Well, quite interesting, as Stephen Fry might say. The
location was a lower pond in ‘The Sanctuary’ at Tidbinbilla. The offered
snap was with a compact camera and was cropped and inverted to show a slightly
more teasing angle. A deceased waterfowl was bobbing about, being
pulled this way and that rather as I have seen a bread roll being harassed by
piranha in Venezuela. Mark Clayton and Chris Davey, with the practised eye
of professional naturalists were able to discern a reptilian head or two in the
murk, and concluded that the common long-necked tortoise was at wurk. When
first noticed the carcass was receiving attention from at least 8 LNTs. As
to the bird species, I am not sure. Mark thinks a PB Duck, and this is
most likely given the venue. The strong-looking feet were
olive-yellow. I had first thought a young magpie-goose because of the long
neck, but too much webbing on the feet, I think now. The LNT feeds on
fish, yabbies, tadpoles and such. The waterfowl had lost its head
somewhere along the way. How that might have happened is another
question. Surely not a fox in the fortified Sanctuary??
