Cumberland Chimney

Whispered Terns developing breeding plumage and red bill and legs at Cumberland Chimney, nth Qld, yesterday. Don’t know how much longer the water will last – none in the lower pools where we had all the finches about four years back, and the trees around them in a poor state. Told by council worker that toilets are to go in next year. Peter and Bev Morgan Re the white bird at Chillagoe: we’ve been out of touch for quite a while, but I haven’t seen my report that the consensus we got on the leucistic bird was a White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, not a Drongo. It flew across in front of the car as we were leaving, making it the first and last thing we saw there. The conservation battle is never finally won; the development battle is. > On 14 Oct 2015, at 10:07 pm, Peter Ewin < sittella@hotmail.com> wrote: > > I agree, whiskered tern are regularly recorded at yanga, and so this is the most likely species, particularly if you were looking at yanga lake near the homestead. > Cheers, > Peter > >> From: mickramsey@hotmail.com >> Why would WWBT de developing breeding plumage when they have just migrated from their breeding grounds in the Northern hemisphere? Sounds an odd observation, they were probably Whiskered Terns which do develop black on their belly and chest and breed in Australia in spring!!! >> >> >>> On 14 Oct 2015, at 21:39, Simon < simonrr@bigpond.com> wrote: >>> >>> A colleague and I were visiting Yanga National Park in NSW today and >>> identified what were certainly a number of white winged (black) terns >>> (Chlidonias leucopeterus) in developing breeding plumage (black appearing on >>> the lower chest and belly). They weren’t on the Park’s bird list. >>> Simon Robinson >>>