> > There was a male Australian Painted Snipe near Mareeba yesterday Sept 30, on a property with three small dams two of which are quite well vegetated, the third being smaller and devoid of aquatic vegetation. The bird has been there over 2 weeks, and the unvegetated small dam is where the bird was yesterday, sat beside a dead branch and clearly in some kind of disguise posture as the body was inclined forward at 45 degrees, with the rear end angled up and the breast feathers actually immersed in the water, as was the tip of the bill. When we first found the bird the breast and bill were clear of the water, but the bird dipped slightly forward at a sharper angle into the water, and seemed to think it was an effective disguise as it was quite confiding- see photos on Wildiaries at http://www.wildiaries.com/trips/10750. > I was struck by its almost tailless appearance and short wings, with large rather elliptical eye surrounded by a narrow pale edging, and broad buffy central crown stripe. The bird remained frozen for some 10 minutes, then began to preen before then feeding somewhat like a godwit in the shallow water. I have not seen this species in such an open situation on my handful of previous sightings, of which two have now been in October in this area. One other peculiarity was the odd feather shape of what I think were the wing coverts- the bird was so fluffed out it was hard to tell- but they looked to have an extended centre vane with just a narrow feather width around it, sticking out some 5 cm or so from the usual broader feathers, and maybe old worn and unmoulted feathers. > A great sighting, thanks to Lisa and Dominic for permission to go look for the bird on their property and thanks to Jun and Sae Matsui for the lift. > Phil & Sue Gregory > Http://www.sicklebillsafaris.com > Http://www.cassowary-house.com.au > >
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au
http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Well done David. Some nice shots there.
Tony
Further to the Painted Snipe discussion, I had a great day down in Canberra yesterday visiting a couple of friends and being taken to Jerrabombera Wetlands to see the Painted Snipe there. There’s now 3 birds there and Tobias Hayashi and myself spent more than 5 hours in their presence. Sitting quietly in the mud/grass for some time allowed them to come up to us feeding and even bathing. I have uploaded a couple to my pbase site but will add more when i can. Heat haze made photography difficult but it was an amazing experience to say the least!!
http://www.pbase.com/davidstowe/painted_snipe (only the first 3 images are from Canberra at this stage – the others are from a few years ago)
Cheers David Stowe
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
http://birding-aus.org ===============================
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
http://birding-aus.org ===============================
That’s amazing! Certainly does change its profile alot when the bill is in the water – very un-birdlike in silhouette. Not much more you could do when out in the open like that i suppose! Thanks for sharing Phil. Cheers David Stowe
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
http://birding-aus.org ===============================
I noted similar behaviour in nesting Painted Snipe near Griffith NSW in 1976 (Aust Birds Vol 12 No1 – Sept 1977) at the time when the eggs were hatching the male would not flush in the usual manner but was observed “.. in a very peculiar attitude. Standing in shallow water, the bill and eyeline were parrallel to the water line, the body vertical and the buff coloured ‘V’ on the bird’s back blended with the (vertical) grass stems.”
This description is not unlike that depicted in one of Phil’s images.
Could your bird be breeding?
cheers Bob Moffatt Ecologist Northern Rivers NSW