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g'day all,
1
Yesterday my arm was twisted by a visitor &
past resident of Mount Isa, John O'Malley with his wife Sue to go out to Wide
Bay, Lake Moondarra & see the Yellow Chats.
Well, we saw dozens, confirming Ian
Fox & Trish Hammond's count the day before of 21 in one "cloud"
alone
2
We also saw the two snipes, and
after about 40 minutes of sliding forward on my bum on the mud I
was able to get within 5 metres of one bird & took some reasonable pix. I am
waiting on couple of Wader specialists to advise me their opinion of its
species. I'm sticking with Latham's Snipe, but will accept
correction.
Anyone else who wants to offer an opinion, please
email me promptly for pix.
3
As the dusk was arriving John picked out a bird
that was different.
It was the Ruddy Turnstone,
advised me by Noel Luff (from Canberra) on
5/10/2005
This was my 1st record of a Turnstone at Mount Isa.
Thanks John for alerting me to its presence.
(Unfortunately we did not see his Yellow
Wagtail)
4
And right on last light, we picked out in
the gloom the 5 Long-toed Stints. They were bedding down for
the night into 3 hoof prints about 2 metres from the waters
edge. Two pair of birds shared a hole &
were huddled shoulder to shoulder. This was
mind-boggling ! We can offer no other explanation than that they were
going to roost overnight in the depressions. Any alternative ideas please
?
5
Unfortunately, I will not be able to provide
any more Lake Moondarra Bird Reports for a few weeks as I'm off to join
Klaus Uhlenhut on one of his Iron Range trips.
Tough being a birdwatcher, but someone has to do it
!
Regards from
Bob Forsyth
Mount Isa, NW
Qld.
ps I had anticipated the muddy slide on my bum
& had brought a spare pair of shorts, !
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