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Hi!
Geoffrey,if it's only the L. Snipe numbers that are down you are not doing too bad. Maybe it's my eyes that are getting old but nearly all species compared with last year are down and not only the glamour species i.e:- Sq/Tailed Kite, Ospreys, Bazzas and Channel-Billed Cuckoos. Last year these would be seen on a regular basis at least once a week with the C/B Cuckoo seen or heard once or twice a day, I would have been lucky to have heard or seen these cuckoos half a dozen times in the whole spring and summer season. Even the commoner Cuckoos weren't calling in the numbers you would expect and even allowing for the bird flu or laryngitis there would have been some calling surely,along with the H.E.s, Pardalotes and other small bush birds. The only bird that was so common that at times it seemed in plague proportions was the Red Wattlebird and that has now thankfully tapered off. Possibly last year was outstanding due to the bumper crop of Cicadas along the coast and are not present in anything near the numbers of last year,which at times could almost be deafening. I don't know the time frame of the Cicada explosion cycle so we will just have to wait and see if this was a factor.
Cheers
Bob
Ps- Regarding the L Snipe, when they are sunning themselves around the perimeter of the pond at sunset or sunrise after a cool day or evening, the whitish belly is easily spotted. | 
