By way of background:
1. There is a large waterside sculpture ("urban art") in Melbourne
Docklands consisting of a stylized cow up an equally stylized tree. It goes
by the catchy but somewhat unimaginative title of "Cow up a Tree".
2. I visited Herdsman Lake in the western suburbs of Perth last Tuesday
morning (30/12) and to my surprise saw 5 Spotless Crakes at 3 different
locations (first a swimming pair from the boardwalk, and then 3 separate
single sightings around the lake edge). This was surprising in part because
on 15 previous visits at which I have kept records since April 2005 I have
seen no crakes at all (although Buff-banded Rail is not uncommon). [I am
aware that crakes are certainly present (other birders' records, presence of
calls, regular sightings at nearby Lake Monger, etc) but I have not
previously managed to see any there - this in spite of a bird-list for the
site which has now reached 87 species - and was 64 species last Tuesday.]
However, what was most surprising was that the sighting of the fifth
Spotless Crake was of a bird flying out of a small lake-side Swamp Paperbark
(Melaleuca rhaphiophylla) into a larger WA Flooded Gum (E. rudis) where it
perched on a small branch around 6 metres off the ground for a few minutes
(hence "Crake up a Tree") until I inadvertently disturbed it, whereupon it
flew a short distance into a second small Swamp Paperbark (perhaps 2 metres
tall) and then disappeared - into the thick grass around its base I presume
(I could find no sign of the bird on quite close inspection of the tree and
its immediate surrounds). I have never before seen a crake of any type
anywhere in the world in a tree, let alone perching high in a eucalypt like
a song-bird. Has anyone else seen this entirely unexpected behaviour? Is it
reported in HANZAB, HBW or elsewhere? (I'm presently on holiday and don't
have access to my library. I could find no reference to such behaviour on
the Web - for Spotless Crake specifically.)
Richard Nowotny
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www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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