Hi Birders,
Last month (Dec 20th, 1997) while on holiday at Nelson my wife and I took
the river cruise up the Glenelg River to the Princess Margaret Rose Caves.
The cruise was very relaxing and enjoyable but the birding was only average
- with the exception of the display by the Peregrine Falcon near the caves.
On the return voyage we were almost back at Nelson - some 1-2 km upstream
from the bridge - when we were astounded to see 2 emus swimming across the
river! One was an adult, the other about half grown.
The captain of the boat slowed down so everyone could see the birds
scramble up the rather steep bank. He commented that in all of his years of
travelling the river 3 times per week he had never witnessed emus swimming.
How common is this event? Have other bird watchers observed this?
For the record: they were swimming from east to west.
Trevor Hampel
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