> ca 150 species but did not find a single ibis, spoonbill, White-necked
> Heron
> or egret (except for Cattle egret). Ducks were also thin on the ground
> (e.g. 1 Magpie goose, 2 Chestnut Teal & 3 Australasian Shovelers and only
> a
> few Plumed Whistling, Black & Wood Duck and Grey Teal) to give you some
> idea.
>
> Must be a bumper breeding season in some places out west. How widespread
> is
> this current dearth of waterbirds?
>
Well Victoria is certainly included. On the Twitchathon in central-south
central Victoria we recorded no stilts, avocets, White-necked Herons,
Yellow-billed Spoonbills. Ducks were generally scarce - 1 Shoveller at
Werribee, 1 Musk Duck at Werribee, the usual 10,000 Pink-eared Ducks from
Werribee have departed, presumably for the inland somewhere. This kind of
thing, coupled with hot & windy weather at times, contributed to the low
Twitchathon scores in Victoria this year (and seemingly in NSW and South
Australia too). How are things in Tasmania this year WRT to waterbirds??
Cheers, Lawrie
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