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.
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.
