Saturday, April 01, 2006

It's Time to Say Goodbye


No, I'm not closing the blog! I'm referring to our soon to depart, migrant waders. I took the accompanying pix a few days ago at Pipeclay Lagoon and I had hoped to capture them in all their Summer finery. In fact most of the birds, they were mainly Red-necked Stint, showed only partial Summer plumage, mostly 'trademark' colour round their necks, as you can see (click on pix to enlarge). They were however, noticeably fatter--they'll increase body weight by about 60% or so-- enough to get them at least to Northern Australia-- before 'refuelling', on their way to Siberia. A few, mostly first year birds, will overwinter.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Alan,

I thought you moight have invented something for April Fools Day, perhaps a new species for the Tasmanian list courtesy of photoshop?

Seriously though, nice shots of the red necked stints

Felix Wilson