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Visiting Kelly's this afternoon, found workmen
installing fence on sewage ponds side of Dairy Flat road have removed all the
thorny shrubs (look a bit like Hawthorns but don't have lobed leaves) which
normally harbour small bird species.
Looks like last weekend's storms have filled
the swamp and removed quite a lot of rushes in the Crake Alley area.
Weather was distinctly English as was most of the
wildlife. Flocks of starlings, House Sparrows and Goldfinches. A coot or two and
a Blackbird or 3. Couple of well-fed Foxes chasing one another instead of the
myriad fat Rabbits.
Higher water levels see Pelican's back at Kelly's
and quite a few darters in channels but only a few ducks, though the Shovellers
are resplendent with new plumage. One highlight was watching a Whistling Kite
bring a branch to a nest in the willows(?) beyond the northernmost ponds in the
Sewage plant area. What surprised me was to see 2 other kites perched in the
same tree very near the nest under construction. Note there are several such
structures in this line of trees. Do the Kites build several before deciding on
the season's home?
Shaun Bagley
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