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Ideal conditions on the lake prompted me to paddle
both Sat & Sun mornings, launching from Yarralumla Bay.
First up on Saturday I noticed 4 very small Pacific
Black Ducklings, initially with no parent in obvious attendance. But
then an adult bird of non PBD appearance emerged from some distance away and
shepherded them into safer territory. The parent(?) was predominately
dirty white/mottled brown in colour and I have seen it before in the same
location in company with another Pacific Black
adult.
That raises a couple of questions in my mind:
(a) Is the brown/white bird a hybrid? (b) Is it a Pacific Black
"albino" (for want of a better word) (c) If it is one of the parents
why do the ducklings look so "normal"?
Further down the lake on the sandy beach at the tip
of Weston Park there were 2 Black-fronted Dotterels running hither and yon,
first time I've seen them around the Lake. As I watched the Dotterels
approx 100 Little Black Cormorants flew directly overhead in three groups of
about 30 birds with several stragglers bringing up the rear.
There were all the usuals, plus a pair of
Black-faced Cuckoo Shrikes, and a smattering of Darters at various
locations.
On returning home I watched a pair of Wedge-tailed
Eagles circling high over Holder, not something you see every day.
This mornings paddle took in different territory
including Black Mountain Peninsula where a busy pair of Magpie-larks were
building a nest in one of the willows. There was a second Magpie-lark nest
with a bird "on", on Springbank Island. Also on Springbank I counted
upwards of 150 Cormorants, mostly Little Black with about 20 Greats, but no
Little Pieds at all that I could see.
Spinnaker Island is still showing signs of the
Seagull breeding event. I counted over 100 birds on the water with many
more visible on the island or flying to and from.
I didn't report it at the time, but on the Friday
before the Blitz weekend I landed on the island intending to do a count
including number of chicks, nests etc. But as soon as I set foot the place
erupted, with a huge number of birds taking to the air, the noise being
absolutely deafening. Also, adult birds appeared to be attacking
young ones, perhaps trying to encourage them to take flight, so I quickly
abandoned all thoughts of a survey as I was causing obvious, though unintended,
distress. On that occasion I was able to count 50+ birds on the water near
the moored boats, and the numbers on or above the island was many many times
that - my guestimate would be upwards of a thousand.
Cheers
Rod
Rod Mackay
Tel. 0407 456 330
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