last report ? of painted snipe

["Terry Bell" <>]

perseverence pays off ,, because on my third visit to the viewing area, at 1535 , after many fruitless scannings with binoculars I picked out  one bird only with the naked eye. I had an excellent lateral view assisted by this bird's  gleaming white underparts.  It first appeared about 30 metres west of the long log and ran quickly past the log to a tussocked area with clumps and scrubby trees where it disappeared from view. Also observed a native water rat. Terry B.