>2. There seems to a complete lack of water-birds in the areas around
>Canberra at the moment, there are a few Black and Wood Ducks nesting up
>trees, and a very few Ibises about, but no herons, egrets or spoonbills;
>even the Silver Gulls have disappeared from Lake Burley Griffin. I assume
>that all these birds have disappeared off to where there have been floods
>and so forth to breed.
John,
Yesterday (1300h 2.11.98) at Kelly's Swamp, Jerrabomberra Wetlands,
Canberra, the numbers of waterbirds were also very low. There was,
however, a single Great Egret as well as two pelicans, a nesting Black Swan
and five full-size young swans, several Pacific Black Ducks with ducklings,
a single male Chestnut Teal and single swamphen, moorhen and coot. No
Latham's Snipe yet that I could see, but Clamorous Reed-Warblers abounded
and I also saw a couple of Little Grassbirds and heard cisticolas.
I'm hoping that when I go on the COG-organised Plainswanderer tour in
December I'll encounter some of the hordes of birds which have fled
inland....
Harvey
..........................................
Dr Harvey D. Perkins
Divn Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Faculty of Science
Australian National University
Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia
ph:(02) 6249 2693; fax:(02) 6249 0313
email:
...........................................................................
|
