Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Ducks Abound

Drove round several of the local (Eastern Shore) duck haunts this morning and noted an increase in the numbers over last month. Of most interest was the flock of 32 Hardheads (part of the flock top left) at the Orielton Settling Ponds, a spot that more often has a modest flock of Wood Duck. Moved on to Lewisham, where the, fast drying out, 'duck pond' alongside the road, had the usual Chestnut Teal, 3 Black-fronted Plover, and 6 pairs of Bluewinged Shoveller (1 male pictured at right). On to Blackman Bay area, where there were over 300 Chestnut Teal feeding on the exposed areas of the bay. On a small farm dam near Copping sports ground, that I could almost jump over, there were c.60 Black Duck. It's noticeable that many of the duck have paired and chase of suitors if they get too close to mates. Noted a pair of nesting Masked Plover (with eggs) at Marion Bay.The Chestnut Teal pictured (female left, male right) were photogaphed at Lewisham. [Lewisham 'pond' is a relatively easy spot to photograph various waterfowl, particularly if you use the car as a hide]

2 comments:

BirdingTas said...

someone has tried adding a comment, but it didn't make it! Perhaps you'd like to try again.

Anonymous said...

It wasn't I, this time, but I do sometimes try to add commetns to other posts that somehow don't make it through the system - I'musually pretty careful to check I'v got the verification letters right!