Hi Peter and All
I must inform you Peter that 441 Freckled Duck at a reserve in Queensland is
not even close to the largest concentration ever found in Australia. On
Kangaroo Island, SA, which acts as a drought refuge for waterfowl, I have
observed concentrations of 500+ on several occasions on brackish paperbark
swamps-and most significantly,recorded a single flock of ca 2800, largely
exclusive of any other species, on a small freshwater wetland at Haines, KI
on 7 Dec 1980. This is recorded in 'An Annotated List of Birds of Kangaroo
Island'; Baxter 1985; revised 1995.
Cheers
Chris Baxter
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Valentine,
Peter
Sent: Saturday, May 11, 2013 9:57 PM
To: <> Aus
Subject: Freckled Ducks
Birdlife Australia Northern Queensland members Kath Shurcliff and Dave
Houghton reported (on Eremaea) an amazing concentration of Freckled Ducks at
a reserve in northern Queensland a few days ago. They counted 441 but
conceded there were probably more as not all of the wetland could be seen
from their scope site. As far as I can tell this would be the largest
concentration ever recorded anywhere in Australia and even more remarkable
given that the species is considered vagrant in northern Queensland - local
birders get excited with single birds at a wetland and travel hundreds of km
to view them.
I would be interested to hear of any other records of such a concentration
anywhere in Australia.
Sadly, the Queensland Government is about to allow grazing into this reserve
which will certainly devastate the swamp. Kath and Dave also found thousands
of other waterfowl including >1000 Cotton Pygmy Goose, >1000 Pink-eared Duck
and >2000 Eurasian Coot. I am tempted to conclude that many are
escapees/refugees from the Victorian barbarians. Any thoughts?
Peter Valentine
Townsville
0427 634 136
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