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g'day all,
Bill Jolly wrote...
"...On Monday John located a
Painted Snipe at Bill Gunn Dam near Laidley.....
Not only were we successful with the Painted Snipe,..."
By coincidence, I with a BOCA "tag-along" group from
Melbourne, were fortunate to see 5 Painted Snipe today on one
of the western bays of our Lake Moondarra.
3 of the birds (1m = 2 f ) were kept under observation from
9.45am to 2.30pm.
These birds have only been recorded a few times at the
Isa...
They were not seen until they were flushed, when I was walking
further along the lake. Fortunately they landed within sight 200m away.
They tended to squat next to logs both in and at the water's
edge and were quite cryptic.
When I got too close, they would
have a bit of a paddle, about 2 m from the waters edge and have a dabble...and
then rest up again next to or under another dead log.
The bay is quite open, grassed to the waters edge, and
virtually tree and bushless. The logs were flotsam from the last
flood.
It was a perfect opportunity to use my new digital video
camera. Even with a 1.4X extender lens I had to use 40X magnification. The
inbuilt stabiliser was good but not "goodenuf" to cover up my excitement. But at
least I got a record that will confirm if needed, the birds
identification.
The Snipe were a lifer for all observers but Geoff
Deason was the only observer to identify them without reference to a field
guide....
Regards, Bob Forsyth, Mount Isa, NW Qld.
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