We found a couple of Australian Pratincoles quite close to Lake Clarendon
(Lockyer Valley, SE Queensland) yesterday. There were two birds, and we
watched them for about 45 minutes before they flew off in the general
direction of Lake Clarendon.
They were a bit too far away for a photograph with my camera, but TH Kwan
from Hong Kong was with me, and he obtained several shots by pressing his
digital camera against the eyepiece of the telescope. We won't be entering
them in any art shows, but they do serve as a record of the sighting, and
some of them show the birds' dark rufous abdomen and flanks quite well,
albeit out of focus!
The afternoon continued well, with a party of 37+ Red-necked Avocets, more
than 40 Glossy Ibis, Shoveler (just the Australian one!), Chestnut Teal and
large numbers of Yellow-billed Spoonbills (outnumbering the Royals by maybe
4 or 5 to 1), at various locations around the valley.
There have been reports of a pair of Square-tailed Kites hanging around
suburban tree-tops in Gatton, but I haven't caught up with them myself yet.
Spotted Harriers seem to be everywhere, with Swamp Harriers at most of the
bigger lagoons.
I hope to get the pratincole and some harrier photos up on the Abberton
website later today. I'll post a brief note when that happens.
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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