After two hours staring at reeds unsuccessfully in the spots where most
people have had views of the Little Bitterns, (Geoffrey Dabb's various
stars), I headed for the car dejected and frustrated. As I was passing the
very spot where I was watching on Tuesday evening, I had one last sweep of
the reeds at the head of Acacia Inlet. The adult male was clinging to a
reed staring into the water. I had great views over the next fifteen
minutes (7:35pm to 7:50pm) as he made his way slowly to the left (towards
Glenloch Interchange). He even gave me a great view of his catching prey as
he snapped his bill into water from a position about twenty centimetres
above the water. He stretched between patches of reeds sometimes stepping
from reed to reed but also taking short flights to bridge the gaps. The
stretches gave excellent views of the bird side-on - most views were of bits
of the bird between reeds.
The viewing position was at the western end of the boom at the head of the
inlet at about position C on the map being circulated. So the reed patch
was the same as that observed by Jochen Brocks this morning. It would
appear that both adults frequent this site.
Lots of Clamorous Reed-warblers. One caught a dragon-fly and flew around
for sometime displaying the catch, sometimes being chased by other CRWs.
David Rosalky
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