Kellys/FSP

["martin butterfield" <>]

I also swung by Kelly's today and Bruce has nailed most of the suspects.  I add 1 Great Egret and by the time I left (11:30) the numbers of A W Ibis were up to 46. 

 

However the highlight, possibly of the year so far, was watching the immature Little Eagle do a 100 vertical metre power stoop into the school grounds.  It was at least that high and just folded its wings and came straight down head-first at a very hgh velocity: I hopes its braking system was fully functional.  I don't know what it was targetting but suspect something on the ground as all the ravens in a tree nearby seemed to leave physically unharmed (but judging by the volume of their calls, somewhat shaken mentally from the close shave).

 

I checked the cattle/thistle paddocks from Tadorna hide, Kelly's carpark and the high part of the bike path between Duntroon and the Hospice but could not see any other Cattle Egrets out around the cattle or the thistles.  Nor were they in the turf farm.

 

Martin

On Thu, Apr 17, 2008 at 4:32 PM, Esme Barker and Bruce Ramsay <> wrote:

I spent about 3.5 hours in total today out at Kellys Swamp and the Fyshwick Sewerage Ponds.

 

Most numerous species of ducks at both places were Grey Teal and Shovelers (about 20 at FSP all on Pond 4, 8 (5m 3f) at Kellys), followed by Black Ducks. There were no Pink-eared Ducks at either location.

 

In addition, Kellys had 3 Australasian Grebe (2 in breeding plumage, 1 non-breeding plumage), 1 Pelican, I Cattle Egret in non-breeding plumage, a pair of Black Swan with 6 quite small cygnets, 1 Little Pied Cormorant, 2 White-faced Heron, 11 White Ibis roosting in the poplar? trees, an Australian Shelduck (which seems to be an immature because I couldn't see any sign of a neck ring but it does have very pominent white facial and eye ring markings) and, near the walking path going from Bittern to Cygnus hides, 2 White-browed Scrubwrens. Quite a few Magpie-Larks (I counted 7 but I think there may have been more) and somewhere between 40 - 50 Welcome Swallows, many of which seemed to be immatures judging by the dull throat colour. Apart from the Swans, other indications of late, successful breeding were 2 Dusky Moorhens, one with 2 dy and the other with one (smaller) dy.

 

There were a quite a lot of Grebes at FSP - my guess was about 80% Australasian and 20% Hoary-headed. The Australasian showed full breeding plumage, full non-breeding plumage and all ports in between. The Hoary-headed were nearly all still in full breeding plumage - the origin of their name very clear.

 

There were 3 Golden-headed Cisticola in the reed beds near Ponds 5 and 6. All had the black striped head markings of non-breeding males/females. Other notable (for me, anyway) sights were:

 

Pond 1 - a single male Blue-billed Duck

 

Pond 2 - male and female Hardhead, 2m 2 f Chestnut Teal, a pair of Black Swans with 3 cygnets. These 3 were slightly larger than the 6 at Kellys, but going by their sizes it seems that both broods hatched at around the same time

 

Pond 6 - 5 m 2f Blue-billed Ducks, 2m 2f Hardhead and 1 female Musk Duck.

 

The weather was terrific so all in all, a great way to spend part of my day off work.

 

Bruce