Gould's Lagoon is certainly worth a trip anytime, and at the moment one of the 'signature' birds, the Reed Warbler is particularly active and vocal. On arrival fairly early morning, the sound of Reed Warblers calling was the first sound to greet me. I couldn't see any of the several birds calling,
but patience was eventually rewarded. Admittedly most of the views were fleeting, but I managed to take a few shots, seen here. Also present were Coot, Chestnut Teal, Black Duck, Swamphen and Native Hen. Heard calling, but not sighted were several Little Grassbirds. Gould's is often worth at least a passing visit, in the past it has managed to attract such unlikely species as Black-tailed Native Hen and Little Ringed Plover. I can particularly remember the plover, as Mike Newman rang me up to tell me that it had been seen there. However it was the 1st of April and it took him a long time to convince me it wasn't an April Fool's joke!! The Shore Bird Study Group unsuccessfully attempted to mist net it. Other species present at times are a list of duck and crakes. A little more ominous, I feel, is the presence of a pair of nesting Kelp Gulls. They presently have 2 young, being reared on the top of a duck nesting box.
All together I recorded 26 species in approx. an hour. I have appended a couple of additional shots of the reed warbler.
I also tried to photograph the Reed Warblers a couple of weeks ago, and though lots of them would show themselves, I was never fast enought to capture them. I did get a distant shot of the Kelp Gull sitting on the nest box, but at that stage, didn't realise it was sitting on eggs. Hopefully the Kepl's won't swamp this beautiful place. We even saw a Golden-headed Cisticola there a few years ago - before our time of reporting sightings to Birds-Tas.
ReplyDeleteJohn Tongue