I am very happy to be corrected. Chris - I have that splendid little Kangaroo
Island publication on my shelves and did not think to check it. HANZAB gives a
single example of a concentration at one lake but also overlooks the Kangaroo
Island records (perhaps because it was published at around the same time, my
copy of your Annotated List says it was first published in 1989 and Volume 1 of
HANZAB was first published in 1990, and that was long before Eremaea). The
examples of other excellent concentrations from SA (thanks Bob) and elsewhere
may be cause for celebration - perhaps the species is recovering numbers since
protection? I have to say I am astonished by the Currawinya estimate that
Shirley points out. That might have been 50% of the total population (HANZAB
gives 19,000). It must have been amazing to see that flock. Thanks for the
feedback. I am still excited at the discovery of such a large number in
northern Queensland having been more used to thinking of a singleton
or a few at a time as a special treat and even in southern Australia not
necessarily in big numbers.
Peter
0427 634 136
On 12/05/2013, at 11:29 AM, Shirley Cook <>
wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> This is not the greatest concentration of Freckled Ducks recorded in
> Australia. An estimated 10,000 Freckled Ducks in a very conpact mass was
> seen on one of the lakes in Curawinya National Park in the
> mid-nineteen-nineties. This sighting was written up in a paper "Birds of
> Currawinya National Park", published in Sunbird, Vol. 25, 1995.
>
> Regards
> Shirley Cook
>
|