An update on the two Blue-billed Ducks at Lake Clarendon, in the Lockyer
Valley.
We had several visitors last week who managed to catch up with them, as well
as local birders.
Ken McKeown caught up with them early in the week, they were still there on
Wednesday when Trevor & Kym Ford visited. When I took a look with Tim Siggs
on Friday we didn't see them, but did find 30 Freckled Ducks, as well as a
single Musk Duck female, Great-crested Grebes and a lone Gull-billed Tern,
(and lots of other duck species).
As always, perseverance pays, Tim returned and found the Blue-bills still
there when he took a longer look on Saturday 26th.
A bonus for our visitors to the Lockyer was great views of a platypus from
the Abberton verandahs every morning around 7am - before or during breakfast
depending on how late they stayed up talking birds or watching Wimbledon the
previous evening!
The Lockyer Valley has been one of Australia's best kept birding secrets for
a long time, but more and more Australian and overseas birders are coming
here these days.
Our Lockyer Valley bird list stands at 315 species from June 1973 to date,
with observer names and dates for all unusual sightings. I will be
publishing the full list shortly - if you have any interesting records from
the area I would be very pleased to hear from you.
Approximate boundaries of the Lockyer catchment are: the Toowoomba Range in
the west; Marburg and the Little Liverpool Ranges in the east; Perseverance,
Mt Hallen and Coominya to the north; Mt Mistake National Park in the south.
Accordingly, Ravensbourne National Park, Lake Atkinson, Seven Mile Lagoon,
and Mt Mistake National Park are all included in the area, along with Lake
Clarendon, Lake Dyer, Apex Lake at Gatton, the Helidon Hills, the Toowoomba
escarpment parks and many other good water holes and forests.
Bill Jolly
"Abberton", Helidon, Qld
ph 07 46976111
fax 07 46976056
email:
Visit our website at: www.abberton.org
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