Apologies if this is not news as such, but it was extremely impressive, and if
anyone is passing by the area, it is well worth a look.
Coming off Kangaroo Island on 18 October, we decided to take a scenic route
towards Victoria, and passed by the Coorong. Along the Princes Highway south of
Meningie at about 15:20 we came across a vast white carpet of birds out in the
water, which we almost immediately realised was entirely Banded Stilts.
The exact location was very near the PP25 sign (i.e. 25km north of Policeman’s
Point) at GPS ref 35d 52m 45.9s South, 139d 25m 19.2s East.
It was truly spectacular. When a big lorry went by flushing part of the flock,
it briefly looked like it was snowing on the Coorong! I did a few scan counts,
and estimated a minimum of 40,000 birds, but suspect that was very
conservative, as the flocks were so tightly packed that even from the Troopie
roof it was hard to get clear looks at individuals. Some flocks were distant
across the other (south) side of the Coorong, making them more-or-less
uncountable from our position.
Presumably this was most (almost all?) of the World Banded Stilt population.
I’m not sure if they are usually so readily visible here, so as I said, if you
are passing anywhere near the area, it is very well worth a diversion.
Cheers, Jon.
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