This morning I decided to see what early waders were about in the Lockyer and so
set off to Lake Claredon for a spot of atlassing. I knew things were fairly dry
and that the rain which had greened the grass for a bit over the last month
wouldn't have contributed much in the way of runoff [it certainly didn't stop
Spicers Gap being burnt out].
What I didn't expect was that Claredon would be dryzabone with nary a drop
visible from the car park. So I headed up to Atkinson's Dam about 15 km up the
road. It was also rather down on capacity - it was split into two parts, and
its shallow nature was readily apparent with the BW stilts wandering around the
shallows 30 metres from the shore. If the drought continues, it may also dry
out possibly in 6-12 months.
The continued presence of pelicans, darters, egrets and cormorants indicates
that there are still a few fish about.
There were large numbers of RN Avocets congretating and over a dozen whiskered
terns patrolling the ponded pasture. There were also large numbers of grey
teal, but very few PB ducks, quite a few hardheads and a couple of Oz shovelers.
A sea eagle periodically put the fear of death into the waterbirds, and had a
bit of a tangle with a whistling kite. Lots of fairy martins along the dam
wall. There was also a group of babblers near the car park, and a couple of
striped honeyeaters suspiciously close to the makings of a nest.
Regards, Laurie.
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
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