I saw this bird and I thought of you
4 Comments »23rd December, 2007; Category: Birders, Birds, General, Plovers Dotterels and Lapwings, Waterbirds
A friend sidled up to me the other day and said, “I saw this little bird and I thought of you, Trevor.”
Now – I’m not sure whether that ever happens to you or not, but it is becoming a rather frequent occurrence in my life. You see, I’m not slow at letting people know that I am a birder, someone whose passion is watching birds in the wild. That’s what this blog is all about after all.
Said friend went on to say that this little bird actually attacked him. I pressed him with several key questions, such as, size, colour, location and what was it actually doing. Within a minute I had established that it was probably a Red-capped Plover (see photo), a small wading bird common around the coast of Australia and in suitable wetlands inland. It was “attacking” my friend because it either had a nest with eggs or newly hatched chicks nearby.
Red-capped Plover
It is nice to be recognised for one’s expertise in this way. What annoys me, however, is the growing number of friends and acquaintances who say the same thing after they return from a holiday in some exotic location.
“Oh Trevor,” they chirp as happy as a Sparrow with a bowl full of seed, “we saw this beautiful parrot in Cairns (or Broome or Darwin or wherever) and we immediately thought of you.” After the initial polite smile and excited ooohs and aaahs I go away fuming. I’ve NEVER seen that species in my life. And they’ve seen it and they are not even birders. Grrrrrr.
So what do I do about this annoying situation?
Perhaps I need to go for more holidays to exotic places. Then I can blithely reply, “Yeah, but did you see the Scarlet-crested Rainbow-winged Blue and White Cockatoo*?. It sat on my shoulder and nibbled at my ear.”
Or some other suitable anecdotal put-down.
*There is NO such animal – I just imagined it, but it sure sounds exotic and fabulous.
Birds of the Mannum district, South Australia
Murray Princess, Mannum, South Australia
Over recent days I have written about several species of birds that I saw in Mannum. Mannum is a medium sized town on the River Murray about a half hour’s drive from my home in Murray Bridge, South Australia. It is a popular tourist destination. Many houseboats moored at Mannum are available for hire. The Murray Princess (see photo above) takes tourists on river cruises lasting three, four or seven days.
The birding in the Mannum district is interesting and quite diverse. There are the normal river birds such as Australian Pelicans, Silver Gulls, Australian Wood Ducks and Pacific Black Ducks. Sometimes there are large numbers of Grey Teal and Chestnut Teal. On this occasion I also recorded a large number of Chestnut-breasted Shelducks a little further upstream, but they were too far away to photograph.
Just north of the well patronised and well appointed caravan park there are extensive wetlands. At present this area has large areas of mud flats due to the low level of the river. Due to the drought the river is at least a metre lower than normal. On these mudflats I saw Straw-necked, White and Glossy Ibis, Red-kneed Dotterel, Eurasian Coots, Purple Swamphens and Dusky Moorhens. Several Yellow-billed Spoonbills were also seen feeding in the shallows.
The reeds lining these wetlands are suffering badly at present because of a lack of water. That didn’t prevent me recording the Little Grassbird and the Australian Reedwarbler. In the trees lining the wetlands I saw Red-rumped Parrots, Crested Pigeons, Galahs, Purple-crowned Lorikeets, Willie Wagtail and Grey Fantail. Also seen or heard were White-plumed Honeyeaters, Red Wattlebirds and a Peaceful Dove.
Sitting on the bank of the river here can be rewarding. This is one good way of observing a number of species flying past. In this way, together with a cup of tea at hand and lunch from the local bakery in my hand, I added Caspian Tern, Crested Tern, Whiskered Tern, Whistling Kite, Welcome Swallow, Little Black Cormorant, Little Pied Cormorant, Little Egret, Little Corella and Little Raven.
We drove along the river towards the small town of Bow Hill. Stopping at various points along the way I added Masked Lapwing, Black Swan, Blue Bonnet Parrot and White-faced Heron. In the trees lining the river I observed Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters and Singing Honeyeaters. A Grey Shrike Thrush added its beautiful song to the lovely morning. At one stage I heard a Sacred Kingfisher but I didn’t see it. I did manage to catch sight of a solitary Laughing Kookaburra flying near the river bank.
I also heard a small flock of Rainbow Bee-eaters and saw a family of White-browed Babblers near the side of the road as we drove along.
Overall it was a very satisfactory morning’s birding. The big bonus was adding Glossy Ibis to my list for the first time. Getting a “lifer” is always satisfying.
Red-kneed Dotterel at Mannum, South Australia
Red-kneed Dotterel
On my visit yesterday to Mannum (just north of home in Murray Bridge South Australia) I saw two Red-kneed Dotterels on the mudflats just north of the caravan park. The mud here is exposed because of the low level of the Murray River at this point. Normally it is about a metre higher than it is at present.
Red-kneed Dotterels are small wading birds found throughout Australia where suitable habitat occurs. These habitats include shallow freshwater wetlands like the one at Mannum. They also occur in other habitats including brackish waters, salty swamps and sewage ponds. Although they can occur in small flocks, my experience of this species is usually in ones or twos. The one photographed above and below was rather skittish, and with good reason. Nearby I observed another bird in immature plumage but it didn’t pose well enough for me to get a good shot of it. I nice species to add to my gallery and list for the day.
Red-kneed Dotterel
Another White-necked Heron sighting
Earlier in the week I wrote about a sighting of a White-necked Heron near Meadows in the Adelaide Hills. I commented that I have rarely seen this species over the years as a birder, despite it being widespread throughout much of Australia.
Well – I saw another one yesterday. It was in the same spot as the sighting earlier in the week, so presumably it was the same bird. This time I had my camera with me.
White-necked Heron
The photo is not as good as I would have liked. This was because the bird was some 80-100 metres away. Click on the photo to enlarge the image.
This species has eluded me on many birding trips. Now that I’ve seen one twice in the same week, I’ll probably see them everywhere.
I hope that rule also applies to the Glossy Ibis. This ibis has frustrated me endlessly. I’ve seen it from only a metre away in a walk through aviary at the Adelaide Zoo, but I have yet to see one in its natural habitat. I am hoping that once I see my first one, I’ll see them everywhere. That appears to be an unwritten Law of Birding.
Black-tailed Native-hens form roadblock
I was minding my own business driving along a road in the Mt Lofty Ranges south east of Adelaide, South Australia today when I had to come almost to a complete halt.
Two Black-tailed Native-hens were standing in the middle of the road. It was almost as if they were forming a roadblock, or determined to have a career change and join the local police force. I half expected them to whip out a speed gun. I wasn’t speeding, just casually cruising along quite safely within the normal speed limits in these parts.
As I approached to within a few metres they decided that they had better head off into the undergrowth on the side of the road where they were more at home.
I do not have a photo of this species so click here to see one.