The following is the text of an email that I received yesterday from Peter
Morgan:
"Just arrived back from checking out a female cotton pygmy goose on Swan Creek
(several km NE of Grafton).
It was spotted yesterday by Maree and Graham Davis, and Peter and Bev Morgan,
Eric and Margaret Wheeler accompanied Maree to find it in the same place.
Permission was not given to cross the paddock to get a closer look at it, but
it was sufficient thru the scopes and flew past twice." (end of quote).
Warren Thompson and I travelled to Swan Creek today to see if the goose was
still present and to check on three juvenile Black-necked (Satin) Storks that
had been seen at Tucabia. We didn't find the juvenile storks but did see two
adult pairs at different sites. The Pygmy-goose was seen, although at some
distance.
On the return trip along the Pacific Highway at Swan Creek I spotted two
raptors which were unusual. They landed in a Swamp Turpentine and when viewed
through the scope one looked very much like a Brown Falcon. However its tail
was too long and the head markings were different and when it, and its smaller
mate (the male), took off they flew on flat wings. They were Black Falcons -
my first ever for the Clarence Valley. I had tried to make some very dark
Brown Falcons into Blacks over the years but these were the real thing. I have
seen them a few times out west but coastal records in New South Wales are rare.
To confirm the record we drove off after the birds and as they crossed the
Highway we could see that they were very black underneath, lacking the paler
primaries and secondaries of dark Brown Falcons. As they glided off over the
Clarence River their long wings were held flat with the tips drooping, a
characteristic trait of this species.
If you throw in the 1500 Plumed Whistling-Ducks, 30+ Magpie Geese, Comb-crested
Jacanas, Australasian Shovellers and a male Musk Duck it wasn't a bad four
hour's birding. As Warren said 'just another day in paradise".
Greg Clancy
==============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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