Following our statements on BIRDING-AUS regarding the dark morph Little Egret on the Gold Coast, Nikolas Haass and I received the email below from Mick Roderick drawing our attention to another dark Egret/Heron. This bird is near Newcastle in NSW and is almost totally black including the bill but the legs are yellow. Although the photograph was posted in February it is believed the bird is still there. See emails and link below. The observer Darryl Luck believed the bird to be a White-faced Heron and I agree with that ID.
Mike Carter 30 Canadian Bay Road Mount Eliza VIC 3930 Tel (03) 9787 7136
From: Mick Roderick
I’m currently travelling through Malaysia and Indonesia and have unsubscribed from Birding-aus. I occasionally look at Birdline and the Birding-aus archives (I’m in KL at the moment, so have the opportunity to look at the internet).
Just thought I’d throw this bird into the equation on the recent unusual Egret…this bird was photographed at Medowie (north of Newcastle) and apparently is still there. Click on the link. Sorry – I am in a hurry at the moment and don’t really have time to study the Qld bird to offer comment (will do so tomorrow if I get a chance).
Mick
