Unusual heron and lots of godwits at Murray Lagoon Rockhampton

Hi, I am not familiar with the “Australian Bird Identification page” … but readers of Birding Aus may remember my highlighting this ‘freak Egret’ back in June. We had a Birdlife Capricornia outing to the gardens in November and saw the bird again albeit in much closer circumstances with Gary Knight getting some excellent photos … no doubt the discussion you referred to. Clearly, this bird has been a relatively long term resident. It is interesting to see how the head plumes have developed – no sign at all in June, starting to show in November and now well developed. I personally still think it is a Little Egret based on size and behaviour … although the legs look wrong … and so you can talk yourself into just about any ID. I am of the opinion your Godwits are of the Black Tailed variety – a relatively unusual sighting for those lagoons … as are the avocets – plenty in the district but usually keep to the saltier water bodies. Clearly the dry hot summer is pushing the salinity of Murray up a bit at the moment. Thanks, Steve Kerr. ——————————————————————– > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 2 Jan 2016 19:12:22 +1100 > From: Sonja Ross < sonja.ross7@gmail.com> > To: Laurie Knight < l.knight@optusnet.com.au> > Cc: Gary Kane < garykane1@gmail.com>, Birding Aus > < birding-aus@birding-aus.org> > Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Unusual heron and lots of godwits at Murray > Lagoon Rockhampton_email 1 of 3 > Message-ID: > 8c1To-qgj76E9zf6gForypLrqXA@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > This bird has been discussed on the Australian Bird Identification page in > November, without absolute conclusion! The choices seemed to be between > Little Egret and White-faced Heron or even a cross between the two! > > On Sat, Jan 2, 2016 at 6:54 PM, Laurie Knight < l.knight@optusnet.com.au> > wrote: > > > Perhaps it is a Little Egret that is crossed with something grey or that > > has copped a dose of grey paint ? > > > > Regards, Laurie. > > > > On 2 Jan 2016, at 5:18 pm, Gary Kane < garykane1@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > Dear team > > > > > > I have just come back from playing with my new scope at the lagoons > > around > > > the Botanic Gardens at Rockhampton and can report spectacular birdlife. > > > > > > I have attached a photo of a heron I could not identify, any assistance > > > would be appreciated. > > > > > > There were also 40+ godwits. I have attached two pretty poor photos to > > two > > > separate emails. Again, assistance with identification if possible would > > > be appreciated. I thought black-tailed.. > > > > > > Thanks. Gary. > > > > > > Gary Kane > > > (07) 3846 5965; 0412 423 023 > > >

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