Hi all
Pitt Town Lagoon (NW Sydney, Hawkesbury district) is currently hosting some
good water birds, with sightings over the last week or so including 2 Ruff and
2 Pectoral Sandpipers, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Freckled Duck, lots of Sharp
Tailed Sandpipers, 16 Glossy Ibis, Baillons Crake, 3 Lathams Snipe, both
spoonbills (all there today), and Whiskered Terns, Spotless Crakes and Marsh
Sandpipers (not there or not seen by me today). There's an interesting "mixed"
flock of Chestnut-breasted and Nutmeg Mannikins - interesting because although
they fly around together, when I observed them feeding last week there was a
distinct demarcation line between the two species.
However, my dilemma is the Painted Honeyeater that has been reported and
photographed hanging around the mistletoe-bearing acacias near the reserve
entrance and by the Friendship Bridge on Pitt Town Bottoms Rd. I've had 2 goes
for it and dipped twice and am starting to worry that the name "Painted
whatever" is a curse for me - it took me 8 goes for Painted Snipe before I got
one and I've had three or four futile forays for them since. In the last week
I've had my 4th & 5th (unsuccessful) attempts for a Painted Honeyeater. Maybe
it's bird revenge because my first Painted Button Quail was almost a squashed
Painted Button Quail? (Saved by my wife saying "I think you're about to step
on something moving in that long grass....it might be a snake".)
Cheers
Tom Wilson
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