Dear Tony and other birders,
I did achieve a notable double in seeing both of the vagrants(Red-legged Crake
and Black-tailed Gull) present in WA birds on the one trip! I did however have
to backtrack from Karratha to Perth before going up to Geraldton. I got the
impression that both birds are quite settled and will stay for a few more days
or weeks.
The crake is a superb bird, small and very elegant; quite beautiful in fact. It
is very comfortable with people around and quite calmly walks around the lawn
feeding while one watches - it came within a meter of my feet as I sat quietly
beside the lawn. The bird is seen on a rectangular lawn surrounded by mining
dongas housing the workers from the Whim Creek Copper Mine. In each corner of
the lawn are garden beds planted very closely with quite lush plants in which
the crake hides when it is not feeding. I saw it feeding for about half an hour
and it was taking food items from the lawn at the rate of about 1 per minute
and a half. These included earthworms and insects as well as things too small
to identify - in summary it seems to be well fed. The lawn is well watered with
grey water so should have reasonable nutrient status. As everything around is
very barren there is not much incentive for the bird to move.
The Gull is regrettably notable only because of its rarity! It is a rather
nondescript young thing with none of the beauty or elegance of the Crake. I
found it quite easily using the directions on Birding-Aus provided by others.
It was not immediately seen on the structure referred to as fuel lines (but in
reality sea water intakes for the fish processing works) but flew in a few
minutes after I arrived. It firstly drank from a puddle on the jetty and then
obligingly provided a well illuminated view sitting on the aforementioned
structure. The Silver and Pacific Gulls with it provided good contrast - it is
readily distinguishable even from the juvenile Pacifics by shape, size,
colour,and bill size, shape and colouring.
I did try for Rufous-crowned Emu-wren around Karratha and for Chiming Wedgebill
north of Geraldton with no success - some people want everything!
Regards
Peter (only Crispin at work :-) )
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