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Finally ticked the Painted Snipe this morning on my
third visit. Watched it this morning from 10.30 to 11.45 in the same
position as previously reported, among partly dead vegetation just above
the "tennis ball" and "flat white plastic bottle". The bird was crouched with
its back to us and almost invisible through my 7 x 35 binoculars, but finally
gave respectable views through a scope. (Thanks Celia, Ken and others
for pointing it out).
We came back after lunch and had much better views
of the bird in the same position. It occasionally showed coppery
red tinges on the the lower part of the nape. It finally moved about
3.45 and spent a few minutes walking and sitting on the grassy edge of the pond,
giving excellent views to all before being being flying off about 3.55
pm. As it has been flushed previously and returned to the same
location, there should still be a good chance of seeing it in the
future. Despite the rain, the pond appears still to have plenty of suitable
habitat.
We watched from inside the gate, near the log
and Tawny Frogmouth's next. When roosting, the bird was well aware of our
presence and stared straight at my scope for much of the time. If on
the pond edge, it is likely to flush if approached too closely (a passer by on
the other side of the pond sent it off on this occasion).
Neville Pamment
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