Kelly’s Swamp never fails to produce something of interest.
This morning, among the Latham’s Snipe seen from Ardea hide, I had two fleeting glimpses of a darker bird with a white stripe around the shoulders. A return visit this evening gave a longer sighting of a Painted-snipe. Smaller than Latham’s, with a shorter bill, a strong white stripe over both shoulders; except for one pale line along the head, the head and neck were uniformly dark (unlike the beautiful, lined, brown and grey camouflage colouring of Latham’s); back and wings had a scalloped pattern; and breast was pale. I couldn’t tell whether the head and breast were grey or chocolate in the side-light, and the bird kept very well to cover except for one walk across the mudflats: mostly it spent time between tussocks and near the dead wood south-west from Ardea hide. It lacked the delicate, deliberate, erect walk of Latham’s. I didn’t see it fly, but twice it held its wings spread out in a way I haven’t seen with Latham’s.
Other goodies this morning at Kelly’s were two royal spoonbill and two yellow-billed spoonbill, and a spotted crake. A pair of pink-eared duck were on the silt trap.
Steve
