On Tuesday morning, Peter, Annette and Tim O'Reilly came down the mountain
to try for the Painted Snipe.
We found the male and female together pretty well straight away, confirming
now that all four birds are still at the lake.
They were standing close to each other on the fringe of a small island,
above the waterline and just on the edge of the grass which ran to within
say 30cm of the waters edge. A life bird for the three O'Reilly's!
After everyone had had a good look through scopes and binoculars I
approached the birds more closely, and they allowed me to within 10 or 15
metres, all the time adjusting their position subtly so as to remain head on
towards me with their bodies bowed forward, presumably to maximise the
cryptic character of their anterior plumage.
I've been discussing this offline with Bob Forsyth who says he has found 20
metres about the limit of their tolerance, but these two were directly
across a narrow channel of water, which maybe gave them a better feeling of
security. I've never been able to get that close if I was on the same bank
as them.
Rain at last here last night and today. A thoroughly overcast and wet
morning at Abberton. Lovely! A brightly coloured Nankeen Night Heron has
been sitting on a log in the creek while I've been writing this posting, and
he has just decided to wander around the margins to see what he can find.
Like the platypus, they are often boldly active on overcast or rainy days.
Bill Jolly
"Abberton",
Lockyer Valley, Queensland.
Visit our website at http://www.abberton.org
Email:
Ph: (+61) 7 4697 6111 Fax: (+61) 7 4697 6056
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