canberrabirds

The current status of waterbirds on Lake George

To: Martin Butterfield <>
Subject: The current status of waterbirds on Lake George
From: Michael Lenz via Canberrabirds <>
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2023 07:36:46 +0000
Thanks Martin,

yes all very interesting

Michael!

On Fri, 17 Mar 2023 at 18:02, Martin Butterfield <> wrote:
Michael
Based on observations at Mallacoota some of the species that left completely (Coots and Grebes) have already returned.  I am also seeing White-mecked Herons in many spots from Coota to the WTP, from where they have been almost completely absent for the past 2 years.

Martin Butterfield


On Fri, 17 Mar 2023 at 17:21, Michael Lenz via Canberrabirds <> wrote:
As most readers will be aware, Lake George has filled and reached water levels not seen since 1990. On Wednesday (15 March) Julienne Kamprad and I surveyed the eastern shores for waterbirds, and on Thursday (16 March) I checked accessible sections on the western side.

In summary, very few waterbirds were present in the East ( see checklist: https://ebird.org/australia/checklist/S130947521) and West, except for the SW corner of the lake where the water has flooded grassland. There was a good concentration of a variety of species of waterbirds (https://ebird.org/australia/checklist/S131014115). Many birds were hidden among the vegetation. I have no idea how many there might be in total. I counted/estimated about 1700 birds.  For example, it took quite a while before egrets appeared in the open (Great and Intermediate). Other species: 40 Pelicans, 8 Royal Spoonbills, 1 Blue-billed Duck, and notably 127 Australasian Swamphens feeding in the open etc.

For proper viewing of the birds a telescope is needed.

Based on past experience, we have to wait until the inland waters dry up and waterbirds start moving eastward before we will see larger numbers of waterbirds at Lake George.

Michael Lenz
--
This is the email announcement and discussion list of the Canberra Ornithologists Group.
Emails posted to the list that exceed 2 MB (2,000 kB) in size, including attachments, will be rejected.
All emails distributed via the list are archived at http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/html/canberrabirds. It is a condition of list membership that you agree to your contributions being archived.

Canberrabirds mailing list

https://lists.canberrabirds.org.au/mailman/listinfo/canberrabirds

Attachment: ATT00001.txt
Description: ATT00001.txt

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the Canberra Ornithologists Group mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the list contact David McDonald, list manager, phone (02) 6231 8904 or email . If you can not contact David McDonald e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU