This is my favourite part of the Thompsons Lake Nature
Reserve blog – The Ducks and other wildfowl and shorebirds. The main lake is
huge with varying water levels dependant on the season but my first wildfowl
encounter was way before I arrived there.
A smaller pond had quite a mix of waterfowl with close range
photo opportunities. The ducks did not seem too troubled by my presence.
Groups of Grey Teal gracefully swam around the middle part of the lake heads
held high!
Pacific Black Duck were less obvious preferring the margins
to the open water.
There were plenty of Hardhead amongst the two hundred plus
wildfowl a lot of duck on such a small body of water. White Faced Heron were
roosting with the cormorants in the semi -submerged tree on the far side of the
pond.
But this was just a warm up for the main event at Thompsons.
There were ducks and White faced Stilts Everywhere. I crept into position and
then let the birds come to me which itself was an amazing sight. Wheeling
flocks of White faced Stilt coming to land along the shoreline!
The sifting through the masses began with Australian Shoveler,
Grey Teal, Pacific Black Duck and the odd Hoary Grebe diving further out. It
was difficult to gauge the size difference between this species and Australian
Grebe but the eye colour is a key feature with the Hoary’s eye is dark and the
latter yellow-orange eye. A couple of Australian Shelduck were also noted stood on random
clumps of vegetation.
Once the Shelduck had moved down into the water a Glossy
Ibis took up the post on the small mound of earth. A group of fourteen birds
were seen moving along the shoreline further to my left.
A Straw Necked Ibis made a fly by totally ignoring the
potential feeding ground below.
A Greenshank was the only other shorebird found weaving in
and out of the Stilts as it fed.
The waterfowl and shorebirds seemed un-phased by raptors
that passed over the reed-beds More in part III.
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