Whistle-ducks

[Martin Butterfield <>]

To respond to - it isn't really an answer - Mark's question first where the birds go to when not at either of the dams around Trucking Yard Lane or the sewage works is a great mystery.  A couple of years ago they were seen to fly from the dam off Hoskinstown Rd (which I call Bungendore Meadow dam after the appalling 'development' on the opposite side of the road) and this year I have seen them make the opposite trip.

They have been seen to fly into the sewage works from the West on one occasion.

Steve's observation is the first to mention them heading off towards Bungendore.  I have a feeling that the birds are more skittish this year than in the past, and they have been spending time in the water this year unlike the past, and HANZAB notes this as unusual and a threat response.

Martin

Martin Butterfield

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

On 6 December 2014 at 16:46, Steve Read <> wrote:

Driving through Bungendore mid-morning today just before the rain arrived, I turned into Trucking Yard Lane to see the whistling ducks, having heard of them from this chatline but not knowing quite what to expect from the site.  Just down from the highway, on the right and opposite a house, was a small and muddy farm dam with a great number of ducks around the edge, and a few on the water - Black Ducks, Grey Teal and Wood Ducks, as Mark notes, plus a solitary proud Shelduck, and many Plumed Whistling-Ducks.  No sooner than I had parked just up the road and stepped out of the ute, then the Whistling-Ducks took off noisily, circled overhead a couple of times gaining height, and headed off back north towards Bungendore. I counted 24 in the flock. While I may have spooked them for subsequent visiting birdos, I was no closer than any passing pedestrian on Trucking Yard Lane, so perhaps they were just feeling flighty.

 

Steve

 

 

From: Michael Lenz [mailto:m("gmail.com","michael.lenz.birds");" target="_blank">]
Sent: Saturday, 6 December 2014 4:18 PM
To: Mark Clayton
Cc: COG List
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Whistle-ducks

 

Mark,

 

Martin Butterfield has looked closely at all Whistling-duck records for our area and written a paper to come out in the next issue of CBN (to go to the printers in January 15). Hopefully, Martin will have answered all your questions.

 

Michael Lenz

 

On 6 December 2014 at 16:11, Mark Clayton <m("bigpond.com","chollop7");" target="_blank">> wrote:

On Friday afternoon Alistair Bestow and I, while heading to a bird banding site near Moruya, detoured via Trucking Yard Land in Bungendore to see if any of the whistle-ducks were present on the farm dam. It was not easy trying to count them among the many Pacific Black Ducks, Grey Teal and Australian Wood Ducks but there were at least a dozen birds that we could see, and probably others that were hidden. Today coming home from a very wet and soggy washed out Saturday we again travelled via the Trucking Yard Lane dam and there was the grand total two ducks, that in the gloom and heavy rain, appeared to be PBD. Where the whistle-ducks come from and go to is a mystery. Anybody care to take a stab in the dark?

 

Is anyone (Martin B, David McD?) collating these records?

 

Mark

 

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