Snipes and non-snipes

[Martin Butterfield <>]

Myself and our UK friend passed by Kellys this this morning and saw the horde of Latham's Snipe and, eventually Mr Painted who was disturbed by a passing Swamphen.  

We then moved in the direction of Bungendore where there were 22 Plumed Whistling ducks sheltering from the breeze in the dam on Trucking Yard Lane, accompanied by 4 Australian Shelduck.  About 70 more Australian Shelduck were on the dam round the corner in Hoskinstown Rd.

Next stop was the Big Dam on Lake Road where highlights were 1 Yellow-billed Spoonbill, 1 White-necked Heron and 3 Sharp-tailed sandpipers.  Didn't spot any Freckled or Pink-eared ducks there.  A planned foray to Lake George was aborted due to incoming rain.

We finished off with the big dam at Mulligans Flat.  2 Pink-eared duck, 2 Australian Shovelers, several each of Red-keed Plover and Black-fronted Dotterels and 4 Lathams Snipe.

A rather enjoyable day.

On 5 December 2013 16:19, Geoffrey Dabb <> wrote:

Below at left is a scene from this morning with a resting painted-snipe, part-obscured and  faithful to its loggy spot and its dock.  A Latham’s Snipe is nearby.  (There were about 10 Latham’s active in the general area as well as a Spotted Crake.)  As Kevin Windle remarked, the male p-snipe in that position seems very like an ordinary snipe. However a closer look shows the head pattern as quite different, apart from the footy guernsey.  Although the crown stripe and an eye-stripe are common to both species,  the head of the painted-snipe is dark except for those features – although not as dark as the female.  A is  a Latham’s Snipe; B is one of our previous painted-snipe; C is the current painted-snipe.

 

The dock is an unwelcome weed, and notoriously hard to uproot if you have one in the garden. It is said offer relief from a nettle sting if you rub it on your skin,  It seems a typical weed, but I find there are native docks belonging to the widespread genus Rumex.  This one looks like an introduction to me, possibly the Curled Dock R crispus.

 

 

 

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Martin Butterfield

http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/