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Today I followed up on the surprising report by
Richard Alcorn on the Victorian Bird-Line of a Little Ringed Plover on 22
January at the mouth of the Snowy River at Marlo. It seemed strange that a fresh
water wader would frequent that marine habitat. As the bird is, as I
suspected, a Ringed Plover, it is perfectly at home. It is not, as I
had hoped, a Semipalmated Plover! The drawings in Pizzey and Knight are
misleading.
The bird feeds on a
falling or low tide on the sand bars on the back-water just east of the
mouth of the Snowy, and on a rising or full tide, loafs in the huge Little/Fairy
Tern colony on the dune on the seaward side of the backwater. You have to
wade or walk a long way down the spit to access the tern
colony.
This is probably the 12th or
13th Australian record.
Mike Carter
30 Canadian Bay Road
Mt
Eliza Vic 3930
03 9787 7136
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