Laurence and Leanne Knight wrote:
>
> I had a look round Lk Claredon today to see if the freckled ducks
> reported in previous posts were still there. Plenty of water fowl, but
> very little if any which vaguely resembled freckled ducks [a few dark
> ducks in the distance but would need a telescope to make a call].
>
> There were hundreds of coots, PB ducks, maned ducks, hard heads, Oz
> teal, black swans [a few had cygnets in tow] and Oz shovellers. Also a
> few royal spoonbills, hundreds of cormorants [heaps of little blacks
> nesting in the dead trees] and numerous black-winged stilts and black
> fronted plovers. Also a jabiru, a few weeros, the odd family of grey
> crowned babblers, a pale headed rosella, and sundry pipits, egrets,
> butcherbirds etc.
>
> A nearby dam had a large flock of plumed whistling ducks and another dam
> near the end of the Lk Claredon way [close to intersection of Gatton -
> Esk road] in addition to the usual suspects there were some pink-eared
> ducks, cc jacanas and a pair of albino swans - there were a dozen or so
> black swans there, two of which were snow white, with the exception of
> red bills and pink legs. Couldn't see their eyes that well, but they
> were clearly not mute swans. How common is albinism in black swans?
>
> Regards, Laurie.
Laurie
With reference to the White Black Swans, they were bred in the Lockyer
Valley about 12-15 months ago, on a smallish dam at Placid Hills (
between Gatton and Grantham). I believe that they have dark eyes from
my observations of them. I hadn't seen them around this year until I
was at Jahnke's Lagoon on Thursday with an English visitor. It is good
to see that they are still around.
Like you, we dipped out on the Freckled Duck and also the Blue-billed
but anyway, that leaves him some ducks to look for elsewhere.
A full list of locations and birds seen on Thursday, around the Lockyer
Valley is available. Just send me an email and I will send it via next
"post".
Regards
John Harris
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