Sydney
Phone 02 9871 4836
Fax 02 9871 2616


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